My 17 year old Haitian American son has been going to the Mormon church casually for the last year...however recently he seems a lot more into it. His new girlfriend is Mormon..her family is wealthy and takes him to basketball games and anything fun. His best friend is a member and he goes with him all of the time. He recently started going to Seminary in the morning. And to get a child up an hour early to go to church is a miracle in itself. He's been speaking with the Bishop who lives in our neighborhood. And while I explained to him some of the recent history of the church that doesn't seem to deter him. So her's my question, the Bishop wants to meet with me to discuss my child converting. I was told he was there to answer my questions, what should I ask?

They won't be able to baptize him until he's 18 at that point.

Then, maybe you can get him to read some of the more painful stories here so he can see what he's REALLY getting into.

Fact is, I've read a lot of stories of hormonal conversions (converting 'cause you're interested in the opposite sex) and they VERY frequently end with the Mormon hottie in question dropping the new convert as soon as they're locked in.

http://www.exmormon.org/tract2.htm

It deals specifically with what the missionaries and lds friends are talking to your son about. This should give you some good issues to discuss with the bishop.

If you really want to talk to this man, that is. If you do, I would pick one or two topics you feel strongly about and focus on that.

But as Rebeckah said, they can't baptize him without your consent till he's 18. I'd focus more on talking to your son about what it really means to be a hormonal convert. Personally, I think expecting someone to convert to their religion or you will withhold your love from them is exploitation. Love isn't about expecting someone to change fundamentally for your sake.

Good luck. Try to find some strategies to get your son wondering about.

Mormons routinely break this rule when given a chance. Good grief, they break commandments of God when their souls might suffer eternal consequences, so a little secondary rule means little if it flies in the face of a personal revelation.

For example did they have you sign anything to give permission for all of this indoctrination they've done so far?

Not likely.

I know of many dozens of cases of mormons teaching even very young children and telling them to keep the lessons secret from their parents. Then they sometimes go ahead and baptize without the parents finding out.

And this is the reality. Don't trust mormons because they have a rule book because racking up convert numbers is considered more important than trivial rules which most members haven't read since the rule book is secret and only available to bishops.

Your son is being targeted for conversion by a cult.

Does he understand that they want 10% of his income before taxes for the rest of his life?

Does he understand that he has to give Obedience and free labor to the "church"?

Does he know he will have to wear special longjohn type undergarments for the rest of his life?

Is his girlfriend white? If so,he is being love-bombed. It's nothing but emotional manipulation.

He most likely will be dropped by these loving people once he joins, then the demands will start.

For openers DO NOT GO.

What some bishop wants is not your problem.
You do not owe Mormonism anything, certainly not your son.

Tell your son he cannot convert until he is 18

He may do so when that day comes but at least he knows that he is doing so against your advise.

If your son will read it, Dawn Brodie's book is really interesting and I got a used copy on Amazon for 10 bucks. It tells a relatively complete story of early Mormons and the evolution of it, also making it much easier to see through the testimonies of witnesses and visions and such. Lots of references to primary sources, too.

It's Fawn Brodie.

sorry yes Fawn Brodie, I have made that mistake before...

Cultism is not a joke. These people have lured your son into something that looks kind and gentle on the surface but has longrange negative implications. Your son isn't listening to you, but is listening to a cult leader and to druggie-type friends, the drug of choice being religious fervor. They think they're saving his soul but that doesn't make acceptable this intrusion on your rights.

Don't go to the bish with your questions and unstated concerns. If you go, tell him you are the parent. Your son is still a minor child and you're seeing this "fellowshipping" as an afront to your family.

I would not let a child of mine go to seminary. That should stop immediately. Then I'd cut back on the religious services unless your son spends equal time reading real mormon history and doctrine.

Get a lawyer and let these people know about it.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/03/2011 09:01AM by Cheryl.

...that your son is being targeted for conversion.

Go to (or call, or write) the bisop and tell him that you will not give your permission for baptism as long as your son is a minor. Also, do not allow your son to go to seminary. High-school age kids need a lot of sleep (9-10 hours or more) in order to do well in school, and seminary is robbing him of needed rest.

In the meantime, educate yourself about Mormonism. It is an extremely controlling religious sect. Read everything you can on this site. I like the book, "The Mormon Mirage" by Latayne Colvett Scott. You can find it through online sellers or (often) at Christian bookstores. It is written from the point of view of a young Mormon woman who ended up dropping Mormonism in favor of a more traditional Christian church. Have your son read it as well. There is a LOT about the church that his friends are not telling him -- many things that they may not know themselves!

For instance, the church's founder, Joseph Smith, polygamously married more than 30 women. Many of them were teenagers, and at least one was only 14 years old! (This was in an age when the typical age of first marriage for women was over 20.) Eleven of those women were already married to other men. He was not a man of good character, and not someone whom your son should follow as an example. Read more here:

http://wivesofjosephsmith.org/

Your son's friends would dismiss most of the information that you find as being "anti." But the information is the truth. The Mormon church simply doesn't care to share the full truth with their membership. For instance, should your son ask his friends about polygamy, they would most likely respond that it was practiced in an age when the church's leaders wanted to take care of excess and widowed women out on the frontier. But this is untrue. There were always equal numbers of men and women wherever the Mormons lived.

If your son married in a Mormon temple, as is expected of members, you would not be allowed to attend the wedding. What kind of church would separate parents from their own children at their weddings?

There's more, much more. Keep reading!

Yup, sounds like 99% chance of hormonal conversion--same thing happened to my brother; he converted at age 18 after much love bombing and being hot & heavy with a girl, but as soon as he was dunked they were "just friends." Then it was off on a mission, and upon coming back a series of "sweet spirits" were set up for him to date, because someone had dreamt that "she was the one" for him. We all thought there was something fishy, and someone got my mom a copy of 'Mormonism: Shadow or Reality', but it was too late--

He's not likely to go along with this, but it's worth a try. Have him tell his girlfriend and her parents that he has thought long and hard about it, even prayed about it, and he won't be joining the LDS church. Then wait and see what happens.

Do the basketball games suddenly stop? Do "friends" suddenly disappear? Does the bishop suddenly change from nice guy to high-pressure salesman and guilt-tripper?

Does he really want conditional friends? Better to test their friendship now than later.

by Satan or by antis, or his parents. they'd likely double their fellowshipping efforts and find ways to contact him behind his parent's backs.

Yes, after months of being rebuffed, they would drop him without a lookback, but mormons are programmed to keep up the pressure and not take no for an answer until every faint hope is long gone.

...so THEY have control of your son instead of you; and 2) to convert you as well.

Be aware that as a Mormon, your son will be taught that masturbation is a terrible, shameful sin. Furthermore, he will be subjected to so-called "worthiness" interviews in which an older man (the bishop) will ask him in detail about his sexual activities, including masturbation.

I joined the church as an adult and I cannot tell you how shocked I was some years later when I learned that they do this with youth--even with females! Please be sure that your son is aware that he will have to undergo the humiliation of this kind of interview if he joins!

Honestly, I'm not surprised he is not listening to any rational arguments. He is 17 and in love ... he feels accepted, adult, able to make his own decisions. I was 20 when I was converted and even then I wouldn't listen to anyone. If someone had something bad to say, I would dismiss it as propaganda and an attempt to manipulate me. Little did I know then ... but, I thought I knew it all.

Does he have friends outside the mormon circle?

Only you know your son and can predict how he will react. If it was me, I would not give my permission for him to be baptized or go to church/seminary but without being confrontational about it; just sit down and explain. I wouldn want him to feel I don't understand etc. (although that's hard with teenagers). I would encourage him to find another group that he may enjoy socializing or playing basketball or whatever else he may like. Good luck!

He does have other friends outside of the church..but lately all he's been hanging out with are the friends and church members and his girlfriend. It's as if they are completely alienating him from anyone who is not mormon.

That's exactly what they're doing.

It is similar to being courted ( Love bombed) into a very bad marriage by an unsuitable mate.

They're just recruiting slaves and new breeders for their cult.

Except that Mormons come in suits and ties instead of flowing garb and shaved heads.
But the principle is the same.

First thing- JUST SAY NO.

Second thing- Marvin Perkins put together a CD/DVD called Blacks in the Scriptures that LDS/Black Mormons use to show that "gee whiz- we arent racist" But- if you actually look at the geneology of JESUS as presented.. (Rahab) Jesus would have had at least a few drops of black blood and wouldnt have been able to enter His own mormon temple or hold his own mormon preisthood prior to 1978.

Actually READ and LEARN about the Book of Abraham. BLACKNESS is not now and NEVER has been a curse. The MARK of Cain has nothing to do with Skin color and the word that is translated in the original Hebrew has NOTHING to do with color.

Learn that Slaves were owned by the church when they were given to the church as part of estates or for tithing payments. YES- this is ugly. Learn about Jane Manning James and how she was sealed as a SERVANT to Joseph Smith for time and all eternity. Learn about Elijah Able he was black AND a 70 and then Joseph Smith died and BOOM- all of a sudden.. Bigot Brigham makes a change. So much for the Robert Millet speech of "we dont know why blacks couldnt have the priesthood before 1978" The ugly truth is WE DO KNOW.. but we dont say. Mormonism at its core is racist. WHITE and DELIGHTSOME- CURSED with a SKIN OF BLACKNESS... Not as righteous in the pre-existance.

A trans-racial couple is going to have a whole lot of ugly followed by a never ending parade of stupid if they choose to be LDS. Just focus on the Basic idiocy- Multiple first visions- the three witness never actually seeing the plates- Joseph Smith Marrying other mens wives and daughters and being a class A pedophile. Peepstones and hats/Kinderhook plate and Zelph the white lamanite.