Posted by:
CA girl
(
)
Date: February 11, 2011 10:59AM
Temple Marriage. Here's why. Mormonism takes a very powerful human emotion - the desire to protect your loved ones and keep them safe and with you always - and uses it to manipulate people without concern for the damage they cause.
* It is a way to extort 10 percent of people's income plus some, as well as time, talent and devotion, with no concern for the well-being of the members. If it leaves you short of money or time with your family, well, that's what sacrifice is all about.
* It's a way to shun people who don't knuckle under a pay up. It doesn't matter that a daddy can't go to his daughter's wedding because it's his fault for not paying his blood money.
* They teach that temple marriage is the important thing - with not nearly as much emphasis on WHO you are marrying. I've lost count of how many of my LDS friends are clearly emotionally starved because they cared more about marrying an RM or a Molly Mo than a soul-mate and a best friend. They thought if they could just keep it in their pants long enough to take some TBM to the temple, their problems were solved and their happiness would be eternal. Then, years later, they found they had nothing in common with their spouse but the church and no way to get out of the marriage...not bad enough to leave but no good reason to stay.
* It causes incredible pain to many older Mormons when their kids "stray" and are "lost". This pain is almost entirely because of the teaching of eternal families. In other families, children have more leeway to be themselves and still have a place in the family. In a Mormon family, if the child isn't exactly what Mormonism says it should be, the parents are expected to feel pain and disappointment because of it.
For these reasons and probably many more, I vote that the message of eternal families is the most damaging teaching in Mormonism. Most religions believe you'll be with your loved ones after you die - trust Mormonism to twist this teaching into a weapon, all the sharper because of the very sensitive area the knife is aimed at.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/11/2011 11:00AM by CA girl.