There was a previous thread on this topic that was very interesting, but has since closed. I'd like to restart the discussion on Twitter, Facebook, etc, and the role it will play in bringing about the church's exposure and demise.

I was discussing this same topic on a different board and thought I'd share my guess of what is going to happen:




The way I see it, Generation X and very much so Generation Y workers are entering the workplace and challenging stifling traditions, norms, and authority. They are independent and skeptical enough and are conditioned to have easy access to answers that now they focus more on WHY, and not just believe everything adults say.

Older Generations seem more conditioned to go to work, do what authority says, climb the ladder, bank on promotions and a nice retirement. Someone younger goes to work in the near future and they are more likely to say "WHY are we doing this? Do we have to? Can we achieve it any way we want or do we have to do it the same old arbitrary way?"

So guess what will happen when society is flooded with these youngsters as they grow up and baby boomers are retiring and past their peak earning (and tithing years)?We will have a generation of people left over who are ruling the workplace (Gen X and Y) and running the country, but who are now informed and independent enough to question "Why is this church the only one on Youtube that censors their comments section for positive, generic, mealy-mouthed comments only? Can't think of many legitimate reasons why a legitimate organization would still be doing that...Smells like BS."



I think the current leadership (even OLDER than the baby boomers and still critical of them for too "modern" and "worldly" and "Isrealitish" and not even able to give up oral sex) has no clue about demographics and what is real in the marketplace. They just want to find new ways to spin their same old garbage in a way that is more palatable.

They really know nothing about human psychology...at least the type that empowers and liberates people to act independently. They know nothing about "the world" because they are just "them" and not "us."So I guess they will get better at attracting and converting the golden types of people who fall for such a campaign and perceive the need for what the church offers...teenagers from dysfunctional families and "the residue of society."



FINALLY, I predict the church will finally "get it." People demand transparency or else you lose all credibility and that shit actually matters nowadays more than "bearing testimony?" Given the leaders' track record for surrendering and accepting reality 20-30 years after the rest of mankind, my guess is that we are entering a long era of New Media messages from the Church, without changing its "product" at all.

It is more about starting and building relationships with customers now, with alignment of the message from first contact to post-purchase and years to come. How do you start a relationship with an organization that is still advertising one-way in an interactive Web 2.0 environment? It cannot last. The only relationship the church understands is parasite-host.

In the age of social media people pay less attention to what big rich organizations are saying and more to what people they know and respect and trust are saying...PEERS (or regrettably, celebrities).Then, finally, when that has not worked bad enough for 10-20 years it will occur to them to try changing the PRODUCT to actually WORK and not need dressing up and tons of makeup. Picture a Dominos-like "Oh Yes We Did" campaign.

Hey, maybe by then the mall will be producing revenue and the baby boomers will be broke and not paying much tithing anymore anyway, so they can afford to come clean and lose a bunch of old membership.



It's pay me now or pay me later. They have the chance to change ahead of the curve and be "pioneers" in the religious marketplace but they instead choose to wait 20-30 years to be acted upon and then reluctantly admit they were wrong and evolve.

Don't delay the day of your repentence, Church Leaders! We invite you to forsake and confess your sins to Bishop John Q. Public, Jr. or else your authority is null and void and you will be excommunicated from credible public discourse.




P.S. There was also mention in the previous thread about a desire to organize. I couldn't agree more, as there is a huge wealth of knowledge, facts, talent, and passion in the exmormon community that achieves so much when focused on some effort.

A group of collaborators and I are hoping to leave our mark by researching and creating an Overview guide of sorts, for people transitioning out of the church.

(Read our Mission here) http://ExmormonRecoveryBook.com

Many many youth, I even see a couple in the halls during seminary, who are faster and faster learning that this whole thing is a bunch of bull.

Our youth, with the help of the internet, will sooner or later bring the church down. It's years are numbered, and they may have many, many years left, as severe as the indoctrination has been, but the end IS coming. I doubt I will live to see it, but have not a doubt that it will some day be gone from the face of the earth.

Never say never, of course, but realistically, human beings for the most part will continue to believe in their religious world views as they have for generations -- world wide.

It's a normal natural part of being human to believe in God. It goes with the territory, so to speak. A small minority reject the notion, but on the whole, most of the societies of mankind is replete with religious notions, customs, celebrations, etc.

The rights of the individual to believe in the religious views of their choice is, in my view, a sacred right, at least as practiced in the US, which is not true worldwide.

Attempting to bring down one religion/church puts the rest in jeopardy an idea which, to the cacophony of believers, is not likely to be accepted.

Rather than try to destroy what others hold sacred, why not respect their rights to their beliefs, as is a civil right, the same one we want for ourselves?
I think that works best.

Whenever the world changes, Mormonism changes with it. This is why it has endured so long.

Pretty soon Mormonism will accept homosexuality. There will be no revolution.

Did Mormon views on black males take the church down? Nope.
Did Mormon views on polygamy take the church down? Nope
Did Mormon views on Christianity take the church down? Nope.

Even if 100,000 people marched on the SLC temple, the religion wouldn't fall.

The only thing that would work is for everybody to stop paying tithing. Protests and the internet mean nothing, money means everything.

Edit: Haha, I wasn't clear at all. In that, I think you are absolutely right. The baby boomer generation will have stopped paying tithing, and the younger generation won't contribute nearly as much. The church will be significantly weaker.

However, still, I don't think the church will go away for a long time. I mean, look at the Catholics, they don't even brainwash their members and they are still around.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/13/2011 04:47PM by snb.

"Older Generations seem more conditioned to go to work, do what authority says, climb the ladder, bank on promotions and a nice retirement. Someone younger goes to work in the near future and they are more likely to say 'WHY are we doing this? Do we have to? Can we achieve it any way we want or do we have to do it the same old arbitrary way?'"

Our society today is geared toward NEVER questioning the status quo. That's the basic idea of the conservative movement. Unions are pretty much gone and corporations are getting more powerful. If anything, we are moving closer to facism.

"Don't delay the day of your repentence, Church Leaders! We invite you to forsake and confess your sins to Bishop John Q. Public, Jr. or else your authority is null and void and you will be excommunicated from credible public discourse."

To 99.9% of people Mormonism is a weird cult to be avoided. The only ones in it are converts (unstable people befriended by missionaries) and people born into the religion.

I don't think anyone gives a flying f##k if Mormonism lives are dies because it's not important to 99.9% of people. To Christians it's a fraud and to non-Christians it's a joke.

Mormonism was excommunicated from credible public discourse in the 1820s. The old idiots who run the thing can get black, gay and women apostles. No one cares anymore because Mormonism will always be the bastard child of Christianity and the laughingstock of rational, educated people.

Just think of how changes the Jehovah's Witnesses make impact your life.