I have been a prisoner (excuse me, "member") of the LDS cult for 25 years now. My wife and children are totally brainwashed. I have watched my family torn apart. I have watched my son sobbing with tears because he doesn't want to go on a mission but has been told that not serving will "ruin his life."

What can I do to effectively help people NOT join the Church? Are there groups? Organizations? Any suggestions?

Since there are really only two ways Mormons baptize people:

(1) Encourage Mormons to stop having babies; or
(2) Stop illegal immigration which would cut off the convert pool, or give the immigrants a better support network.

Thank you!

I'm so sorry about your family and especially your son.

Take care.

You really have two separate yet similar issues here. The first regards your family situation, particularly as it concerns your son. If he does not want to go on a mission and you don't want him to, then it seems to me that your desires should prevail. Easy for me to say. But I would STRONGLY advise not being confrontational or argumentative about it. When the issue comes up, be calm but firm in insisting that he will not go on a mission. Offer an alternative such as going to college, joining the military or working at McDonald's. If you and your son present a united front, you should succeed.

As to helping others, the best thing you can do is live a good example. If questions come up, be ready with solid, rational and reasonable answers. Again, avoid confrontation and argument! And, by all means, DO NOT try to push your opposition to Mormonism on people.

Best wishes.

I hang out at online newspapers. My city is around 15% mormon, so we often get both Mormons and antis commenting. I try to calmly correct any mis-statements so that non-Mormons reading along can get an idea what Mormons really believe.

When a Mormon says mainstreams don't believe in polygamy, for example, I point out that it is still in their doctrine. I put in a link to D&C 131 on the LDS website. I have yet had anyone successfully argue against that since it is on their official website.

When a Mormon says their church members have higher standards, I say some of their standards are different, but not better/higher. Most people teach their kids not to steal, lie, or hurt others in any way. Mormons do not have a corner on the morals/ethics market and they are not better. Often the poster will come back and say well why do mormons commit less crime? I will point out all the mormons who have been arrested in our community in the past year (including a bishop) for molesting children or scamming people out of money. I make sure to let them know that I don't think all mormons are pedophiles or scammers, but I'm just pointing out that based on population, about the same percentage of mormons commit these crimes as compared to percentage of criminals in other demographics.

When a Mormon says bishops don't talk to kids starting around 12 yo about sex, I point out that my bishop asked me if I masturbated and I know of dozens of others around the country who were asked.

When a Mormon says the church is not and has never been racist, I tell them I was sitting in sacrament meeting when we were asked to raise our arms to the square to allow blacks to have the priesthood and be allowed into the temple. That was not until 1978, WELL after mainstream America recognized civil rights.

I also correct any of the rabid antis if they get way out of line. No, mormons don't have sex in the temple. etc etc etc

Basically, I do whatever I can to point out to the casual reader that Mormons have an inflated opinion of the goodness and holiness of their members and "clergy". I try to stay calm and rational so that I don't come off as a hater who'd say anything to hurt TSCC. I stay factual, posting links to references. I don't make blanket statements like "all bishops ask girls about sex." Instead I say this is what happened to me and I know several others so I know some of them ask. I'm glad you didn't get asked because it's very harmful to girls, especially those with emotional problems or who have been molested. But just because it didn't happen to you doesn't mean the rest of us are lying.

Hopefully when someone starts friendshipping them or trying to recruit non-Mormons who have read these types of comments, they will remember and at least investigate further.

Off topic a little, but what does TSCC mean?

Got TBM, SP, etc down, but TSCC has me stumped.

as a church, but still don't want to be so disrespectful to the members as to call it a cult. ;-)

You are his _father_ for heaven's sake. Support him 100% in refusing a mission. Be a Caspar Milquetoast about something else, not your son's welfare.

...and he went on a mission.
By the time he should have finished, my testimony had collapsed, and I had moved and never knew what became of him.

Honestly, I have not felt obligated to contact past influencees and un-testify to them. That's bizarre in itself. It's a significant psychological risk to be a blast from the past for even lesser reasons (think Facebook). It's as bad as it would have been when I thought, as a TBM, maybe I should contact old offendees and apologize.

They're either 1) still TBM and not prepared at all to process it, or 2) they're exTBM and they already know.

As for keeping people from joining the church- not your job.

Except passively. It's not your job (or your right), for example, to do what I've seen done, and pluck missionary literature from others' porches.

Nature will run its course. Just observe it, study it, write what you find, for others to find.

Mormonism. It is my job as a human to reduce suffering as much as possible for others. After I burn my finger on a hot pan, I will teach anyone who I am teaching to cook to be careful about burns.

Any one who will listen will hear the horrors of the church, the crazy things they do in the temple, their racist past, sexist reality, and any other truths that I care to share with them to prevent them from ever being tempted to join the cult.

Most people I meet in normal everyday life like to read.

For guys I might suggest Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer or Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Dimond. Both are excellent.
Mormon history comes alive as Krakauer tells the real violent sickening story of Joseph Smith and his cult's fascination with blood oaths.

For women, I might find out if they watch Oprah or like women authors. Leaving the Saints by Martha Beck (sometimes on Oprah's show) is well written and can be a testimony killer.

She writes briefly about the Book of Abraham and how her father was the main apologist for the church on that very embarrassing discovery of the Papyri in the late 1960's. The evidence is conclusive: Smith didn't have a clue what he was translating and convicts his fraudulent ass right out there for all to see.

Or have them watch PBS frontlines's The Mormons on DVD.

Then have them watch an old Bruce R McConkie youtube video from General Conference. That should just about do it for anyone interested in finding out more regarding the Mormon church. One can't help notice its a full blown cult complete with secret passwords, handshakes, blood oaths, and group chanting.

The Internet has put a powerful spotlight on the Mormon church and people are not interested in participating in it. Give it another 10 years to become even more irrelevant.

I find that one good way is that if the question among nonmembers comes up, yes you are/have been a mormon.

And never be afraid to bear your testimony of the real truth.

Go to Youtube. Watch videos that expose MORmONISM. Pick out the ones you like best. Repost them to your own account. Learn video editing/ get video editing capable, do video re buttals to pro LDS videos. It ticks off LDS INC more than you will ever know. & its fairly easy to do. as well you can start your own site that exposes MORmONISM.