I'm meeting with the bishop and I need to go in there prepared. It's a whole other story but I'm sure my bishop's testimony is seriously lacking and I would love to be able to hit him with some hard facts about the church. I know the church is not true but I have trouble explaining to people why. So I'd love a comprehensive explanation of why the church isn't true, if that's possible.

Thank you x

Mormonism is all based and founded in lies, and why should I serve a Church I have come to realize is based on a fraud?

Mormonism requires that I BELIEVE, which I don’t. Why then, would I give a bunch of con-men this kind of power and authority over me? Why should I make the sacrifices membership in the Church requires? Working for free by doing any and all jobs, tasks or janitorial services the assigned to me, paying 10% of my income and I am also required to have a testimony and go out and tell others I believe this hooey and try to recruit new members.

It’s just not true and I won’t do it.

Joseph Smith was a con-man/liar, and all his claims are false.
Brigham Young was more like a Mob boss than a man of God.
There is no restored Priesthood.
These men who claim to speak to and for God are lying, they are just CEO’s running a very profitable tax-free business, it’s in their best interest to keep up this fraud because they benefit from it. It feeds their ego and makes them rich. Nuf said!

What real Prophecy have they ever made that has actually benefited anyone or saved lives?
Oh, the lame proclamation to the Family they pass off as Prophecy, really!

Did they call Hurricane Katrina, NOPE, did they call the Tsunamis’ in India and Japan, NOPE. Have they ever called anything that actually saved lives and proved that they have divine knowledge. NO!!!!!

Therefore all the claims to being the only God authorized, Priesthood restored Church with living Prophets is just a lot of hooey.

I know that the facts along with the true history of the Church, not the white washed one taught in our classes, support my position that the church is based on lies.

So Bishop, why would I serve this organization?

I like this web site because I think it sums it up pretty well:

http://20truths.info/

Also, this site has good information on Joseph Smith's extramarital activities:

http://www.wivesofjosephsmith.org/


On a more personal note: Don't bother trying to convince someone the church isn't "true" because you're just wasting your time. If they want information about the truth then point them in the right direction and let them take care of the rest themselves. Otherwise, it's like teaching a pig to sing. It wastes your time and it annoys the pig.

If you don't want anything more to do with the church then tell the bishop you're done and want your name removed from their membership rolls and go on with your life.

Good luck to you.

The best advice that I can give is - don't meet with the Bishop. Just say no thanks.

Stumbling Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The best advice that I can give is - don't meet
> with the Bishop. Just say no thanks.

YUP!

the instant you set foot on his turf, you have acknowledged and validated his ill founded authority.
If he really need to talk to you, then he can come to your place, then you have the option of saying yes or no,
and if you do speak to him, he can do it while he's doing something useful & practical like washing your car! as opposed to typical stupid LDS crap like baptizing dead ppl or quoting LDs BS.

The best statement you can make to the Bishop is that you no longer believe and you want out. You should only do this if you care about the guy as a person. Otherwise, you should just give them the cold shoulder.

I left by walking out the door and not going back. I just stopped going. It seemed sudden, but it had been brewing in my head for a long time and then hit the top.

You don't owe them an explanation, a letter, anything. If you have a calling, it would be polite to tell them you won't be doing it any more, but not necessary.

As for convincing the Bishop, facts don't matter to Mormons. Half of belief is emotion and if he is still emotionally tied to LDS, Inc., then you are wasting your time. If you come across as trying to convince yourself, he will see it as a sign you need help and will start the love bombing campaign.

They don't want the facts, they want fuzzy feel good stuff about heaven and salvation and how wonderful the Church is and how smart they are for 'knowing' it.

They really do break their arms patting themselves on the back for being so smart for being Mormon.

Did he set it up or did you?

The church attempts to perpetrate things against you that you would never tolerate from another human being.

1. Claims to know what you need even if you don't think you need it, and chastises you if you stand up for yourself about it.
2. It asks for your complete and unquestioning trust, but doesn't trust you (worthiness interviews and other practices to keep you in check).
3. It doesn't share its "sins" with you but expects you to tell it EVERYTHING.
4. It wants you to turn your 12 year old over to men so they can be asked about their sex lives and masturbation.

That's just to name a few. And you don't even have to get into discussions about history.

+1

Bishop,

I didn't want to come here today, but I would be ungrateful if I did not sit here and tell you, my Bishop, that...(suppress tears)

I know this church is not true.

I know Joseph Smith is not a true prophet of God.

I know we do not have a living prophet today in Tom Monson.

The Holy Spirit has born witness to me of these truths.

In the name of all that is good and holy.

Bishop, if you would like to know more about the truth behind my words, you too can inquire for yourself, like I did. All that is required is a sincere heart, an open mind and laptop.


Anagrammy

+1 Love it.

Since you set the meeting up yourself you might just pull up some stuff off FARMS or some other church apologist website and go over the things they say and how it just doesn't make sense to you. Encourage him to research the site himself. If he's questioning the church as well he'll find the answers less than satisfactory and eventually start looking for an explanation that makes sense. Leave your notes with him when you leave.

I set up the meeting, and to be honest as weird as this may sound I'm excited to go and set the record straight. I don't want him or others to think that I've left the church because I'm simply being a rebellious teenager. I want him to know that I know the truth and maybe I can plant a few seeds in the process who knows ;)

Its pointless to bring it up. Just say you have found facts that have shown you the light and the truth has set you free.

If they want the facts, give them a URL to one of the websites like mormonthink or something and they can do the leg work.

Bottomline, they wont hear you. They will just say your influenced by the devil.

When I saw my bishop, he sat far away from me and closed up on the subject even before we started talking about it. I thought it was unusual. He must have had many conversations like that. At any rate, I could tell from his responses that he knows the church is false but is chosing to follow for whatever reason. Good for him. If that is how he wants to spend his small time on this planet, enjoy it.

As for me, I rather find the real truth of our existence. I want to really know our origin. I am not looking for a Peter Pan story and chant "I do believe in fairies, I do, I do".

There is an answer out there and there is nothing wrong in searching for it. If the LDS church is true, then that truth will lead you back to the LDS church. Otherwise, why worry, just keep being true to yourself and seek truth. Nothing wrong with being objective in seeking truth.

Well, if you've decided to go...get the Bishop to explain why no Egyptologist (not a single one) agree's with Joseph Smiths translation of facsimilie number 3.

+1

Why give them the athority to dump guilt on you? Somehow people live good and productive lives without being mormons.

Yaknow, I'm never quite sure why people here feel the need to go at the Bishop's behest in the first place. If all you plan on doing is beating him up with good facts about the church being bullshit, why not just say "no, thank you" and be done with it?

Total waste of time. When was the last time anyone made any headway with a bishop telling him why the church isn't true?

Just wonderin'...

Ron

Well...there was that one time...at band camp that...errr nevermind, we won't go there.

"It is useless to try to reason a man out of something he was never reasoned into"

Johnathan Swift

Be careful.

If it were me (actually I probably wouldn't bother going) I'd simply say that facts clearly verify that Joseph Smith was a fraud and the Book of Mormon is fiction. It is not your responsibility to provide the proof for him. If he really wants the truth (which he probably doesn't)it should be his responsibility to study it out for himself as you did.

At this point you merely point out that you have always been told that if Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon are not true then the church isn't true and you want out of it. Then mention that no amount of praying, fasting or reading a phony book can turn a lie into the truth.

If it starts turning sour you can just smile and say "thanks for your opinion" and leave when he gives you his testimony and/or condemnation.


Mention that if he has facts and not opinion you will be glad to talk to him another time but at this point the conversation isn't going anywhere.

If he's a sweet,nice guy you may want to just talk a bit and thank him for his concern and let him know you respect his views but you need to be true to yourself. Give him a smile and excuse yourself. You have no obligation to even sit there and be told anything. You are doing him a favor by even showing up. Game over. Good luck.