"a chore" was may thought as well. Think of the activities and quality time she could be having with her children if they didn't have to be in church for 3 hours.
The church is hardest on the people who take what the church says and look for those flaws in themselves. The one who thrive, look for those flaws in others.
Oh, I remember living that life--where Satan was out to get me all the time. And it's because I was like this woman. I was trying to convince myself that he wanted to take me down because I was so important. For some reason. Even though I didn't know why. Oh yea, that's right, because I'm raising children. If he gets me, he gets my kids.
So when things frustrated me, as they do her, when I hated church, when the temple seemed like total nonsense, when I wanted out of the buttugly underwear, when having so many small kids kept me on the brink of insanity, and a million other things...it was not my bullshit detector going off and telling me that the things I was feeling were normal and good. It was good ol Satan, my constant companion, trying to take me down.
Oh, the freedom of being able to say, "Solong Satan, ol buddy, ol pal, I have to send you the way of Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny, time to grow up." I never even think of that prospect anymore, so reading this stuff just makes me laugh and want to cry at the same time. You just want to hug her and say, "it's ok honey. There is no Satan. Take the kiddies and go home. They're not saying anything they don't feel every Sunday. You hate it because it's stupid and meaningless and you don't have to feel guilty because you detect that." Poor girl.
When I stopped believing in Satan, "he" became the empty symbol he actually is. I've told my kids there's enough evil being done by humans--or enough potential in humans for evil, that we don't need to blame someone who doesn't exist.
Am I doing immoral things now that I don't believe in him? No. Well, unless you count drinking coffee . . .
If she had taken her kids and spent time with them, instead of shuffling them off to their classes, she would have had a wonderful, memorable day.
Nope, instead she went home and wrote a post talking about how pathetic, lonely, and sad she is. She thinks satan is the one making her feel that way. Nope. It's church. Guilt, shame, fear. Over and over.
The amazing thing about Satan is how he seems to lose all of his power when you stop believing he exists. It's almost as if it were an imaginary phantom in your head the whole time! Mormons have beautiful minds I think.
I remember one day long ago, even before i left the church or even thot i COULD leave the church, i told the god/satan on my shoulders that they'd have to have their 'fight' over control of the universe somewhere else. I'm not their pawn anymore. That got rid of a lot of guilt. I felt free-er. I just didn't want to play anymore. That whole idea just made me feel useless.
This fear is what young women leaders instill in the minds of young women during lessons & testimonies. Every lesson includes some sort of sick & twisted warning about Satan. A YW president in our ward who went to the podium during a Young women's program and started screaming at the top of her voice "Satan is after you!!! Satan is after you" !!!
I decided YW was a mentally unhealthy place for anyone to be. I checked out the manuals and decided that in order to be a really good mom (queenly, if you will) I needed to lose this devil worship the YW program is so into. It is a very bad thing for developing teens & especially damaging to kids who are predisposed to mental illness.
It is mentally unhealthy for children to think there is an unseen force after them to do them harm. I keep reteaching this to my kids because their mormon friends are so obsessed with this kind of thinking.
I'm going to tell my children, "There is nothing that is just out there trying to get you. Well, ok there is...but it's not magic and all it wants is 10% of your income."
Deja-vu. Mormons have a HUGE preoccupation with satan. I recall a lesson on the "reality" of satan. It basically means that while you have a "personal relationaship with Jesus", you also have a personal relationship with satan. He is always working, 24/7/365, all your life, to methodically bring you down. When you start having depression and doubt it's because you're letting satan get to you. And, if satan gets to you, ultimately it's because you sinned... ...Therefore, it's your own fault. If you'd only "keep the commandments" (which are a litany of trite man-made and inconsistent rituals), you'd be above satan.
As if.
satan is just a bullshit excuse for evil, while the real reasons go unrecognized...and untreated.
And, they throw the baby out with the bathwater...because of satan you have to be ultra-wary, and mormons are very sensitive to sudden appearances of numerous satan-taboos.
"Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." ... Matthew 11:28 >> New International Version
Why doesnt she consider another faith system or church that doesnt seem like a burden.
Your posting is disturbing. It’s not the devil whispering in your ear, it’s logic. The LDS church is mundane and repetitive because it lacks substance. Listen to your mind.
You thought, “That’s the devil tempting me.” Where, exactly, does that thought come from? Are you born with that? Are you born with the ability and desire to discern between your own rational thoughts and devilish control? No. Yes you’re born with rational thought, but you’re not born with thoughts of the devil. You’re taught that. Let me repeat that: you’re taught to think the devil is tempting you. Why? Because church leaders, whether for their own aggrandizing purposes or by mistake as well-meaning elders, instill fear in you, make you want to grip something that feels better. That’s the church.
The church makes you feel good, but it’s not everything you think it is. The church lies to you and me daily. Look at the newspaper. The LDS public relations department states that the LDS church doesn’t accpet or teach discrimination against blacks. No one knows where the teaching came from. Professor Bott at BYU definitely taught falsities when he said blacks are from the lineage of Cain.
Know what? That’s precisely what I was taught at the MTC and what I taught on my mission for 2 years. Why the change? Why the denial. Answer: because the church is run by well-intented men, not by inspiration. God doesn’t care about organization and priesthoods and whether your temple garments are higher than your knee or whether you watch TV on Sunday.
Another one: Joseph Smith bedded 33+ women including 14 yr old Fanny Alger and much older Eliza R Snow, the writer of hymn “O My Father”. The church doesn’t teach this. Why? That’s really the question, why? Why would the church intentionally hide facts from its members? If we have the true and everlasting gospel, why would the truth trouble us?
It wouldn’t. The church tells white lies, it wants to keep you in the fold, it wants you to defend it and support it (financially and otherwise). It feels good to be part of the mainstream. You’re in Utah, right? Feels good, don’t it?
Problem is, it’s false. And your mind tells you it’s false, but the mind control the LDS church exerts on you has you dismissing your own ability to form thought and reason with yourself. You dismiss it as a nebulous satanic force.
Instead of spending a couple of hours alone with your dear children, you spent time mindlessly learning about repentance while your kids pined to be outdoors on a gorgeous spring day. Shouldn’t you just have spent time with them? Isn’t it about time?
I knew Michelle in High School and dated her early in our College life. Michelle is very talented and has a beautiful family. It troubles me a bit to see her lay blame to Satan for a very normal, rational thought about not wanting to be in church. I know her to be very "cerebral" and I'm sure she finds it difficult to make her head and heart jive. She is very intelligent and is just reverting to the mormon coping mechanism of suggesting that Satan must be working overtime on her in that particular moment. Unfortunately for her, and all others in that situation, she won't cave in and find another way to spend time on a unique Sunday. If she did, she would see that it's ok to do.
I'm sure Michelle has had to struggle immensely knowing how "thinking" she is. She has also witnessed many of her friends from growing up leave the church and I'm sure she struggles with that also. She's a smart girl and I believe, will figure it all out given time and courage...