In my own experience, the ultra-TBMs in the family are the ones most afraid of dying.

And afraid of losing their eternal family
And afraid of disapproval of fellow ward members
And afraid of Mexicans
And afraid of gays
And afraid of not having enough food storage
And afraid of being stopped for speeding, even though they drive 10 miles under the speed limit
And afraid of Democrats.

Come to think of it, there is not much they are not afraid of.

They are pretty sure they are getting a planet, but try not to think about the whole polygamy side bar on that story.

I was too scared to leave. I should have left long before I did. It was after I studied the history and realized that it absolutely wasn't true, that I lost my fear completely and was ready to leave.

TBM's are terrified of dying. I think when GBH was getting cancer treatments at the age of 97 -while allegedly hanging with jesus h. christ himself- speaks loudly about how much they really believe this crap.

I think the most comforting thing I have heard about dying, from a pastoral sense, ironically came from Christopher Hitchens when he stated "Do not fear death you will not know it when it happens" And for what it is worth, Mr Hitchens is currently dead.

I don't think they are happy, they're just 'happy'. They are terrified of the unknown. They want to feel they have control over their lives and what happens after.

I had to get over my fear too. Mine was more of a fear of being wrong and messing up everything. I had to be absolutely convinced I wasn't wrong before I was able to cut ties. I'm so grateful to all of you who post the truth on the internet, help me find the posts, discuss the findings so they make sense ... everything you all do. And what's amazing is you all do it just to help others get free. You aren't going to make a million dollars or win a free Hawaiian vacation. It's actual service not just from the people here but all the websites and work and research and time given to help others get free of Mormonism.

Weirdly enough, the other thing that helped me overcome my fear is watching how Mormons behaved when I had questions. Soon my fear of becoming like that, closed-minded and judgmental and narrow in being focused only on Mormonism, became greater than my fear of making a mistake. Not all Mormons are like that but I saw how many of them were with my own eyes and it helped me get over being afraid of eternal consequences of leaving Mormonism because the eternal consequences of staying Mormon seemed so much worse.

If you are being controlled by fear, you aren't happy about anything other than having your fears soothed. The real happiness comes from being authentic to your true self and developing faith in your ability to make sense of the world - to make it through life being able to count on yourself. Not from kowtowing to a master that promises to care for you in exchange for your obedience and your slavery.

You take that one little step and you become a stan worshiper, a pervert, a drunk, etc., etc.

They have hung their belief system on a number of ideals that only exist if they believe in Mormonism. They are afraid that if those ideas are wrong their whole life, and possibly family, will fall apart. They have often invested a lifetime pursuing one single road. Human nature is to hold onto the familiar and stick with the status quo. Heck, yes, they are scared. Where does one go if he has been told the rest of the world is wrong and evil? They may sense or suspect that something is not right with Mormonism but the alternative is very frighting because they have no idea what the alternative would be. I think this is even more true the older the Mormon is.

Since they live in constant fear of devils and evaporating testimonies, and they eat tranquilizers like skittles, I'm gonna say that genuine, relaxed happiness is probably a stranger to them.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/02/2013 07:23PM by donbagley.