We are told by church authorities that when a testimony is not nourished, it eventually dies.

What is a testimony? KNOWING something firsthand.

Testimony meetings? Scripture reading? Prayers? Nah...Think about this:

If you KNOW something, you don't need to do anything, you just know already.

"Nourishing your testimony" is, in my opinion, pure self-delusion.

Heck, if I witness an accident, I know it happened. I don't need to "nourish my testimony" to keep this knowledge.

So true.

I don't have to read a book every single day to remember how to get up get dressed and take a shower. If I never talk about it, I don't forget. It's something I know.

I learned a lot of things throughout life. Very few things do I have to read up on every now and again. I certainly don't need some old man across the country constantly reminding me to read up on the things I know. I also don't need to give a run down to my friends every 30 days either.

It's called indoctrination. Brainwashing (more like braindirtying). All good cults do it.

I don't need to constantly work to KNOW I love my kids. Yes, I do have to work at having a good relationship with them and making sure their needs are met and that they are happy and healthy. I work at that daily but I don't have to strengthen my testimony that I love them. I don't have to pray about loving them or read books on how to love your kids. I saw their little faces and just fell in love with them and there is no chance ever I'll stop. I don't even have to think about it. Watching them grow into their own amazing selves has been wonderful but it hasn't increased my knowledge that I love them. I've always loved them and I always will.

When you know something is true, you don't have to fight every day to hang on to that knowledge ...

I certainly don't need to nourish my testimony that the Church is a fraud. Once known, it's known for life.

Like it!

"when a testimony is not nourished, it eventually dies."

Also known as "coming out of a trance."

Let's face it, it's a lot of work to keep believing in something which is becoming more obviously untrue each day.


Anagrammy

I was once the sole witness to an accident. If you asked me about it today I could still give you the details.

Unlike a Mormon testimony, this type of testimony must not be nourished! Constant reminders from outsider sources tend to cloud the memory and create conflict with the original details.

A Mormon testimony is about the leaders, and what you are told to believe at any given time. Just try sharing your testimony of the time you personally knew that the prophet was right about the reasons that Black People could not hold the Priesthood, or the time the church invited your own mother to ride a bus to the ERA protests.

Todays Mormon testimony has been given to members- JSjr was a prophet, the current profit is, and the church is true. It wasn't that many years ago that it was given from the top that a testimony was not a travelogue or personal experiences, but a simple statement that the church is true, and those other two things.

http://www.lds.org/ensign/2005/10/bearing-testimony?lang=eng

“This young elder was different somehow. Anxious not to spend an extra second on his feet, he said simply, in hurried, frightened words, ‘I know that God lives. I know that Jesus is the Christ. I know that we have a prophet of God leading the Church. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.’

“This was a testimony. It was not just an experience nor an expression of gratitude. It was a declaration, a witness!

“Most of the elders had said ‘I have a testimony,’ but they had not declared it. This young elder had, in a very few words, delivered his testimony—direct, basic, and, as it turned out, powerful.

“I then knew what was wrong in the mission. We were telling stories, expressing gratitude, admitting that we had testimonies, but we were not bearing them.” 2


That is not a testimony. That is what is called a testimonial. It's a mantra, and the most important thing in the world is that you can repeat it convincingly.

A testimony in the church is _not_ that definition of a testimony. In the real world, yes, testimony means you know something is true because you witnessed it. In the church, a testimony is a statement of desired beliefs that one knows to be true because someone else knows they're true, because of confirmation bias, and because of feelings. That kind of testimony, like others have said, fades unless the confirmation bias and interest remain vigilant.

Great post.

You have hit EXACTLY on something that has been rumbling around in my brain for a while: Why do people have to WORK to keep their "testimonies," and more, what the heck is a "testimony" in any case?

"Testimony" is a term used by TSCC to try to make a statement sound more serious than it is. The real fact is, NO ONE can "know" TSCC is true, because it isn't. But they figure when they call it a "testimony" it takes on a gravity that makes people pause and say "Oh my, that must be REALLY true."

The lds church misuses words, testimony being one of them. Mormon testimonies are more like the testimonials seen on infomercials.

Your screen name made me laugh, that's exactly how I feel for having been duped into mormonism. LOL



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/25/2013 03:55PM by deconverted2010.

a !!!>LOT<!!! of words!

With all this talk of nourishment, can we please have some loins here? Really now folks, we need loins. Come on.

"I didn't know people had loins! I've heard of loin of pork..." Rose Nylund, The Golden Girls

At 2:50, lol https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M0kb0unlf0

If you know its true, no need to nourish.
If you just believe its true you have to keep proving it to keep believing it.