I know I did. I lied several times to get temple recommends. I used to feel pretty guilty about it, but I knew that was better than the public humiliation I would have experienced if I was declared "unworthy" to go on a temple trip or pass the sacrament.

I figure this is pretty common in the Morg, although almost no active member would ever admit it. So I thought I'd ask here instead.

I did. Just to see if he really had the power of discernment.

He didn't.

Ha ha! Good point! I remember my mom once told never to bother lying to the bishop, because God would tell him whether or not I was telling the truth. I secretly found that rather odd since, at the time, the only reason I had a temple recommend was because I had lied.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/08/2013 07:05PM by nickname.

"I did. Just to see if he really had the power of discernment.

He didn't."

I did it like I did to test wether my parents were Santa Claus or not. I ran my own "proof" past my parents like I did my Bishop later.

Same results. I was lied to by them and I was expected to continue to lie.

As a TBM I remember being shocked to my core when one of the active BIC members' child at the tender age of eleven said "Everybody lies". Of course! In his Mormon world everybody did!

Too bad he never lived outside of the Morrider long enough to meet people who don't make lying and deception their entire way of life.


And in the words of my daughters RM friend when she was shocked at what her fellow YW had done in HS and she didn't; he asked her "What church did you belong to?"

I lied to the bishop every single interview. Those interviews were the creepiest and most awkward thing I've EVER had to go through, and there was no way I was going to talk about porn with some old stranger. He always thought I was so perfect and diligent, and I was always thought he was so gullible.

Everyone I knew lied. I couldn't imagine admitting to beating off to some weirdo.

What did they do to you if you were (gasp) honest and admitted to it? I can't imagine how I would have reacted.

Fucking cult.

I lied to 2 bishops. When I became a Deacon and when I went for dead-dunking.

Been lying ever since........

I lied to the bishop every time...always lied.

I answered those questions exactly like they wanted me to. Most of them were none of his business.

What is interesting is that members find it necessary to lie. In the Book of Acts, two people get struck dead for lying about whether they gave what they said they did. If TSCC were true, we would all be dead. Just another proof of the fraud.

I haven't because I was just not smart enough.

Yes to the bishop and let's not forget the stake presidency. I was an equal opportunity liar when it came to interviews. And when I look back on it, I feel more remote for the times I was truthful with them.

Any male under 40 (at least) lies about spanking his monkey. There are two types of guys: Those who masterbate and those who lie about it.

Ironically, the only time I was asked about that, I told the truth and virtually laughed at the bishop! And that was after 32 years not being asked - never thinking it was included in the general question. LOL.

yup, pretty much lied every time

Throughout my morgship, I was honest and didn't lie, but I was kinda pissed off when my last bishop went ballistic because I told him my faith was wavering.

No wonder you guys lied; you knew the bishop couldn't deal with conflict. By opening up, I gave him more credit than he deserved.

My stake president called me a liar when I told him that I had no idea why I was ex'd back in 1980. I really didn't.

I told him I wasn't a liar. I never got ex'd for lying.
I then told him he is a jerk, and he could go to hell. That's the last time I talked to him.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/08/2013 10:39PM by mia.

Every interview, PH, TR, mission, etc from age 14-41 I lied about spanking the monkey. I have no idea how many times that makes. Maybe somebody could do the math.

When I was a teacher I told my bishop about my spanking of the monkey (as it was so aptly put). I got tires of trying to fix it, lied, ended up going to the temple a week later. The power of discernment was strong in my bishop indeed... (*sarcasm*)

Bluman, my parents taught me that I could never truly love another until I learned to love myself. I really really really took that to heart as a teenager.

My first Bishop, in the working world, inferred I wasn't paying a full tithing. I told him if he believed that he could release me as his counselor! That was the last time he brought that subject up!

I used to lie to the Bishop. Now I would look him in the eye, and tell him exactly what I think. I think they would prefer the days when I lied to them.

I know my sister-in-law did to get her temple recommend so she can get married in the temple. My wife told me about how she used to "talk sex" with her sister while she was dating her now-husband, and how she described in detail her husband's "certain part of the male anatomy" being thicker than a Coke can.

I have a question...if you were married outside of the temple and go through the Temple Recommend interview a year later, does the Bishop count sex you had in that 1-year time period as extramarital? Or does it depend if your Bishop's a prick or not?

...thicker than a COKE CAN??? My legs just snapped shut like a bear trap.

I'm sure she was exaggerating. She loves to do that.

I laughed at the thought of the beartrap, though.

No, it's not extramarital sex. You are married in the eyes of the law, and in the eyes of the church "for time only." Being sealed is related to eternity, but it doesn't make you more legally married or anything.

I didn't consider it lying, but sometimes when they asked about the law of chastity, or if they phrased it as being "morally clean," I conveniently left out the details of wanking it. I think I did that once or twice. I also tried to water down the "severity" of the wanks once or twice. But I was uncomfortable with outright lying. Later on, I became a veteran confessor. Every single BYU bishop got the same ol' confession about wanking and gay porn every year. I was so proud that at least I could be honest. If only I could have been brutally honest with myself and taken a good look at the exploitation of my good intentions that was really going on. I could have gone somewhere else and done something else and been happy about being honest.

I think the list of people who didn't lie is probably shorter than the list of people who did.

You know - I always believed that I am the only one, who lies ,but it seems everyone lies in these interviews.

Of course I lied. I went to the temple "unworthy" every damn time I went.

I even tested the temple workers and made up this whole big story about a certain "vision" I "received" in the temple...I do feel bad about deceiving people, but I wanted to see if they could really peer into my soul. They all believed me and to this day, my made up story is in the logs at that temple as a faith-promoting story of the 'spiritual experience' one can have in the temple.

The more morbid side of me really wishes I had a copy of it, because it would be hilarious to have proof that I was able to deceive a certain Apostle at the grand age of 12.

Lying to get a recommend is very common here in Atlantic Canada.

Years ago when I was a card carrying member of this group.I worked hard (too hard) to obtain my TR but would always question to myself how others would easily get a TR when I knew they were not living up to standards imposed. Stupid me.

Much years later I was shown how to answer these TR questions with no questions asked. It was explained to me that all these questions can be interpreted two ways much like a legal document.

It was at this point that I really started to question the integrety of this organization.

Recently someone very close to me wanted to get a TR to witness close relatives being married within these temple walls.

It was an interesting exercise to note that things have not changed over the years.

This person was close to the leadership who did the interviewing and they were able to come out of the interview with a TR even though the person was absolutely "NOT LIVING SO CALLED GOSPEL RULES". Not a bad person by any standard just not marching to the beat of the LDS drum.

But to their credit this person used the system to accomplish what they wanted so more power to them for getting a step ahead of this bunch and seeing the relatives married within that temple.

No no no no, I never masturbated or touched a girl's boobs. Not me.

I only remember telling one lie to get my temple recommend. The question about "do you associate, support.....blah,blah,blah....with any anti-Mormon individuals or organizations?" I'm not quoting exactly but almost my entire family was Anti-Mormon. Only three of us joined Mormonism. It was anti-Mormons who were raising me, supporting me, and paying my tuition to BYU! As anti as my family was they still gave me my free agency to make my own decisions and didn't use guilt, intimidation, or shame to try to influence me against the church. They only pointed out the negatives, bad history, and flaws. That's more than I can say for LDS, Inc. Intimidation, guilt, and denial are their chief tools for controlling the membership.

LDSinc teaches you to lie. They may preach honesty but the net effect of probing intrusive questions is to get you to a point where you can say what they want to hear, with a straight face, and walk away with that recommend or calling. Most of us had times of truth telling that left our self esteem in pieces, and human beings are just not capable of continuing along that path for very long. Once we have been thoroughly indoctrinated, manipulated into lying to survive, then, and only then are we ready to "Lie for the Lord".

There is no need to lie to the bishop when he asks you:

"Do you have any trouble with masturbation?"

Answer:

"Well, thanks for asking. No. I don't have any trouble masturbating. In fact, I'm quite good at it."

I went to the salt lake temple many times for necrodunking and never had to have an interview or get a recommend.

Just shows you that they make it up as they go along.