A Mormon shows up to ask granny for her grandson's address. Why? "We just need it for our records.

Someone claiming to be a Mormon phones a parent to say they've lost their daughter's address. "Why do you need it? To harass or bother her when she's busy?"

"Oh no. We need it for our records."

An inactive moves and doesn't tell any Mormon where they're going. A search ensues and they tell the landlady with the deposit check.

"We need the whereabouts. It's just for our records."

Here's the reality. The Mormon church "needs" no information on anyone unless they willingly hand it over to show they want to be kept in the Mormon loop.

There is no legitimate reason for the morg to have contact information on 1000s of former members who have quit and want to be left alone.

Why does the church "want" this information? Here are possible reasons:

1. They want to hound them and catch them in crisis in hopes of luring them back.

2. They like the power and control of knowing where former members are and knowing they can step in and intimidate them if they choose.

3. They think everyone who has been blessed, baptized or participated is under their jurisdiction. Any or all of them might return and swell the church's numbers and power.

4. A few toadies think these "lost souls" actually need "help" of some kind from the church they're trying to avoid.

5. Two or three lowly members might think these "sheep" want the attention because they have nothing much going for themselves except that they used to be Mormons.

In truth Mormons might need white bread, water, ward houses, temples, and ugly underwear to practice their faith. They don't need my records.

Amen!

The RS president (someone I never met) called asking for my DD's contact info and was dumbfounded when I refused to give it to her. She kept repeating "but I'm from The Church". I kept repeating "I don't give out personal info to strangers". It took several repeats but she finally hung up in a huff.

You've just forewarned exmos to be aware and ready for these kinds of calls.

The person on the line might be telling the truth about who they are and that makes them pushy and intrusive. They might also be lying and wanting the info to do actual harm to someone.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/30/2014 05:37PM by Cheryl.

"Don't call us; we'll call you."


If I am looking to purchase a vacuum, brush, soap, herbs, religion, cell phone etc., I will give YOU a call.

Nothing worse than unsolicited calls

"Here, let me tell you what you can do with your records....."

I stop church people cold with this: (slip them the patriarchal grip if possible) What is this? Has it a name? I am an apostate. I am a son of perdition. If you are an endowed card carrier, you are not supposed to associate with me. Why do you want my contact information--is there a special file for the perpetually damned?

your own question: Can I have the names and addresses of YOUR children?

I bet that would shut them right up.

A number of years ago after I left the church and then moved without a forwarding address, they started trying to find my son. They called my oldest daughter, who was already an exmo. Apparently they hadn't updated their harassment list.

Anyway, DD said, "I'm sorry, but he is a minor."
Nice old lady: "Well, we just need to know a forwarding address."
DD: "What part of 'he is a minor' do you not understand?"
NOL: "This is just for church records only."
DD: "Ma'am, do you realize you are asking for personal identifying information about a minor child? If you give me your name and number where you can be contacted, I'll have Child Protective Services call you and discuss the information."
NOL: "Ummm. Have a nice day."

DD never got called again, but I know they didn't give up because for some reason soon after that, both his grandmothers were asking for our physical address. Not that they lived close enough to come visit us. I just kept saying, "you know we get our mail at a P.O. Box," and they'd stammer, thinking they were being so sneaky about why they "needed" the information.

I guess I am late coming to the party on this, but I just realized what bullies Mormons are. And I can characterize my spouse as one....we are supposed to visit his daughter soon...she has no interest in church....but I imagine that a good amount of his time with her will be spent trying to tell her she needs the church and all will be well...
I am going to call him on it. I have absolutely zero interest in tscc....he will not stop trying...but what about how I feel. They don't care, do they?

they assume the ends justify the means. They think they have to antagonize and bully to reach their goals and we'll thank them later. It's so disrespectful!

There is a precedent for the misuse of this information, in a horrible manner by the Third Reich.

There is a reason Germans do not allow genealogy to be taught in their primary schools.

...yes, all too true. Their meticulous record keeping led to many of the convictions at Nuremburg.

...In light of the discussions regarding the massive data mining occurring thruout Corporate America and the Military Industrial Complex, the Church is a treasure-trove of data for any Corporate or security-related operation. With the worlds largest family library, it is THE PLACE to go to "find someone." As is the case for any private sector venture, information is available....at a price.

Whose to say the Church hasn't profited from the sale of such info to interested parties?...to Utah-based MLM's, Bluffdale, J.P.Morgan/Goldman, Bain Capital.......plus a list like theirs provides a list of potential "donors" on death's door. You name it, they've probably figured out a profit-driven spin-off based on data collection........

This shows that while they claim that exmos can "leave the church, but not leave it alone" is a huge lie, as the opposite is really true. Exmos want to be left alone, but it's the CHURCH that won't leave them alone.

6. They might be seeking personal information in order to steal or attempt to steal an identity.

Isn't identity theft really the heart and core of Mormonism? Everyone wears the same underwear, the same color shirt and tie, dark pants sporting church approved haircut, mustache strongly discouraged and only a beard with a medical dispensation. Yeah, loads of individuality there!

Identity theft on many levels.

Information on people is power over them.

Some church guy called my exmo brother and asked for information about his daughter.

My brother said why don't you give me information about your daughter first?

"beard with a medical dispensation" - WTF? What is this?

Well dressed young woman knocked on my apt. door, said she was an Air Force invesigator who was doing a background check on the neighbor woman who had applied for a security clearance. I asked to see some I.D., she said she would get it from her car; got in and drove off. I recorded the license number. Was NOT a govt vehicle license. Called police reporting suspicious circumstances and told neighbor woman about it when she got home. Neighbor woman looked like she knew what was going on, but we didn't discuss further.

I won't discuss my neighbors with strangers.

I think the best answer to this question is - "He died in a car accident 2 months ago."

To provide context, Catholics who move to a new area are expected to visit their local church and voluntarily provide contact information should they wish to stay active. To the best of my knowledge Catholics are never traced, tracked down, nor harassed to come back in any way. No priest or other church representative will call them to come back or knock on their door.

Do you know those twice yearly "come home" advertisements that run on TV and radio? That is the official "we'd love to have you back" message from the Catholic church to inactive or less active members. Anyone raised Catholic knows that they are welcome back to church at any time whatsoever. But no official church representative will ever harass them about it.

This is the norm in the real world. People are made to feel welcome but are expected to find their own way to church.