An ex-Mormon attempting to talk sense to a Mormon is like talking English to a Swahili. Mormon thinking re-loops on itself without the benefit of reason. Your best shot is to bear your testimony at them just as they do at you. It is a form of mockery. There is a chance they might see how empty the gesture is and think about it. 



Bearing one’s testimony or witness is a conditioned response to re-affirm a traditional believe and/or a defense mechanism that breaks the thread of reason being subjected on them by another person.

Attempting to push a different way of life on someone is dangerous and should only be done by a professional. It must take place by leading not pushing.

Our responsibility is to wait until something catastrophic happens to them that changes their thought processing. 



Keep in mind we are talking about deep cultural conditioning. If you remove a belief value from someone what do you replace it with? Birth cultural conditioning is nothing to trifle with. You cannot leave a person empty of a behavioral compass. You burn his/her map how do they navigate the storms and waters of everyday life? And the collateral damage -- lose of family and friends -- can be staggering. A professional knows to watch for signs of suicide.



Yes. It is that serious.

I can personally attest to that, even though I am happy now and willingly left, I did have a lot of problems with suicidal thinking.

I agree wholeheartedly. Although I was the one to knock my own wall/shelf down, it completely destroyed my identity and sense of self. I waded through the next few months feeling as though I had no purpose or direction and was frequently had trouble with suicidal thoughts. I understand how dangerous forcing a new lifestyle onto someone can be, especially a TBM. In many cases, tscc controls every aspect of one's life and identity, to the point where it's impossible (and this was true in my case) to distinguish self from church.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/17/2014 03:56PM by msp.

That certainly wasn't my experience.
My wife and 6 kids all left together. Yes, we lost friends, but quickly gained others. TBM family was distraught--some won't talk religion with us to this day, but, we do get along well otherwise.
I thank, from the bottom of my heart, those who planted seeds of doubt sprinkled throughout our 50 years of activity. Without those seeds we would likely still be ensconced in that cult.

Sorry.
I left out the important point:

"Pushing most ANYTHING on someone else against their will is obviously a bad thing."

However, failing to plant a seed of doubt when appropriate, is a SIN--IMO!

I've never thought about it that way. Interesting.

They have tuberculosis?