Dh had a discussion about the new polygamy essay with his TBM mother, asking her what she thought of JS marrying teens and other husband's wives. She said it didn't matter, then proceeded to bear her testimony, admonished him to hold to the rod, and told him if he had anger about this he should talk to his bishop.
His intent, though, wasn't to stir her up about it. He genuinely wanted to know if she had heard of his many wives and what she thought about the church releasing this essay.
We had had a discussion about whether or not TBMs had heard of these issues and whether or not this essay would be the first some of them had ever heard of these facts.
She claimed that she had heard about it over the years, then went on to spew drivel like 'it will all be revealed in the lords time/you just have to have faith/JS was a prophet of god blah blah blah'.
We ignore her for the most part, in fact she downright amuses us. The bit about go talk to your bishop was pretty funny seeing as how we told her we don't believe and haven't been to church in nearly a year.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/24/2014 12:01AM by twistedsister.
You probably don't want a confrontation, but it would be interesting to really sit her down and humanize the women and others involved. I mean, can she really look you in the eye and say that she would give her 14 y/o daughter to the prophet? Or herself? That's what it took for me... I had found out about the polyandry... it didn't fully compute until I sat down to think about it and say to myself, "you know, I'm NOT ok with this". That's when the shelf fell.
We actually did that. We have a 14 yr old daughter "a few months from her 15th birthday". Dh told his mother if a 38 year old man came to him and told him god wanted (daughter's name) to be his wife, that he'd kick the guy's ass. She thought that was funny. The thing is she's in so deep. She has an excuse for everything. At the very beginning of the conversation, she told dh that if the prophet instituted polygamy again she'd have no problem with that whatsoever, that she'd be happy to comply. Whenever she is confronted with ugly truths, she says the usual mormon crap about having faith, the mysteries will be revealed in the millennium, that she is focused on her eternal progression etc etc. She always bears her testimony too and tells us god has a plan for us and loves us and will not lead us astray or lie to us. The woman is not just drinking the Kool aid, she's marinating in it.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/24/2014 12:46AM by twistedsister.
I still think it's weird, though, that so many younger Mormons don't even know about it. Out in the "mission field" where I grew up, it was common knowledge among non-Mormons. I remember my dad talking about it when I was just a little kid.
My mother would care a LOT I think, but I don't think I have the heart to tell her about it. She's 82 and her mind is pretty good, but . . .
It's hard to decide whether it's better to leave her in peace in her fantasy view of the church, or begin to share the truth with her because it IS the truth.
Leave her in peace. Leaving the church was very hard; the emotional toll was very heavy the first few months out. Let her believe the fairy tales and live out the rest of her life in peace.