My personality fits better with Mormons, in this sense: Mormons care about what the truth is. Exmormons also care about what the truth is. Many "Gentiles" really don't care. They're too busy smoking, drinking, partying, etc. to care. For example, I tried living with liberals, and they didn't talk about religion, or anti-religion. All they wanted was to play in their rock band. Somebody I used to work with was probably trying to avoid me today when I saw her. She seems uncomfortable with deep questions and just wants a drag on her cigarette. She is from Oregon. I met another person from Oregon once, a hotel clerk, and she rubbed me the wrong way. Oregon is one of the least religious states. My coworker from Oregon wrote on her facebook page that gay marriage is the only thing she is proud about living here. I'm open minded too, but it's hard to relate with liberal people.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/11/2014 10:45PM by behindcurtain.

All a small fraction of conservatives are also Mormon.

Oh my, they don't want to discuss religion OR anti-religion?????

Funny, sometimes I spend entire weekends forgetting to discuss fairies OR anti-fairies and Sasquatch OR anti-Sasquatch, but it gets really bad when I forget to discuss Psychics OR anti-Psychics! But forgetting to discuss Gold plates OR anti-Gold plates?? Inexcusable!!

Open-minded? Look up the definition.

Wow lemmie - bitchy much? Open-minded, according to The Free Dictionary is defined:

Receptive to new and different ideas or the opinions of others.

You don't have to agree with people who want to talk religion but plenty of people have an intellectual interest in the concept of religion, even if they don't believe in God or follow a religion. Your comment condemned you, according to your own instructions, as the close-minded one.

nonmormon does not equal liberal

I'm off to start my rock band.

Sign me up

Only fools take lessons.

Ever think that the truth is not in talking about religion but rather just living life to its fullest?

Asking people deep questions may be considered intrusive and confrontational. They may be interested in the truth, but not in being confronted by you.

Ha-ha-ha-ha! Your post made me laugh!

Lighten up, and have some fun! Smoking and drinking, or having deep religious discussions--these things are not fun. Learn to play tennis, or wind-surf, or climb volcanoes, or whatever they do in Oregon. There are so many choices! You need to read more, or go back to school.

Have you seen "Portlandia?" I was watching it, while my dentist was filling my tooth, and I laughed so hard, I had to change the channel.

Normal people - just your average people in the world - don't talk about religion. I went to lunch with the same group of women for 15 years and I didn't know what religion any of them was....I knew a lot about them....I knew about their sex lives, their kids, their hair, their jobs, their hobbies. I knew about their favorite vacation spots. But I didn't know their position on religion. Getting out of tscc is a huge opportunity to explore life.

♫♪ Free your mind....and the rest will follow. ♪♫

prostitute."

Yes, let's have a brief musical interlude. And Slash.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7iQbBbMAFE

I was born and raised in Oregon. I love it there, and would move back in a heart beat.

Religion isn't the first thing on most peoples minds. Usually, the people who want to talk religion are the people who think about it 24/7. Think about that for a minute.

There are so many things to do in Oregon. I'm surprised anyone goes to church.

I lived in Portland. Short drive to the ocean, the snow capped mountains, rivers to raft, and forests to explore. If that's not your thing there are deserts, hot springs, volcanic wonders,sand dunes, cities, towns, and windsurfing. In a way, those are all spiritual experiences.

I think I get where you're coming from. I look at the "nonmormon" world, and what I'm realizing is, there isn't necessarily a higher percentage of people I'll relate to out there than there than there are in the mormon world. I mean, finding a friend with whom you can talk "deep" things is a real treasure. People are people, wherever you are. What is cool though is, when you do find that kind of friend, there is a much wider variety of opinions and approaches "out there" than within the limits of religion.

Religion is considered impolite to talk about. If someone doesn't want to discuss religion, politics, or anything else and YOU keep bringing it up, YOU are the rude one. Not everyone is up for discussing what you consider "deep questions" and if you keep pushing it on people, they won't want to be around you.

As for living with liberals in rock bands? Musicians tend to be very passionate and involved with their work. You live in Provo, right? The counter-culture musical element has saved a lot of people's collective sanity out there- I know, because many of my friends are involved in the music scene out there.

From your previous complaints and posts about Happy Valley, it honestly sounds like you rub people the wrong way and the issue is you, not other people.

I drink. I also care about the truth. I'm sorry you haven't found someone who likes to party and who also fits your standard.

I've never really meshed well with Mormon crowds, active or ex. I haven't found their truths to be particularly enticing (or rational).

You'll find folks. Just keep on looking. :)

I agree with Itzpapalotl - religion is personal. Most people don't want to discuss it. That's why these exmo board are so great because sometimes you just need to vent - to talk about the problems with Mormonism or the damage Mormonism does to people spiritually, psychologically, physically etc. If you really miss religion, try the Unitarians or another non-denominational, low pressure church where you can talk philosophy and ponder the mysteries of the universe with like-minded people. One of my good friends is an atheist but loves her Unitarian church because she loves the intellectual discussions about different life philosophies and the community with other people who like exploring intellectual approaches to the whole idea of what makes a good life and what may or may not be out there. She says everyone gets to define what they believe about life while they explore other paths, just to learn. It could not be farther from Mormonism but might fill your needs for people who want to talk about deeper philosophies and are thinkers.

Love discussing philosophy, life, love, and the universe. Many CC exmos, however, are sick of discussing anything to do with TSCC. They spent their whole lives oppressed and surrounded by it and don't feel the need or want to discuss it. Many just want to have a good time and not have a buzzkill.

I feel like what you're really saying is that you want to be associating with people who have real and authentic conversations, and who care about things that actually matter in life and in the world, rather than 'things'.

It may just be the people you've met and the places you've been. Where I live in MN, there are plenty of liberals who care about 'truth', and having good conversations, and the world.

You're painting with a very broad brush. The Catholics that I grew up with and who were in my family loved to have deep, philosophical conversations. Why not sign up for some college courses in philosophy or religious philosophy? Those were some of my favorite courses in college.

Wait, let me get this straight... "mormons care about the

truth"? Tell me you were joking...... you were joking

right? Hahahahahhahahahahahahahha

Unless, you have full agreement, stay away from these topics in casual social settings or at work. Anyone who brings up these subjects is rude unless everyone present has bought into the idea that they want to talk about these issues.

Avoiding discussions of religion and politics does NOT mean anyone is shallow uncaring. It usually means they have good manners.

Recovering from a cult means learning to put it on the back burner if others are not comfortable talking about your issues.

Liberals are too busy smoking and drinking and playing in rock bands to care about truth?

What color is the sky on your planet?

To might be best in work environments to not discuss religion or politics!

IMO others outside of Mormonism do not understand the mindset of a religion occupying so large a part of one's community identity.

I so appreciate This forum. It is a great place to read others experiences, what they have learned and how they cope. There are many diverse opinions or suggestions shared with the comfort of not being face to face.

To find like minded people to discuss more enjoyable topics: maybe a shared hobby, a book reading group, community college class or a new faith community is something to look.

I like to check books, radio stations, blogs, forums and websites to check out some idea of what others believe in the subject of religion or philosophy.

Hope you can find a compatible confident to talk to.

Considering only about 25% of Americans smoke (males: 26.3, females 21.5) you seem to have connected with the wrong demographic.

It is generally impolite to discuss religion, politics, and money with people you don't know well. If all you ever want to do is have philosophical discussions about religion, it's no surprise no one is interested. I have known people for years and have no idea where they are in terms of their religious beliefs. I imagine the one coworker is avoiding you because you sound judgmental and critical and you try to force inappropriate discussion on her in the workplace. I would hazard a guess that you behave this way towards everyone, starting with the label "gentiles" and they are all shallow nit-wits who have no interests outside of drinking, smoking and partying. This is how Mormons behave and why people tend to avoid them. They don't want religion forced on them and they don't want to be around someone who thinks they are clearly inferior, horrible people. Good luck fitting in with that attitude.

I will try not to kill the thread...(walking the tightrope here..)

"I'm open minded too, but it's hard to relate with liberal people."

I feel for you. At times I feel the way...completely nonreligious though..

"Normal" people outside of the bubble know not to talk religion or politics. If you are meeting new, nonmormon people and diving into these 2 arenas, then they will get uncomfortable and not engage you. Once you make a good, close friend/confidante, then maybe you can engage with a political and religious discussion..

Realize also that ex mos here, many were raised in a all-encompassing social conservative lifestyle, so many learning their religious truths, naturally go to the other side for their moral (nonreligious) compass.

I have my reasons as to why liberalism as defined now does not work for me, but you need to understand where many others here came from.

nonmo_1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Realize also that ex mos here, many were raised in
> a all-encompassing social conservative lifestyle,
> so many learning their religious truths, naturally
> go to the other side for their moral
> (nonreligious) compass.


Or, one of the reasons they/we start questioning the church in the first place is that they/we are already incompatible with the dominant LDS conservatism.

point taken....YMMV...

As a religious, conservative Gentile, I can tell you that most people I know think of religion as a personal thing. I think a lot of people would be put off if a conversation steered to religion, unless it was a very broad topic like "Oh, did you see the news that the Mormons are building a temple in Philly across from the SS. Peter & Paul basilica?"

Talking about one's personal faith is something that would usually be done among family or close friends. We send our child to a religious school and the subject is a very infrequent topic among the parents.


And no, us Gentiles are not all out smoking, drinking and partying, either.

"Mormons care about what the truth is...."

Is this satire?

Mormons care about what they believe to be true, but actual truth and they call anti Mormon.

Geology, Biology, anthropology, astronomy, palentology.... all are anti mormon in their eyes when it shows what they believe to be in error.

Also why would anyone want to talk about religion when their is drinking, partying and smoking to be done? :P

It sounds like you've newly left the church.

Mormons, as a whole, are interested in the truth initially. It's the reason the vast majority will give as to why they are Mormon. But once they are confronted with anything that disputes that, you get to see who really is led by the truth and who isn't.

With anything else in life - like if we were to buy a house - if we initially thought it was the perfect house, but then we heard rumors, or someone gave us factual evidence against that claim, telling us to read about it, we would research it to find out if that house was worth us purchasing - if it was worth the hundreds of thousands of dollars to purchase it.

However, when most Mormons are confronted with ALL the truth, they aren't interested in it. Most won't research further to determine if they way they are living their WHOLE LIFE is based off of truth or not, even if someone presents it to them in a nice, easy to read letter. They are only interested in a very small portion of "truth" because it makes a pretty story for them to that is easy to believe.

So...that's my long way of saying, I would not blanket statement Mormons and say that they want the truth. They only want to believe it's the true church because someone told them so. They aren't TRULY interested in taking the appropriate steps to determine if their religion is true (as in, taking in ALL the evidence and info out there, and making a *truly* educated decision).

Even many of those that are convinced by the factual evidence against the truthfulness of the church, and no longer believe it to be truth, will still remain Mormon for other reasons - proving that "truth" is not what leads them.

I'd say exMormons are the most interested in truth...and some of the bravest people I know. It's hard to break away from something like the Mormon religion. :)

And, I'd say that most other people have it right (the non Mormons). The truth is to LIVE your life. Stop being bound by religion and old men's stories and LIVE AND LOVE AND IMPROVE THE WORLD.

Those are the things that matter.

And, I lived in Oregon. While most were liberal where I lived, and I am libertarian, they were incredibly thoughtful, loving, compassionate people. They were interested in living GOOD lives. They are easy people to love. Just takes an open mind to accept other's points of views without feeling like you have to change them...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/12/2014 10:08AM by Arwen.

Mormonism was started based on a fraud and continues to be a fraud to this day.

Avoid discussing politics or religion with people, unless they are really close friends and you absolutely know that they want to discuss those subjects with you in depth.

I better start smoking and join a rock band!!!!

BETH!!!! Can I join your band??

I live in Oregon. Love it here and the people. Having grown up on the East coast, Oregon is a whole different mind-set. A thousand things to do and see in any direction.

Chill and enjoy...