I've been doing some thinking and using logic, which I know is frowned upon. But here is my thought and I have presented in simple math.

They claim 15,385,000 "Members" granted they claim you if you were blessed, baptized, or are dead up to age 110.

15,385,000 of 8,000,000,000 people on the earth today is only.......0.19231% of the Global population.

Lets break that down to ACTIVE members....we know which hovers from 28% to 33%.

30% of 15,385,000= 4,615,500 members globally

4,615,500 of 8,000,000,000 = 0.05769%

So, scientific evidence suggests that there have been 40 to 50 billion people to live on the earth in its history. Yet only 20,000,000 members... only 0.04444% of mankind?

God isn't that inefficient is he? I know he is powerful and all, I just think he really sucks with numbers. Hence why is he so bad with money? He can create worlds and walk on water but cant balance a checkbook? Got it. He gave a great plan, but only 0.0444% of his creation gets it? Why have the plan?

You aren't supposed to do the math. You are just supposed to trust them. It all falls apart when you do the math. :)

I think that exclusivity is part and parcel to the whole Mormon schtick, much like the J Dub club saving only 144,000 people. The actual number of members, or the very small number of people who get the second endowment (Holy Spirit of Promise), doesn't matter, because the club is predicted to be small. Doesn't affect Mormons' thinking. It's like, so what? And who cares if most the world will never be exposed to it? The end of the world will happen, and we'll do it all by proxy. "God will work it out," and all that nonsense.

And the majority of "members" are minors, who had no say in whether they would be members.

There you go again, doing all that sinful thinking.

If your whole self-concept and self-worth is dependent on this fantasy, you will try desperately to maintain the fantasy.

I'm sure there's a cult/psychology term for it, because lots of cults roll this way...on the one hand they trumpet how big and growing they are because they are the one true church™ and millions will flock to them; on the other hand they want their members to feel like they're in a small, select, extra special "chosen of god" group that has been weathering persecution since they were "given the truth of the restoration."

Another candidate for cog-dis.

I think many TBMs genuinely believe they are bigger than reality. But I'm thinking for many others they keep saying stuff about how big they are because they are trying to convince themselves. The math isn't that hard.

Many years ago I was getting ready to teach a Sunday School lesson on the growth of the LDS church. I thought it would be cool to do the math and show how some day TSCC would be a big chunk of humanity. I did the math. Ruh roh. I came to realize that TSCC was actually losing ground.

We got screwed.

Turns out Elohim's Plan of Salvation wasn't quite what it was hyped to be in the Pre-existence.

Did Elohim disclose, when recruiting for the War in Heaven, that he was going to get such shitty returns?

I'm certain that if I had any idea the type of people that were going to land the big prize, I would have sided with my big brother Stan.

Come on, who would ever want to spend eternity with THOSE DICKHEADS?!

I mean, what kind of lame-assed god saves less than .01% of all his creation in the Celestial Clubhouse?

Elohim sucks.

I want a re-vote!

The question was Why?

The answer "egocentricity"

Just the other day I was having a crisis of doubt :)

The "church" was/is such a huge part of my life.

So many people I know are members, and my lifelong conditioning was rearing its ugly head about how it's "covering the earth" and growing.

It's nice to get reminders that it's really very small and insignificant in the real world.

Thanks!

Those fish that inflate themselves so they'll look bigger than they really are.

It's a MAN THING.

Man-made religion.

Men think they are bigger than they really are.

I see ads all the time that claim that they can make me "bigger." I assume those pills are about as effective as the LDS missionary program

Shame, shame, shame on you for doubting the priesthood!

God gave you your brain so you could turn it over to the LDS corporation. You will someday pay for your lack of faith.

Because the Morg does everything they can to project that image to members, and build up members of how important they are.

1. You, too, will be a god and rule worlds without end (or be the wife of one).

2. Forever families- as if they are the only ones. I've known mormons that seem surprised when they learn that (as far as I know) all Christian religions believe in "forever families" they just don't give a trademarked name to it.

3. A Profit! A Profit! We have a Profit! Nobody else has a Profit, See-her, and Revelator.

4. General Conference TWICE a year to hear the latest words of the Profit.

5. New temples- look how we are expanding.

6. If you live in the morridor, a steeple on every other corner to remind you of how many people believe as you do.

7. Magic underwear, so the first thing and last thing you think about everyday is how important the Cult is.

8. Missionaries! Look how they are spreading the word.

9. News-hounds. Constantly taking advantage of events to get in the news. We sent some flea-filled blankets to China! We made 20 hygiene kits and sent them to Haiti! We sent a truckload of bottled water to New Orleans! We give $5 per member per year to humanitarian causes! (Relabeled as a BILLION dollars over the last 20 years).

10. 15 million people can't be wrong! (Not thinking about if those "15 million" *cough* are right, that means almost 8 BILLION alive today are wrong.)

One of my favorite books is "Lying through Statistics"

Here is an example of manipulation of numbers.

Group "M" has 10 people. On Sunday they add 1 newborn to their number. Calling her a member. They can claim a 10 percent increase.

Group "C" has 100 members and 5 adult people join. They can claim a 5 percent increase.

Technically, group "M" grew the most, (10%), double of group "C" (5%)

Remember, everything is true if you look at it right.

Figures often beguile me, particularly when I have the arranging of them myself; in which case the remark attributed to Disraeli would often apply with justice and force: "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."

- Mark Twain's Own Autobiography: The Chapters from the North American Review

I don't know about all of you, but I was fully aware when I was a TBM that 13 million was a tiny proportion of the world's population...