I don’t remember any sensation other than essentially an absence of feeling when praying to know if the BoM was true or whether JS was a true prophet of god. The only time I remember experiencing what I would describe as “feeling the spirit” about a matter related to church doctrine was during a discussion on my mission. My companion was teaching about the vicarious work for the dead, and I experienced a profound sensation that what he was saying was true.

I wondered why I never felt that way about the BoM or about JS’s purported prophethood. Why did god not confirm to me the truthfulness of the BoM and JS’s status as god’s anointed mouthpiece? The only conclusion I could ultimately draw was that my experience was not evidence of the truthfulness of vicarious work for the dead. Instead, the concept of vicarious work for the dead simply connected with my intense sense of fairness and my derivative belief, at the time, that a loving god would provide opportunity for all of his children to take steps necessary to have eternal happiness. I probably had no strong internalized core value or ideation that a need for the BoM or for a prophet could connect with.

My hypothesis is that “feeling the spirit” is simply a product of our mind that manifests when we consider something that is reflective of a deeply held subjective sense of what is important.

I've sometimes wondered if "feeling the spirit" is what happens for some when any idea that they have some sort of bias to, or needing to fill some unknown void, resonates with in us.

That doesn't mean it's "true", it just means it touches something within us.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/06/2018 04:48PM by angela.

Thank you! That’s in line with what I was trying to say.

The closest I came to "feeling the spirit" was in 1978 when they ended the priesthood ban. But that was more about no longer needing to make excuses and about feeling like the brethren finally got over their racism.

I've felt a spirit in some churches I've attended since leaving Mormonism. Have also felt some churches with a literally lifeless, dead spirit from attending services. Some it was so pronounced that others noticed and discussed it too.

I felt a spirit at times in some LDS services. Not anymore or recently such as when attending my brother's funeral last month. It felt farced and phony to me then.

I once felt unearthly feelings (that is, at-the-time unexplainable via earthly means), totally related to mormonism.

It was very explainable: I'd just had sex for the first time and as a good mormon, I'd had YEARS of instruction on just how bad a thing I'd just done! I swear, I heard and then saw the heavens (clouds) part and a host of angels were wailing at my transgression! I saw, with my mind, the grief contorted faces of individual angels.

I felt a heavy, sad weight descend on me and my sense of guilt was extraordinary. I hastily dressed and fled the scene of my despicable sin; running to my car and screeching away from the curb, hoping to leave my grief behind me. But, and this is absolutely true, just ten minutes later I made a U-turn and went back for seconds... So much for the power of guilt.

Went back two nights later,too!

Hmm, maybe I should resign so that I can have a fresh baptism...


I am convinced that the mind LOVES making shit up, like ghawds and visions and feelings that "I'm special" And then when you have stories that seem to reinforce the specialness, it's only natural that you're going to get on the bandwagon.

I don't believe in ghawds and I certainly believe that actions make the man, not the stories we tell about ourselves.

I like your take on it.

It is said that Luck is when opportunity meets preparation.

I think of spirituality or feeling the spirit in the same vein. Once in a while, out of the blue, we feel deeply and more intensely in an almost out-of-body, spiritual way. I think this is when our purest self meets an illustration of wisdom ,and, we get it! Capiamo. The door is open for a moment and we go through it. Our inner self has connected with that which is outside of us in a profound way.

Anything can trigger a spiritual experience. It is all serendipitous. Because it comes from our reaction to something outside ourselves that we never expected to see, or something we see all the time, but suddenly it looks very different.

However, you can't go looking for them. They hide when you do that.

That's how this atheist sees it anyway.

I was at my aunt's funeral which was being presided over by her BIL, Eldon Tanner, councilor in the first presidency. I was introduced to him afterwards and felt....NOTHING. I figured if Mormon royalty wasn't oozing "the spirit", nobody would.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/06/2018 05:42PM by Lethbridge Reprobate.

Mark E. Petersen dedicated our chapel and then he and his wife came to our house for Sunday Dinner. I felt . . . NOTHING. It was all so stiff and awkward I couldn't wait for them to leave.

I flipped off Joseph Fielding Smith in May of 1965, six seating rows away from him. It was an accident, but now I feel good about it.

Mormonism didn’t exactly invent ancestor worship, but it resonated with you. That could be considered a metaphorical truth. It’s different from an objective truth, which is true whether or not you believe it.

Suppose “feeling the spirit” is a real thing. That means it has no basis in the world of facts. Mormonism proves it. You could make up anything and it would work. If that’s the case, why stick to a Mormon narrative?

I felt the spirit plenty of times in LDS buildings. But it was the building, not the LDS. I wouldn’t mind going back, but I’d have to put up with people spouting nonsense and support a management that I think is hopelessly moribund.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/06/2018 06:03PM by babyloncansuckit.

...I remember when Chris Matthews felt the "thrill" up his leg, when Obama gave a speech in March 2008?.....is that the spirit?


"I have to tell you, you know, it’s part of reporting this case, this election, the feeling most people get when they hear Barack Obama’s speech. My, I felt this thrill going up my leg. I mean, I don’t have that too often."

Obama had/s that charisma. The thing with politicians is once the newness wears off, the charisma fades too. It helped him get elected.

Church leaders today don't really have that charisma, except maybe a couple of them. And then it's short lived.