Two weeks ago, some Mormon kid posted a melodramatic letter about how she loved everybody in the whole world and wanted them back in church:

http://lemmonythings.com/2015/04/14/why-i-want-you-to-stay-a-letter-from-a-mormon/

This is my reply:

http://www.mormonism101.com/2015/04/response-to-all-our-lemmony-things.html

I posted it to her blog as well but it looks like comments are moderated and it hasn't come through yet.

Very well done, rt.

Just viewed her blog and your comment with response link is posted :) Hopefully she and others who view her blog will read yours.

Nicely put rt!

Well done!

Apparently if you post an opposing opinion over there you are 'angry'.

I thought the counter posts were generally polite and respectful.

Yeah, they're obviously not ready for RfM. Yet.

The comment(s) characterizing responses from exmormons - the vast majority of which were incredibly respectful, calm and kind - as 'angry' caused one eyebrow to arch in surprise here, too.

As my favorite (RIP) pointy eared Vulcan would say, 'Fascinating'.

The young blogger at lemmonythings reminds me a lot of the naive, ignorant and well-meaning TBM I used to be. I really didn't get that I didn't get it -- but I remember well how it felt to think I was so understanding and so very loving when all I was doing was saying things that made me feel better and more secure in the things I only thought I knew.

Bravo. I have rarely read such a succinctly spare statement that expressed such depth and clarity. The statement regarding abdication of personal responsibility through an expected special witness is something I won't forget, but what really got me was your explanation of putting it all on the line. I hope many read this.

When coming out of the closet and telling of your unbelief of the Corporation to spouse and/or family; one stands the chance of losing self, marriage, relationship,...even the chance of having to face excommunication. Yet, as in Plato's "the Cave", there is a great Disney song that I have taken as a personal hymn. "I See the Light".
https://youtu.be/hYbHzzWmKUs

It was really hard for me to read the original post there, but rt's response was well thought out. One eventually realizes that the true believers are writing around the issues that trouble them. They don't want to see what's in front of them. It's like their thoughts obediently follow the rabbit down the hole to Mormon Wonderland.

"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.
"Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."

--Lewis Carroll

One of my favorite Lewis Carroll quotes.

Thank you all for your kind words!

My wife left with me so I never had to deal with the pain of losing a marriage. I did lose all my Mormon "friends" though, and it's hard to be 40 and not have a friend in the world. You just don't make friends as easily as you did when you were a kid.

Also, I never learned how. As a Mormon, every other Mormon is your friend. We made a lot of mistakes in the beginning, coming on too strong or too fast. Luckily, I was still in touch with two friends from college, and we were able to reconnect.

The damage Mormonism does is just so vast, it's hard to wrap your head around it. And then people call Mormonism "Scientology Light". Well, there's nothing light about it. But no need to tell you guys that.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/27/2015 11:52AM by rt.

Sorry to hear about your loss of friendships, I understand what that's like too. Mormon friendships are mostly pseudo anyway, I've come to learn.

It isn't easy developing new friendships as we get older, other than superficial, polite ones between co-workers, colleagues, neighbors, people meet at the supermarket, etc. :)

When you have more time to get involved in things you find appealing like hobbies for instance, you'll meet people to build friendships with.

Here is a loose network of meeting people, but we are mostly anonymous - so that's different than meeting them where you live.

I also understand what you mean by the damage being vast, as a former Mormon. The damage to my own family has been extensive.

I asked myself just yesterday what would've been different had I not been born and raised a Mormon? Other than I really have no clue. My having been married and subsequently divorced from a never-Mo, and raising my children was my way of fulfilling my Mormon calling as a wife and then mother.

If not for all that indoctrination, I might've been someone else. The damage for me is in my familial relationships, even with my children who are out of the church too. The Mormons meddled and tried to usurp my authority over one of my children which caused irreparable harm. I have a TBM brother who tried to rob me of my children when they were babies because he and his TBM wife were infertile.

My TBM brothers who remain in the church are zealots. Their families and mine have been estranged for most of our adult years, owing to the chasm between us in our beliefs.

All three of my brothers (two TBM and one ex-Mo,) all showed their true colors when my dad died. Each one was willing to lie and perjure themselves just to collect a few thousand more dollars in dad's life insurance.

To see them like that put them in a new light for me. Their religion to me now means nothing. Other than seeing it for the destruction it's wrought in my own family. My parents had a temple marriage, and were divorced when I was a teenager.

I watched my parents lose every one of their TBM friends when they split. The church just abandoned them.

So there is no love lost for me either.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/27/2015 12:47PM by amyjo.

amyjo Wrote:
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> Sorry for the loss of your marriage, by your wife
> walking out.

My wife left WITH me (i.e. we left the church together).


> I asked myself just yesterday what would've been
> different had I not been born and raised a Mormon?

I thought about that a lot, too, lately. My oldest daughter is preparing for college and I do my best to guide her along. This made me realize that I never got such guidance from my parents. I had a happy childhood, no problem there, but looking back, they did nothing to prepare me for life in the real world.

I was constantly told I was special, I would be a leader in the church someday, this world would come to an end soon, etc. As a result, I let life happen to me, always waiting for great things to happen, instigated by the hand of God.

Meanwhile, my peers just started on the lower rungs of professional life and by now hold responsible positions and well-paying jobs.

I'm not complaining, we are doing well enough but we could have been and had so much more. I love that I can help my kids get a great start in life but at the same time, I'm sad for myself and what could have been. That just sucks, because every normal parent would be ecstatic that their kids will have it better than them.

But I broke the cycle. Fuck you, Mormon church.

Thanks for the correction. I cleared that up in my comments. :)

RT, you knocked it out of the park. I especially like your illustrations. Beautifully done.

amyslittlesister Wrote:
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> I especially like your illustrations.

Nice of you to notice. I actually gave them some thought as well.