Posted by:
OzDoc
(
)
Date: October 23, 2021 01:46AM
I have thought for a long time about posting a series of such unconnected thoughts and opinions but held back as I am not a Morridor exMo and left before experiencing a lot of what is discussed here. I have been a regular reader since 2003, took several years before posting anything, and feel that I can only pass opinion on cultural/social matters.Nevertheless, I feel that the board is so wide-ranging that there is always someone whose opinion resonates. So here goes.
As many of you know,I have had no activity in TSCC (love that as a descriptor)since my early 20's, have only an estranged narcissistic ,verging on senile TBM parent in Australia and some TBM family in "Zion".
I recently had a rushed trip to the Morridor to farewell a dying sibling and came face-to-face again with Mormonism full on.I have let my impressions marinate for a while before sharing but find many people's opinions echo mine.
In the main TBM's are naive but often good people with a narrow world view stuck firmly in the 1950's.The emphasis on family remains strong but there seems to be a need to parade this in front of everyone. AS one who doesn't like self-praise or sharing of personal things I found this uncomfortable.I did want to spend some one-on one time with my sibling to reminisce and perhaps explore what the person I once knew had become and why and how but the TBM family were at pains to give no time for intimate chats.
I got to experience the infamous Mormon cuisine at a ward member's house who kindly included me in an invitation. I am very much a foodie and my NeverMo husband a wine devotee and we eat and drink very well. Green jello is definitely NOT a joke. My Aussie friends don't believe me that it was served with meat.Add to that the inability to converse except on church topics and it makes for a hideous memory .
Due to a combination of circumstances I had to attend a sacrament meeting. Nothing had changed since my last attendance 40+ years ago except for the widespread use of mobile phones to assuage the boredom. The dirge like hymns, the crying speaker, the restless kids, the zombie like teenagers. Thank whatever gods there are that I have not had to live with that.
The family members were close, caring and attentive but I couldn't help but feel there was no genuine feeling. Life- and death- is just a Facebook post.