Reading, learning everything thus far, things just do not add up. Wild, wild.

clear as mud, huh?

They know the whole mess is incomprehensible.

The only way anyone can believe it is if they are gradually brainwashed. Once a person believes a little, more is added, then, gradually more and more until the whole thing seems possible and questioning would mean losing friends and admitting a commitment to lies.

I'm sure you have already heard of the Adam God Doctrine taught by Brigham Young. (If not, there's another rich vein to tap...)
Bruce R. McConkie, a recent apostle, and tremendously respected (in LDS circles) theologian, said that the Adam God doctrine is false.
But Brigham Young is in heaven, not punished for believing. But if you believe the Adam God Doctrine, as taught by a prophet of God, you will be damned.
"Brigham Young erred in some of his statements on the nature and kind of being that God is and as to the position of Adam in the plan of salvation, but Brigham Young also taught the truth in these fields on other occasions. And I repeat, that in his instance, he was a great prophet and has gone on to eternal reward. What he did is not a pattern for any of us. If we choose to believe and teach the false portions of his doctrines, we are making an election that will damn us."
http://www.myplanet.net/mike/LDS/McConkie_England_letter.html

What a mind screw huh?

The prophets are so good that they can be plain old everyday men, sexual problem men, angry mean men, murderous and treacherous men, yet still get to heaven. ( It’s all good cuz Bruce said so!)

But you mister everyday man! You will do as you are told and get your ass to the back of the bus!

God that logic from Bruce is screwed up! With that logic all should get in to heaven! Why do LDS prophets get a pass?

Yeah, how do you work that one out?

Brigham Young = a great prophet, even though he lied.

So how are we to know that the current "Prophet" is telling the truth? How do you know that several generations from now some future "prophet" will tell the members, "Pres. Monson taught false doctrine, don't believe what he said"?!

Hmmmm. Yip, prophets are really inspired by God and they won't lead the church astray - my ass!

Even when I was a TBM 21-yr-old LDS missionary, things didn't add up. I was born into the religion and it was hell having to break away from family and friends when I no longer believed in the scam.

Deb, I hope you count yourself as one of the lucky ones who could choose, as an adult, not to fall for it.

I also stopped believing in:

the tooth fairy
santa
jeebus
capitalism as we know it

We do not wonder you cannot comprehend such doctrine.

By the way, I have some unused signs and tokens for sale!

Joseph Smith doesn't make sense. The things I was told, i.e. he discovered the truth and the TRUE church.

Deb,

LOTS of things about Joseph Smith don't make sense.

The church only teaches the "good" side of JS - they conveniently leave out all the "bad" things because that's just what will happen...

People with a brain who actually use it for what it was designed for (ie. thinking) will realise that the claim that JS is a prophet is God is completely ludicrous.

I mean, what prophet of God would: sleep around with other men's wives and daughters, lie to his wife and then conveniently receive "revelation" that God told him to do it when he got found out; encourage abortions when his "single" wives got pregnant with his kid; threaten the women/girls he wanted to have sex with that if they didn't obey him they would be destroyed; claim he saw God and Jesus, but tell a different story to every person he spoke to; boast that he did more than Jesus to keep a church together; etc etc etc....??? (there are many more examples, those are just a few!)

The claim that "Joseph Smith is a prophet of God" does not make sense, because it isn't true.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/2011 07:48PM by sarah.

Mormons have no end of fun with non-LDS people who follow some televangelist, particularly thos who get caught with their pants down but then garner the same respect afterwards. Like Jerry Falwell for instance: After his scandal, he cried publicly, and people exclaimed, "Oh, he done wrong, but he's still a man of God!" Mormons laugh and laugh over things like this.

However, if a Mormon "prophet" "done wrong," he was "just speaking like a man," or similarly "was weak like a man," or "acting like a man." Mormons teach that the prophets and leaders are just men, make mistakes, and are not infallible. However, just try saying in church sometime that Joseph Smith or one of the others is not infallible, and it could lead to church disciplinary action for apostacy.

So in the end, no amount of bad that Joseph Smith did can ever stick to him. The Mormon leadership coat him and all the others who came after him in a good layer of Teflon. So even if Brigham Young was complicit in the murders of the Fancher-Baker immigrant party and a few other individuals here and there, he is still, like Falwell, a "Man of God."

I can well understand that if they want "everyone" to be in the "TRUE" religion that the info in which you'd NEED to know isn't displayed to you. The things I've found out since the decision was reversed, are really "out there" and really make no sense. I guess they forget to inform you of the thorns in the roses until afterwards. I was also informed by my bff, who is southern baptist that you do not have to be baptized again in life if you were baptized as myself @ 12.

My TBM friend tried to explain to me that Mormonism is much less confusing than mainstream Christianity because there is only one church, one hierarchy, etc. But the more I find out about it, the more I think that the various Christian denominations (Methodist, Baptist, Presby, etc.) have more in common with each other than Mormonism does with itself.

--but not in the way that you think. If you are comparing the LDS religion to contemporary Christianity it makes no sense. If you go far back in time to ancient Egypt or Rome for example it does make sense--preoccupation with the "second" life (an actual life as a god on another planet), veneration of ancestors, orthopraxy as opposed to orthodoxy, etc.

The only way to understand how anyone can accept tscc teachings to understand the characteristics of cults Tscc is a major cult. The info is gradual (milk b/4 meat), they target most vulnerable or people in crisis,... Deb, I suspect they would have caught you in their web had you not received so much info while missionaries were grooming you for baptism. Glad you didn't get sucked in and hope TX and your new journey is all that you want it to be.

Yes, I'm excited about moving to Austin. I know I'll like it. They have lots of tech companies w/tech jobs which are there. Thanks much for the kind words of encouragement. Also, after getting settle in, I'll try to find me a church which I'm comfortable in and that doesn't just "kill w/kindness"

I know I was certainly in crisis mode when my TBM friend first invited me to his ward. Actually, I'm still in crisis mode, but one of my coping mechanisms is to analyze everything. Too bad for LDS.

And I never got the "milk before meat" as it applied to me. I understand that someone completely new to something will need to learn the basics before learning about more complicated matters. But, I'm already a Christian with a fair amount of biblical knowledge, so why would I need to start with "milk"? If I transferred to a different denomination, I assume that they'd consider the knowledge I already have and let me have at the "meat" so to speak.

yes, while i began having interest in the church it was the month of dec. knock on door, "is your husband home?" "my husband's deceased" condolences, of course. Been laid off for 10 months @ time. Being optimistic, for the most part, it still was a difficult time. (I would boo hoo lots in dec.)(over nothing, really) Anyways, you almost think it was being picked up on. Had had major loss plus losing job. The eternal marriage ALMOST got me. Thank goodness it did not.

Christianity has been pithily summed up as follows:

The belief that a cosmic Jewish Zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree.