It has been 24 hours since I first happened upon this repulsive article written by LDS woman. It has been gnawing at me all day. In her worldview you see what a lifetime of Relief Society lessons can do for the soul. I have been surrounded by too many, well-meaning LDS women to know that she is not the exception, she is the rule now.

http://www.mormonwomenstand.com/the-compassion-deception/

She writes among other things:"LDS people have an innate concern for those who suffer, but this compassion can lead to embracing normally objectionable ideas and actions. An overwhelming love for those mired in transgression can become a trap. Tolerance and acceptance help sin creep into society as normal behavior.

Some common traps include overly empathizing with same-sex attracted people, staying with abusive mates, or befriending addicts. Spiritually healthy LDS people with strong belief systems recognize each situation is also a precarious situation—“For I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance.” D&C 1:31"

Her exclusivity and her narrow viewpoint are not only repulsive they are dangerous to society. On the same day I read this blog, I also read a wonderful book by David Leeming- "Myth-A Biography of Belief"--His closing paragraphs were a call against this mindset.

He writes: The universe that science shows us is an elegantly integrated and interrelated universe, an ecological planetary world in which the heroes of exclusionary religions, ancient absolutes, national entities and political philosophies become the outdated carriers of racism, pollution, corporate greed, war and disease. The crucial salvation now is communal salvation, without it our species will die and and creation will lose its consciousness." (Lemming 160)

Liz Merrell and the other Mormon Women taking a Stand-have unknowingly become carriers of disease, racism and bigotry that have no place in modern society. You cannot remain LDS and not be infected by it.

Sigh... Why did I read that article? Imagine a world filled with people like Liz Merrell. If non-Mormons want to understand what is it like to be around a group of rabid Mormons, her blog is ideal. A closed and bigoted mind is a terrible thing to observe. I got depressed reading it. I am about to go for a walk in the sunshine.

See her attitude gives a whole new meaning to the word "contagion"--hope the sunshine burns it off!!

The picture on that page looks ABSOLUTELY NOTHING like Joseph Smith Jr. Who do they think they're kidding? RAGE,RAGE,RAGE!!!

Ha, desertman! That was the first thing I thought of--if you think that dreamy image of JS is what he really looked like, how I can trust your world view on anything>? :-)

We love you, but don't touch us, don't get too close. No, keep your filthy hands off me you damn dirty ape. Wait, wrong movie.

Anyway, that was probably the strangest definition of compassion I've ever seen. To her, at least in my interpretation of the article, is that having a broken heart for others who are mired in sin is about as far as she's willing to go. Then she'll hand you a pamphlet on the way out the door pointing in the direction of salvation. To get too close would mean their kootie bugs would rub off on you, corrupting your mind with worldly thoughts, and we can't have that. Care, but stay detached. That's the mormon way.

It reminds me of being Relief Society president and being admonished to visit the inactive family---but also told not to bring my children or let my children play with their children.

*shaking my head*

that's incredibly sad.

Thank you for finding this. A stark contrast stands out between this ca lds womans view on compassion and my own / and my colleagues / and my husbands/ and my friends !

Wow! This is just- self awareness generating! I read,that and perceive why I felt un valued, unrecognized within my ca lds communityy while being valued by others instead. We lacked a core value in common.

O thought it might be bias or some odd biotry? Or ca converts being in such a large group they abhored those with any utah roots, or sleeping in a pioneer bed (headboard from 1850s) Utah....

But now I know its like utilizing portions of belief/ relious dogma as an excuse, as a defense, against any differences they want. And justifying acts of discrimination, contempt, withholding kindness. Just utilizing religion to attack and kabel a said group "others"

To scapegoat, to blame, to attrmpt to shame, to use as a target for projecting any negative emotions or feelings owned internally upon externally... refusing to fully feel or embrace ones own humanity internally, divests it upon the religious groups identified target, fully justified by religious rearranging of dogma bits like a vicious game of scrabble and, suddenly, you are are `it`!

In this religiously justified compassion restriction idealization, its like free flowing dogmatic bits redirect the mirror cell function formatting empathy empathetic responses in the human brain. Its like a big game of musical chairs using religious dogma bits to justify it when they remove a chair during the each turn of the game and turn on the music and nonidy thinjs it matters when people are pushed all over the floor or left standing but the pushiest strongest fastest one gets the chairs, and congrstulate each other as they are competing for the prize. But thats just a childrens party game, and taking the others chairs feeling fine about it stops when the music ends at each turn, doesn`t it? Well, doesn`t it?

Its like I knew, in my 2nd to last mormon ca ward, these women didnt give a --- about the students at the homeless shelter where I taught, or about the drop out recovery program at the community center I helped establish. I Thought that others would contribute if they only had ti-ime,
Because we all read parts of tge New Testament, right? but now I see some lds ca women pride themselves in religiously cultivate the skill of devaluing others as a religious ideal. Some people contempt and target and scapegoat as a religious virtue. Its self definitive, they feel good about themselves for devaluing others and for having no compassion for dogmatically identified humans (possessing dogmatic ascertians, based labels or differences beyond the dogmatic pale, of the religious ones humanity, formally freeing recognuzing the value of or caring about the dogmatic targets humanity..)

And attempt to not generate compassion, she called compassion a trap as she faces a society filled with differences.

Is it such a vulnerable thing, being an lds girl, growing up, that one is taught that the only way , to stay alive (in the beehive, in the church) is to devalue others? So vulnerable, so full of fear of a hating violent book of mormon god that alledgedly burned or knocked down a civilization before he woujd visit tea h them (um, in the three days before he was risen after he let someone on the other side of tge world crucify him) and who shrunk cells in peoples skin in the old days in a visible gauge of how good they were doing, but it wouldnt work now no matter how much sun screen you used... I know this, I was adopted by pioneer lds and back in the day,no matter how righteous I was my hair wouldnt go straight and blond, oh I knew the book of mormon lied.it was crazy making. I tried and tried and tried *mmormon righteousness* but it would not make me white enough to satisfy that family.

How vulnerable and unsafe insecure is that Ca lds lady, that she only through devaluing others through religious justification and de idealization of another different persons humanity, she can feel safe?

How devalued is that Ca lds lady that it is only through lessining the humanity of others via religious justifications, that she can value herself? That in devaluing others religiously, she finds even limited value in herself, that she finally values herself?

How can a contemporary Californian religion create such fear in a follower, such invalidation of a believers humanity they must cast out caring and compassion analytically their iwn humanity is so deeply devalued and invalidated by their own religion. Instead of (intellectually, emotio ally) being love, they are asked to crucify the love in themselves <and not act as compassionate serving giving fully giving people in the community.> . In the name of a "god" or because tthey live god or they fear god.

What a mess.they care the most to do their best, and they are being misled into denying tgeir own greatest humanity: compassionate being, compassionate love, possibly even compassionate self live, or compassionate self acceptance. They are being taught non compassionate self rebard as well as a non empathetic non compassionate regard of others.

Thank you Painting--I feel like a book could be written on this blog! There is so much that you have pointed out. I love the musical chair analogy-I have never seen it put it like that...I always hated that game. And yes, I think the CA Mormon women seem to have a extra dose of the ego issues. The bio was particularly telling Liz writes: She is the mother of four adult children and the grandmother of two perfect and beautiful grandchildren, ages 3 and 7. (Perfect because they aren't gay, or drug addicts or god forbid-apostates--what planet does this women live on!)

Gatorman left a comment for ol'Liz on the blog site. Likely to be omitted by their moderators. But in case it is I am sharing it with you:

" Keep your thoughts for your grandchildren. Stay away from mine."

I also strongly believe looking at the picture she married a dentist.....

Gatorman

Should they see a lot of exmo traffic on their site-it is best to copy and save this or else no one will ever believe me that someone wrote this!!

I also appreciated the musical chairs as a forum for (what in psychology is called) leveling. Breeding ground for hypocrisy. The broad road is easy, she says. Implying of course that hers is so much harder (again leveling). What planet is she living on? Whose path was ever easy in this life? Yep, that's one sanctimonious be-otch.

It is apologistic misdirection, cherry-picking, nonsensical and most tellingly, a cult-speak redefinition of words.

Google "compassion." All of the definitions I found included empathy, sympathy, or both.

She has zero compassion. But she can't say that directly, or advise others in so direct a language.

What she is not saying directly, is to shun, isolate, reject, hate others and be utterly selfish. She has the gall to qoute her "Jesus," then say that all of these negative hate-based actions are what he [really meant] by [love].

She is one twisted, confused cultist. Her words describe that cult perfectly.

I left a comment once on another post, posing a question intended to make all the commenters think about what they were saying--I can't remember specifically now, something about women and the priesthood I think. They disabled my ability to leave comments on the blog. They won't let anything remotely thought provoking on there.
It's disgusting that with Utah being number ONE in teen suicide, they are using women in the church to do their dirty work of rejecting gay children. What will it take for these women to stand up and say enough! You are killing our children! And we won't tolerate it any more! It's 2016, for God's sakes. This blind obedience to the church is literally making kids rather be dead. I wish there was a God if only for these men to have to answer to the blood on their hands.

I left a comment disagreeing with her as a test. Not approved. I couldn't believe that all of her readers or commenters were so overwhelmingly positive/approving of her posts. Now I know why.

and So it was.

"Tolerance and acceptance help sin creep into society as normal behavior". So....better to shun?? Reading this made me sad on every level!

Jesus was derided by the pharisees for spending time with 'unclean' sinners, having a laugh and eating together, as if their sin and 'uncleanliness' was contagious.

This woman, like most in the church, is just like a scribe or pharisee.

Christians are to set an example through deeds, not words. How can she be an example to 'sinners' if she doesn't go near them?

Her grandchildren will be going to school with the children of gay married couples. They will be working together, eating lunch together, and playing together. Once the kids enter middle school, they will start to see some of their friends form gay couples.

Ms. Merrell fails to comprehend that the world has changed.

Like you, seeking peace, the hatred of people that this sick individual spreads continues to bug me. This Pontius "Liz" Pious has twisted the meaning of the quoted scripture so as to make it unrecognizable. I am not a believer, but for believers, she is absolutely toxic, a contagion, an illness.

A couple of the comments "gently" try to redirect her, but she guards her infection. For believers, here is some medicine to help shed any illusion that she may have a point:


http://www.biblestudying.net/charismatic33.html

---Excerpt:

"Matthew 6:22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! 24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."

"Why does Jesus say, "the light of the body is the eye" in the midst of a statement about money and provision? It is clear that the inclusion of this statement about what the eye looks at in the midst of a discussion about money and material goods is meant to refer to seeing material things and wanting to acquire them. Jesus is warning his disciples about the appeal of material things, how they can attract the eyes, capture our attention and our desires, and before you know it we're being distracted by the desire to accumulate material items that we have seen and liked."

"That this is Jesus' intent is evidenced by verse 24. In verse 24, after warning his disciples about the how what they eye focuses on can corrupt a person Jesus tells his disciples that it is not possible to serve two masters. He even names the masters, God and mammon. Mammon is a Greek word (Strong's No. 3126) of Aramaic origin, which simply refers to treasure or riches, whether personified as a god or simply as actual material wealth. So, Jesus warns his disciples about what the eye focuses on and then tells them that they cannot serve both God and treasure. This means that anyone who pursues treasure will not be able to serve God, but will end up despising God because his eyes will focus on and seek after treasure."

---End Excerpt---


Liz is a liar.

Utter nonsense. She's trying to explain how to be compassionate, empathetic, etc, while simultaneously judging and explaining why she can't be too tolerant of people who don't live by her beliefs.

Just pick one lady. Either be accepting and loving, or just accept that your belief system won't allow it. But please stop pretending. Just accept who YOU are, to start, and then maybe eventually you can get around to accepting others, too.

"Some common traps include overly empathizing with same-sex attracted people, staying with abusive mates, or befriending addicts."

How could anyone logically equate the last two "traps" with the trap she first mentions. Empathizing with same-sex attracted people--how is that as dangerous as abuse? How is that as risky as befriending addicts?

Two Mormon men came into my house (the kids let them in, without my permission) and equated my (sincere, hard-working, loving) life as a single divorced mother who works outside the home, to the life of a drug dealer on the streets, who had abandoned her children. We were both "less-actives", so we were similar.

To the Mormon mind, a gay-sympathizer is worse than a wife-beater. They don't shun or excommunicate wife beaters. My ex has been assaulting women (wives, sister, neighbors) for his whole life, and he's a member in good standing. They think being an apostate is worse than being a wife-beater, or crook, or a polygamist, like JS.