https://ldsmag.com/8-things-that-can-pull-you-away-from-the-church/

1. They stop reading the Book of Mormon.
2. They forget their covenants.
3. They listen to those who have left the Church.
4. They cease praying to stay strong and faithful.
5. They stop going to Church.
6. They don’t listen to General Conference.
7. They listen to the philosophies of men above the teachings of the prophets.
8. They fail to acknowledge the Lord’s blessings.
Conclusion:

Delusion: Maintaining persistent erroneous beliefs, despite superior evidence to the contrary.

1. They stop reading the book of Mormon, if they're anything like me and are sick of reading the most racist scriptures on the planet that are responsible for maintaining the institution of racism in America, long after its pull date.
2. They forget their covenants, after the church randomly changed those suicidal covenants required for exaltation, with no explanation in the middle of the night in 1992.
3. Of course they listen to those who left the Church. Would you buy a car without reading Consumer Reports first?
4. They cease praying to stay 'strong and faithful' when they woke up from their delusion and admitted the obvious, that Joseph's Myth is a fraud.
5. They stop going to church when they looked around them and realized they had nothing in common with racist, sexist, homophobic lot who call themselves Mormons.
6. They quit listening to General Conference when it became obvious that it was conducted by a bunch of racist, homophobic, sexist white men who believed they were better than everybody else, as if that gave them some special or general Authority.
7. They listened to the "Philosophies of Men" when the "Prophets" quit prophesying. What did Gordon B. Hinkley have to say on 9-11?
Jack Squat. There were plenty of wise men who had plenty to say about it on 9-11 and in response to 9-11. None of them were Mormons.
8. They fail to recognize the "Lord's Blessings" when they interrogated Joseph's Myth and concluded it was all a big fat fraud designed to keep the stupid sheep inside the herd. The intelligent ones find their way out eventually.

People's 'delusions' are key problems.

The challenge is how to 'present' the 'superior evidence' to Mormons or anyone else.

And here's yet another "take" on koriwhores great post...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2a7_TOl1JE&t=277s

Or so it seems to me...

Awesome.
I loved their take on it,

"If you go back to being Mormon, after being ExMo, you're...
ah, nevermind. I can't say it..."

"Uh, stupid?"

1. They stop reading the Book of Mormon. Actually they read the BoM and said, "What the . . .This can't be right."
2. They forget their covenants. Actually they realized their covenants were just a control tactic that ensured the Mormon church would be the beneficiary.
3. They listen to those who have left the Church. Actually, they weren't afraid to look at all sides and get the whole picture.
4. They cease praying to stay strong and faithful. Actually they realized if you can't stay strong and faithful without praying to be there is something wrong.
5. They stop going to Church. Actually they wanted to spend time with their families and on worthwhile endeavors.
6. They don’t listen to General Conference. Actually, they realized "you heard one you heard 'em all."
7. They listen to the philosophies of men above the teachings of the prophets. Actually, they listened to facts and evidence of men. Philosophy not so much.
8. They fail to acknowledge the Lord’s blessings. Actually, they are still waiting for something to acknowledge.

Or boiled down, these 8 mean the person took control of their own life and trusted their own sense of decency and intellect.

This article is actually good news. Though this not an 'official' magazine, it is admitting to a problem of folks leaving the corporation. The 8 items are essentially cult control tactics to keep one in the cult mindset - to keep one from thinking on their own. Just change some of the terminology and those 8 items work just as well in the Watchtower or Scientology to keep their members inline.

Mormons always seem to know so much about exmos. In the three years since I left the church, not a single Mormon has asked me why I left or what caused my departure...not my bishop, visiting teacher, home teacher, neighbor...no one. I assume my experience is pretty standard with most exmos. Mormons consider themselves experts on a group of people that they won't even have a conversation with.

I think most Mormons would be surprised to know that until the day that I walked out of church never to return again, I was very faithful. I paid tithing, listened to conference, went above and beyond in my calling, prayed and read scriptures with my family. None of that was enough to keep me in a church that couldn't get its story straight. It wasn't the philosophies of men that I had trouble disregarding, it was my own conscience that I had a difficult time ignoring.

1. I actually read the BoM *more* on the way out, because I was trying to see exactly what it claimed and how that lined up with available evidence. It was only by reading it that I found out it was full of provably-false claims.
2. I didn't forget. I remember every one. I simply decided that "covenants" made under duress, without full information, and made with outrageous, ridiculous hand-gestures indicating ways I'd be killed if I revealed them, were worthless crap.
3. I listen to anyone who presents a rational argument backed by evidence.
4. I prayed instead to know facts, not to "stay strong and faithful." And my prayer was "answered" -- by me.
5. Of course I did -- it's a mind-numbing three hours of ignorance, nonsense, and fakeness.
6. News flash: the active members don't listen to GC either. They just pretend they did.
7. I listen to anyone who presents rational facts backed up by evidence. Which means not the church, and yes to science.
8. Since the church can't present evidence any "lord" gives any "blessings" to anyone, and I'm not prone to arguments from ignorance or incredulity...yeah, I did.

> 1. They stop reading the Book of Mormon.

Yep, anyone intelligent would stop reading the Book of Mormon.

> 2. They forget their covenants.

How could you forget these? I would rather say, they realized what they had actually covenanted to do.

> 3. They listen to those who have left the Church.

Yep, don't talk to evil apostates.

> 4. They cease praying to stay strong and faithful.

You ever hear the one about that guy who called his dad everyday for 30 years? Yea he stopped calling because his dad never picked up.

> 5. They stop going to Church.

Why the hell is "Church" capitalized? It ain't no proper noun.

> 6. They don’t listen to General Conference.

Agreed, they started to feel General Conference, and it felt boring.

> 7. They listen to the philosophies of men above the teachings of the prophets.

What are the philosophies of men? And aren't prophets men? I mean after a prophet is dead don't the new prophets just say that the old prophets were teaching the philosophies of men? Didn't Brigham Young just make up the Adam God Doctrine?

> 8. They fail to acknowledge the Lord’s blessings.

Naw, they don't recognize them. The lord has blessed poor Suzie with a handicap. THE HELL! That's a blessing?

Dumb shits.

Great list.

Re. #7 - the last commandment I heard from a prophet was "Let's go shopping!"

To quote a fantastic uncle, "... more than one way to skin a cat"; iow, there are a million ways everyday creative, inquisitive, thoughtful, intelligent people leave the B.S.C.!

8 is only a drop in the bucket lds'leaders' give for people seeking true happiness, peace and reality.

They listen to their feelings/ gut/ ssv/ heart.

They pray FAST about it.

In the picture, the woman shows her hand... the same one too weak to pull her out of tscc/ hell.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/30/2016 06:23PM by readwrite.

1. They stop reading the Book of Mormon.

[check]


2. They forget their covenants.

[check]


3. They listen to those who have left the Church.

[check]


4. They cease praying to stay strong and faithful.

[check]


5. They stop going to Church.

[check]


6. They don’t listen to General Conference.

[check]


7. They listen to the philosophies of men above the teachings of the prophets.

[check]


8. They fail to acknowledge the Lord’s blessings.

[check]


So what's their point?

awesome

Here is the list of what they really think:

1 - They left because they wanted sex, and Mormons are too chaste.
2 - They could not give up Frappuccinos...the gateway drug to Heroin.
3 - The pull of their dark master was too great.
4 - They were too stupid to realize that the gospel was true!
5 - They could not wake up in time for church.
6 - They are too lazy to not work harder and pay their tithing.
7 - They were too compelled to the "science" and did not trust that everything they learned in secular colleges was wrong.
8 - Too lazy to study the scriptures every waking hour.

Conclusion: We are better off without them! Who needs a bunch of intellectual Satanic sex addicts?

I did a little comparison between the

8 things that can pull you away from the church

1. They stop reading the Book of Mormon.
2. They forget their covenants.
3. They listen to those who have left the Church.
4. They cease praying to stay strong and faithful.
5. They stop going to Church.
6. They don’t listen to General Conference.
7. They listen to the philosophies of men above the teachings of the prophets.
8. They fail to acknowledge the Lord’s blessings.

https://ldsmag.com/8-things-that-can-pull-you-away-from-the-church/

And

The Characteristics of a Cult:
A. The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader (6 & 7)
‪ B. Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished. (3)
‪ C. Mind-altering practices are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader. (4)
‪ D. The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (5, 6 & 7)
‪ E. The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (6 & 7)
‪ F. The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society. (3 &7)
‪ G. The leader is not accountable to any authorities (7)
‪ H. The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. (2)
‪ I. The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt in order to influence and/or control members. (All of the above)
‪ J. Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends (3)
‪ K. The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members. (Not on the above list, but definite characteristic of the CULT of Joseph's Myth)
‪ L. The group is preoccupied with making money. (Not on the above list, but definite characteristic of the CULT of Joseph's Myth)
‪ M. Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities. (5 and 6)
‪ N. Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members. (3 & 5)
‪ O. The most loyal members ("the true believers") feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. (all of the above)

http://www.csj.org/infoserv_cult101/checklis.htm

Nailed it! ^^^

The internet

Information.

Feelings.

Thought.

Prayer.

Friends...

Conscience -
Which loudly objected to MORmONS telling me and my family, we needed to follow the example set by a rapist and a con man.

Empathy -
For the long ang griwing list of victims of Joseph's Myth.

Responsibility - to protect my children from being abused by the brainwashing Doomsday Sex CULT of Joseph's Myth, which exploited me and 4 generations of my family before me, not to mention countless other victims.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/01/2016 03:28PM by koriwhore.