Well, I'm here as an investigator,and these are questions I have:

I do like the word of wisdom and live that way anyhow. I have been reading the book and online resources. What I really love is the pre existence and heavenly levels, also the recognition of a divine feminine "heavenly mother". I have had experiences where I was strangely connected as if from another life. I feel this doctrine answers to that experience. NOW I don't want strangers in our business financial or reproductive. Can I simply drop in to my local ward with no payment or commitment? It seems simple, right? Is anyone or does anyone know a home mormon practicer? It seems id get the best experience this way.

Question two is more light. Has anyonw here ever noticed an adolescent quality to mormons, particularly males? It seems the ones ive known, their sense of humor is similar to that of middle school kids. There's also this other thing I can't put my finger on in the mormons. It's like they're at peace or something?

I don't want anyone to get mad at my questions. I would rather asksk on this board than ask the missionaries who probably have canned answers. Thanks very much!

Expect....

1. You will (WILL) give 10% of your income to the church.
2. You will (WILL) accept any calling at church they give you. Teaching, visiting others, etc. Cleaning the church, yup.
3. You will be encouraged (PUSHED) to visit the temple. That means you have to start wearing god-awful underwear, submit to ritualistic handshakes, and promise all you have to the church.
4. You show up at church showing your shoulders or knees...you'll get the glare, snide remarks, or at worst a lecture about "modest dress."
5. There will be a lot of weirdos at church. In your business and strange.
6. You will have to answer private questions from the bishop or other leaders. Have you ever had an abortion? Do you believe that the so-called prophet of the church is really a "seer, revelator, and apostle of god? Are you chaste? (Are you having sex or getting jiggy with anyone not your husband?)
7. You miss attending church a couple weeks, somebody visits you to see "what is going on."
8. Drinking coffee or tea? No, no, no...can't do that. You are breaking the Word of Wisdom.
9. You should expect some to try to get you into their multi-level marketing schemes....diet drinks, other incredibly useless and stupid things. Tupperware is tame compared to the junk they are peddling.
10. Expect a lot of women to judge you. For anything. Everything. A catty bunch and usually really fat.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/14/2017 01:16AM by txrancher.

Dear Jaelle,

I was born into mormonism in 1953. I left in once an for all in 2011 when I found out the REAL truth about mormonism on MormonThink.com.

I was very lucky that my husband and kids left with me. Mormonism ruined my life, and I don't have time to get it back. It's a religion that's built on lies and deception. The people are very immature because they refuse to let themselves be in touch in any way with how real life is. They build a bubble around themselves and their kids. The result is adults who are about the age 12 level. There are very few if any REAL men or REAL women adults in mormonism. They take pride in that.

Mormonism steals lives, personalities, dreams, talents, children, spouses, money, time, and life in general. RUN! run like the wind. Just know that there is no religion outside of yourself that has all answers to make life go smoothly and carefree. That's not the human condition. Its YOUR job to find joy in life. Don't try to take an easy road and hand it off to some cult, religion, etc. that makes life look beautiful. If you do that, you'll get taken for a ride and parted from everything that would have made your life what you wanted it to be.

what are you investigating?

Hi. I'm investigating the religion.

as a potential convert?

Yed, I've been leaning towards only attending and reading.

Why can't you simply observe the WOW and believe in the pre-ex, 3 levels and heavenly mom without actually attending?

Smith most likely stole the concept of the premortal existence and the three levels from Emanuel Swedenborg (Heaven and Its Wonders and Hell) and Thomas Dick (Philosophy of a Future State).

Mormons won't talk about Heavenly Mother, nor will they allow you to broach the subject in class discussions. The excuse is that she's "too sacred," but the real reason is the doctrine of celestial polygamy. "She" is (to Mormons) actually a slew of Heavenly Mothers, all sealed to a single Heavenly Father. HF essentially has a harem of HMs with whom he makes spirit babies for eternity. All the HMs have to share their god-hubby with each other. How appealing is the doctrine now?

"Can I simply drop in to my local ward with no payment or commitment? It seems simple, right?"

You just want to audit the class, do you? In theory you can, but it's not so easy in practice. You'll be pestered constantly by the missionaries and the members to get baptized. If you make it clear that won't happen, you can expect to get the cold shoulder from everyone. They want paying customers. If you give in and join up, the pressure will only increase. To them, you will have made a lifetime commitment and you'll be expected to keep it in every way. This isn't your standard Episcopalian or Lutheran church; it's a highly controlling, authoritarian organization.

"NOW I don't want strangers in our business financial or reproductive."

Ha ha ha. Good luck with that. That's not the mormon way. The church thinks it owns its members, and acts accordingly.

"ever noticed an adolescent quality to mormons"

It's brought up frequently. The church stunts its members emotionally because it wants them to be childlike and dependent on the church.

Mosiah 3:19
"For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father."

Note the deliberate use of the word "inflict." That word is never used in a positive sense, only in the context of pain, punishment and abuse. Enormous red flag, no?

I suppose I can do that. Believe certain things, but not attend. It's sounding like a cult. I think I just want a religion, but can't find what I like,.and parts of lds appeal to me. The other parts (what goes on with yhe authoritarian invasion would never fly. I'd probably flip my lid and need to remind a few people they aren't God! It's bothersome they'd be judging whether or not one is baptized, or be rude about it. I can't fathom such a mindset.

As for the emotional stunting, do I even want to know how that happens.

I have known people who attended LDS church for more than a decade without ever being baptized. You can do that, be part of the community, and soak up all the things you like, but you had better be prepared for the missionaries to be working on you every time a new set gets transferred in. I also hope you won't be too disappointed that they have removed heavenly mother from the books used for classes.

slayermegatron Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have known people who attended LDS church for
> more than a decade without ever being baptized.
> You can do that, be part of the community, and
> soak up all the things you like, but you had
> better be prepared for the missionaries to be
> working on you every time a new set gets
> transferred in. I also hope you won't be too
> disappointed that they have removed heavenly
> mother from the books used for classes.

Ok,so it can be done. The folks I know who nust go and don't tithe were all baptized as kids, so I had no one to refer to. Thank you! I

Jaelle Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's sounding like a cult.

It IS a cult:

http://www.mormonism101.com/2015/06/is-mormon-church-cult.html

As far as the Word of Wisdom is concerned, you need to be aware that it is a Word of 19th-century pseudo-wisdom. In other words, it's a 19th-century view of nutrition and health - you know, the era when doctors would debate whether to bleed a patient with yellow fever or poison them with mercury chloride.

http://www.mormonism101.com/2015/02/the-word-of-wisdom.html

You can do better. If you need religion, go for a big fancy one. They're less expensive and still deliver more value.

What aspect or aspects of the word of wisdom do you like, Jaelle?
That wie and strong drinks are not for the belly? That tobacco is not for the belly or the body? That hot drinks are bad stuff? That wheat is for man?


Evidence now points to the idea that, for those who do not have alcohol addiction issues, a glass of red wine a day is beneficial to the overall health of most people. Are you going to include hot chocolate or herbal teas in your ban on hot drinks, as Mormons do, or will you take the phrase literally? It's been suggested that both coffee and tea in moderation are good for many people as well. The verdict may not be complete where wheat is concerned, but it's not currently considered the panacea that it once was. Have you heard of Celiac Disease, for one thing? Do you try to maintain a low carbohydrate diet? You can forget about that if wheat is the mainstay of your diet.

If you really want to keep the "Word of Wisdom," so to speak, by all means do so. If, on the other hand, you desire to adopt habits that are healthful,it would serve you well to take a more moderate approach. The Mormons do not hold any sort of monopoly on healthful lifestyles.

I am strongly against alcohol, it's the most dangerous drug. Im nlt against pot. Id still drink herbal tea. I don't consume caffeine. I don't consume animals eithet for over two decades. I find myself confused on tithing issues. We have friends who drink pretty often who just go to the ward, and not the temple. Tbey don't tithe a PENNY, and no one bothers them. ??


Back to subject of alcohol, everyone we know who left the church became either a heavy drinker or an alcoholic. Probably because of rules. See, I wouldn't be avoiding booze because a church made me, that's the difference. I believe in clean living always have (i have had alcohol when inwas young, it tasted awful and made me....angry. anyhow,.it looks like ill just be following this stuff from home.

You keep saying " we". Is your husband also "investigating "? How does he feel about this?

bobofitz Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You keep saying " we". Is your husband also
> "investigating "? How does he feel about this?

My husband is a die hard atheist. He said I can go wherever I please, but he won't be going or paying. I give music lessons part time and under the table so I won't be paying either. So, that's the longer answer. The short answer is tnat he's most certainly NOT investigating.

Thank for responding to my question. Depending on your particular Bishop, once you are baptized, you become a "part-member" family and as such, will be discussed in bishopric meeting to make plans to bring your husband into the Church. Some bishops will be more aggressive , some not so much. I thought you should be aware of this.

The probability is that you may attend occasionally without much hassle, but if you get baptized then you become a statistic and bishops are judged by their numbers so you will effect their performance numbers and become more visible and more of a project. Numbers are very important to the Church.

You can study the theology of the church thru the Internet. You will find the theology to be a bit elusive. Some use the metaphor of "nailing Jello to a wall". Let's say many doctrines are "fluid". Good luck in your quest for truth....keep looking.

Yes, the men are often very immature. And, yes, brainwashed people often look at peace.

Look up videos about Heaven's Gate. Their members had "the look".

Their neighbors described them as perfectly nice and polite, too.

The basic premise behind Mormonism is "ignorance is bliss". Don't buy into it because it's a false premise. Stunting a person's emotional growth has far reaching consequences that the church is either too stupid to understand or too indifferent to care about.

Think about the lost boys in never land. They never want to grow up. An organization with that mentality should not exist in this century.

The ideas that resonate with you are available in other religions at a much lower cost in terms of your wallet and your soul. Say no.

It's true that Mormons are immature in general, since they're not allowed to do fully adult things. I'm not talking about alcohol here, but things like movies, books, and other forms of entertainment that are meant for adults. That's why Mormons are often obsessed over anything Disney, as that's safe entertainment for them. That said, many non-Mormons like Disney stuff, but a non-Mormon might also enjoy seeing R rated movies or read books written for adults.

Maybe something like the Seventh Day Adventists might be more your type of church, as they're vegetarians and often live longer than even Mormons do. Basically, the SDA community of Loma Linda, CA is considered a "blue zone" where people have the longest lifespans, and last I checked, no Mormon town in Utah fits that description.

Why not just skip the teasing and go right to the Flds...the true Mormons...doing stuff just the way joe and Briggs did it...doctrine and all...pure doctrine complete with blood atonement multiple wives and secret councils by invite only where the demise of back sliders was planned with death oaths of secrecy....Adam gawd..blacks forever servants...women are to breed and bake and stfu....one cross word about leadership and you might make joes or Briggs cut...take the oath of vengeance and pray for the downfall of the government...Jesus is cummin any day to make plugs the boss of stuff...you won't wanna be sitting the bench in tscc instead of a starter for the real team Mormon ...be a bit careful which group of zealots you join..some are way more fundy than others...there'll be no quiet boring meetings...if he'll fire and scaring the kids is your thing...doing her right since 1836 while the church pretends none of that hogwash happened...enjoy...drink deeply or taste not the prurient spring

People will be friendly with you right up until you are baptized. They will pressure you to do so. Once you are baptized you will be made quite aware that you are a second rate Mormon since you won't have a Mormon husband and won't be bringing Mormon children into the ward. It's not a religion for single people. It's a religion for families.

At the risk of sounding insensitive, how do investigators (who have a somewhat positive view of the church...positive enough to want to join) even end up on this site? It's called exmormon.org
I'm an exmormon. I hate mormonism. I can't imagine that anyone on this website would paint that so-called religion in a positive light.

bluebutterfly Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> At the risk of sounding insensitive, how do
> investigators (who have a somewhat positive view
> of the church...positive enough to want to join)
> even end up on this site? It's called
> exmormon.org
> I'm an exmormon. I hate mormonism. I can't imagine
> that anyone on this website would paint that
> so-called religion in a positive light.

Well, I want to know of people's experiences positive and negative. The people on this site will represent yhe negative experoences that a missionary may not have experienced.

Be sure to scroll down to what the missionaries won't tell you.

http://packham.n4m.org/tract.htm


Respectfully, I'm a little tickled about the "heavenly mother" allure. Adult women are to be submissive even to those "youthful males" you observed. As a convert, you would aleays be second class to BIC women there, never fully trustworthy.

If you must join a church, try UU, try a mainstream church, not a cult.


Wanna know if it's "really" a cult? Drill down to the LDS' very own site from this link:

http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,1996641

vanity Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Be sure to scroll down to what the missionaries
> won't tell you.
>
> http://packham.n4m.org/tract.htm
>
>
> Respectfully, I'm a little tickled about the
> "heavenly mother" allure. Adult women are to be
> submissive even to those "youthful males" you
> observed. As a convert, you would aleays be
> second class to BIC women there, never fully
> trustworthy.
>
> If you must join a church, try UU, try a
> mainstream church, not a cult.
>
>
> Wanna know if it's "really" a cult? Drill down to
> the LDS' very own site from this link:
>
> http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,1996641

Why are you ticksd about heavenly mother? II found the recognition of the divine feminine to be unique and appealing. That said, I have no problem with male leaders,I prefer them. I havs also heard from my neighbors that converts aren't quite the same, perhaps its yhe abscence of pioneer history?

It's not only the lack of pioneer history that make converts inferior. It's the belief that those that were most valiant in the pre-existence are born into Mormon families. So converts are inferior because they were less valiant in the pre-existence.

What do you call an organization that needs to whitewash its history and despises apostates? Hint: It starts with "c".

I suggest you disregard all of this and follow your heart. If it leads you into Mormonism after all this, that's real guts.

I aaa thinking the same. If some of what ive read hasn't turned me off entirely it must be where I belong

Is that how you run your life...following whatever happens to "tickle your fancy"?

I suppose you are right. As an adult in a free society you can join whatever organization you'd like. But you have come here for advice. The most basic thing the Mormon church requires of its members is that they have a "testimony" that the church is "true"; albeit it is very difficult to pin down which of their various versions of the truth you are supposed to believe. And there is the rub. If you want to pick and choose what you like and don't like, you won't be a "Mormon" at all since they require your perfect allegiance.

Yes they are childlike, they are meant to be kept 'as little children' with childlike understanding of everything, discouraged to think and reason for themselves, instead meant to rely solely on the 'prophet's' guidance. It truly IS a cult. That 'peaceful' look is a facade, it really is the look of a zombified brainwashed cult member. I've seen it in other cults. Plus Mormons are notoriously very depressed and have a very high Prosac use rate and high suicide rate. But they can't admit that to each other, if they did it would mean they aren't true believers or 'spiritual' enough or they must be sinners.. because they believe that their church is the ONLY true one and that if you are NOT happy in it 100 percent of the time, something must be wrong with YOU, not with the organization. So nobody wants to admit that, so they are all very very good at pretending.

All the nice fluffy happy sounding 'doctrine' is not their true doctrine, it's what missionaries tell investigators to hook them in. They won't share with you the meat of the doctrine and most it may remain hidden from you for a very long time. I grew up in it for 20 years and had no idea what the real doctrine was. When I started to find out, I left.

Honestly, my advice RUN RUN RUN!

Btw, I also do not drink, smoke, do drugs etc, because my body can't handle any of that (I tried). But those should be personal choices anyway, not forced upon you. It shouldn't have anything to do with belief in god and religion in my opinion and is just another marking of a cult, controlling every aspect of your life!

RUN!

Incidently just because Mormons follow a type of dietary code (I hesitate to even say 'dietary' because Mormons tend to eat very unhealthy diets in general), does not mean they are not ADDICTS.

Firstly they are ADDICTED to RELIGION! When you see a happy smiling Mormon at church you see an addict getting his fix. You don't see the other side of that. And they ignore/neglect relationships with spouses, children, friends, family, all because of their addiction to the religion. They claim to care about families but it is in fact a very destructive religion when it comes to families. Read more stories on this board on that topic and you will start to get a clear picture of that.

Also they tend to be addicted to sugar, junk food, TV, pharmaceuticals, . anything they are ALLOWED to be addicted to they will be. They are not following the 'spirit of the law' by understanding the point of not drinking alcohol or smoking cigarettes, because as I mentioned already they are not encouraged to think for themselves. They ARE encouraged to be OBEDIENT. So they just know how to do what they are told, not think and reason and discern and then decide what the best way to live is and what is best for their bodies. Instead they have a list of 'do nots' and they judge the outside world by this list, ever failing to see that they are often guilty of the same things they are accusing others of being guilty of (i.e. defiling their 'body temples').

there is nothing inspiring about their meetings, they repeat the same things over and over and the bottom line of all lessons is to be OBEDIENT, follow the PROFIT/PROPHET, and PAY TITHING.

Most of us on this board are here because we have been seriously psychologically damaged from our time in the cult and we are seeking help to overcome that damage and reclaim our lives. We are mostly cut off in some way from our Mormon families who have shamed and shunned us. Mormons believe they are the 'elite'. the whole structure of their 'church' is a hierarchy and they believe the afterlife is based on this same structure and that God is a polygamist and that the highest kingdom in the afterlife is a place where men can become gods to rule their own worlds and the women are their PLURAL wives and SERVANTS to the men. It is hard to find a more sexist, racist, intolerant, judging religion than Mormonism! No matter what they say to your face they WILL be judging you, they will think of you as a sinner and even if you join, you will always be made to feel inadequate and you will have to PROVE your WORTHINESS by continuously giving of yourself to the church, your time, your money, your talents.. all of these things are actually Pledged to the CHURCH in the most 'sacred' temple ceremonies, which thanks to the internet you can now see for yourself what they are but Mormons will not tell you, not even when you are about to enter yourself you won't know what you are getting into until it's too late!

I would advice watching some of these secret ceremonies on youtube and you will then be convinced just what a creepy messed up cult it is! There is a youtube channel called 'newnamenoah' that has all you need there!

DO keep researching first, know all the facts, arm yourself with knowledge and truth so you won't fall into their manipulative trap. The missionaries are trained as salesmen and can often be very convincing for those unaware of what is really going on.

Good luck!

I will watch the ceremony. I wonder what makes Mormonism traumatic for some, but ADDICTIVE for others. I gather people love or hate it!

Well addictions are certainly traumatizing in most cases! ;)

Really though, in truth you can have both happening. For example many of my family members are quite addicted but are extremely depressed and they can't figure out that the depression is actually coming from what they are addicted to, nor can they see that they are addicted. But this the case for any kind of addiction, it is destructive to self and relationships.

I spent years in Al Anon (help for people in relationships with alcoholics) after having been married to an alcoholic only to discover that what was being described at meetings fit my father exactly even though he never touched alcohol, his emotionally abusive and absent/neglectful behavior that stemmed from his religious addition was the same behavior as that of an alcoholic.

It takes time, courage and a lot of self reflection for those who have been traumatized by the 'church' to figure out that this is what happened. And more often than not that time for self reflection and ability to self reflect (i.e. think critically) is taken from you by Mormonism. It takes a lot of fight to get out of it and it is NOT an easy process for anyone who does. The members will fight you on it every step of the way and condemn you, disfellowship you, disown you, etc.

My family members are definitely harmed by the cult but they can't see it so they keep turning back to the cult/church for help and answers not seeing that the cult/church is the CAUSE of the problems they are seeking help for! It's very convoluted. And not easy to see your way out of.

PS- as for the love/hate thing. That's not accurate. Many of us, while we were true believers did feel we 'loved' it as it was really the center of our lives. We were devoted to it. But you can only 'love' it while you are being deceived and being continuously lied to. Members are told a pack of lies about the history of their 'church' and about nearly every other aspect of it. Those of us who were able to free ourselves from the tangle of lies, deceptions, manipulations, were able to then see how the cult damaged our lives. It was discovering the actual truth, not the truth Mormons profess to have, that really did set us free. And not everyone who has left 'hates' it, they just see it for what it is and may indeed have resentment or pain that they are working through as a result of finding out you've been lied to for a large part of your life.

Also it's not that the members really 'love' the church, they feel 'duty bound' to it. If the members were to be honest they'd likely be hard pressed to come up with anything they 'love' about going to church, but they would feel that they MUST go, because they believe it's god's will that they be obedient and serve god by doing what their prophet says. It is a 'religion' that is all about obligation and duty, not about joy, inspiration or love.

That's part of the cost. When you realize what cult psychology has done to your life, you get very angry. Then you kind of get over it. The longer you're out, the more you start to really like who you are. Then you realize they hurt YOU you, and you get really pissed, because you really like you.

Here's the key to doing LDS: When you get the message, hang up the phone.

You won't find the ceremony with the blood oaths in it, anywhere on the web. By the time cameras got small enough to sneak them in to the temples undetected, the church had dropped the blood oaths from the endowment ceremony.

I am old enough to remember the blood oaths, which are not as gruesome as the earlier penalty that included having your "bowels gushed out and left for the beasts of the field.", if you ever left the church.

You might be able to get away with only attending without being baptized, but it won't be easy. Baptism is the primary goal of the mormons. They are obsessed with statistics, numbers, attendance and keeping track. Baptisms are the holy grail. So if you use up their time and good will without giving them the gold star, they might not like it. There have been cases where a person is eventually accepted as a "dry" mormon (mormon in every way but not baptised"), but this is rare. As soon as you show the least interest in the church you will be hounded. They will call, drop by, lay in wait, at any hour. You will have no peace.

Are they childlike. Very much so in the sense of naive, uninterested in the world outside theirs. As for the rest of being childlike, not so much, as they are judgemental, status conscious, back-biting and selfish. They are also boring. They are incapable of having a normal conversation about anything but church related topics. My inlaws joined the church several years after me and late hubby were married and that was their main complaint. They were educated people who had lived many places outside the USA and wanted to enjoy interesting and stimulating conversation with other adults. The mormon community could not provide this.

IF you join, you will be expected to give at least 10% of your income as well as attend a yearly meeting with the bishop to review this. You will be interviewed from time to time and asked non-of-your-business questions touching on your most intimate life.

As a woman you will be granted second class status because in spite of what they preach, women are created to serve men and have babies. Don't let them fool you.

my advice is not to join the church. It is like jumping off a cliff. If there are teachings and practices that appeal to you, then go ahead and incorporate these into your life, without the church. If you are looking for a spiritual community, then look elsewhere, because the mormons are also not spiritual. I can't imagine anyone ever having a spiritual experience or feeling at a typical mormon meeting. Maaaaaybe in the temples, but you pay a huge price for that. If you want to serve with like-minded people, look for a charity that you can get involved with.

I wish you luck and joy on your spiritual journey, but I am quite sure you will not find what you are seeking in the mormon church.

Disclaimer: I am speaking of the mormon church and members as a general entity. There are individual mormons everywhere that are not described by what I have written, but these are exceptions.

Check out this link- breaks down just how Mormonism fits the bill for a cult and what would be expected of you if you joined. I know someone else posted the general link already, but this is one of the surveys under that link that I find useful.

http://www.mormonism101.com/2015/03/cult-characteristics-hugo-stamm.html

Jaelle, it's not a religion that lends itself to going part of the way into it. Basically it's an all-or-nothing sort of thing.
That doesn't mean you cannot follow your own health code that contains some features of the LDS Word of Wisdom, or that you can't buy into some aspects of Christianity. As far as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is concerned, however, you're either in or out.

The church can say whatever it wants about how it defines its members-in-good-standing, but the bottom line is as follows:

A baptized-and-confirmed member is expected to pay a full tithing, to follow the Word of Wisdom, to follow all church policy as far as sex and sexuality are concerned, and to avoid in any way publicly contradicting the official stance or the leadership of the church. Everything else is negotiable.

If you don't believe in the Joseph Smith story as promoted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it's all false.
If it's based on a lie, none of it can be true. If you don't believe in the succession of authority from Joseph Smith all the way through to Thomas Monson, the present-day COJCOLDS cannot be genuine.

If you think the Joseph Smith story was for real but it fell apart when he died, you might find the truth in one of the many branches of the church that originated upon the death of Joseph Smith.

If you believe that the Church was true and correct until the Woodruff Manifesto banning polygamy, perhaps your needs would best be met with the FLDs branch or with one of the many sects that originated from that branch of the fold.

If you don't believe in the Angel Moroni, the Golden Plates, the First Vision, or any of that, but you STILL think it's a good church, you're deluding yourself. Nothing of substance can be built upon such a farce of a foundation.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/18/2017 12:07PM by scmd.

Jaelle, since you attracted to the idea of a Heavenly Mother, you may want to investigate Catholicism (either Roman Rite or one of the Eastern Rites).

More bonuses are that if you attend a Catholic church (or Episcopalian, or one of many other mainstream churches, for that matter):

1) You will not be required to donate money,
2) You will not be pressured to participate or attend more than you feel comfortable doing,
3) No one will care what you wear, either to church or in your personal life,
4) No one will care what you eat or drink,
5) You will not be pressured to be baptized.

And since you say you prefer male clergy...well, I frankly don't see any of the Catholic denominations allowing female leaders anytime soon!

Do you have children? If so, please please don't do this to them.