Another observation as i am now on the outside looking in. Its interesting how you don't have the same perspective on the outside as when you were a fully entrenched member in the church.

Consider the blessings and ordinations given in the church. Think about what the men say to their children in these situations. Its not so much a blessing, but what they expect or want for your future. Phrases such as "that you will love the Lord and be obedient" That you may "grow strong in stature" or "always be worthy of the spirit", and that you may "find someone worthy to take to the temple and start a family" That you will "feast upon the scriptures and visit the temple often" etc. etc.

This also holds true when someone is struggling in life and may be inactive or questioning their faith. There is usually no shortage of well wishing friends and family who will put your name on the temple roles to help you to "see the light" or "change course" or "come to your senses". Usually these friend and family are quite vocal to let you know that they have put your name on the temple role, in a passive agressive move.

Does anyone else see this perspective? It really comes off more as control than actual blessings and words of counsel.

If you consider your daily life, virtually every interaction with another human being has some component that is intended, overtly or subtly, to direct or influence your behavior. Your psychological self is bombarded with such influences, which you constantly internalize and react to.

Mormon indoctrination is a particularly blatant example of such unrelenting and often masked influences. Moreover, it is particularly potent because it is institutionalized and part of an ideology that attempts to dictate your individual beliefs and actions through the indoctrination of an entire worldview.

It is a tremendous "testament" to the nature of human beings that a person can rise above such influences, whatever their source, and make independent, informed decisions, right or wrong, notwithstanding intense ideological and social pressures. Of course, not all people do so, and it is not always clear just how "independent" one's choice actually is.

However, the fact that many if not most of the participants on this Board were once deeply entrenched, indoctrinated, and controlled by Mormonism--yet were able to break out of it under extremely difficult circumstances, tells you just how powerful and fundamental human freewill actually is. Moreover, it is strong evidence against the overly simplistic "scientific" view that we are nothing more than the mechanistic, deterministic, interaction between our brains and the environment.