There are a couple of dozen or so exmos in my family and we keep in touch via social media. Of course, it's the season for posting family photos. Their pictures aren't fancy, just snapshots, but I was struck by how genuinely happy they all look.

How can that be, right? When you reject The Gospel® you stop getting all those Blessings® and your life is supposed to fall apart and you spiral into the gutter. I mean, how can they possibly know how to live without the Promptings of the Spirit® and a Living Prophet® telling them what to do?

Their lives aren't perfect, but things are going fine for them — at least as well as (and sometimes better than) our TBM kin.

ChurchCo preaches not to associate with those who leave the church. I think one reason is so the faithful don't see "apostates" living happily.

Nothing made my mother more furious than my brother and I being successful, and happy in our TBM family free, cult free existence.

We both have careers, wonderful spouses, children, and meaning (at least to us) for our lives.
Is my life always easy? NO, but I don’t have to worry with the trials of life AND do all the crap the cult assigned me to do.

My mother, would have been in her glory if I had miscarried a baby, developed a fatal disease or some other horrible affliction so she could say I TOLD YOU SO.

The happiest day of my life was when I cut ties with my family and the cult I was born into.

That is really sad--at least half of it, the cutting of ties to your family. But I think a lot of us have had to do the same thing to one degree or another.

It's nice that things have gone so well since you made the change.

Things don’t always go so well after leaving.

I’m sure I was a cautionary tale to my old ward. My daughter died by suicide about a year after I left.

Didn’t make the church true.

Life is a messy mix of natural consequences and random happenings.

Getting through each day is my goal without burning down the house. ;-)

The Mormon cult tried to rob me of my happiness, joy, and what I hold dear. Some of those people really are certifiable.

They don't care what damage they inflict or pain they wrought on others. As far as I'm concerned it is driven by a number of sociopaths who double as church leaders. And that goes beyond any norm of reason or expectancy to want to stay.

They tried to rob me, and failed. They don't own joy or the patent to salvation. Praise God for showing us the door!

I live according to my conscience. And leave the consequences to my Maker.

Amyjo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Getting through each day is my goal without
> burning down the house. ;-)
>
> The Mormon cult tried to rob me of my happiness,
> joy, and what I hold dear. Some of those people
> really are certifiable.
>
> They don't care what damage they inflict or pain
> they wrought on others. As far as I'm concerned it
> is driven by a number of sociopaths who double as
> church leaders. And that goes beyond any norm of
> reason or expectancy to want to stay.
>
> They tried to rob me, and failed. They don't own
> joy or the patent to salvation. Praise God for
> showing us the door!
>
> I live according to my conscience. And leave the
> consequences to my Maker.

.

amyjo, possibly the only true church was established through a smooth brown stone in a tophat.

Possibly God did inspire valiant men to slaughter families from Missouri as they trampled innocent sagebrush in Iron County.

Possibly all of the absurd changes to doctrine, rituals and lesson manuals is indeed the Lord's will.

Possibly the only true church is supposed to shrink into a highly profitable LLC before the Second Coming.

Possibly excommunication really is the perfect result of Courts of Love and Humility.

Possibly it is best to arrive breathlessly smiling 90 seconds after the meeting has begun, Sunday after Sunday, throughout the Midwest and parts of Arizona.

Possibly every faithful TBM will evolve out of the only true church, and tat every ExMo will then plead for rebaptism.

These and many more possibilities may exist.

It is our duty to keep an open mind.

I hate that I'm not technically living very well at the moment because my dad totally used it against me today, saying I'm miserable because I left the church. Can't wait for things to turn around, but he won't be glad I'm happy, even though he said earlier today "Your mother and I have always just wanted you kids to be happy." Utter BS!! They want us to be Mormon.

I'm not really even completely "miserable" in all ways, just separated and unemployed, thank you very much! I have and have always had my happiness and relief since I left the church and my parents' house but there is no way I could ever convince him of that. I told my mom earlier that I have known plenty of miserable and phony Mormons and that being active is obviously no guarantee your life will be perfect, duh!! She at least agreed with that. She has a bit more sense and tact than my almost militant Mormon Dad.

Mormonism is not the path to happiness. Especially if you have a questioning mind, and are searching for more than a simplistic dogmatic belief system to live your life by.

I recall one of Ronald Reagan's sayings that still resonates today, "It's nice to be liked, it's better to be respected."

If your parents raised you to believe in what's true and righteous, and what you hold dear, they should be happy for you that you cannot live a lie. The more you learn about Mormonism the more you understand it cannot be what it claims to be. Your dad is in denial.

He wouldn't recognize happiness in you if it was jumping around like a jelly bean. Find your inner center of gravity. Hold onto what's real. When God pulled the rug out from under me from Mormonism, I found I was still standing on solid ground. Mormons don't own the keys to salvation or happiness.

There will be anger when a child leaves a cult her parents raised her in especially by parents who are fully immersed in it like your dad is. Understand he is totally brainwashed and indoctrinated. You are un-doing years of the brainwashing that was piled on you by your parents and cult leaders.

You may reach a point where you feel sorry for your dad. But now may not be the time. You need a safe harbor to not let him abuse you or attack you spiritually.

Your self-confidence will continue to grow the more you can be your own person, and become more assertive.

My entire family is better off and my dog also seems happier!

welllllll ..... what about throwing a javelin through someone, or cutting their head clean off ....with a sword ......or slashing their throat......or cutting their heart out of their chest .....or busting their belly open, spilling their bowels on the ground..... It seems to me those courses of action were actually recommended in certain contexts, by highly revered leaders......But I just can not remember where!!!!!!