Posted by:
exminion
(
)
Date: October 07, 2019 04:53AM
When I was in the Mormon youth program, we girls didn't set our own goals; the goals were already chosen for us in the manual.
You're right, slskipper, the goals I really wanted for my life weren't even in there. I was smart enough to not do any of it, and go to Young Women's just for the socializing, and the activities. Now those have been taken away, there's no reason for a youngster to go, anymore.
Nelson has gone too far. He and the presidency have overlooked something very important: Tradition! In the past, parents have been the cult's allies. Mormon dads are proud of their Eagle Scout award--but now, there is no such thing as Scouts, even. Moms got their Womanhood Award (I don't remember what it was called), and now their daughters won't know what a Laurel, or a Mia Maid, or a Beehive is. The parents remember fondly all the the activities, and the road shows, one-act plays, Gold and Breen balls, caroling at Christmas, making ornaments for the ward Christmas tree, making things for the bazaars, and bake sales--they will realize that their children will not have those fun times.
Religion, to most NOM's and mixed-religion couples, and marginalized Mormons is more than just scriptures and listening to old conference talks, and being hit-up for money, and cleaning toilets.
Most churches, nowadays, offer a sense of community!
Churches provide friends! (No talking in the Mormon hallways between meetings, no meet-and greets, no missionary open houses, no farewells and homecomings, keep testimonies brief and impersonal, lessons keep strictly to the lesson manual, sacrament meeting talks are from old conference speeches, and no class discussions, no loitering in the Celestial Room, no outside clubs allowed.
--Churches are a support system! No more VT's and Ht's. I know several elderly people who have left the Mormon church, for the Catholic, Lutheran, and Jewish churches. The famous Mormon welfare system has toughened up. Needy Mormons are told to depend on their family members, instead of welfare--but to keep paying tithing.
--Churches are an opportunity to serve. Mormons have given only to the cult, and no outside charities, in my lifetime of being a member. Mormons can't volunteer with their friends, or choose a job that utilizes their talents and interests. Teachers babysit in the nursery, or read out of a manual, and can't expand the classroom experience, or challenge the class, or have fun with the kids. Doctors do janitor work. Soccer dads and fun-loving dads are turned into financial clerks. And now, all the musical souls, the sewers and cooks, the nature-lovers, the writers and poets are all going to be nothing but SALESPEOPLE. Members are to bear the brunt of most of the missionary work in their areas, and they will be responsible for--and blamed for--the many members who are leaving Mormonism, in droves.