I think i am finally understanding this concept. They put into your mind that you are somehow more elite then the rest of society and fellow humans. So you think you are gods and goddesses walking around and think you are more than human without wearing masks in stores. Thinking your body is somehow immune to viruses. Not sure why it has taken me so long to get this concept. Maybe i feel more himan and part of humanity now than i ever did previous.

Yes! it appears often is subtle ways, and observers have to be sharp in their hearing /understanding to detect this; it's definitely woven into Mormon culture, but seldom acknowledged.

There are probably distinctions between the Mormon Royalty & peasants, also between 'mission field' dwellers & those who live in the infested parts of the IMW.

It is seldom acknowledged but it definitely is programmed in the minds even at a subconcious level. I am learning that everyone likes to be told and think of themselves as special hence why it is so easily accepted. No one wants to say out loud that they think of themselves as elite humans above the rest. They have no unique powers of a god or goddess but they still think they are better. It is an unhealthy way to think.

I think it is a part of human nature to want to feel accepted by your culture and community, and valued by them, and to also feel special. Some organizations can attend to these natural desires in a healthful way, such as the Girl Scouts. Some organizations exploit these desires in a harmful way, such as the Mormon church.

I see the desire to feel special as a "hare and tortoise" situation. Our culture tends to overvalue the hare approach, which is flashy and showy. We value fame and visible riches. But the tortoise can get to the finish line just as well, but with a slower, less flashy, methodical approach. You can build esteem because you accomplish long term goals by putting one foot in front of the other, day after day.

The warrior is definitely a tortoise but my home situation keeps on improving so i may be doing something right.

I can do flashy things in the front yard for 10 minutes but ultimately it doesn't mean anything. Kind of like those guys with big lifted trucks you know they are overcompensating for something. What that something is i will leave that to you.

The first time in my life I was told I was special was as a young LDS convert.

I grew up in a very turbulent never-mo home with parents who hated each other and mostly criticized and punished their children. "I love you" was never heard in my house and I was never called "special." But when I joined LDS Inc. as a 12 year old I became "special." It's one of the reasons I felt secure and loved in the Mormon church.

My Young Women and Sunday school teachers told me I was special. Mormons I didn't know very well and had met only once wrote to me and told me I was special. The bishop told me I was special. My teacher at BYU held my hand and told me I was special. I have to admit it made me feel good.

Now I know it was just a tactic to keep me dedicated to LDS Inc. Tell members they are special and they will connect that feeling of specialness to being an obedient Mormon.

When I compliment a person I never use the word "special." I will specifically point out what impresses me. To me "special" has become a creepy word that pedophiles, groomers and church people use.

Today when I hear the word "special" I want to barf.

Yes!! Its crazy how cult words make you want to barf like "blessed". Hate that word. Cult talk bothers me when i am around it because i have been there when they actually shift into cult talk and with cult voice. Being made to feel special is definitely a powerful tactic to keep one hooked in to the operation.

It makes me sick to know all these tactics because knowing them i know how some kid can be manipulated and tricked by adults just to be controlled. Every person is unique but not the "special" that cults want you to think you are. It does hurt the kids and adults that are not in the 'special' temple crowd as well. Not being "special" can also be used as a powerful tactic. Not in the "in crowd" with jesus.

Yes it was similar with me. I somehow thought that I was special when I first went through the endowment ceremony in the temple. It was so hard to change myself and my life in order to be “worthy” to go there. Also, I think the mirrors in there are really good and I looked at myself and realised for the first time that I was good looking. I realise now that the mirrors at home were just crap as I was too poor to buy a decent one. I paid ten per cent of my welfare money for that dumb experience. I misinterpreted a lot of mormonism as a convert because I had been starved for love my whole life and my self esteem was rock bottom.
I think mormonism strips people of their self worth and self esteem. Then it provides the cure as well. Clever cult tactic, no? Christianity does this too, but it’s far less dogmatic and strict. It’s perhaps understandable, although very distasteful, that mormons end up feeling extra special. Their religion damages them and they are trapped in this never ending toxic cycle. It’s as though “the gospel” creates narcissism: the true self is stripped by the teachings about sin, and replaced with a special, unrealistic, false self created by the teachings of a saviour who only bestows his full blessings to the mormons.

Their gospel does create narcissisrs no doubt about it and they are all dangerous and toxic to be around although i did get used to it. I was stripped of self alrhough i feel i am slowly getting it back as i have separated from it all. It all makes you an abusive person as the final design spinning in endless circles like my father. Powerful tactic to make the one not going along with it all to be treated like some leper. I never knew how to be 'worthy' or good enough for their crazy temple. I was trying to be worthy for chanting for christs sakes. I was born in insanity but i felt i was born the sane one that knew something was off about the entire thing. But it is all in the past. Moving on.

Cults sell exclusivity and membership in a select, 'elite' group is hyper appealing to some folks. Cults will always be (sadly) part of the human experience.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/11/2020 09:47AM by Perdition.

qualities and what level you are in the cliques of mormonism and my family was treated as the fringe element. I never felt special as a mormon and when I did finally get to know some nonmormons, I was more concerned about them being okay because of what I had been taught. I didn't try to convert them. I didn't have enough confidence that it was a good thing for them. When one of them eventually told me that he believed I was right was when I had given up on mormonism when I found out my boyfriend was gay.

There were some men I worked with who are mormon and they made me feel special, but just because they were nice men. They still are very close to me and very supportive of me. Are in shock over what happened to my life and what mormon leaders did.

I never grew up feeling special. Mormonism made me feel NOT SPECIAL. I have never once missed mormonism. I was miserable a mormon and almost all my siblings and my niece and nephews are all out. I've said it all before and also the fact that it is my daughter who is the only TBM of all my parents' grandchidlren and great grandchildren. AND when she went back in the ward we have lived in since she was 8 months old, they have all treated her like she is VERY SPECIAL. All the people in the ward always tell me how special she is and I always think, "Ummmm, I wonder who raised her." I took her out of mormonism at age 7. And she'll be back in a day or 2 and one of the old couples (in their late 80s and early 90s) have been saving their apartment for my daughter and her husband to move back into as they love them so much. Her husband is from this ward, too. My daughter is ADORED. But then her father is considered mormon royalty even if they all know he is gay. He knows how to play the mormon game.

Not very many in Cache Valley wearing masks. I don't get it. I've been wearing one for a lot longer than they told us to.

We have a lot more in common then i thought cl2. Both miserable mormons. My father knows how to play the mormon game although he is pretending not to gay(probably why he was angry throughout my life). The religion absolutely hated his true nature and i think i was one of the targets of his narcissistic rage. I try not to hide these days in my room but it just a long habit. Always hated when my father got home from work or demanded we all eat dinner together. Still hate formal sit down dinners to this day because of him.

We both got worked also by leaders big time i think mentally and physically for me. We gave them more respect then they deserved. Actually thought these men represented and talked to God but they did not.

I think both of us lost our real identities or real selves. Both empaths and both cancers. I wonder if i am more like you than i am your son.

People always get mad when i wish ill upon people but oh well. Ill was brought upon me and everyone else should know how this feels and not for a day or a year but decades of ill. I'm just barely connecting my name adam with my body as its own identity. Crazy how far my identity was lost.

Hardly anyone wearing masks in idaho as well. Overheard one person say this place is blessed at taco bell and i wanted to cringe. Maybe the mormons deserve the virus with all their touching and handshakes.

Ironic how handshakes can literally cause death right now. Death toll is already higher then the entire vietnam war i heard. That is crazy and its only been like 3 months of covid and vietnam war has already been passed by.

I'm just South of the border and it's the same here. We are enough miles from Salt Lake that people aren't wearing the masks here either. It's about 1/2 doing it. I suppose there are many reasons for that. Just back in February the experts were saying don't wear them and that the virus needs to pass through the population and create herd immunity. I can't really blame the public for not obeying. Because we are like why should we obey? The scientists haven't done anything to merit our obedience. In fact they are the ones with the arrogance. The masters of the universe on the TV everyday droning on about things they really don't know much about.

Then there are the opportunists lurking about trying to make a buck off the rest of us. I saw a car commercial yesterday with scary music playing and the caption 'with these uncertain times of scariness, we are here to provide service for those in need, and those who are suffering' So come on by and load your self up with a brand new car you can't afford!

There are few people we can trust, And the scientists aren't high on the list.

Adam? Who told thee that thou has lost thy identity?

Has thou been getting brainwashed in thy local temple again?
Which thou wast commanded to not look behind the curtain but to pay, pray and obey?

The truth is mormonism is soul sapping.

It robs you of your true identity by saying everything unique about you is bad and then only conditionally affirms an alter identity that is based on cult goals/level of adherence.

Wow what a life. Hardly! So reclaim it.

If your only reason for being special is to pay tithing to a corporation or to provide free labor to a cleverly disguised profit making entity, don't you think your subconscious knows that? Stop silencing it because of mormonism past or present.

Stop the treadmill and find out what you enjoy about life.
Then make it one worth living, not one guided by out of touch retards who keep changing the goal posts of their doctrine because it cant stand the light of day.

Lastly, Do not give up the truth or good you have discovered for yourself but give up the fake mormonism crap. I say this because most of mormonism is plagiarized anyways so any good thing you find there has been said many times somewhere else.

Figure what is the good you want in your life. Take inventory from things mormon and non mormon (esp. things that bugged your conscience to be considered too.) That is what is so freeing, you are no longer tied to the limited mormon narrative. The world is your cafeteria.

If you take this approach, you will be less tempted to go back thinking there was even an ounce of guilt-free good in the mormon church. Remember, they are selling church centered subscription plans and you likely will never be offered their VIP plan of Second Annointings. So what's the point?

Really, most cultures have pride and mythology that makes them think they are special. Their land is special. Their beliefs are special. Their connection with the divine is special.

Look no further than the Bible, written by people who were (surprise!) chosen.

One reason for this is that cultures need a way to justify things like war and taking resources. It identifies the insiders from outsiders and devalues the outsiders.

Most everyone wants to feel valuable, entitled or important. Religion provides the "specialness' needed for people to think they have a connection to a god who favors them.