I’m glad my shelf collapsed. I’m glad I lost all of my Mormon friends. That religion is bonkers. Maybe my parents saw something in it, as they joined in the 60s, but the church they joined is a distant memory. Any socially redeeming values are now gone.

To quote an Elton John song, we’ve all gone crazy lately. Mormonism is but one brand of crazy. Their treating me as a pariah is a kind of validation. Thank you for the shunning, may I have more? But things aren’t much different in society at large. Leaving the collective insanity behind is alienating. Call me a wanderer. This was the price of my sanity.

Introversion is the best thing ever. How else could I handle the madness? I grew up thinking there was something wrong with me. No, there’s something wrong with them. It’s not just Mormons, it’s most of modern society. Factory farming. Wage slavery. War. Religion. All considered normal parts of life by the normal human. Maybe I don’t want to be normal.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/07/2020 07:14AM by bradley.

For me, becoming educated with an undergraduate and graduate degree put me in a similar state that you describe.

Once you know how the pieces of society are put together, life is harder somewhat. There is no doubt that life was easier when I was uneducated. I was patriotic and thought we were the only free country, kind of like the only true church. I thought that the whole world envied us etc.

Then my eyes were opened. And the illusion stopped working. Propaganda started being obvious etc. It's no wonder that the church denigrates intellectuals. They might lose money once people have better critical thinking skills.

Leaving a collective lack of awareness and seeing things for what they are, is more lonely for sure. But I'd take it any day over being back in. It's not like atheist have camp outs or BBQ's that make you feel part of a tight group.

" . . . thought we were the only free country, kind of like the only true church."

In our business we have constant interface with people from many countries around the world. We've known them long enough to get chatty. What they say is that Americans started believing their own publicity. We arrogantly know very little about the world except for their cuisines. We arrive here and there like visiting dignitaries believing we are impressive---like Mormons. I remember being told on my mission by some Argentines that Americans knew nothing of the world. I was asked, "Do they even teach geography in school." 1969 this was. I knew they were right then. I went there thinking I was going to a jungle and about to fend off boa constrictors and giant spiders.

At this point Americans must be tolerated because of the power of our size. Mormons in Utah must be tolerated because of the power of their size. Is America the new Mormon? The commonality the ignorance of the truth?


As early as 1958 the authors of "The Ugly American" tried to tip us off. We only got worse. Again, sort of like Mormons rejecting that which is right in front of their eyes. Some people just need to believe they are the world's darlings. Well, more than "some".

You and Bradley touch me with your posts. I don't want to be normal either. Never managed that in the first place though. True understanding is a double edge sword. Hard to take sometimes. You can't put the blinders back on. You have already seen.

I agree with you guys: I am more than glad to jettison "normal".
At the beginning of the shunning, I was a little hurt, but quickly realized after that it's worth the price of no longer having false friends.
Before I resigned, I used to get generic emails from the RS that would let everyone in the ward know if someone had passed away, or who had moved, etc. As soon as I resigned, those came to a screeching halt. I imagine that our resignations must have made the ward news.
Our oldest daughter and her husband are strong TBM's. I'm hoping the right moment comes along soon because I would like to have a real fireside chat with them.
When we went to our grandson's blessing a couple of years ago, she got up to give her testimony. She was the last one up; and the only female to bear her testimony. No one before her testified that JS was prophet. She did, though. When she was done and sat down, our SIL put his arm around her and gave her a strong hug of approval. I wanted to tell her: "If you had lived during JS's time, you would've been one of the first ones to be approached by him."
His family has gradually, but steadily wrapped her in their chains and keep her close to them.
I remember being taught in SS several times, that the chances of being born in America were slim and that we were very righteous in the pre-existence to qualify to be here.
Yes, waking up can come with a heavy price such as shunning, but to me it's worth it.

I have the brain of Abby Normal. I think that's what it said on the jar...

There weren't many people in the church I really related to. Of course, with my Mormon conditioning, I thought I was to blame for that. It wasn't a social sacrifice to walk away from the church because they never felt like my people anyway. Once I got away I realized I wasn't the weird one.