Hey guys, here's a little update on my covid and then I'll get right into the post. I'm still doing fine and I have small headaches that go off and on. Nothing major.

So basically, a friend of mine who is on the same football team as me is mormon. We're also gym buddies. I want to convert him to the truth (exmormonism).

I obviously can't see him during quarantine, but I should when winter break is over. He knows I'm not a good mormon, and he's a good mormon but is really chill.

My ideas are to just drop subtle hints about the church, and try to have a discussion about it with him. He only has 1 more year left in high school and for me it's 2. I don't want to see him go down the TBM path, but I also don't want to risk our friendship.

Do you guys think it would be a good idea to try to convert him, and if so how?

LOL! You sure like to think RfM is a home for suckers.

Please don't tell me you're coming up with wild conspiracy theories that I'm a bot again

LOL! A bot? No you are probably a young man possibly an RM who thinks a lot about what it is to be a man.

You have a weird relationship with your Mormonism in that you think it isn't manly enough. You probably still believe it and want to find yourself a nice Mormon wife.

You probably come here to feel better about fooling exMormons and finding kindred spirits in people who make you feel like MAGA is a good thing. You used to call yourself hujoMAGA.

It is always a combination of things for people. You get a rush out of pretending to be a teen. You find likeminded thinkers here and you get to let off some steam about your religion in that it isn't masculine enough for you.

Just see where your buddie might be in his super padded comfort church, mormo-ism could be a little too prickly for him. I don't know.

The comfort factor even if merely perceived to be so, is apparently a big big deal.

Tell him you're worried for his mental health but make sure to keep it couched with genuinely heartfelt expression.

Then shout loudly his parents joined a sex cult! Just kidding..

Goofy thought is any bot accusations.

Don’t knock a padded cell. It doesn’t hurt when you bang your head on the wall.

hujo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Do you guys think it would be a good idea to try
> to convert him, and if so how?
===============================

But why do ye need to convert him?

Gotta figure the why, before figuring the how

I don't want him to have his money and life stolen by rusty nelson and the cult

An honest reason

hujo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I don't want him to have his money and life stolen
> by rusty nelson and the cult
===============================

He's gonna convert himself. Know why?
He's a lot like you. Your buddy, right?

Gotta have, pretty much in this order
- intellectual curiosity
- ability to see what's real, both inner (introspection) and outer (extrospection)
- a demand for integrity (vs. hypocrisy) - weakest point
- bit of courage (to break from the herd)
These all interplay and build on each other; but seems need to secure one before moving on

Okay, so you're the mountaineer.
You've been through the mountain pass. You can show him the way, but he's going to want to go, and then will have to walk himself. The questions he's going to come up with are going to be what bugs him; and if you're a trusted friend, he'll ask you.

the "what about" questions will come up; you just have to be there to point out the path. Buts he's gotta ask. You can't carry him on your back

My 2 cents.

Saying you've already got these characteristics, if he does he will be fine

Really great answer Dr. No. Thanks!

Don't push it. Answer questions and give basic references but don't push yours on him.
Doctrinal stuff? Reference the church Essays when they touch on what is asked about.

Let the Doctrine and confusion speak for itself and don't attack his faith - he will think you are attacking him.

Thanks. I like this answer

"It is easier to fool someone than to convince them that they have been fooled"
Mark Twain

I M H O You, a person, can't convert anybody.
What you can do is present facts to another person, which they can verify, then they convert themselves.

Get some fake IDs for the two of you. Take him to a strip club and pay two of the most beautiful women in the place, to both give him a private table dance at the same time, in the darkest corner of the club. It shouldn't be difficult to get them to sit and talk to the two of you for a while afterward. To quench his guilt afterward, take him to a bar and get him drunk. Talk about how normal people live afterward and let him know that he is living in a bubble. But let him know also that you intend to maintain the friendship, whoever he wants to be.

azsteve Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Get some fake IDs for the two of you. Take him to
> a strip club and pay two of the most beautiful
> women in the place, to both give him a private
> table dance at the same time, in the darkest
> corner of the club. It shouldn't be difficult to
> get them to sit and talk to the two of you for a
> while afterward. To quench his guilt afterward,
> take him to a bar and get him drunk. Talk about
> how normal people live afterward and let him know
> that he is living in a bubble. But let him know
> also that you intend to maintain the friendship,
> whoever he wants to be.

That's not gonna work, he would not remember after passing into "blackout" from such an evening. But I really really get where you're going with the whole train of thought.
My buddies would push a good looking girl toward me by convincing her to approach and talk with me sometimes when I was gently climbing out of Mormonism but I already knew what they were up to heh.

Bars and girls and bars, wow. One time I was actually on a racecar team and we were all racing IMSA events at Daytona and Sebring and one guy in the group did convince one of the cuties to bring their brand new car to the track in case we needed a part in an emergency to finish the 24h endurance challenge. Yep, one of the four Japanese control arms suffered a stress fracture toward the end of the 24 hour IMSA rally and we used her brand new car control arm to finish the race. True story!

Never tired of telling that story because it really happened. I just don't know the details of what promises he made with her!
We finished that race.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/23/2020 11:08PM by josephssmmyth.

LMAO I love this!

Only problem is I can't get blackout drunk cause my parents...

If that's how you're going to teach your young friend to interact with women, I hope you can support him after each of his first three divorces.

Why bother. If your friend continues to play football and go to the gym, maybe he'll get enough covid virus to kill him, and he will know more Truth than you or any of us know.

LOL!

Do not try the usual approach-introducing him to the CES letter, BOA controversy. etc. Gently plant the idea that the BOM has little or no reference to Mosaic law and Jewish customs/traditions. Keep returning to this idea. Sow the seeds of doubt.

I'm not married because I tried to convert my x, people must have good reason to change IMO, My 2 daughters are happy in it, and have a life that they are happy with, or shall I say by what I see it doesn't frustrate them like it did me, so I don't screw with them about it.

Your friend may be very happy in the church, all u have to do is ask.

+1

You don't convert someone to facts, the truth, or "reality".

You Show and Tell them.
Say "Come, Follow Me"

And they will

https://electricliterature.com/my-underwear-didnt-save-me-the-mormon-story-i-kept-telling-myself-fell-apart/

There are stories, and more stories.

Such a great story, thanks for sharing!

No, I don't think it's a good idea. The information is out there if there is even the least amount of desire to find it.

Just live your best life. All your friend needs to know is that you don't need the Mormon church to be happy.

I agree completely! Live your life and he will be curious and let him ask first!

hujo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

“Do you guys think it would be a good idea to try to convert him, and if so how?”

==My guess is that he will not like it. He will get offended.
Quite often, I notice that people tie the religion of their upbringing pretty deeply with their identity.
People tend to take it as a personal attack any criticism that you make about their god and they try to deflect it. They turn into teflon pans.

I have spoken to perhaps over 300 christians over the years, over the web. I have spoken to a few jews, a few hindus, a few muslims and maybe 4 mormons.
Sometimes, they stop responding. Even if I poke them, they don’t respond.

Sometimes, I discuss the moral aspect and sometimes, the scientific aspect. No matter the arguments, no matter how long the conversation, I don’t think I have converted anyone and that is not my goal.
They haven’t been able to change my mind with evidence. They tend to not have any evidence.
My goal is to try to understand how different humans end up with different conclusions about reality.

The reality is that if you are born in the mormon faith, chances are that you will be a mormon and so will your children.
A guy in a hindu family will be a hindu and will transfer that religion to his children.

One time, a mormon apologist told me that a person born in a atheist family will be an atheist.
Nope. Atheism is not something that gets transferred. There is no book, no churches, no master leader. Atheism is just the default state of a human.

CONCLUSION:
I say no. Dont attempt to convert people. You can’t. They have to seek the truth, preferably, via the scientific and historic information that we have.

~~~~~iceman9090

I have always considered it the height of impoliteness to try to convert someone TO a religion. I would consider it similarly invasive to try to convert someone FROM a religion. That doesn't mean I won't express my atheistic views if invited to do so, but such things should be left, ultimately, to each person'(s own appreciation - because genuine conversion (from totally anti to totally pro) is rare. People don't change fundamentally at the flick of a switch.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/29/2020 03:26PM by Soft Machine.