If you look at the average ward’s membership role it’s a minority that hold a temple recommend. That’s within the members who are relatively active.

The temple is just a fraternal order within the church. You pay dues to join, there is an initiation ceremony where you get a new name. You swear loyalty to the fraternity and join an exclusive club within a club and there is a ladder to climb. If you are a good boy, you and your wife get a special anointing.

This special club ego stroke is how the church makes it’s more loyal members feel special. Not much different than the snooty clubs and frats at certain universities. People get off on being in something mysterious and secret and exclusive.

Good analogy. One big difference is that the clubs and frats KNOW that these are fraternal rituals, in reality. Morons actually believe the ther-worldly, mumbo-jumbo, Voodoo, Satanic stuff to be REAL. Wow.

I think the deeply-rooted old frats borrowed a alot of their stuff from the Masons, just as Joseph Smith did.

Yes, the rituals of collegiate fraternities and sororities are derived from Masonry and other fraternal organizations. They borrowed from Masonry just as Joseph Smith did. The Catholics have their own fraternal organization, the Knights of Columbus.

Mormons just pay a heck of a lot more for their fraternal membership than everyone else does.

Not necessarily. It was so ridiculous I never believed in it. You give Masonic handshakes to angel sentinels to climb to this veil and you have to say the magic words to get in.

I went because I wanted to see what it was. I think many members do this. I think why you have unhappiness and even mental illness in the church is people know it’s bullshit or at least suspect it is but just can’t muster the courage and every to leave. They feel stuck like a prisoner in it.

But by belonging to the temple fraternity I was looked upon with more respect in the church because I could go where other members couldn’t. I had the special card and I knew the secrets.

I never felt special in the temple or going to it. The old ladies never treat you special. They acted like old bitches all the time. I got the idea that if there was a CK, that we'd all the wearing those hideous outfits and doing their hideous rituals for all eternity.

You nailed it here. The moment I realized that was their version of the best heaven there could be, I wanted out.

Yup. Grumpy old people that smell bad.

Can we reenact Kevin Bacon's scene in Animal House with everyone decked out in temple attire?

"Thank you sir! May I have another?"

a TR is a visible, tangible token of belonging, I refer to them as Membership Cards like for the AAA or your 'grocery club card at Costco, Safeway, or wherever you shop; it's the club's way of staying in touch with you, designed to increase motivate reward repeat visits.

Once DW wife & I went to a major bank in Seattle to get a loan, one of the first questions was "Do you both have Temple Recommends?"