I am appalled at the general conference topics. Every time they say something that diminishes me in the eyes of my family members - they have done more to tear families apart than anyone I know. And what they are doing to families with LGBTQ members is unconscionable and dangerous.

They are a hateful, mean spirited group of people and I don't understand how anyone can support them. Just ranting in the one place I can do that safely.

Mormon bigwigs cannot build up. They can only tear down.

Rant away! Many exmos need support during general conference. Every year, some of the talks seem designed to rile up believing family members.

I just read the headlines from the SL Tribune and was so disappointed as they double down on hate and division. My Nephew has a trans kid and I have another nephew who is gay and these family have already been through enough. Why do this - why create this terrible choice for parents and families. These people are bad people.

I hate stories like that - the message is one of fanaticism and earning one's way to heaven. WTF - I hate it.

As I said elsewhere, when politicians speak they ask why. When church leaders speak, they swoon.

I agree they are very bad people. They have forgotten what is good and what is bad. They order their members around like slaves and double down on "The Croc" ----something that didn't exist in the Mormon church 50 years ago. They make up crappy blather and hang it on the wall behind glass and a double mat, point to it and say God wrote it. Well God did not write it. Then they pat each other on the shoulder and claim to be God's favorite. It is vile.

I'm sorry. I can't imagine you it makes you feel.

I just flipped on the TV and saw conference for 30 seconds. I was so disgusted. Neil (insert some initial here) Andersen was talking about how his dying MIL got a small check in the mail before she died. She asked for her checkbook so she could pay her tithing. She wouldn't let her daughter do it for her. One of the last things the daughter did for the mom was to hand that check to the bishop.

Even if you are dying, pay your darn tithing, people! We don't give a crap that you are dying, just make sure you fork over money!

That was what I heard in a random 30 seconds. What a vile greedy message.

The above response was for this comment. I hate the whole tithing thing - it is manipulative and why - this church which hoards money while people are literally dying one mile from this conference from no healthcare, hunger and the elements - and they want more and more and more. Ravenous, reckless and mean spirited.

That is such a sad story, that as a woman is in the process of dying, all she can think of is to keep forking over money to the church. That is some deep conditioning right there. Sad, sad, sad. Neil Anderson can't see how sick, pathetic, and inappropriate that is.

remember, about my dad being all upset as he missed tithing settlement because my mom died and he forgot. He hurried over to the stake center and found the bishop and the bishop wanted to wait until after the first of the year, but my dad insisted. He said your mom would have been so upset if I hadn't gotten that done. I explained how I felt about it and he said you are right.

And a month later my dad died. He didn't worry about it like my mom did and she'd give him hell if he didn't pay the tithing.

It made me angry that the church has set up people to feel like this. Or that they cause friction in marriages or relationships because of stupid things like this.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/30/2023 07:44PM by cl2.

When she first returned to church, it was a mess. She was out to save us all. I don't know if she still is!? She isn't as crazy about the church now. She married a guy who is not so over the top TBM and his parents aren't either. We know them.

I was lucky. I had 3 siblings who went inactive in their teens. I was the one everyone thought would never leave. My parents were supportive when everything came to light--not everything, but most (I am "married to" a gay man). Just legally still married. Now my last sibling except our disabled one has left the church. All the grandkids except my daughter are not mormon or got out. There are a lot of heretics in my dad's family.

My daughter and I get along well now. She doesn't like people in the church to say anything bad about her parents and twin brother. We've come a LONG, LONG way from where we were the day I found out he is gay in 1983 (before we married). My long-time therapist said he is AMAZED by where I am now compared to when i showed up in his office a few years after my husband left us.

It does get better over time. You never know what changes will happen in the future. I've been surprised by some of the people who have left the church that I never would have believed it.

I never listen to conference unless my daughter has it on--but since we don't live together anymore, I never hear it and I only find out what people on here report.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/30/2023 07:53PM by cl2.

Yes, the Mormon attitude about tithing is very odd. My nevermo parents knew that contributions were needed to keep the heat and lights on at the church, and to pay the priest and other church workers, but they were not about to break the bank to do that. And they certainly did not stress over it. When my mom stopped attending, she stopped paying.

I, and many of us, are right with you, tol. Best wishes to you and your family--all of them.

What I used to hate about GC was every time there was a “we have a duty to bring the lost sheep back to the fold” talk, mom was going to do something really annoying as a result.

Unfortunately such talks were a common staple of GC. Fortunately demographics were in my side. I was likely to simply outlive her, which would end the semi-annual crusade. That was eventually exactly what happened.

The passage of time tends to solve many family problems.

We have found peace, but we will never be able to be close like when we were growing up. I am forever cast as the lost one and this is reinforced every six months.

In some families the first to leave the church is an outcast. Later the rest of the family abandons Mormonism and yet the first heretic remains the outcast.

I don't understand. What could be more inspiring than a gaggle of douchebags?

The best way to deal with General Conference is not to watch it. I know some of it causes people pain but the good news is that most of it is the pain of sitting around listening to old men saying nothing.