That's what I believed about apostates when I was TBM. I couldn't understand why more wasn't being done to reach out to them. I wondered why the guy I was home teaching kept rolling his eyes.

Now I am the apostate. Did I leave because I was offended? I think I did. I was offended at being deceived and manipulated. I am no longer offended. I can look at the church objectively and see that it's not for me.

So maybe I graduated. I left that abusive relationship. I was not the problem, the church was the problem. Nowadays the church is even more problematic. Can it be fixed? Of course, with a whole new mindset. Which means it is doomed. As Ron White said, you can't fix stupid.

Science advances one death at a time. The church is like that. Change occurs when the prophet dies. The problem is that the new prophet is nearly dead. The nearly dead aren't known for radically changing their thinking.

But then if you 'fixed' the church it wouldn't be the church. There wouldn't even be a need for it or the massive intake of tithing. Nope, maybe the world needs takers. Otherwise, how would we learn when to give and when not?

Suppose you are still in the church. I'm a glass half full kind of guy. The church is quite awful, but it is less awful than many alternatives.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/02/2024 06:51AM by bradley.

We are often offended when our lives are not in harmony with revealed principals and doctrines. Nevertheless I do offer this apology to any I have offended.
Note: I'm being facetious here.

Here's your sign.

When Mormons are offensive, isn't being offended the correct response? When knife sinks in, isn't bleeding the correct result?

+ A hearty "yes!"

I would suggest that all who leave are offended. We are used, lied to, and shamed.

When you think about it, there is little difference between what the church did to us versus a controlling partner.

We all hear the stories of controlling partners and what they do to their other half, and we all ask why they just did not leave.

However, the church is no different! How can anyone not be offended who left? Somewhere within those experiences we had, there is an offense. We just have to admit it, which is part of the healing process.

This narrative of people leaving the church because they were offended by another person has never made sense to me. It goes with that same narrative: 'It's not the church, it's the people.'
While I've heard some Mormons say some pretty offensive things, I've heard some pretty offensive things in other settings. But, suggesting that some other person's behavior could make an adult walk out on their belief system, I mean, really.

Now, if they meant that people leave because they find the TSCC offensive, and I'd go so far as to say evil, that I can understand.

Most Mormons I met over the years were decent people trying to do their best. Looking back, it breaks my heart at how the church stunted their ability to live the full measure of their existence. This, to me, is truly 'evil'.

I wasn't offended. I was called to be in the elders quorum. I participated in road shows. Mission, etc. I absolutely loved 90 percent of the members. I left because I didn't believe in the church anymore. The problem is the church lied. They lied. The Kirtland banking scandal. Polygamy. Smith marrying other men's wives while their husbands were on a mission. The marriage between teenage girls to a near middle age man. Really? Weren't there any worthy members to marry those teen girls that were closer to their age? They lied. Nasty filthy dirty lies.

I don't buy the dogma that the devil turned residents against the saints in Nauvoo or Kirtland, etc.and drove them away. The saints acted inappropriately. You don't have any right to destroy a printing press and burn the building down because you don't agree with what they printed. What they printed was the truth. There were telling the truth about polygamy occurring in Nauvoo, You don't have the right to marry someones wife while their husbands have been called on a mission. You don't have the right to say God demanded polygamy from angels with a flaming sword when you know you were caught having sex with someone other than your wife. Then you claim God demanded polygamy, except that so called revelation was two years after your your mishap.

I'm not offended. The so called church is offended that I left. That is their problem.

TSCC is a henhouse built by foxes.

I will return gladly with whatever is left of the LDS congregation (hear me out) when three basic exercises occur.

(1) The LDS church admits that they were wrong. [understatement]

(2) LDS sincerely and endlessly apologizes. [genuinely expresses sorrow]

(3) Seeks forgiveness. Imagine that, as maybe a Christ attribute?

The church would still be false. Would that not remain an obstacle to your return?

Not in the least worried about anybody in this LDS catastrophe of an organization doing something correct!

It really shouldn't but it makes me laugh a wee bit.

Now I know where the chuckle came from, after all this time has past.

"Over an entire hundred billion dollars along with amassing enough real estate to be the single largest private land owner in America"

And they (LDS-inc) still can't get one thing right!

Who wouldn't be with the crazy stuff they put me through. I was actually intelligent enough to know that he could never change to straight and that is what they expected. I got to deal with the ugly underbelly of the church and it isn't pretty. It is very abusive.

They're damn right I was offended. Every Sunday I sat among the sanctimonious phonies. The worst was testimony meeting. Nut jobs talked about hearing voices or being "saved" by surviving a car wreck. I squirmed in the pew when blubbering women in muumuus hogged the microphone for twenty minutes or more. One guy saw God in the prophet's eyes. Another had an angel in his station wagon telling him where to find a wife. It was offensive to my eyes, ears, and patience.

I was offended by the fact Mormons were not offended by the systemic blatant rampant racism, misogyny, sexual abuse and homophobia in Mormon CULTure.

I left because I was being scammed.

I left because the church was bogus. I stayed away because I just don't like Mormons.

These days I dislike phony people even more. I could go back and get along, but the Mormons would start Mormoning.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/15/2024 10:57PM by bradley.

I almost feel bad for individual Mormons who think they are responsible for causing offense. Most Mormons are walking on glass trying to be as positive, polished, and perfect as humanly possible. They don't want to hear that it is the teachings that are offensive. The church hierarchy is offensive. The doctrines are offensive. The history is offensive. Anyone with enough sense to investigate can see it.

Mormons are professional gaslighters.

I left because I was offended. I am justified in being offended for being manipulated and lied to. That IS offensive. I have stayed gone because I am offended that the cult continues to push the lie of tithing being necessary. I am offended that there is so much abuse that happens within the church and it gets swept under the rug to protect the church's image. I'm offended that the Mormon god couldn't foresee that it is better to face uncomfortable controversies headon and to make changes to protect people instead of how scummy and depraved it makes "His" church look for having hidden, buried, and ignored victims for decades.

And I am offended by TBMs implication that there is NO justification for ever being offended about anything.

Mormons are like a nose-blind person who farts in an elevator and wonders why everyone is acting funny.