I was listening to Dr Laura the other day and an LDS woman called in. She said she no longer believes in the church's doctrines anymore and wants to leave, but her parents and family are so upset about her possibly leaving. She was raised LDS, her husband is LDS (no kids yet) and they both want to leave the church because it is not "true."

Dr Laura's advice was to stay. She said to look at the good parts of the church, the morals with which they were raised, the community and support that they would lose if they left. She said "you have too much to lose by leaving." She said it is better to just go, be LDS for the sake of keeping family traditions etc. She said, you will never find a religion you agree with 100%. EVeryone who is Mormon does not believe every single sentence they teach. Just accept the good and ignore the rest.

I got very sad when I heard this, because in fact it seems that by leaving the church (because I no longer believe it), I did in fact lose ALL my support, sense of community, activities to go to, and traditions. I am just a lone person now, not a part of something bigger. I wonder if maybe I should have just stayed and enjoyed the good and ignored the parts I don't like.

I really, really would like to have back the support system and sense of belonging that comes with being in a church, but since I don't believe in Jesus or God it makes in nearly impossible. (No Unitarians near me and the atheist groups are, well, not very family friendly around here).

The LDS church is psychologically unhealthy. Would she suggest staying in an abusive relationship? Giving advice to, "Just accept the good and ignore the rest." WHAT?!!!!


And, if you live in Ut County, I'm an atheist and I have a daughter about your age. (I think you posted about your 5 yr old last night) I would love to meet other atheists who live around here and maybe those who have children. I have a 4 yr old, and I'm afraid she will be shunned as she gets older. It would be nice to have a support group of sorts, for both of us.

Just like recommending: "Stay with that abusive spouse for the good parts" Dr. Laura's advice is so bad and unethical. Geez

Dr. Laura has done virtually everything she tells other ppl not to do: she's lived with a man outside of marriage, been pregnant and unmarried, worked rather than stay home and raise her kid, shunned her own mother, was an orthodox Jew one day and then jettisoned those beliefs for a less stringent form of Judaism, etc.

Dr. Laura apparently only has the most superficial knowledge of Mormonism and is woefully unacquainted with the levels of depression in Mormon women, the unrelenting patriarchy and laying on of guilt (well, she is a Jew so these two must be OK with her!), the push for early marriage and unpreparedness for parenthood, etc.

I wish Dr. Laura would close up shop and go away.

Skunk Puppet Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Dr. Laura has done virtually everything she tells
> other ppl not to do: she's lived with a man
> outside of marriage, been pregnant and unmarried,
> worked rather than stay home and raise her kid,
> shunned her own mother, was an orthodox Jew one
> day and then jettisoned those beliefs for a less
> stringent form of Judaism, etc.
>
> Dr. Laura apparently only has the most superficial
> knowledge of Mormonism and is woefully
> unacquainted with the levels of depression in
> Mormon women, the unrelenting patriarchy and
> laying on of guilt (well, she is a Jew so these
> two must be OK with her!), the push for early
> marriage and unpreparedness for parenthood, etc.
>
> I wish Dr. Laura would close up shop and go away.


That is the truth. The caller should have told her she should have remained in orthodox Judaism for the good parts.

I think a UT county meetup at a neutral location would be a great idea for fellow atheists/exmos with families. We've got kids between the ages of 7 and 3, boys and girls. Weekends work well for us. Perhaps a Sunday? Perhaps at a park right across from a ward house? We can bring our lawn chairs and a 24 pack? ;-) j/k A meet up would be nice though.

To learn more about how Mrs. Schlessinger feels about Mormons:

"I probably sound like an advertisement for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints."

http://www.drlaurablog.com/category/mormons/

She apparently has counseled other LDS individuals who want to leave to stay in the religion. Of course, if you're the kind of person that makes life choices by calling in to radio programs seeking advice - she might have a point.

I sure wish we could meet up, Emanon and LehiExMo, but I live in Washington state. Not near Spokane/Seattle either.

Skunk PUppet, you are getting your wish as she announced last week she is stopping her radio show after this season because of an uproar over her using the "N" word on her show last week.

Good points about the abusive relationship. It does seem that way. I am very glad to be free of the guilt and the magic underwear, that's for sure.

Anon7 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ....
> Skunk PUppet, you are getting your wish as she
> announced last week she is stopping her radio show
> after this season because of an uproar over her
> using the "N" word on her show last week.
>


My Gawd! I must be a prophet, seer and prognosticator!

Well, that lets you out from my areas too. Darn. Warshingtionian here -- but not by you I guess. :(

Still, Washington should be a decent place to find some nice friends of little to no religious persuasion. :)

I see from her page that she has no idea what it means to be a mormon. Most people think it's like being some benign form of protestant. She wrote that a mission is like being in the peace corps. In most churches, people go on missions to help(eg building schools, roads, etc.) "unfortunate" people and hope to convert them in the process. As usual, Dr. Laura doesn't know what she is talking about. She gives her biased opinions rather than any updated clinical help.

cam Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I see from her page that she has no idea what it
> means to be a mormon. Most people think it's like
> being some benign form of protestant. She wrote
> that a mission is like being in the peace corps.
> In most churches, people go on missions to help(eg
> building schools, roads, etc.) "unfortunate"
> people and hope to convert them in the process.
> As usual, Dr. Laura doesn't know what she is
> talking about. She gives her biased opinions
> rather than any updated clinical help.


Again, Dr. L is oblivious to the dark side of missions: Families financially struggling to pay for their kids' missions; mishies blamed for lack of conversions & made to feel guilty over masturbation; many are subjected to deplorable living conditions & crime; many have their health ruined by parasites & other 3rd world diseases; as the cost of living rises, the already meager mishie budgets are slashed while fat old men in SLC are preoccupied with their multi-billion dollar real estate development projects.

Dr. L really ought to keep her yap shut.

And no, you can't see it. You can google it.

She has no business telling someone they need to stay in a religion they no longer believe in, so they can reap social benefits. She knows nothing of the emotional cost.

. . . .and she calls herself a "moral authority" . . . .


But then again, people call her, ready to make life decisions based on an opinion that she will form and pronounce in 30 seconds or less. I guess they don't want to take responsibility for their own choices.

From what I heard, she converted to Conservative Judaism having been raised in a secular household. I think she had the hope of being buried in Israel when she dies or something like that. Israel refuses to recognize any conversions that don't happen under Orthodox auspices, so she converted to Orthodox Judaism. She's since given that up. Maybe it was too stringent.

She really has no grounds to tell anyone anything about changing religion.