I just wanted to say thank you to everyone on this site and to introduce myself.

I'm a nevermo that was once married to an inactive but TBM woman for 7 years in the 1990's. This website sure has explained a lot to me about things that I didn't understand before about that relationship and the way her TBM family acted towards me. I always thought that they just didn't like me or thought that I wasn't good enough for her and now I see why.

I originally found this website a few months back because I came home from work one day and my current girlfriend told me that missionaries had stopped by and she talked to them for about an hour. I immediately set out to find information for her so she could understand what the TSCC was all about and this site was on top of the list. The missionaries tried a few times more, but thank goodness, eventually gave up.

Some things I have learned here so far:

Now I understand why a week after my ex and I got engaged, missionaries suddenly started appearing on my doorstep.

Now I understand why when we told my parents we were engaged they said, "Congratulations!" and when we told her parents, her dad started crying and asked her if she was still chaste.

I see now the power the church has over it's members especially when it comes to tithing. I thought it was weird when we visited her parents and brothers and sister (they lived 2000 miles away from us) and we played Monopoly one night. They had a rule that you had to put 10 percent of any money you gained into a pile for the church. Pass go, collect 200 dollars, and drop a 20 into a pile for the church! Then they used that money to help out the players if they needed it and if her Dad felt you were worthy. LOL!! Even in Monopoly, they were drilling tithing into her young brothers and sister.

Anyway, enough for now, I just wanted to say thank you and look forward to contributing when I can.

By the way Raptor Jesus, I am going to buy your book. Might come in handy if the missionaries show up again. :-)

We are glad you are here. I want to say that I am sorry about the marriage, but I want to commend you for being a nevermo and resisting TSCC. You rock!

Monopoly tithing. ROFLOL. Worthy? Yeah, that is always how the Morg works, they "judge" you for everything [the temple, a mission, marriage] even if you are in need of some of the very same money you contributed! Can you see Jesus looking down on a poor person asking for food and asking him bunch of "worthiness" questions first?

Awesome story to start my day. Ha Ha ha.... lol. That is hilarious.

Just so everyone knows, I don't consider myself affiliated with any particular religion. I grew up nominally Catholic, so I understand passing around the donation plate, but found the concept of a 10 percent tithing and how if you didn't do it you were bad to be really off putting.

The one person in my ex's family that I really got along with well was her younger sister. At the time we last visited them I was only 23 and my ex 22. Her sister was 16. We stayed with them on vacation for two weeks. Two of the weirdest weeks of my life. I got her sister in trouble one day while her Mom and my ex went off shopping and her dad was out of the house. It was hot outside and I asked her if there was an ice cream shop somewhere around. She said there was one fairly nearby, so I asked her if she would like to go get ice cream with me. We walked the half mile or so to the store, ate some ice cream and walked home. Her mom and my ex came home while we were gone and Mom freaked out because we were gone.

The real reason she did I found out later on was because I was alone with her. In Public!! Scandalous!

I mean, come on, I bought her ice cream!

I see now why I needed to walk on eggshells around them.

It leads to licking of lips which leads to impure thoughts which leads to impure actions which leads to....


;)

...licking cupcakes?

Wow...I'd say I was surprised, but no.

Welcome to the board!

I'm mentally picturing that father giving his baby blocks: 9 for you, 1 for the church.

Never too young for indoctrination.


Anagrammy

Stay with us awhile, there's plenty more to learn. No doubt, we'll learn much from you, too, such as the Monopoly story. Ha! Good stuff!

money?? the head "priest".... power hungry.... the TSCC(The So Called Church) seems to foster those type of people in men....why not ....you are gonna be a GOD so ya gotta practice dont ya?? :)

What made you worthy of the Mormon Monopoly tithing money? Paying tithing of course, but did you let your family stay on your properties for free? If you landed on Boardwalk and were in a position to buy it but a poor sibling wanted it, did you have to buy it for him?

I'm sincerely curious here. Examples here. Thanks!!

Queen - If I remember correctly, when someone landed on a property and was in a position where they would go broke and out of the game, her Dad would ask them some questions like, "What good things did you learn at church this week?" and decide if they were worthy of the money from the church till. They always were worthy. They played Monopoly not to win, but until someone got bored with it. Nobody ever won a game by taking all the money.

So he brought real-life Mo questions into the game...

I came here for the same reason -- I wanted to better understand the Mormons in my life. I stay here for the great people. :-)

That Mormon Monopoly story is hilarious! If the church wanted to put out an official version, they could have little plastic temples instead of hotels.

Creepy the way her dad broke down and cried and asked if his daughter was still "chaste". But thanks for your insight as well.

Hi Charles - It did seem creepy to me that the first thing he wanted to know was if we were doing it. He asked her again the day before the wedding too. She told him she was, but we knew better than to say anything other than that.

I'm dying to know, did "the church" buy expensive property on Boardwalk with the "tithes?"

LOL, the Church never bought the properties, but then again Monopoly doesn't have malls. Then they might. :-)

This thread rules! That monopoly story made my day.

I am 31 years old and have played Monopoly (the adult version mind you) since I was 5, and this is the first time I have EVER seen a house rule where you have to tithe 10% of your assets to a pot to bail someone out of bankruptcy!

That is taking the teachings of LDS Inc. WAY TOO FAR.

Honestly I thought the response to my original post would have been, "Oh, that's the way all Mormon families play monopoly."

After reading this board and other sites, I'm beginning to think that my ex's family was trying incredibly hard to be the perfect Mormon family and have their children entirely indoctrinated into the church.

I had heard them talk about other families and how so and so family comes from a long line of "Born in Covenant" ancestors and such. As if they were in awe of that.

They converted when my ex-wife was 4 years old.

Perhaps they felt a need to have to overcompensate to prove themselves worthy because they were converts and not born in covenant?

Does that line of reasoning make any sense?

Is there a sort of class distinction between being born in covenant and being a convert?

Oh yeah, there are definitely class distinctions between BIC (Born In the Covenant and being a convert!

Plus a lot more class distinctions in the Mormon hierarchy
Sexism--men rule over women
Racism
Rich over poor--wealth is considered a "blessing" for the elite worthy
Callings--Bishop and Stake President over Primary teacher, etc.
With women, it is whatever calling her HUSBAND has. It is great to be a Stake President's wife, for example.

Even the Mormons' hereafter has levels, or "degrees of glory" with strict visitation rights between the levels, and separation of (non-Mormon) families who are less worthy. There's even polygamy in the Celestial Kingdom, the highest degree of glory. There, the male Gods have multiple wives, who are constantly pregnant with "spirit children." I'd say the whole cult is based on class distinctions, fear, and bullying.

Sorry for the rant. Welcome to RFM! I, too, love your Monopoly story, and the story of your engagement. FYI, many Mormon couples lie about "chastity" to avoid the humiliation of not getting into the temple. If a Mormon couple does not get married in the temple, the rumors fly. Sorry, you had to be the victim of these judgments. Glad that you're no longer married to that family. Yes, they seem extreme.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/31/2011 09:58AM by forestpal.

Unfortunately, in real life the morg does not bail members out when they go bankrupt through living the Mormon way.

The days when the church stepped to help faithful members are gone forever.

Welcome tsawyer2. That monopoly story is the best.

I was thinking about your question, do converts need to overcompensate for not being BIC? I am a convert and I wanted to be like the BICs, or like the missionaries, or even like the converts from years before me. They knew the mormon traditions, they knew how the church operated, there was always something new to learn from them. Hey, I'm still envious of the jello salads and funeral potatoes people mention on this board from time to time!

Sadly, I think that if I had heard someone share that monopoly story from the pulpit from a priesthood leader, I would have gone and put it in practice with my family!

D