They like to be amature psychologists. They actually preach how setting the right or wrong example will control the choices and behaviors of anyone watching.

Nope.

Anyone who is influenced by example must make a choice. They are deciding to follow the example and are in control of their own behavior.

When someone leaves the morg the mormons assume they were under Satan's control or that someone's offensive behavior influenced them to turn their back on the church.

Nope.

People usually leave the morg because that's what they want to do. They make a choice.

How tiresome to go through life trying to outguess who is influencing whom.

Since leaving I’ve swapped emails with several TBM friends. So far all of them and even my mom have assumed it was because of a personal issue I had with somebody. They’ve apologized for not setting the best example or being there when I needed them. That kind of stuff. The idea that I no longer believe the doctrine doesn’t even cross their minds. When I explain it to them they are just taken aback and don’t know how to respond. It’s like they are trying to “love” me back into activity but that’s not why I left.

Because, in their minds, the doctrine could never be at fault.

from a few sources--about "the leaders who gave you that advice were uninspired," blah, blah, blah. Most of my close friends never bring up "you just couldn't live up to the standards" as they know I did. They have to try to come up with SOME reason you left.

The minute you don't go to church one Sunday, you no longer live up to their "standards." The standards of MANY mormons I know are less than exemplary.

It is like I think helamonster said one day--"They don't get it because they have never been through it" kind of like a divorce. I think all their knee-jerk replies have everything to do with a deep-seated fear.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/18/2011 10:01AM by cl2.

So annoying, right? They have to come up with SOME reason to invalidate your experience--temporarily uninspired leaders, someone offended you, etc.--because to validate you would mean to have to accept that it's THE GOSPEL that's imperfect and the doctrine that's faulty. Most TBM don't want to consider that possibility. In fact, they've been conditioned to NOT consider that possibility, so as not to be "tricked' into apostasy by the craftiness of the adversary. So the only thing left for them to do is to come up with judgmental, asinine reasons for your leaving. And ALWAYS the wrong reasons.

It makes you wonder what the other lemmings think when one of them decides not to go off the cliff after all.

Remember the discipline many of us received as kids"from Mom and DAd?:

"Well if all the others are doing it, does that make it right?"
Apparently so-- if you are mormon!

And, in the Mormon RX manual "judgement" is the perfect antidote for apostasy--or reason.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/18/2011 03:40PM by blueorchid.

Funny thing. Wikipedia has a better understanding of our position than the mormons. I think i am going to refer them to that reference site from now on. All they have to do is look up exmormon. They probably won't believe it, but at least they will have been exposed to some thoughts that probably never occured to them.