Seriously, did leaving the mormon church lead you to become less racist and more tolerant of different lifestyles?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/13/2011 02:18AM by thingsithink.

No, because the racism/sexism/bigotry that's embedded in the teachings was one of the things I didn't like about the church anyway. Getting out was like taking off a jacket that didn't fit.

I left the cult because of its racist, sexist and homophobic views.

And "tolerant" is such an elitist term.

Do you really think, thingsithink, that you're so far above it all that it is somehow noble of you to allow for the existence of certain "lifestyles" you don't agree with?

Timothy



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/13/2011 08:15AM by Timothy.

within the context of the sentence, "more tolerant after leaving Churchco" is perfectly acceptable.

In the larger picture you may have something, but Thinky was being very specific.

You lost me, Timothy.

Again, "tolerant" is an elitist term for the reasons stated.

I accept and embrace rather than tolerate because its none of my business and I can't do much about it.

I would never have voted for something like Prop H8 as a mormon and certainly wouldn't do so now. So, no, I'm not more tolerant or accepting.

Put that in your crack-pipe and smoke it!

Timothy



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/13/2011 09:34AM by Timothy.

LOL. I'll smoke it.

You aren't very tolerant of people who accidentally use an elitist term while making a post. :)

I agree with the sentiments of your post wholeheartedly.

... folks who accidentally use elitist terms don't do so because of their race, color, creed, gender or sexual orientation.

Hokay, with the exception of white christian heterosexual males.

I'm not at all tolerant or accepting of mormons or any other religious types who vote "yes" on ballot measures aimed at denying certain people the same rights they (religious types) freely enjoy.

But, in being specific, you didn't ask about that.

Still won't take an answer for an answer I see.

Timothy



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/13/2011 10:14AM by Timothy.

More tolerant
Less irritable
More charitable
Less judgemental
More fun
Less tired
More sociable
Less anxious
More energetic
Less overweight
More fiscally flush
Less restless
More open & candid
Less argumentative

Apart from that, no real benefits...

I have nveer been a racist nor homophobe

Wow, you summed it up well, Stumbling.

Absolutely.

I was never a racist. I grew up in very multi-cultural Toronto, so to me an all-white environment would be very strange. In my department alone, there are people from Hong Kong, mainland China, Iran, Columbia, Romania, Bangladesh, Africa, and then there's me. The three best friends in the office are Jewish, Muslim and a guy who started out Catholic, but is now Protestant.

I used to believe that I was tolerant and non-judgmental. But once I left the Church, I realized that I did judge and I wasn't as tolerant as I would have liked to believe.

Perhaps put against a lot of other Mormons, I was more tolerant, but compared to how I am now, I wasn't. I've really developed an attitude where I believe that people should just be who they are. Unless someone's deliberately trying to hurt someone else, we can just let them be themselves. It's not our place to judge.

So, yeah. I'm much more tolerant and far less judgmental now, and I feel it improving all the time, which feels good.

I've never seen such a variety of people in one place. It's such a vibrant city!

No, about the same.

Ron

Having the Official stamp of God's Approval on racism ...
To some degree, ANY TBM would be influenced by that. To what degree is an individual matter, but all us pre-1978 people were Definately affected by it.

ChurchCo doesn't put these things into their teachings just for Window Dressing...Do They?

Oh Wait...

Let me add a few words..

"ANY (straight white male) TBM would be influenced by that."

And...

"...but all us pre-1978 (straight white male) people were Definitely affected by it."

Positions of privilege are nice, aren't they.

Frankly I'm not straight or male, but white enough I get two sorts of teasing.
Grandma: I need to see some more blond white grandbabies! (Looking pointedly at me.)
Grandma on another occasion with much less fondness: Your cheekbones really show the injun in ya, too bad.(Inherited from the other side of the family.)

Both grandma and church teachings disgusted me. Even at an early age. Fortunately I wasn't homeschooled, I was exposed to a lot of diversity at school. Discrimination was not allowed, and I could never understand why it was supposed to be okay at church.

Early on, all I had were feelings, now I have words to back up what I felt was wrong all along.

I knew that the church was pretty strict/rigid about some things. However, as you know, the church paints itself in the prettiest possible light to investigators. At that time, I had no reason to suspect the church of hiding its dirty laundry not only from investigators, but from its members as well.

It wasn't until AFTER I LEFT that I discovered how horribly racist, sexist, and homophobic the church actually is! --even to the point of its spending vast amounts of money POLITICALLY to create or retain laws which will perpetuate those racist, sexist, and homophobic views. That was MY tithing money that had been spent on causes I was AGAINST!!!

Sooooooo glad to be OUT of the cult now!

The racist, sexist and homophobic thinking in the church are the things that drove me out. But being in the church in the first place stunted the development of my tolerance in the first place. So, yes, I AM more tolerant and open-minded now.

Totally. That was one thing connecting me back to who I was before joining the church. I am much more liberal now, more tolerant, more compassionate toward non-mormons and groups not typically represented by Mormonism.