You didn't do it in one day, right? Doesn't converting to a religion involve thought? How does it work, to convert? I've only converted OUT of a religion in the form of being a Seventh Day Adventist. I'm too much of a heathen to convert to another one. Maybe a Wiccan/Buddhist hybrid if not for my hatred of joining things.
But I really must know how folks get convinced to convert.

To want better for oneself and family

To want to believe in something bigger than oneself

To dream the impossible dream



then you crash


wiccan... too many rituals
druidism..... too hedonistic and racist with a leader who has a degree in theater arts
Buddhism.... pretty darn cool
Hindu... father to Buddhism
polytheist.... cover all bases



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 05/28/2012 02:36PM by mindlight.

I will be completely honest here. The idea of an eternal family, the highly romanticized version of it, which is the only version taught prior to joining the church. The highly romanticized version being that a man will love you, only you, and never stray. Kids, the white picket fence, the whole nine yards. Men who took life and commitment with seriousness. Fast forward...found out after 13 years that Founder was a polygamist, yet no one offered to discuss the parameters surrounding such matters, how many were there, etc. I just needed to have more faith while being totally paranoid that my existence would be wiped off the face of the earth and begging my husband not marry anyone else for time and all eternity if I should ever die prematurely. Took another seven years for the proverbial shelf to crash from the extreme load of cog dis. When a young convert friend of mine husband who was very unhappy with his wife's return to drinking (she was victim to horrible, violent acts of sexual abuse in her not so distant past), he tried coercing her into stopping by telling her that if a man made it to the celestial kingdom and his wife did not for not reaching the ultimate degree of obedience, that man could choose a new wife! Google became my friend that day, as I wanted to know where this idea came from and low and behold, it came from the lips of Brigham Young. Thanks to the church for encouraging me to be a good geneologist, my detective skills went in full force and found out that Joseph Smith (boy wonder), lied, had other people lie, and the church has never taken responsibility for deceiving the church as a whole, as to what its history really entails.

No second guesses that leaving was the right thing to do. I do not live any way that I do not want to. I am full of integrity and possess a pretty good heart regarding most human beings. The only thing I struggle with is discovering what I actually believe about a religious and/or spiritual life, and being shunned by my TBM husband's family. It sucks, but my integrity is still intact and that means more to me than any thing.

I'm happy not being SDA, but I think my relatives will yell at me forever over not believing anymore. In fact, that happened in college at Thanksgiving dinners because I have trouble keeping my mouth shut or lying.

At the age of 16 I heard about BYU and thought it would be a good school to go to. Interestingly, my non-Mormon high school counselor recommended it to me.

I thought it would be a good idea to learn more about the religion since I would be around so many Mormons--no intention of joining the religion at that time--so I had the missionaries come over and I took the lessons.

My family was in an upheaval (parents getting divorced) and Mormonism offered the "eternal family" promise as well as concrete answers to complex theological questions. I joined.

During and just after my missionary experience (late 70s and early 80s) I found about the other side of Mormonism. My church periodicals became Dialogue and Sunstone (which were a lot more liberal then). In the meantime the church became more reactionary. I came to a conclusion that the questions were much more important than the concrete answers (and much more interesting). I drifted out--I was very lucky because my wife left with me.

I was content to leave things as they were until last year when my Stake President told me either "quit or be fired." So, both DW and I quit...priceless decision.

Uh, given the choice of quitting, I demurred and got a council....waiting to hear on my appeal. Until then I am either disfellowshipped or....

Very long story.

Took me a year to convert. Big changes in my life lead me here.

I came in at the age of 26 with no expectations. Therefore, I have not been disappointed.

It's every bit as f***ed up as I imagined.

I do not regret my decision to convert. I've learned a lot about myself...who I am and who I am not. Learned a lot about people.

I love the church, not because it is true (it's not), but because the experience helped me find the truth of who I am, in many ways cast me in the light of my full potential.

I knew when I entered those baptismal waters that the contract I was making was only binding to the people who keep records of such things. God, if he exists, is neither an accountant nor bookkeeper, and I was never naive enough to think that these things mattered.

That "soft, still voice" which the Church and I mutually understand to be that of the Holy Ghost is giving me a message to plan my escape. (I know. Some of you who are going to use this statement as ammunition to throw at me. I don't care. This thing that I'm telling is MY spiritual journey, not yours. If you have a problem with that...well, then the problem is yours.)

I come here for assistance in making a smooth landing. I'm going to end it the way I started it: on my own terms.

Thank you, everyone, for your support...and for the support you offer to others.

Externally, it was only about making friends and getting my life back in order. In reality - I was just thinking with my dick (I still wanted to be an honest friend to everyone). It was a girl that got me into the church. To be blunt (and somewhat gross) - there were two parts of her that were hard to miss.

After a while (and the church janitor calling), I looked around saw all of the evidence against the church.

Started boinking a TBM girl at 15 and got baptized a year later.

sex was my motivation to try Scientology

rofl, I was 18

I was able to get my money back too! unheard of, I know.... but I is crazy and offered to be their front woman, token crazy. they gave me my moneyback :P

Now they have Tom Cruise

lol



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/28/2012 05:05PM by mindlight.

Yep, took me all of three weeks in total to go from new "investigator" to baptized. Not that I ever believed their crap. Despite my total fabrication of a testimony (and I think it was a pretty rockin' one, I'll have you know), it was a girl. That was literally it.

I would reason that most people join TSCC for similar pragmatic or functionalist reasons, NOT out of some long procedure of study and recollection, as they often testify. They realize the gospel is true when their pending wedding date to a TBM approaches, or they're in need of new social experiences, or so on.

Not discrediting anyone who actually DID rationalize, study, or have a true religious experience that brought them into the cult--but I rarely, if ever, got a legit feeling that most converts I knew had authentic stories. There was ALWAYS a girl/guy or some social reason why they seemed to be there.

What's worse is that the Church knows it too, and they usually treat converts with a pronounced scrutiny.

My daughter converted. It took the Mormons 6 or 7 yrs. to get her. Only one girl was with her all that time....two others a lot of the time and her hubby for 4 of the 7 yrs. Yes, she had fallen in love. In the end she married this Mormon and they were going thru a bankrupcy 3 yrs. into the marriage and I think she was so stressed out she let them give her a blessing and she probably fell for lines like "This would not have happened if you were Mormon"...then all the pressure from his family etc. Yep, I think they did all that guilt stuff they do to her. In a couple wks. she sent me an email saying she did it....I saw pics of her in the one piece white jumpsuit and I about keeled over. There was an outside pic of all his family and it is large and the bishop, etc. Barf!

My Mom converted in 1959 when I was 11, 20 years after she married Dad. I remember the stake missionaries coming out to the farm numerous times and talking to her....I went and watched TV 'cause it was boring....but after getting dunked, she became a very righteous and somewhat strident TBM, more so than Dad. So I always got along better with my Dad. Don't know ahy it took so long to take the plunge as she had attended church and RS for as long as I could remember...