I've been meaning to share some stories on here but have been busy with work. This particular story has been nagging at me for a few weeks now.
During my TBM years, I was very well versed in the Mormon Doctrine and the Mormon version of its history. Being educated on a topic that I felt strongly about was a big deal to me, and the closer I got to my mission, the more and more I studied. Of course, it was all from the "church's" point of view.
Anyway, I was in Germany on my mission, and I was debating religion with a German boy who was about to go into the seminary to become a Catholic priest. We were doing the whole, "my religion is better and therefore 'true' because..." thing when I "crushed" his argument.
I simply said to him, "do you know how I know Catholicism isn't true? Because I know its history."
This shut him down completely. He was defeated, and he knew it. He knew about all the dark and terrible things his church had done over the years, and he couldn't respond because he didn't know about the Mormon church's history.
The irony of course is that, neither did I.
The most ignorant thing I've ever said.

For many years growing up the whole mormon thing didn't make sense, but if it's all you know, you go along. I went along until I was out of the house.

I felt utter disgust with the morg when the gay marriage thing arrived in my state years ago. That was a new feeling.

It was when I discovered this board that I began to read the history. I haven't stopped yet.

Yeah, I was always a really good student, but for some reason no red flags really came up while I was reading the "official church history" even though there are large gaps and huge holes if you were to retell it as a story. It's great to be able to really learn about...reality when it comes to church history. And I was inactive during the Prop 8 stuff. It made me angry, but I didn't hear it from church like others did because I wasn't going.

"Ignorant" is right!

Only here in Utard, they say, "Ignernt."

I had the opportunity of reading Mormon history directly from my ancestors' journals, in their own writing. The LDS Church has since confiscated these journals, supposedly for their "archives." When I discovered that my ancestors were polygamists, and were in on Joseph Smith's hoax, I no longer revered them.

My whole life, I was taught that I had to "live up to" my famous Mormon ancestors, and that I was never perfect enough.

Now, I am proud to have followed in their footsteps! No, I'm not a polygamist, but I am an apostate--just like they were! They apostatized from their ancestral Christian churches to join JS's cult; I apostatized from my ancestral Mormon church to join a Christian church. In a way, I've put things right, and my children have followed me. So much for history.

Thanks. I'll be posting my exit story in a bit, and I think some people will like it.

telling a gay friend who was coming out to me that he was spiritually dead or something along those lines.

I had read too much McConkie at that point, and while my mother calls it McConkie's Doctrine the evil book was still in our house.

So, when I called my friend a few years back and told him I was indeed gay as well, well, that was a lot of crow to eat. To his credit, he was pretty cool about it.

The second most "ignernt" things I've ever said came out of my mouth when my brother came out of the closet. However, it ended up being a great thing for me because after I continued to have a good relationship with him, I learned first hand that the "church" didn't know what it was talking about when it came to HO-MO Sexuality (that's always how it's pronounced from the GAs), so maybe they didn't know what they were talking about in other areas too.
And the McConkie's Doctrine is another very interesting topic too...

Mine is more of something I almost said.

In high school I worked at JCPenney's. One day while I was helping a black lady, a deaf man came in, leaned over the counter and struggled to ask me a question. I answered and he left.

The lady was furious that he had interupted her and started going off about how rude he was. I told her that he was deaf and she said that it was because god was punishing him.

The first thing that popped into my good little mormon mind was 'well god punished you as well' Luckily I didn't say it outloud. I still feel horrible about even thinking it, I can only imagine how I'd feel if I had said it.