I have a simple question: what if you are wrong and Mormonism is somehow true? Please answer. I'm not trying to be insulting here. I've been struggling like crazy with my faith and don't know what to do. I know all the terrible history but there is something about Mormonism that makes me stay (even though I don't really attend any more).

if you do enough homework and you are reasonably a sane and educated person? I'm sorry, but there is 0% chance that you are wrong. Do the research and then do the math. TSCC is false. It was never true. The entire "mormon" religion is based upon lies. Now is the time to take charge and find out what you really do believe. I think a lot of members shun the truth because it's too scary and they don't know how to handle it. There is plenty of life and livelihood beyond the constrictions of TSCC or any religion whatsoever. But you have to leave it to see it. Otherwise, you just baa baa baa all the way to the CK and end up regretting your entire existence wishing you had lived and loved the way things were intended to be.

I think we have all asked ourselves this question. Mormonism is familiar, its what we know, many of us spent our whole lives in the culture. Our family traditions are steeped in Moism.....change is scarry and hard.

But seriously, polygamy, money-digging-Joe, vanishing gold plates, magic underware, Kolob, Mountain meadows Briggy, Zelph, Kinderhook, BOA funeral text, changing masonic temple rites, etc, etc, etc. Your head is telling you something is seriously wrong but your fear of change is holding you in.

Face the fear, move forward.

I would ask God why there was so much damning evidence against it? Why was the Book of Abraham said to be translated from a common Egyptian Funeral Text? Why was Joseph Smith asked to marry other mens wives? I would ask many of the historical questions to God.

Why does it seem that an unchanging God has changed his mind so many times... polygamy? blacks and the priesthood? If these were true principles.. couldn't God have provided miracles for them to be around still?

On a personal level, I would ask God.. why was I so unhappy with Mormonism? Why did I not feel the atonement ever work in my life?


BTW, I am rather certain God cares much for a small, backwoods church that has a membership of less than 1% of his children on this planet.

+1 those are also very good point to consider

And do you accept the science behind it?

If you do, you will understand that my ancestors were not Hebrews on a voyage.


Remember, your leaders have said it's either all true or the greatest lie told.


If you were raised in this cult, it will always have some hold on you.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/16/2012 02:28AM by Itzpapalotl.

If I am wrong and when I die I am face to face with the Mormon god, I will tell him to please send me to which ever heaven gets me as far from him as possible. Or could he just end me please? There is no thing that endears me to anything about the mormon god.

Yes, I have considered it very carefully during the time I thought about leaving the mormon church of which I had been a member for 34 years.

Don't make the mistake of assuming that the people on this board have left the church on a whim. That's what the church wants you to believe so it's easier to dismiss the legitimate reasons of those who leave.

If you really want a serious answer to this question, it would help to establish some standard of truth first.

For instance, you say you know all the terrible history. That implies that you know that the first vision probably never happened and that Peter, James and John probably never appeared to Joseph Smith to restore the priesthood. These are two of the foundational teachings of today's mormon church.

And even though you say you know this, you still want to stay. So what is your standard of truth?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/16/2012 02:33AM by rt.

if i'm wrong, and the cult is "true" i'll live my life as i choose anyway, and gladly join the gay boys in the telestial kingdom for an awesome party for all eternity.

that having been said, the more that one learns about mormonism, the more certain one becomes that it is a pathetic and grotesque cult.

Why would it be true? Because Joseph Smith says so? Does he really have such a great track record for having a truthful, sterling nature? Do you believe everything everyone tells you?

Any God worthy of the name would be advanced enough spiritually to be tolerant of more than just one church. Or of those who are unchurched for that matter.

If I am wrong, god is a real jerk. Think about the percentage of people that would actually be in the celestial kingdom.

Besides, I'm not interested in being an eternal goddess-wife. Will there be a cover charge for the Telestial party?

What if I am wrong. What if I am?

I will not accept responsibility if I am wrong. I did every thing I could do to be an honest to the core TBM.

I prayed, read my scriptures, lived the religion, had a temple recommend for 20 years, raised my children TBM,sent a son on a mission, did all I could do.

I spite of that, for 55 years I never received a conformation from God that the church was true, or that I was following the right path.

In fact, quite the opposite. When I studied the REAL church history and prayed about it, It became VERY clear that I had been led down the wrong path. I had been deceived. That was an extremely difficult pill to swallow. It literally shook my world.

If you follow the promise, and pray to know if it isn't true, you will get an answer. Just be prepared for an answer you didn't expect.

I wondered that at first. It is part of having your worldview start to come apart and not yet having formed a new one. It's a pretty tough place to be. The proof for me that I was not wrong about leaving is my life is better for me and my loved ones. But I only hoped that--I didn't *know* it-- when I started out.

If it were true (which it most assuredly is not) I would stand at the judgement bar with a clear conscience knowing what I know and call Joseph Smith and other church leaders to repentance or to atone for leading us astray.

Let's say I'm wrong and God is Mormon and Mormonism is "the way." Why would I reject it then? Perhaps for the same reasons:

I suffer from social anxiety, and the forced meetings and fellowshipping are sheer torture to me. If the absorption of the self into the collective is right, then I am wrong.

Mormon history is simply appalling to me. If that's the way God chooses to conduct his affairs, I'm calling him out as a trailer park deity.

My experiences growing up Mormon were so miserable I wouldn't wish them on anyone.

I would rather be considered a bad guy than sign up with a group of sniveling pew monkeys who worry about their clothing display more than the whereabouts of their children.

Even so.

Don Bagley Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Mormon history is simply appalling to me. If
> that's the way God chooses to conduct his affairs,
> I'm calling him out as a trailer park deity.


I love this line! I hope you won't mind too much if I steal the phrase "trailer park deity" for possible future use. It describes the God of Mormonism in such a succinct, yet devastating, way.

I also suffer from social anxiety. Three hour blocks used to be sheer torture for me, and then there were home teachers, visiting teachers, and various ward members constantly knocking on my front door. I think only someone else who suffers from social anxiety can truly understand how stressful and damaging that is, especially when you are dealing with Mormons who have no concept of personal space and social boundaries. Being out is so much healthier for me psychologically.

And to the OP, of course I have considered that the Mormon church might be true. After all, I did spend 42 years believing that it was. But when it really comes right down to it, there is just too much evidence against it. If God had one true restored church on the earth, why on earth would he create this huge mountain of evidence that shows his church to be a fraud? That makes no sense whatsoever. If there were a God who would do that, he would a trailer park deity, exactly as Don Bagley so eloquently said.

I also have social anxiety and in the 7 months I've been out of TSCC I've been so much happier. Hooray!

I have a simple question: what if you are wrong and Mormonism is somehow true?

I have a simple question: what if you are wrong and Catholicism is somehow true?

I have a simple question: what if you are wrong and Islam is somehow true?

I have a simple question: what if you are wrong and Scientology is somehow true?

I have a simple question: what if you are wrong and Pastafarianism is somehow true?


I doubt any '-ism' is 'true' so I just don't lose sleep over it...

#1 - I am not wrong. Unlike having faith in TSCC, knowing that it is BS is a 100% certainty.

#2 - Just for the sake of argument, if I am wrong, and TSCC is true, I want nothing to do with it or its god. Straight up he is an asshole and incompetent and not nearly as all powerful and all knowing as he claims.

For argument's sake, if there's a mormon god, he'd have to be crazy as a bedbug and mormons and nonmos would all be screwed. The only souls who could please him would be as eternally crazy in the same ways he is and that isn't likely.

What if I were wrong......

Sorry, not interested in playing. Joseph Smith never saw HF and Jesus Smith when he was 14 he did not get golden plates containing the B of M from zombie Moroni. God doesn't listen to prayers the way Mormons teach, God does not work his will through Mormon priesthood, the Mormon church is a business acting as a cult labelled a church, it is not the One True Church, and finally the Mormon temple self-mutilation rituals are stolen from the Masons, these are cult rituals that have nothing to do with Christ or goodness. By the way are you sure about the Jesus thing too--do you really need an atonement or is that phoney too?

Want to play any more "what if" games with me or am I no fun to play with. Take your cult and pound rocks. It's a fraud.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/16/2012 04:32AM by gentlestrength.

"what if you are wrong and Mormonism is somehow true? Please answer."

The premise is flawed. There is NO possibility (ZERO) that Mormonism is somehow true. It has been proven to be false through many different fields of scientific evidence, logic, reason, and even faith (moved any mountains lately, or performed any miracles, or healed any amputees?)

Also, Mormonism today is NOTHING like the church/religion that Joseph Smith founded. I challenge you to name one thing (doctrine, principle, practice) about Mormonism today that is the same as the Mormonmism of Joseph Smith's time. It's completely different. So then, which Mormonism is 'somehow' true? The original one, or the current one?

'Mormonism' today is merely a single (albeit highly profitable) division of LDS Corp, which is a multinational conglomerate corporation whose goal is to accumulate money and wealth (and the political and economic power that comes from such wealth).

+1x10^9

I'm not Mormon but I was planning on joining the church because I was going to marry a Mormon -- even though I didn't believe in any of it. Take this for what it's worth. Go look up a guy named Claude Vorhilon. He claimed to have the same sort of experiences that Joseph Smith had -- only he substituted aliens for angels.

I don't know you or what you do in life but if you have a rational mind you would probably think Vorilon (a/k/a Raël) is either a con man, totally nuts, or both.

When I really thought about it I didn't think I could join a religion or group that:

once taught that my parents should have been put to death for committing the unholy sin of race mixing

thought I was a sub-human cursed form of life because I had black and part native grandparents and was not "worthy"

taught that my only value as a female was to marry a god-in-waiting whose eternal reward would be the right to f^%k me forever in the hereafter to populate a planet

lives in an insular, mental version of North Korea where your life is totally controlled by others and religious faith is a sham

If God is what people say God is why would he make a womanising, often drunk grifter a prophet? The "Book of Mormon" is complete fiction and is not based on any places or events in ancient Mesoamerica. The temple rituals are empty and meaningless. It's a great right wing conservative social club but as for a religion it's total nonsense.

Look, the very fact that you are scared of pissing off an invisible man whom "they" say exist is already a huuuuge clue. What sort of loving "Father" (never mind heavenly) would this monster be that would punish you with your worst Boggart (a Harry Potter reference) if/when you make a mistake on a quiz?

Remember an infinite punishment for a finite 'crime' does not make sense. Mere mortals have better morals than this creature you think is your god.

AWESOME Harry Potter reference! :)

When I left the church it was before easy internet access to the facts. I had been doing a lot of thinking and there were just way too many things that didn't add up the way they should. I was able to get almost (98%) certain that it wasn't true, but still had the occasional twinge of "what if it is?" Then one day it hit me--If it is true, then heaven will be full of mormons, and I didn't want to be there with them. At that point I quit worrying about it. Then my daughters told me about rfm, and I spent literally weeks doing nothing but reading here and being blown away by all the evidence of the huge fraud of it all. What a relief to know.

When I left the mormon church, after 30 years of truly believing, I wasn't sure whether it was 'true' or not. I had many doctrinal issues but I was confused because I had previously been so sure. What I did know though, was the church was damaging to me and I needed to run for the hills. Once I left the church I was able to think it through clearly, without the church leaders telling me what to think.

I soon realised, with 100% certainty, the church is false (that's my polite word for it). There were moments when it felt like my heart broke into a thousand pieces. But it was worth every moment of pain and soul searching. I look back to my time in the church and find it difficult to believe I used to think that way.

I read a comment recently, something to the affect 'no one in a cult ever knew they were in a cult'. I look at my TBM friends, and think back to how I was, and I am absolutely sure the Mormon church is an insidious cult.

That's a non-starter. But, living here in the belly of the beast, Utah Valley, I guess you might be able to make the case that, when in Rome do as the Romans do, just so your family could fit in and be accepted. But at what cost?

We were taught to not think for ourselves and to fear the unseen deity we're supposed to worship as a loving God who is actually full of anger and wrath and is unforgiving if we commit even the smallest infraction. So of course it's a hugely frightening thing to even let ourselves begin to think that all we were taught by the morg and our parents growing up isn't true. We all struggled with this on one level or another and it takes a great deal of courage to accept the possibility that it's all untrue and go from there. Not a single one of us here took that lightly. Some who have left have paid a huge price personally in our lives for doing so, being shunned by community and family but we followed our conscience and hearts. I have next to no communication with any of my TBM family and haven't for many years. For me, that's been the hardest part.

What finally, after many years, got me was I realized I did not believe in what is the foundation of the church -- Joseph Smith. I had not read any of the literature available about the real history of JS, I just realized I did not believe that he had ever had a "vision" of any kind. Everything snowballed from there.

It can be a frightening journey but you will find a great deal of support here. Good luck.

transoceanic wooden submarines.

sorry, it's been my observation that wood floats.

hollow wooden vessels are 100% guaranteed to float.

Sorry, but if belief in kolobianism requires me to abandon rubby ducky life experiences I learned in the bathtub then

then kolobianism is a dick religion.

if kolobianism is just being ironic, then it's chill with my mocking its absurdity.

I can live (and die) with either of those outcomes.

Hitchens - do your stuff: : ‘It is the wish to be a slave. It is the desire that there be an unalterable unchallengeable tyrannical authority who can convict you of thought crime while you are asleep. Who can subject you – who must indeed subject you – to a total surveillance ... A celestial North Korea. Who wants this to be true? Who but a slave desires such a ghastly fate? ... At least you can fucking die and leave North Korea.’

Well, if it's true, then I would rather just not exist in the hereafter.

Mormonism would have me believe that heaven is a place where:

I would share my god-husband with a harem of celestial wives,

be eternally pregnant,

birth a bazillion spiritual offspring who will never know my name, never read scriptures about me, never talk (pray) to me, and rarely think of me.

Doesn't sound like heaven to me.

And for all you TBM lurkers who like to think that polygamy will be the choice of the first wife, please read D&C 132. Ask yourself, did Emma have a choice? It plainly states that if she rejected the doctrine of polygamy, she would be DESTROYED. Some choice.

Is this the work of god? To bring to pass immorality and the eternal misery of women?

My answer is always to study, study, study. Watch videos. Read whatever you can get your hands on.

Once I had all the facts, I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that it was all a fraud. I know it this time because I have facts. It's not an emotional, "Oh, I know it's true."

It's a 100% certainly, because of knowledge, that there is just no way that it's true. It's such an obvious fraud that I don't know how I never saw that before. Knowledge is the difference.

No, there is not even one particle of my being (to borrow a Mormon phrase) that wonders if it's true. It's not. Period.

In knowing the actual truth about god & the meaning of life, I am wrong and its great !!!

For me, the evidence against the church far outweighs any evidence for it. Speaking of evidence, what evidence is there for the church being true other than feelings? Really, I'd like to know.


I think being a Mormon and having to Know whether the church is true or not is ridiculousness on steroids because no one really Knows, its just a question of how much you'll lie to yourself for the church.

I say that because at the core of the argument its all about God and nobody knows for sure. Take any testimony and stop it at the word "know". Ask, so you know god is real ? The have to decieve themselves and you by using a spiritual witness as proof. In every case it is not by seeing him personally other than Joseph smith & prophets. No Joe Blow TBM will tell you of the day they actually saw god and how he proved Mormonism is true because no even current Mormon leader has the courage to claim it.

It's really easy to take a testimony bearer and have them admit that even the spiritual witness itself is ultimately just a feeling.

that question will pop up in my head--like when I'm trying to please my daughter because she is TBM and she'd like nothing more than for me to go back.

I left the lds church over life experience. I didn't know a lot of the history--did know some. Take my experience, married to someone gay--and what happened to us before we married. I never went back to lds leaders for help with the situation after we got married because they f*cked up the whole situation before we married as it was. They are clueless about gays--AND if you think they care about you? You would be wrong. I always believed in "the worth of a soul." Write a letter to the GAs and you'll find out how much your worth is. Even if I wanted to--I could never go back.

If mormonism were true, then we'd all be screwed by its plan of salvation.
http://mormonthinkblog2012.blogspot.com/2012/11/life-is-test-only-test.html

I've been where you are, or at least when I was questioning my faith at the start, I wondered quite a bit, "What if I'm wrong and the church is true".

It's a painful place to be. You've just started down your road and hopefully you'll find that once you turn the corner and make it past the questioning phase that things are far more brighter and happier than you ever could have expected. But, sometimes, it's difficult to take the risk and take that step.

So, your question, what if I'm wrong. That means that when I die, I will have to face God, Heavenly Father, and explain to him why I left. I was always taught that God is all knowing and all powerful that he loves unconditionally. I would hope that such a creature would look into my heart and see that even though I left the church that I lead the best life that I could, that I was honest in my dealings with my fellow man and judge me based on that. Not on my attendance at a church that, well, if I, as a flawed, yet rational human, can see so many flaws and problems with that I can no longer associate myself with the organization because I consider it to be evil.

Take your time, do more research, figure out what is truly important to you and decide for yourself what is true and not true. I will tell you that once I let go of my faith, I finally found actual happiness and haven't looked back. I hope you can do this too.

Your question is too general. What specifically about Mormonism could be true?

First Vision?? Look at the various versions and the whole story in-depth please. And what specifically do Monson, Eyring, Uchtdorf, Packer, the other 11, and the rest of the leaders have to say about it all right now?

Book of Mormon people descendants? Where are they? How are the promises to Father Lehi being fulfilled?

7 volumes of the History of the Church - is it authentic? or just a bunch of mumbo jumbo from erroneous scribes like William Clayton? If its mumbo jumbo then go read the D&C prefaces to the sections there. If its authentic then go read the Kinderhook Plates

Mormon church's own Penn State style scandal - yeah this hasn't become public but Monson surely tried to get a friend of mine ex'ed because he disobeyed his direct order to obstruct justice so a child molester could roam free. My friend got released from his calling. Monson, Packer and the rest who are in-the-know are still in theirs. Is this God's plan?

Joseph Smith Papyri - whenever I think of the BoA I'm reminded of the Primary song "Golden Plates" but with some slight different words "The Joe Smith papyri lay hidden, deep in a mountainside .... until God found one truthful in whom he could ...." If the papyri supported the church then they'd be open to the world.

Think about the Santa Claus myth. It's a cute myth for young children, but it is impossible in terms of the workload Santa must perform. A bagful of toys for all the children who believe in Santa? The actual size and weight of the gifts would require about one thousand C-17A Globemasters:

http://www.airliners.net/photo/UK---Air/Boeing-C-17A-Globemaster/2200331/L/&sid=45ec97dd178331505671078e1b6fcca0

To service all the children on Christmas Eve, Santa would have to visit 630 households per second.

Now consider God. If God divides his time equally among all humans, each person gets 1/81000 of a second per 24 hours. That is less than 3/8 of a second over an 80 year lifetime.

God is supposed to hear and answer prayers. If 60% of humans pray for a cumulative 10 minutes a day then God must continuously listen to 40 million concurrent prayers on a non-stop 24/7 basis.

God must maintain a mental record of the name and location of every human on the planet. Without that information he could not know the identity of a person who is praying. A listing of all the humans on the planet in the format of a White Pages Telephone Directory would be a stack of phone books 1/3 of a mile high. That is what God must memorize.

God must keep a detailed record of the good and evil deeds and thoughts of every person, over the person's entire lifetime. Where does God keep that information -- in his memory? To collect the data for that lifetime record, God must monitor every person for every second in the day. That means non-stop concurrent monitoring of seven billion people.

A logical analysis of the requirements that humans have placed on God shows the total impossibility that any thinking entity, the alleged God, could fulfill those requirements. This means that there is NO God and that all God-centered religions are a scam.

I just don't care. I really don't. Being a member of an organized
religion with all it's stupid rules which do nothing more than give power to the higher-up quit mattering to me 45 years ago. Worshipping "God" or whomever or not does not require a church.

Ron Burr

You have been sincerely searching for the truth.

If God is a loving, omnipotent father, why has he not made the truth crystal clear to those of his children who sincerely want to know the truth?

the inane rules made by men for men/people proves that it is patently false.

If you've studied the bible and the life of Jesus...do you really think Jesus would be a member of the lds church?

I think not...

I struggled with exactly that question for ten years. the more I looked the more evidence I found that the LDS church was NOT true.

and even if it is true I would side against such evil.

Totally agree.

If the God of LDS scriptures did exist, I would feel a moral obligation to oppose his work in every reasonable way.

Keep researching. What makes it hard to believe the religion is not true it is that it hurts to know. It is hard to accept. But really, nothing makes sense but specially the blatant statement to say that the LDS is the only true church over the face of the earth.
Keep researching, you have not done enough. And remember noone can convince you about anything. Go for what really makes you happy.
By the way, almost a year ago I asked sort of the same question here but I already accepted reality and I am very happy

If I am wrong? Then I suppose I will be cursed with a dark skin and if I mix my seed with white and delightsome women, the curse will pass on down through the generations of my descendants.

We're not wrong.

The boogeyman in your head was carefully planted over years and years of brainwashing. We've *ALL* wondered "what if?" It takes time and distance to undo all those automatic thoughts that keep whispering in your brain.

Research, study - even study cults and their techniques for brainwashing. You'll see yourself. It's alarming when you finally discover that your very MIND has been manipulated by an organization.

Good luck, darlin'.

;o)

The question that started my journey out: What if it isn't true? I'd been researching some historical aspects of the priesthood and wondered why some women were given the priesthood during WWII and then that privilege/power was removed after the men returned from battle. The bricks came tumbling down after that moment.

RM. Temple marriage. Leadership callings. Some Mormon leaders wrote that apostates will feel a darkness since the holy spirit is taken away because I don't believe it exists. But I was depressed after leaving since I couldn't believe I'd been duped for so long, led others in the church, and even helped convert people on my mission. Depression was real. But there was a light at the end of the tunnel. Hang on. That feeling of being "true" or real comes when you feel human again and don't have to pretend anymore.

Good luck. And thanks for asking.

What if YOU are wrong? Ever considered that?

What evidence do you have for your beliefs? Do they make sense or do they defy logic?

If you are so sure that you are right then explain why that is any different from EVERY OTHER religious person in the world thinks they are right too.

If all you have to go on is a feeling then anything that makes you feel good is correct? How do you feel when you are at church? Are you excited to be there or is it a chore to go? If it makes you happy then you should go. If not, then you should figure out why.

The one thing you should never do is spend your time and money doing something that makes you unhappy. Everyone on this board was unhappy being mormon. Some left before discoverying the truth, some after, but I've decided that the truth is less relevant than I thought. Humans believe what they want to believe regardless of its truth and regardless of the facts.

Do what makes YOU happy.