My wife still believes and she wants our young children to attend as well. I have been going to church with them purely out of support for them.

But I really want to resign my membership. I've already informed The Brethren of what I think of them by discontinuing my financial contributions to their "church." But I want to cast my final vote by telling them to remove my name from their records.

This is where my irritation sets in. Even if I resign, my information is still in their databases. The only thing that actually changes is that my record is no longer assigned to a unit.

How do I get them to completely and irrefutably purge any and all information about me from their records? I don't want to appear anywhere in their system! I want them to no longer know when I was baptized, what mission I served in and where I was married. Is this even possible? Is it feasible legal action could accomplish this?

I am sure you can write a letter and they may respond that they have removed your name from their 'records' but I can tell you, somewhere within TSCC, is your name and all the particulars of your life.

Getting an 'excommunication' letter or a letter from the SP that says you have been officially been removed is not even worth the paper it is written on.

Legal action will only enrich one person, your attorney. TSCC has a huge membership of attorney's that will carry the water for TSCC and all you will do is spend thousands of dollars for a piece of paper, maybe signed by a judge that still will not be worth the price of the paper.

I am a little cynical about TSCC, having seen it from the prospective of the daughter of a bishop and advisor of the SP.

TSCC has, buried deep in salt mines in Utah, every record they can get their grubby little hands on. TSCC has even gone as far as traveling to Europe and copying birth and death records in little out of the way village parishes. Some of these records go back as far as the 14th century (or further) and sending that info to Salt Lake City.

The catholic church was one great bureaucracy, and they have records that go back to, well, a long time ago. The only thing that creates gaps in their records was fires or just plain old age.

I'm afraid it's a lost cause bro. You are in their computer system and they will just reassign you a new status. There is no law preventing this. LDS, Inc. is a corporation. Nothing more, nothing less (well, it's a corp with a tax exempt status - Drat). If it looks like a corporation, if it acts like a corporation, if it speaks as a corporation IT"S A CORPORATION !!! with a team of lawyers to protect it. Lots of corporations have your personal data, way more damaging than LDS, Inc. has, and they don't even tell you. There is credit and personal info about you in numerous corporate data bases. Ever heard of FICO scores? Ever heard of Experian, Trans Union, etc. They have more control over your daily financial situation than anyone knows. Did they ever ask you if they could collect this data? Not! Any credit card you have ever had will hold onto your data forever. TJMax had their data base hacked and thousands of bank account numbers and credit card info was being used to destroy customers' identity.

Relax. LDS, Inc. cannot get any more money from you if you stop paying and you resign. You have refused to give them any more of your adoration. They don't have your SS#. They can't destroy your credit rating. Just resign, call it good, and move on.

You might want to tell your wife you respect her and her rights to her beliefs, love her and want nothing but the best for your kids and her BUT your self-respect demands that you be able to resign. Let her know you'll be there for her and support her to your best ability but she needs to let you do this. Good luck.

I understand the desire to have your name completely purged from their system. I too wish that were possible. It would be nice wouldn't it?

But as Cali Sally stated, they are just one of a chorus of companies that have your name in a database. At least your record will be flagged stating that you have taken the steps necessary to no longer be a member.

If you were to ask why they need to keep your name on file, and if they were to actually respond, they would probably state that if you were to change your mind they would need your old records in order to restore them. I have a feeling that Gyms do this when you cancel your gym membership, though I have a feeling they purge their records from time to time.

Legally, I'm not sure there's anything you can do to force this. You can make the request, but they will not honor such a request, probably wouldn't even acknowledge it.

FWIW I am playing on some language in my trust documents that would disinherit any of my heirs that tries to dead dunk me or who uses any trust funds to contribute to the cult.

Sorry, don't think you'll have any luck on that. At least you will be put in the former member part of their database, lol.

I fear you are all right. I guess I should be happy to at least be off the records as a member and to no longer being on any of the many lists that get passed around in the leadership meetings. (Less active, home teaching, non-tithe paying, expired temple recommend, potential reactivation, etc)

If you don't officially resign, they can't dead-dunk you after you die.

Haha. I guess that's true. But honestly, I don't really care about dead-dunking. I'll be gone by then and will most likely be devoid of any consciousness.

Its the here and now that concerns me.

There is nothing remotely unusual about LDS Inc keeping a record that you used to be a member. Your resignation still ends your membership.