Chatting with my daughter about our favorite books:) We discussed Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. Got me thinking... When I read this as a kid, I immediately associated "It", the giant, pulsating brain, with the church. It disturbed me, I read that book over and over, but could not put my finger on why it bugged me so much.

Many years later, I realize that "Camazotz". (a dark planet), is just like the cult. With "re-education" for unbelievers aka non-conformists. No individuality allowed, all must conform to the beat of It...

And the part where Megs father couldn't see the world around him, except with the help of someone else...

Anyway, just a ramble about the similarities. Other books that opened my eyes:
Farenheight 451, 1984, Stranger In A Strange Land, A Handmaids Tale, Animal Farm, Susan Coopers series The Dark is Rising, so many more I cannot possibly list them all :)

What books helped you "see the light"?

A short history of nearly everything - Bill Bryson

Mormonism, Shadow or Reality by the Tanners. Straight cod liver oil for the delusional. No orange juice.

Insiders Guide to Mormonism by Grant Palmer. The straight story including the less savory details, such as Joseph Smith's short career as an exhorter at tent revivals for the Methodists.

Enders Game by Orson Scott Card (a Mormon). About how people can be manipulated and used for the good of all--and what happens to people who deify themselves.



Anagrammy

"God's Smuggler" by "Brother Andrew"

found at any good Christian book store.

He smuggled Bibles into the Soviet countries during the cold war.

He lived what he called "the Royal Way" and totally relied on God.

It was wonderful. There is no way he could have gotten those Bibles in past the Iron Curtain without some devine help.

He'd put them out in plain sight and tell God: "Lord, when you were on the earth you made blind eyes to see. Now I would like to get your word to your children on the other side of this border, so please make seeing eyes blind."

The guards would let him through. If he'd been caught with them on his person he'd have been put in prison with the key thrown away.

So I learned to rely on God, and out grew the church in the process. Besides, the TSCC taught me very early on that I could NEVER rely on the "Priesthood" to care for me and follow through for anything I needed. I wasn't wanted by the One and only true church!

Other good books.....Your Eroneous Zones by Dyer

When I say No, I feel Guilty.

Too bad to stay, too good to leave.

The Verbally Abusive Relationship....very good for recognizing the abusive styles of various Mormon members and leaders.

"Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury
"1984" by George Orwell (I have a first edition of this one)
"Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
"We" by Yevgeny Zamyatin
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams
"Ringworld" by Larry Niven (taught me about unintended consequences of good intentions)

Those were books I read in high school that opened my eyes. Strangely, I didn't really see the connections between 1984 and Mormonism until after I left the Church. Partly because I was too young to see that the Church was evolving and rewriting its history, but also because I had the blinders on.

The hopeful message of Star Trek made Mormonism seem really negative and killjoy. That was another eye opener, though it's not a book.

EDIT: I just thought of another one. "The Star of Life" by Edmond Hamilton. It's a 1950s pulp scifi novel sort of like Buck Rogers. In the future, humanity has split into two races: the "Hoomen" and the "Vramen." The Vramen are immortal and are the police force of the galaxy. It's an exploration of the pitfalls of immortality and coming in contact with much more highly evolved intelligent beings.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/16/2013 10:57PM by Makurosu.

Just saved this as "Macaruso's List"

Thanks!

Ana

A Handmaid's Tale was one of my favs too. Probably the biggest influence for me was the book "Druids" by morgan Llewelyn. For some reason that really resonated with me when I was in the midst of "soul searching" my life.

Tupperwhere Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A Handmaid's Tale was one of my favs too. Probably
> the biggest influence for me was the book "Druids"
> by morgan Llewelyn. For some reason that really
> resonated with me when I was in the midst of "soul
> searching" my life.


I loved "Druids." The completely different perspective on Vercingetorix and Caesar has caused me to rethink that particular episode in history.

For me, a big one was "The Man Who Fell to Earth," by Walter Tevis. It's really about how we, as a culture, shun anyone who is "different from the norm" and try to force them to comply rather than accepting their unique gifts.

As for TSCC, it would have to be "The God-Makers." http://www.amazon.com/The-God-Makers-Shocking-ebook/dp/B001TOCN88/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1. I tried desperately to get my parents to read this when they were talking to the mishies, and they refused, saying "You're just trying to show us bad things about this church." No, Mom and Dad: I'm trying to open your eyes to reality!

It didn't work. :-(

I'm not touching anything he's been involved in or created with a 10000000000000000000000 mile pole.

I wish I knew the name of the book. I passed it on a display table at Utah State University Press. I picked it up and was amazed to learn that Joseph Smith was married to MANY wives and the book had actual photocopies of pages from these wives' journals with entries that floored me. I should have gone back and bought a copy but I was in a daze. Does anyone here know what the name of that book might be?

"In Sacred Loneliness" perhaps?

"Letters From the Earth," by Mark Twain. If you read this book, and still have literal belief in the Bible, you aren't very bright.

"Feeling Good" by David Burns

"Being Peace" by Thich Nhat Hanh

"The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz

"The Mindful Way Through Depression" various authors

"Pastwatch" by Orson Scott Card (very ironic - since he's a mormon author ... this book gives a very plausible account of how the myth of Noah's flood may have begun)

"Men to Match My Mountains" by Irving Stone

to name a few

I love the Four Agreements too. I forgot about that one!

I've got to call you on Pastwatch, that is one horrible book. The whole premise is awful and I regretted my personal rule to never put a book down after I have started it.

I liked Pastwatch. I hoped he would do another one like that.

Card's Homecoming Series helped me to see that the good guys (nephi & Co.) weren't 100% good and 'evil' laman had some good qualities about him too.

Eugene Onegin, I think it is a masterwork of human nature. It is just a damn good read.

Don Quixote, not because of its many themes but because it's a good book and when you're used to reading the Book of Mormon, Don Quixote is like a beach in Bora Bora.

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, because as a Mormon I felt like Mr Hyde more often than not.

"Secret Ceremonies" by Deborah Laake was a big Ah-Ha read for me. I hid this one from my husband while I was reading it because I knew it would be trouble if he found it.

"The Mormon Murders" by Steven Naifeh and "Doc: The Rape of the Town of Lovell" by Jack Olsen were two that showed a side of Mormonism that Mormons don't want you to hear, and helped me dissociate.

"God is not Great - How Religion Poisons Everything" by Christopher Hitchens

Harvesting the Heart by Jodi Picoult - I re-read it often. I still haven't stuck my finger on exactly why it resonates with me, but it does. Motherhood/marriage/finding self....

Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes - In bits and pieces. When I struggle I like to go back and read the pertinent myth/commentary.

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman - Short story, you can read it on the internet. Had to read in high school, didn't get it. Went back to read it as a TBM wife and could relate, but still didn't really get it (those blinders Makurosu mentioned). Now I get it.

I like some premises of The Four Agreements, but some of it I either just don't get or just don't agree with or just can't really feel comfortable applying...

Liked the Handmaids Tale, but read it after I was out and my eyes were already opened. The local TBM's would not let their high school kids read it earlier this year.

The Work and the Glory Series - When I was TBM, my TBM husband mocked me for reading them, and challenged me to read real history and not historical novel history. Now I understand why the church needed to create historical novel faith promoting history. Gerald Lund and Boyd K Packer must be good buddies.

Suddenly Strangers by ___ Morin - helped me to feel normal while going through the agony of leaving the Morg.

Krakauer's Under the Banner of Heaven. Fundies are really the Mormon church and they are WACKO. TSSC is just a corporation making money off the Mormon idea.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/17/2013 12:24AM by goatsgotohell.

goatsgotohell Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman -
> Short story, you can read it on the internet. Had
> to read in high school, didn't get it. Went back
> to read it as a TBM wife and could relate, but
> still didn't really get it (those blinders
> Makurosu mentioned). Now I get it.
>

+1. Also in the same vein, and contemporary therewith, "The Awakening," by Kate Chopin.

Looking at a pie chart or religious adherence breakdown (I guess I was about nine or ten -- Orem Utah) I saw no "mormon" category, so I asked my Mom where were the Mormons were and she pointed and said, "right here, in Other, Protestant". Bwahaha, so the Mormons areen't as world-pervasive as they make it out to be. I've got to look a little more closely at this.

And, almost anything written by Bertrand Russell, except maybe Principia Mathematica.

That reminds me, how hard is it to find "other" religious or new age/metaphysical books in Utah? At the B&N in Colorado where I used to live there was a huge aisle with many choices. Same thing with the public library. Here in Utah? Not so much. I did find some good books in Hastings in Idaho, but not here in Ogden at all. They had some choices, but def not what I'm used to. I haven't checked SLC though. I know I can order from Amazon and I do, but it would be nice to find a good "alternative" book store here in Northern Utah. If I'm just ignorant, let me know and I'll go find it.

The Book of Mormon and The Bible without giving an excuse for the inconsistencies and the contradictions by saying, "Well, I guess it wasn't translated correctly enough," or "Even though that line was used a lot, that's the way they spoke then," or "That's OK that Joseph wrote 'Adieu' even though Moroni probably meant something else"...

Great books^^^ I need to expand my library :) Another excuse for more books :)

"Who Really Wrote the Book of Mormon"

By way of introduction, I'll mention a few works I'd read that were on my mind, when I was questioning the verity of the LDS faith:

- "The Demon-Haunted World" by Carl Sagan
- "The Tombs of Atuan", and "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas", by Ursula K. LeGuin (the latter is a short story that can be found online)

"Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling"- by Lyman Bushman

"No Man Knows My History" - By Fawn Brodie

-"Forged: Writing in the Name of God--Why the Bible's Authors Are Not Who We Think They Are" by Bart Ehrman

-"Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why" by Bart Ehrman

-"Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium" by Bart Ehrman

-"Peter, Paul and Mary Magdalene: The Followers of Jesus in History and Legend" by Bart Ehrman

-"God's Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question--Why We Suffer" by Bart Ehrman

"The Demon-Haunted World" by Carl Sagan

"Mormon Enigma" opened my eyes to Joseph's ways, which eventually made the transition out of the church easier.

I also echo the comments about "The Handmaid's Tale." I read it when it came out in 1985 and looked at it as a work of science fiction. Then I re-read it in 2010 and thought HOLY *&#^&.

Anything that doesn't even reference religion, one thing that put some weight on my shelf was reading all sorts of things and longing for the normalcy that I read about.

It's been a long time, so it merits your discretion.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull

has some great concepts for breaking away from group think and cults. This was book useful for assessing my situation pre-Internet. With the Internet, so much more clear evidence exists that Morminism is a cult fraud.

His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman. Love them.