I browse through the BYUI Secrets facebook page sometimes and notice something that I hadn't really thought about before. Whenever someone says something negative about the church, lots of people jump in with their knee-jerk denial. They insist that the statements aren't true, offer up apologetics, bear their testimony that the gospel is true even if the people aren't, and try to write off experiences as "oh, the church is not like that." Most of the time, it's like they're not even looking at what the initial statements say since they're almost always true. Is this what happens with most TBMS? Do they go into denial mode whenever anyone says something negative, even when it's accurate of the doctrine?

Yep. Standard operating procedure.
To the average Mormon anything less than glowing praise is a vicious attack.

JoD3:360 Wrote:
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> Yep. Standard operating procedure.
> To the average Mormon anything less than glowing
> praise is a vicious attack.


Hateful. You forgot "hateful." And "anti."

Anything less than praise is a vicious hateful anti-Mormon attack.

Yep, that's how they deal with their religion. They are going defend it to the hilt. They don't want to know if they are wrong, or misguided. In fact they don't seem to care if they're be deceived. They view it as something they must do no matter what.

They've been trained to tune out anything that they don't agree with. Truth has no place. They have a truth that has been created for them. They don't want to hear that their truth may not be what they thought it was.

The thing that I don't understand is when someone says something that could be word-for-word verbatim from a sacrament talk or primary lesson or whatever, but refer to it in a negative context. If it's followed by a testimony of how brilliant it is, fantastic. If it's followed by how bad it is, it's "oh, we don't teach that; that's not true!" even though it's exactly true.

I still have those stupid "knee-jerk reactions" when talking to people about, well, anything that matters to me. It is ingrained, and very hard to change. I've had to learn, embarrassingly enough to say, how to stop my emotions long enough to say "you might be right" or "Let me think about that" before just going crazy with insults and unclear rebuttals.

I embarrass myself too often when I regurgitate this awful learned behavior...

But slowly, it is fading, because I am forcing it out.

Unfortunately, most TBM probably think of it as a virtue. Their own "martyr" for the truth....

You just put into words something I have been trying to put my finger on. I deal with the same thing and have had to begin creating new mental pathways that don't just automatically resort to fight or flight when presented with new information. Its a pain in the ass and yes, embarrasing in a grown adult.

antimarkite Wrote:
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> You just put into words something I have been
> trying to put my finger on. I deal with the same
> thing and have had to begin creating new mental
> pathways that don't just automatically resort to
> fight or flight when presented with new
> information. Its a pain in the ass and yes,
> embarrasing in a grown adult.


Yep welcome to the club! I'm still learning too! Haha

Happens all the time here too!
LOL

Sometimes for good cause, sometimes not, and sometimes because the programming ain't worn off the newbies yet.

I forgot about that page. Thanks for reminding me. And yes, when I was a TBM I defended TSCC at every turn. Even if I had to lie I wanted to defend it. I think I was just raised that way.

Tupperwhere Wrote:
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> I forgot about that page. Thanks for reminding me.
> And yes, when I was a TBM I defended TSCC at every
> turn. Even if I had to lie I wanted to defend it.
> I think I was just raised that way.


I think to some degree we all were. That was a good point!