The "What!?" was the reaction of my TBM stepmother, when I told her and my dad that I was having my name removed. She told me that I was in danger of Satan's grasp. Her eyes were big as saucers and her cheeks were twitching. I told her that I believe Satan is a myth. I think she'd never heard anyone say that they didn't believe in Satan. It was blasphemous.

Sometimes I think TBMs loooove Satan. They get all spiritually aroused when taking about him.

Now you made me feel all icky.

Next they want to make you feel sticky.

They can't help it. They're so good all the time that they want to fall for the bad boy.

Holy cow! That just happened to me too. My sister about flipped out when I said I did not believe in satan.

I told my husband I didn't believe in the devil when he pulled him out for power on me one day and he accused me of being an atheist. Apparently lack of belief in the devil is equivalent to atheism.

Are you saying if you don't believe in Satan that makes you an, do I dare say it! AN Atheist?

Oh my Dog what does that make you if you don't believe in god?

A Democrat?

No, that would make you a super sized atheist. Both regular and super sized are located in the democrat section near hell.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 08/16/2013 11:10AM by snuckafoodberry.

I believe in Satan. I divorced her a couple of years ago. I know that sounds hateful, but those who know about some of the things I had to go through will understand.

Lol, FCD...poor guy. There are women who are hell-bent on being bioches. The scary thing is that they can't-or won't--see it.

I've known mormons that think and talk about satan more than God or Jesus.

+1. It is mostly about staying away from the devil and devily ways than coming closer to understanding God and doing good in the spirit of compassion for man kind.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/16/2013 11:13AM by snuckafoodberry.

I am featured more prominently in the temple than my dad and bro, yo. Of course Mo's worship me.

That's right, you are! I loved when you looked deep into my eyes and said I would be in your power.

And you Mo's don't even realize that when you're making these promises, you're holding a sharp implement to your throat. Really...you are. The motion was removed in 1990, but the cutting tool is still there. If that's not satanic, I don't know what is. Muhahahaha!!!!!

"How does Satan tempt people" was always a question I had while Mo-Mo. Is he planting thoughts in their heads?

It really does seem like mormons worship satan more than they do god, doesn't it?

My name is Lucifer, please take my hand.

God is Dead?

There was a huge wave of Satan-worship fear in the seventies in Utah.

Rumors were all over that Satanic altar worship took place in the temple after hours and that teenagers were becoming secret Satan-worshippers.

Jay's Journal "proved" it.

I lived in Pleasant Grove at the time and the Relief Society ladychatter included such tidbits as how to tell if demons were in the room (the curtains fluttered).

If someone had a car accident--especially if they were alone--it was Satan in the car with them. They must have seen him with their human eyes and that's what caused the accident.

Seriously. A whole town gone mad.


Anagrammy

Satan as a metaphor for our ego/animal nature makes more sense than a horned creature who's out to get you. People who choose to do evil don't require a helper.

There's an evil god (Satan) created to provide the circular logic to support the good god. Like those little devil and angel characters on our respective shoulders that whisper in our ears telling us what to do.

I have a sister-in-law who shared her testimony to me about the reality of Satan and her experiences with "him." Gotta admit, it was creepy. She appears to be one of those who focuses on the evil side so she can avoid it.

When I was a kid we were taught that if Satan ever appeared to us we had to raise our arm to the square and command him to go away in the name of Jesus Christ and by the power of the priesthood.

Well, what I got out of that was that Satan was very read, he was out to get me, it could happen and I could be attacked, and what else I got out of it were horrendous nightmares of Satan attacking me and me being unable to get the command out of my mouth. They were horrific, and even up to as much as ten years ago I would wake up in a cold sweat trying to say the words. Damn cult.

I had similar nightmares about Satan being around and me trying to raise my arm to the square and to command. Scriptures like this one from the "official" first vision story had me pretty scared:

"I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction."

What a mindfuck mormonism is.

Don't forget to point out that "Lucifer" is one of the errors in the bible. It is the Latin word for Venus, a literal translation of the Greek "phosphorus" or "light bearer" intended to describe the King of Babylon. It doesn't appear in modern bible translations at all. The Jews didn't have a devil. The adversary was something like God's lawyer. The devil is a Christian myth, written on to the Jesus story after the fact.

Edit: i wish i had known this during the years that Satan kept me believing - i thought sleep paralysis episodes were his attacks, which proved that the church was true afterall. I rationalized this far longer than i would have without my demonic attacks.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/16/2013 10:29AM by spanner.

"Devil" is not mentioned in the Bible, although "demons" are.

I also don't get the love affair with Stan.

He's just a regular person like the rest of us, puts his pants on one leg at a time in the morning before fitting his tail through the hole in the rear flap.

Then he staggers to his unholy kitchen and grabs a cup of joe before pouring himself a bowl of Cap'n Crunch. Looks at the time, mutters 'oh shit', skips the shower and shows up late for his shift at the temple, looking for members to grasp.

Unfortunately, his recruitment numbers are abysmal since he's constantly fighting boredom and dozing off.

Anytime religious folk bust out the "Satan is out to get you" nonsense I just reference Job 1:6:

It's obvious from reading the bible that god & satan are in cahoots:

"One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”

Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”

Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”

“Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.”

Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord."
_______

What do we learn from this?

1. Satan can be in the presence of the lord. Not just on earth, but in heaven as well. So much for being cast out

2. Satan has a free pass to travel anywhere on earth AND in heaven. Notice that he wasn't invited. He just tagged along with the other angels.

3. When Satan showed up at god's throne, god DIDN'T say, "wtf? who let you in here?" Instead, he just asked him what he'd been up to? Very chummy. (Not like god doesn't know everything anyway, right?)

4. Satan is pretty stupid to gamble with an individual who KNOWS THE FUTURE! Why would anyone bet against someone who knew the outcome?

5. Satan wouldn't have been able to touch Job's friends, family, livestock, or home UNLESS god had given him the power to do so. Satan works for god. Period.

Sounds like Satan isn't as evil as christians & mormons would like to make him out to be..

I am always in awe of the way your brain works kolobian, but this analysis blows my mind and I am saving it. It don't know for what or when I'll use it, but it's one of those summations that is like the tip of the iceberg. It will be very hard not to take credit myself.

This expresses more about not just Mormonism, but all of christianity, in a way that is big. You hear me? BIG. This is the way all of it works, not just he Job thing, but all of it. Just like in the temple. God saying,"Hey what's up?" and Lucifer is the one with the answers.

Satan and God are more of a team than George and Gracie, Laurel and Hardy, Abbot and Costello and Natasha and Boris all rolled into one. Of course they identify most with Boris and Natasha.

I definitely believed in Satan when I was a TBM. It was a love hate relationship. I hated him for making me shop and watch football on Sundays. But I loved him for taking the blame.....

But seriously, my beliefs are very simple now. I believe in a creator so I believe in God. It doesn't go much further than that. Satan doesn't really figure into the equation so I don't really give his existence/non-existence much thought.

You are messing with their most cherished fear. And in the LDS church, fear is possibly more powerful than their faith.

I never realized that, until I started to question.

How DARE you!

Oh, this thread reminds me of a favorite event from my youth that might be appreciated here . . .

The winter I was 20 I needed to pay back school loans and took a terrible job where I sat across from a different co-worker every day for many tedious hours at a time. Of course, we entertained each other by chatting, and I soon knew all about everyone's husbands, kids and mothers-in-law. One young woman was a Christian type (not LDS, tho) who took the opportunity to "share," and most people spent the day trying to change the subject when they had to sit near her. But not me; at the time, I found everyone interesting. I found her religiosity more interesting than most people's in-law stories.

Of course, religious girl took this as encouragement.

One day, as a part of our discussion, I think I actually laughed at something she said about having a "healthy" fear of Satan. I didn't do it in a mean way or anything, and she already knew I was a "non-believer."

Well, I wish I could have saved her reaction for youtube or something. She turned white. She stared. She blurted out, "Oh, no! That's exactly what he wants! Not believing makes a person the most vulnerable they can possibly be!"

Of course, I told her I didn't believe THAT, either. I asked her what she thought could happen, but she said that I'd best not tempt Satan by asking that kind of thing.

And that's when I guess you could say I felt moved by "the spirit." Or something.

I stood up and said nice and loud, "Tempt?! Oh, go ahead. Here I am. Lay it on me, baby. What, are you chicken? If you exist, you better show me now, 'cause I don't believe it and I'm NOT afraid."

Religious girl turned even whiter. She actually looked up at the ceiling - not sure if she was expecting lightning or what. Then she looked back at me, apparently shaken. Everyone else in the place was, by then, just looking at me like I was crazy.

I shrugged. I looked around me. I tried one more time by saying, "Oh, come on. Aren't I the most vulnerable I could possibly be? I DARE you." Then, I sat back down and went back to work.

Most fun any of us had all week. (But then, as I say, it was a super dull job!) I wonder if religious girl remembers me, too. Maybe she calls me "blasphemous girl." :)

Story of the day!!