Can you give an example of how you were betrayed. There are so many ways. In my case, I found out they were lying about church history. I discovered that all of the the founding events were fabricated. Every one. There was no way I could not remain a member.
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It's really about permission to have sex. They pile the guilt on you when you're single about the "sin next to murder" if you dare touch someone else. It's a form of control. After you consummate the marriage, they control you in other ways, and you know what those are.
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They're going to ignore you when you stop showing up. If you don't give them the communal reinforcement (testimony) they need, they have no use for you. Their own testimony relies on OTHERS, not on themselves.
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Cimmaron Tequila from Jalisco Mexico.
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They're inbred already. They rarely fully accept new converts from outside of Utah into positions of authority. The LDS church is in the beginning of a death spiral. Only cultural Mormons are considered for promotion to authority status. So the gene pool is shrinking. Outside of Utah, the Mormon church is just a curiosity. Go to Boston or New York City, and ask people what they think of Mormon
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They tell you what to wear. They tell you what to eat. They tell you what movies to avoid.
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I think it means, don't face one direction ( to Utah) when you're having fun. Keep moving. Keep looking.
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I gave myself permission to read whatever I wanted. I told the Bishop this, and he winced. It was worth it. The truth was easy to find. I'm gone.
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When you leave you can laugh all you want. Then you will know how Fu*ked up they are.
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They want to destroy your individuality. Laughing shows you're happy with yourself. It reveals a sense of freedom. You're supposed to be a cog in our machine. You work for us. You are nothing. How dare you laugh out loud. Do you question us? Get in line.
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The original post was about the decline in church attendance. We are certainly pushed to buy and consume as much as possible, and we do that quite well. However, the glue that holds us together as Americans, are the freedoms guaranteed to us in writing: freedom to own property, of speech, of the press, freedom of religion, to keep and bear arms, and many more. We are taught this in school.
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America is much more mature than in Tocqueville's time, and adolescents are more difficult to deal with than toddlers, especially when they're in puberty. I agree, evangelical extremism is a result of weakness, which results from doubt, uncertainty, fear. As far as wielding religion like a sword, I think they wield it like a suppressed Glock 9mm. They can kill silently without hardly moving
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Yes. The so-called religious right in the U.S. wear religion like armor to protect themselves from heathens, pagens, and all the other non-believers they are surrounded by, afraid of straying off the straight-and-narrow path. Afraid of losing 'salvation'. Bedrock belief systems, like Christianity, Mormonism, etc. take a long time to chip away, but the truth will emerge eventually.
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Before the covid pandemic, church attendance in the U.S. was around 56% for people who attend at least once a month. After the pandemic, at least once-a-month attendance is at 35%. When I was TBM, I attended every week, as I'm sure you and most TBMs did. Once a month is wishy-washy at best. So, people got used to staying home on Sunday, having a leisurely breakfast, walking the dog, lett
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No. I joined because I thought it was true. I left because I found out it's not true. I did not like getting up early on Sunday, and rushing to church.
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The True radical: • Knows that a man gets his power from a willingness to do anything. • Knows the cost of unquestioned acceptance of popular myths is your freedom, and your sanity. • Knows that mental suffering is the result of an unexamined beliefs. • Knows the world is full of myths, and many are foisted upon the ignorant for profit. • Knows that transcending
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Yes. I found the teachings of Advaita Vedenta to be much more clear. They teach we have a causal body, a subtle body, and a gross body. I believe only the causal body reincarnates leaving behind the personality and memories of the gross body. So, the 'person' does not reincarnate, but the causal body, influenced by experiences, carries the influences to the next gross body, and continues.
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There is nothing you can do to become what you already are. You are that which you are seeking. Our minds get cluttered up with thoughts which cause emotions and cloud our ability to see who we are. Your true nature is awareness, nothing more. Let go of everything else, and you allow the ego to dissolve. When it is gone, you will know the truth.
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Mind is an object appearing in awareness. Anything you can perceive is an object appearing in awareness. We live in a non-dual world. This means there is only one thing that is real. That which never changes. Awareness. Everything else is an object appearing in awareness, and will not last forever. You are awareness. You will never end.
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You are not a person, you are the awareness in which the person (you)appears. There is only awareness, and all that appears in it are objects appearing in awareness. Awareness is not a thing, and it is not nothing. So what is it? It is that which never changes, and is always present. It has no beginning and no end. Awareness has no attributes, and can not be measured. This is what you are. J
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Why do I only see (ex)ward members in Walmart? It's the only place I see them. Never in the better grocery stores. Never anywhere else. Since leaving, I've run into ward members in Walmart so many times, I lost count. I don't go into the Walmart ward anymore.
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Bodhisattvas put off their own enlightenment to help others reach enlightenment. Which is ridiculous. They would be far better able to help others reach enlightenment if they were enlightened themselves. Church leaders are not enlightened. How much can they help you?
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They have always felt negative. From the very beginning people did not believe it. They're negative because they do not understand it. I was a Mormon for 25 years, and I didn't understand it either.
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No, of course they don't credit woman. They love to pretend they do. Read the Journal of Discourses to hear how they feel about women. If they credit woman at all, they talk about them as daughters of Zion. The only one credited with changing church policy is Jesus, who is at the helm.
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She redefines crazy. She also left enough clues to sink a battleship. Her story is so complex, it's inevitable she would be caught. Death follows this woman around like white on rice.
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The so-called 'hill' Cumorah is a Drumlin. It is naturally occurring, with many others, in New York State. If you want to see how many there are, go to Goggle maps, zero in on upper New York, and select the terrain view. These are probably remnants of the ice age. Brigham Young claimed there were thousands more plates piled on tables, and they would also be translated if the chosen ones were f
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They're deeply entrenched in the psyche of members who have been indoctrinated since birth. Good for you for rooting out the falsehoods that kept you marching in lock step. Of course they don't own you, but they would if you let them. You're totally free. You always have been.
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Well, Joseph Smith took ideas from everyone, the Masons, Ethan Smith, Swedenborg. Even the idea that Nephites and Lamanites were from Jerusalem. It has been proven by genetics that native Americans are from Asia. Read Simon Sotherton's book. Just let go of your questions about Mormon doctrine, whether it be celestial marriage, polygamy, priesthood, coffee, personal revelation, the holy ghost,
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The sales pitch is actually subliminal suggestions delivered in 'talks' by general authorities. They're not trying to get your approval. they couldn't care less about you. They're desperate to keep the numbers up. So, They manipulate the will of the believers. The goal is to reinforce their belief system in TSCC. Every time they speak. There is no point in arguing with them. Just leave.
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Well, the thing is dying, obviously. Why would anyone want to join the Mormon church in this day and age? The church continues to reel in misfits and needy people looking for a special connection to God. But, the Mormon heyday is past. Even misfits are skeptical now.
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