I remember being told that losing my testimony was worse than death. This was back in the days when no one got too excited about this sort of thing because everyone knew someone who knew that this apostle or that apostle got some girl pregnant in high school. We knew it was all just bluster, excepting LaGrand Richards who was obviously a-sexual. But in the late 60's and 70's two new things change
Forum: Recovery Board

Emily Post says, "A minister is titled,'Reverend,' and the abbreviation is, 'Rev.'"
Forum: Recovery Board

What specifically caused me to finally vomit up the church is the increasing narcissistic jealousy of the leadership of their imagined monopoly over authority. They are such extraordinarily below-average men! They will never share power with the best and brightest Mormons, with men and women who would welcome gay marriages, with men and women who would encourage open discussion of church history,
Forum: Recovery Board

I would rather have Christ as my "imaginary friend" than whomever it is that listens to my inner dialogue. Anyway, I don't believe Christ's love doesn't extend to those who don't believe in Him. In fact, I imagine He's happier with atheists who bring love and hope into the world than He is with Christians who do the same but expect to be rewarded for their good deeds... I know that, lik
Forum: Recovery Board

Is it necessary to hate an organization that has hurt us and/or our families and friends? Obviously, we must protect and heal ourselves, warn others, and help those about whose pain we have an especial understanding. And this is nothing like being ripped off by Amway or the government. This is an organization that took control of our lives when we were children and perverted or destroyed all the
Forum: Recovery Board

What is not what is but, rather, what is not what is but, rather, what is not what is but, rather, what is not...
Forum: Recovery Board

Do you mean, "A LARGER writing was split into three parts..."? My father was a 32nd-degree Scottish Rite Freemason and our male lineage had been the same since at least 1712, continuing only with one of my uncles. Dad had two old books that had come down in our family. I discovered them in my teens. The larger, early-19th-century work was pseudoscience, mostly about the geometric underp
Forum: Deconstructing Mormonism

I've never seen "normed" data on Mormon suicides. That is, are the numbers higher for specific national/regional demographics (gender, age, heritage, socioeconomics, etc.)? The buzz seems to be that Mormon rates have risen recently, but maybe national/regional rates have also risen. Does this book provide this data and is it unfiltered? That is, comparing active-Mormon youth suicide rat
Forum: Deconstructing Mormonism

I was a convert who believed in the church before I even knew its name. I met my first Mormons (missionaries) when I was 14 and wanted to join. But then they said some hateful McConkie stuff and I was confused. I had a crush on a Mormon girl when I was 17 and got baptized. I liked the Masonic stuff because my dad was a Mason. I assumed that the tendency towards leader worship was a product of the
Forum: Exmormon Bios