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Your path to leaving Mormonism sounds very similar to mine - I was YM President when I left the church. I'm now a humanist and volunteer for a few skeptical/humanist organizations and couldn't be happier. Good for you!
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Sep 1, 2016 20:20
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Triggered posted:Thanks dude, glad you have found a peaceful way out of the church. Well, my family is hugely Mormon (80+ cousins, over a dozen aunts and uncles in Utah) so I'm not well viewed and my parents and sister don't really talk to me anymore because of my views - wasn't super easy, but definitely worth it. I still got out easier than some people I know. But thanks! I'm glad I managed to get out of the mission call - I joined the military because I was so concerned about going on a mission.
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Sep 1, 2016 20:38
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One of my most favorite splinter groups was the Strangites - after Joseph Smith died, there was some debate over who should really lead the church. One group said it should go to Joseph's son (they became the RLDS church), another group said it should be Brigham Young (and when his face supposedly took on the countenance of Joseph Smith during a speech, that sealed the deal for many people). There was another guy who claimed to be the successor, however. His name was Walter Strang and he claimed to have found a set of plates that proved he was the next living prophet and seer. He took a good number of people with him when he left, including Joseph Smith's only surviving brother, Joseph Smith's mother, the Mayor of Nauvoo and some other big names. He was murdered by some angry Strangites a few years later, after establishing a community on Beaver Island in Michigan. His interpretation/implementation of Mormon doctrine was interesting because he re-instated animal sacrifice, allowed women to receive the Priesthood, etc. I think there are still a few believers from that group kicking around these days.
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Sep 15, 2016 15:57
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Brennanite posted:"Breaking up" consists of just not showing up anymore. There's some paperwork you can fill out so you aren't considered a member anymore, but most people don't bother. Interested in the OPs perspective too. When I left the LDS faith, I became an atheist as well. I used to be on some religious boards as a Mormon and I would get into deep debates with other religious people about why they were wrong and Mormonism was right. This kind of stuff was encouraged by my family, because my step-dad's family is crazy deep doctrine Mormons who like to discuss things like the Discourses of Brigham Young where he basically says that Adam and Eve are aliens, Adam was God, etc. That was also the beginning of my path to leaving the LDS faith and religion in general behind. I started to read more things that the church labels "anti" (anti-Mormon literature - not always anti-Mormon, but anything that doesn't agree with the LDS perspective was considered anti by my giant, extended family). I read stories about Zelph - a Native American skeleton found in a burial mound by a group that Joseph Smith was traveling with, and that he created a big backstory for - learned that when he died, it wasn't just a mob breaking into his jail cell, but that there had been guns smuggled in and a shootout, that he had destroyed printing presses printing things he didn't agree with, married young girls. So then I tried to justify my faith in general and talked to my Stake President (basically someone in charge of all of the local congregations for a group of counties or large city, etc) who answered my doubts by saying "Well, what's the worst thing that happens if the church isn't true? You're paying tithing - basically a membership fee - to be part of an organization that teaches you how to be a good member of society, how to be a good parent and how to be moral. Isn't that worth something"? I started reading Dawkins, Hitchens, Sagan and the like and pretty quickly realized that my doubts weren't JUST with the flavor of religion I was in, but with religion in general. I got into atheist activism for a while but that's a mess too. Now I volunteer for a humanist kids camp (Camp Quest) and enjoy spending my Sunday mornings drinking coffee and spending time with my kids.
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Sep 15, 2016 16:30
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feedmegin posted:This is random, but if you're into Sci fi you might get a kick out of The Star Fraction Ok, I'll check it out - the blurb I saw looks interesting.
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Sep 19, 2016 13:09
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