Saganist

These people you speak of... I have to meet these ...

2011-12-15T21:38:26.882-08:00

These people you speak of... I have to meet these people. Most of the time I feel that there are only a few people without blinders on in the whole state.

I just might have to drive south and see this sign. Thanks for the tip.

Anyone in the area who wants to see this billboard...

2011-12-15T21:10:34.210-08:00

Anyone in the area who wants to see this billboard, it's on 3300 South, facing west, just east of the Millcreek TRAX station. You can easily see it while sitting on the TRAX train as well.

Well done! I love it!

2011-12-10T12:59:28.188-08:00

Well done! I love it!

The kids don't even write their own lines? Tha...

2011-09-22T08:53:46.510-07:00

The kids don't even write their own lines? That's even lamer than I thought.

YES! When you take a step back, the heavy-handed i...

2011-09-21T14:32:11.549-07:00

YES! When you take a step back, the heavy-handed indoctrination becomes disturbingly obvious, doesn't it? The first fall after we quit going to church, the Primary *mailed* us copies of our kids' speaking parts for the Primary Program (since, you know, they weren't there when the parts were handed out, since we didn't go to church anymore). My son's line was "I know Jesus wants me to be baptized." It made me uncomfortable. Why can't we teach children to say what they think or what they believe? And then let them decide what it is they think or believe, instead of telling them what they "know"?

My son is 10 now, and still not baptized.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the no-whispering com...

2011-09-19T14:30:45.285-07:00

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the no-whispering comment policy. I totally agree, there's way too much ear-whispering going on.

That reminds me of another thing said during the primary program, something like, "I want to share the gospel with the world because it makes me happy and I want them to be happy too." This is a better sentiment than most that I heard yesterday. Still, I hope my kids aren't getting the impression that everyone outside the LDS church is unhappy and just waiting for the missionaries to knock on their door. I try to have conversations with my kids to counteract these ideas, but who knows which of them will stick.

Whoa! Blogger totally took out my "whisper wh...

2011-09-19T09:47:19.404-07:00

Whoa! Blogger totally took out my "whisper whisper whisper" in there. It was a much better comment with those in there. ;)

Another blog post that you have nailed. The only t...

2011-09-19T09:46:08.025-07:00

Another blog post that you have nailed. The only thing more repugnant to me is attending testimony meeting and watching the parents force their kids into bearing testimony. Ugh.

"I'd like to bury my testimony...

I know this church is true..."

No, you don't. Your dad just told you what to say.

Mormons as a whole seem to teach children to parrot rather than think critically. I would much rather ask my child what they thought about something than tell them what to believe.

I still have it, too. My mom kept it for all these...

2011-07-23T09:31:33.593-07:00

I still have it, too. My mom kept it for all these years and gave it to me about a year ago. Of course my kids have totally destroyed it, but I still have the box and at least... oh, 80% of the pieces.

I had that LEGO space shuttle too!

2011-07-20T13:23:08.701-07:00

I had that LEGO space shuttle too!

As for me, I've never had to deal with Mormons...

2011-07-08T18:03:44.777-07:00

As for me, I've never had to deal with Mormons on my doorstep. Jehovah's Witnesses, however, I've seen on several occations. I always tell the Witnesses, "Sure, I'll take your literature, if you will take something from me." If they refuse, I just say nothing more and close the door. If they DO take my literature (I'm a Unitarian Universalist [UU]) I know that in most cases they will simply discard it, just as I quickly discard their crap.

I recently suggested, in a joking manner, that the Unitarian Universalist Association should arrange for hundreds of UU missionaries to travel to Utah to teach their religion to the Mormons living there. Maybe if that is done for a year or two, the number of UUs in Utah will skyrocket and then the Mormon leadership will take a hint and STOP SENDING THEIR MISSIONARIES TO HARASS OTHERS! Because what goes around comes around! Salt Lake City is mostly non-Mormon now, so clearly the Mormon Church's missionary work is failing.

Ditto what Ahab said. I think having transgender ...

2011-06-22T19:53:20.751-07:00

Ditto what Ahab said. I think having transgender friends has really brought perspective to my life. Whatever crazy ideas people have about me pale in comparison to the ideas they have about them. It is all about love.

Thank you, Amanda Jean! I'm sorry it's tak...

2011-05-28T22:28:05.888-07:00

Thank you, Amanda Jean! I'm sorry it's taken me so long to respond. I really appreciate your kind words.

I've added Flight From Death to my Netflix instant queue and expect to watch it soon. It looks like exactly the kind of thing I'd be very interested in. Thank you for the pointer!

"Faith attunes this recognition and upon cons...

2011-05-17T07:01:03.380-07:00

"Faith attunes this recognition and upon constant obedience to it, increases and opens the door to further such personal revelation."

Brainwashing! I had been feeling like being at church, reading scriptures, etc. wearing me down. I tried an experiment where I only went to church once a month for a while (beginning of January of this year). During that time, I did feel a lot of guilt for not "doing what was right," but it was also what helped me wake up from the brainwashing. I began describing it as such. When we sat our kids down to talk to the older ones about some of the troubling history of the church, my oldest aptly said, "I feel like I've been brainwashed my whole life!"

I can't speak for how I'd be feeling now had I continued to read conference talks, read scripture, go to church, go to the temple, read the Ensign, but I do know that it feels like the whole world is opening up to me now that I don't do those things. What we currently know about the universe AND life on earth is so much more exciting to me than anything I've ever heard from prophets or read in scripture.

I can't imagine my morality changing much. I no longer believe morality comes from the churches anyway. It comes from society.

Cindi (moonflower)

I have am a huge fan of your blog and am so gratef...

2011-05-13T18:31:31.763-07:00

I have am a huge fan of your blog and am so grateful for the insight you share. I stumbled upon your blog a year or so back when I was searching for a link to explain to a friend who was not raised LDS about shaking hands with ghosts. So thank you.
I really enjoyed this video especially in conjunction with a documentary I recently watch called "Flight from Death" It is available on Netflix and hulu. It seems like something you would have some great thoughts on.

I couldn't even make it through four paragraph...

2011-04-18T12:02:23.777-07:00

I couldn't even make it through four paragraphs of the link. It was like reading in a different language. I was trying to figure out what the writer could possibly be going for when I realized that it was written without any semblance of logic.

After I made it known to my immediate family that I no longer considered myself "in the fold" they watched me very closely to see how long it would take before I became an alcoholic, addict, or rapist. This was years ago and I don't think any of them have yet considered that it may not be about "indulging the flesh".

"The second is a once believer who stopped re...

2011-04-17T23:59:23.496-07:00

"The second is a once believer who stopped recognizing, appreciating the spirit.....The ability to recognize the spirit, and willingness to follow are lost in the flash fires of the flesh. So also is that precious commodity, freedom."

What I hate most about articles like these is that they delegitimize anyone's conversion from Mormonism to a more authentic life. The caricature of the unhappy,spiritually dead apostate gets old fast. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks, everyone! Sabayon, you make a very good po...

2011-04-17T14:07:16.805-07:00

Thanks, everyone! Sabayon, you make a very good point. Trip, you made me laugh out loud!

Very, very well said. Bravo.

2011-04-17T13:09:17.253-07:00

Very, very well said. Bravo.

Hmmm, I think by "once-beleiver" they me...

2011-04-17T12:17:16.871-07:00

Hmmm, I think by "once-beleiver" they mean "heroine addict". Those are basically the same thing right?

What struck me about this article is not just the divisive caricature of apostates, which you so astutely call out, but also how little it wants the faithful to expect from their God. "The first is a non-believer whose despondency turns him toward conversion — not the conversion of Paul who saw a light and heard a voice — rather the quiet conversion of finding kinship with God". Well why the hell shouldn't one expect the conversion of Paul, what makes Paul so special or you so unworthy? Paul was in the middle of an attempted genocide of early Christians, yet God supposedly felt him deserving of grace, but a doubting reader of this article is not allowed to expect such things for themselves.
The amazing thing is how quickly this article manages to diminish everyone.

If your aim is to keep people in the religion, you...

2011-04-17T11:49:30.199-07:00

If your aim is to keep people in the religion, you're not going to tell them, "you should be Mormon ... but you'd probably be just as happy not being Mormon."

Still, really got my blood boiling. Argh.

"Are any of you consumed with self-loathing? ...

2011-04-17T11:32:39.098-07:00

"Are any of you consumed with self-loathing? Seeking out increasingly dangerous indulgences to satisfy your insatiable primal urges? Do you dread the evil denouement you know is coming, and wish you could command the rocks and mountains to fall upon you to hide you from God's judgment?"

Well, you know, I *would*, but who has the time?

Black-and-white thinking I think may be one of the...

2011-04-17T10:48:50.833-07:00

Black-and-white thinking I think may be one of the deepest damages of my experience with Mormonism. I struggle with it constantly. We're told the Church is either all good and true, or all evil and false and numerous other with-us-or-against-us false dichotomies. Life is so much more complicated than that.

Articles like this make me feel the constant need ...

2011-04-17T10:44:10.359-07:00

Articles like this make me feel the constant need to defend myself against the angry, bitter, apostate stereotype. It gets tiring.

We are kindred spirits. I share every thought you ...

2011-04-17T10:36:50.950-07:00

We are kindred spirits. I share every thought you put out so plainly. Thank you.