Mormons, and missionaries in particular, seem to think that it's not difficult to sit people down and convince them that their church is true. I have had Mormons say to me the main reason this doesn't happen is because people don't "understand" it. If they did understand it, they'd all be rushing to join this religion/club.

As a nevermo that knows more about Mormonism that Mormons do, I can't really attest to what nevermos think of Mormonism. What does the average nevermo think?

I had never met/heard about Mormons until July 2012, when I met one.

He told me he was Christian and invited me to his church(which i thought was super weird but not in a bad way just yet). Then we went to the temple visiting center where they have that picture of the first presidency and all the other old white men. That is when I felt very confused.

After the initial explanation though, lack of understanding didn't keep me from joining the church, if anything too clear of an understanding id what keeps me from joining the church.

I feel like missionaries just need to rationalize away people's lack of interest. And it is hard for those that were born with these mormon goggles on to understand why people are not running to joining their 'Church'

Well it is all encoded for Mormons.

Lack of interest/weird hangups = Lack of understanding in Mormoncode
Leaving TSCC for a variety of reasons as varied as people = Offended/Sinning in Mormoncode

I can't think of more but I think that there are...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/09/2013 04:44PM by Pagag.

You should start a new thread about Mormoncode. It would be fun!

My best guess is that your average nevermo outside of the Morridor is not going to think about Mormonism a whole lot. It just doesn't register on their radar. If the nevermo does pause to think about it, the first association is with polygamy (even after all these years.) Warren Jeff's legal troubles didn't help the LDS cause because most nevermos probably can't distinguish between the LDS and the FLDS.

I remember once when I raised Mormonism (in a neutral way) on a board that caters heavily to Southerners, the general reaction was a very polite, "ick." I have to admit that I was surprised by that reaction.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/09/2013 04:59PM by summer.

I grew up as a never-mo in SLC and was thoroughly inoculated against TSCC from birth. I've lived in the Midwest and the Pacific Northwest for over 20 years and I've only met 4 or 5 Mormons in all that time. Several were co-workers of my husband and one is our current eye doctor. Actually, it has been very rare to meet *anyone* from Utah - Mormon or not.

Based on my own limited experience, the average person on the street knows and cares about Mormonism about as much as they do aardvarks.

What I get from Nevermos before they ask me about Mormonism is "They seem nice." Then when I explain, it's like I am talking a foreign language. I get "you must be kidding," or "no one would think that."

So I feel like I should have kept my mouth shut--

cynthus Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What I get from Nevermos before they ask me about
> Mormonism is "They seem nice." Then when I
> explain, it's like I am talking a foreign
> language. I get "you must be kidding," or "no one
> would think that."
>
> So I feel like I should have kept my mouth shut--

Exactly. Growing up in the SF Bay Area, where there are actually a reasonable number of Mormons but they are still very definitely a minority, I agree that most people just seem to think they're nice and polite. There certainly aren't enough Mormons here to shun anyone like so many people in the Morridor have experienced. Plus, since they are exposed to so many non-Mormons, they are no doubt less uptight out here.

I do relate, though, to that feeling of wondering why I ever bother bringing up anything about Mormonism to other neverMos. When Romney was running, I would sometimes tell my dad (who was supporting him) some of the odder things about Mormonism, e.g. "You know Romney believes he'll be rewarded with his own planet to rule over and tons of wives in the afterlife, right?" The reaction of both my parents (though my mom was supporting Obama) was "Yeah, right! No one would believe anything so crazy! What anti-Mormon stuff are you listening to? Why do you hate Mormons?" (They said this even though they know that a close friend of mine is TBM, so obviously I do not "hate Mormons.") The same with baptizing the dead, etc: "Yeah, sure they do that. You must have mis-heard something."

Then again, people seem to have the same reaction to less-savory aspects of any religion. Try telling anyone some of the stuff in the Koran, for example. A lot of people just don't like to think negatively of *any* religion, and I find it goes both for religious as well as non-religious people.

+1

Earlier this year, I had a 19 year old virgin tell me that the church was twue.

I am a 36 year old man who has worked for a who's who of companies, presidents and leaders. I have been to all 50 states and many parts of the world.

I looked at her and asked if she had ever left Utah before her mission. She said no. I just smiled.


Look, sooner or later, life intrudes. Like when Romney doesn't win the presidency or when you realize that people can be happy without Mormonism. One day, it will hit them and they will do one of two things: build a shelf that will crash one day or stick with it.

I think a lot of people from more dogmatic religions kind of subconsciously think everyone believes in God, and, moreover, their God specifically. That's why the fundamentalist explanation for someone being atheist is "they're angry at God". Umm, no.

So they think people already kind of believe in God, and just aren't part of their religion because they don't know enough specific facts about the religion, or perhaps are clueless and don't realize they need to be involved with it. If they go "witness" or "bear testimony" or "teach" or whatever jargon their religion prefers and people don't convert, it's because they're obtuse, "stiff-necked", or living with sin that they don't want to give up. Not because they consider the missionary's particular religion as plausible as Odinism.

Beautifully said.

Most nevermos think Mormonism is just another
Christian denomination, a little weird, but wholesome.
Yes "they seem nice".

Edelman doubtless did its homework and found it could lean
on the first and last notion, sanitized and conveniently vague
of course. It's all about what you don't mention.

Most nevermos have no idea of the huge difference
between the sanitized version and reality. Most nevermos
pretty much buy the PR, don't think about it a lot.

But the Internet now makes it easy to learn the things
not mentioned. So this may be changing as we speak.

Mormon brains are on a Mormon wavelength. They're open to a crazy way of thinking that normal people can't fathom. After enough milk and with careful monitoring nonmos who are vulnerable can gradually phase into this way of thinking.

I'm a never-mo from the mid-west. Never thought about Mormonism at all. Wasn't even on my radar until two missionaries came to my door. This was about forty years ago. I was in my mid twenties, married, with two small children. I was too polite and they just kept coming back and so I listened to the whole presentation and then they wanted me to choose a date for baptism. No way was I going to join their church. At first, I made every attempt to sincerely consider the religion. What if it were true? I read the BOM, like they asked me to do and prayed about it. But honestly every time I tried to read the BOM it made me laugh! It just seemed like such a made-up silly story. I persevered and prayed about it.......Nothing...and then again...still....nothing.
It just amazed me when they would bare their testimony and seemed to think THAT was going to convince me that it was true.
They explained to me about men being able to progress to Godhood. I now know from reading this forum that they were not supposed to be explaining that to investigators. Maybe they thought that since nothing else had impressed me maybe, I'd be impressed by that. The more they talked the more weird it all sounded.
Then I moved back home with my parents for a few months waiting for my husband to return from military duty, and I thought I was rid of them. But they found me again!! I don't know how they found my new address. That was just too weird for me. Thankfully, my mom was not as polite as I had been and told them firmly not to return.

Sadly, years later, I lost one of my daughters to Mormonism. That's what brought me to this forum.

I believe that most people have a bullshit buzzer that rings about everyone else's bullshit but not their own.


I am self aware, therefore I am not Mormon.

It would be disingenuous for me to say I was an average nevermo as I tend to be very cynical, somewhat introverted and I have a waxing/waning bitterness for “THE” church. I have lived virtually all my life in Utah – the past 19 of which have been in Utah County, so I think I am qualified to have an opinion on this subject.

My generalized belief is that the church is highly dysfunctional; the members have a superiority complex and largely have no ability to think for themselves. Most are nice in their own way and I feel they are victims of their circumstances from having “chosen” to follow the religion of their parents.

Sadly, I too know much more about the church than the average member and often wonder why I care at all. Every time I drive by a public high school with a seminary building conveniently “attached,” I am slapped into reality and the disdain continues…

There are only a couple of types of people who think a lot about Mormonism. First, there are Mormons. They love to think about themselves. The second group of people are exmos. Exmos for obvious reasons think a lot about it.

Most nevermos couldn't care less about Mormons. Mormonism is boring.

I'm not the typical nevermo in that my grandfather was a pastor and I used to read the comparative religion books in his study when I was a kid. I was a major book geek.

That was how I found out about Mormonism. I was intrigued by how fast it grew in the country and this was also the time when Donny & Marie had their variety show on TV.

I always thought it was an odd duck (not sure if I thought it was a cult when I was a kid). The 3 levels of heaven, God having a physical body, Kolob & garments just screamed weird. The absolute biggest turnoff for me was (at least back in the 70's) that chocolate & Coke were forbidden b/c of caffeine. I did think that Mormons were a pretty wholesome, family-oriented bunch.

Then came 2008 when I stumbled upon RfM and realized how badly this religion screws up families. My jaw has literally dropped at some of the stories of how some exmos have been treated by the church or their families.

After my 5 years on this site, I KNOW that I am more familiar with the history and (shifting) doctrines of the Morg.

Most people in the world have never heard of Mormonism. That MIGHT be different in the US, but I'm not so sure. I'd say its about 50% here who have even heard of them, or at least, who paid enough attention to remember hearing about them.

In my experience, of those few who have heard of Mormonism, the vast majority of them know next to nothing about it, and care just as little. They may have heard that there are lots of Mormons in Utah, or that Mormons were (or are) polygamists, or that Mormons have their own "Bible," or some little tidbit like that, but nothing substantial. They don't have enough information or interest to form any strong opinion on the matter.

Or else they think Mormons are in the same group as the Amish and the Mennonites, which doesn't help when you see movies like Paint Your Wagon, which has Mormons dressed in black suits and long beards.

The reason Mormons are so afraid of ExMos is that we put the lie to that bit of Mormon nonsense. We do know about and understand their religion, and want no part of it.

They hates that, when we rejects their Precioussss, the Handshake that Rules Them All.

I think I'm an untypical nevermo.

Heard of Mormons in the 1970's with D&M. My G-father was a convert and my mother talked about how she saw their "secret underwear" hanging on the clothesline.

Always been fascinated by them. The good, bad and ugly. Similar to my fascination when I drive by a car wreck.

About 25 years ago started studying them. Have read lots of pro (3 standard works in their entirety) and anti, Fawn Brodie and many of her ilk. Even read Mormonism for Dummies.

Have read and learned the most in the past 10 years. They're kind of my little pet hobby...

I just can't get enough of them Mormons!

I can't say I've delved quite as deep, but I agree.

Mormonism is a fascinating trainwreck!

I am also fascinated by North Korea.

I am a nevermo who married my mormon husband 30 years ago. While driving one day we got into a discussion about LDS beliefs. Back then, blacks were still not allowed to hold the priesthood. When he told me that (and coupled with the polygamy issue), I knew something was not right with the religion. I purchased the Tanner's "Mormonism Shadow or Reality" and we read it together. I think I know more about the religion than some Mormons do.

Or any, really.

When I was in the Navy, one of my shipmates was Mormon. She was very cool. I think Mormonism came up in casual conversation. This was in 1990ish. Right around that time they built The Temple Most Fug off the 5 near San Diego. You drive north and then BOOM! Temple all in your face. The thing is, I didn't know it was a temple. I thought it was a big-ass church.

The only other temple I'd seen is Surrender Dorothy's near DC, and I never saw it up close. I was a kid, and my mother and I would be on our way somewhere, and you'd see Gabriel (that's right. Gabriel.) blowing his trumpet.

After the SD temple was finished, I asked my shipmate if I could go to church with her sometime. I wanted to see WTH was *in* that place. I figured every Mormon church needed a lot of space for their big-ass choir.

My friend looked *very* embarrassed and told me that I couldn't go in. Whoa. Wut?! Every church wants visitors.

And that's when I learned it was a temple where they did "things together as a family." "Oh. That's nice. Like what?" "We are given clothes that we wear all the time to remind ourselves that we're a family."

The End.

In law school I learned a lot from a Lamanite friend (non-believer and not a fan of Mormonism *at all*) who is married to a pot-smoking JackMo, a lost Hagoth half Polynesian dude who spent his mission in Hawaii sexing up the girls on the beach. They lived in Ogden with his family while she went to Weber State. She told me about the racism and the LPP. We had a friend in common who was in the LPP, and it messed her up real good.

We lived on campus across the street from one of the little churches, and JackMo Burn Out's family had the members love bomb the hell out of their three kids. My friend was much annoyed.

I also went to school with a douchey guy who was saying some ole ish about how I should be studying between classes so I could devote Monday night to my son like he did to his family. Um...

And I met an exmo woman at school who told me that trumpet man was not Gabriel but some dude named Moroni. "Who?" "Moroni." "Wut?" "Exactly." She told me about the plates, and I thought they were dinner plates and how do you bury those things under a rock without breaking them? Class started, so that was the end of that.

Then The Mormons came on PBS.

Before I met anyone who was Mormon or used to be Mormon, I had no idea what Mormons believed. I knew there is a big choir. I didn't even know there were more than the two temples I had seen. I thought Brigham Young founded Mormonism because he had a school named after him.

Before I met anyone associated with Mormonism, I thought Mormons are just doing their thing and don't like to talk about that thing they do.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/09/2013 11:36PM by Beth.

I've loved mormons, talked to mormons, screwed mormons, worked with mormons, and partied with mormons. I've enjoyed them from the not-too-uptight to the wild ones, but, damn, they're crazy.

I'm a Jewish nevermo. I grew up in Wisconsin dimly aware of a historical sect of polygamists called Mormons that settled Utah. I never knowingly saw one until I was 16. I was on a backpacking trip in the Uintahs with a secular group. It was the 70s. We were grungy and maybe a little high. We encountered this group at the side of a trail seemingly being lectured by their grown up leader. They were very clean and dressed wierd and kind of heavily for August. Their leader shut up as we passed. They smiled at us and watched us as we passed and our leader kind of laughed under his breath and said "Mormons" and shook his head.

Later, in the early eighties in college at the University of Illinois in Champaign, I encountered a couple of sister missionaries at the home of some friends. They were very hot looking to my thinking. Exotic like Bantus or Pygmies or something. A fantasy of marrying them both crossed my mind. Fortunately I kept it to myself.

Most recently, I ran across the Book of Abraham on line while researching some egypt related topic. I've always been interested in ancient egypt. I couldn't believe what a con it was. I researched a little and found Fair and Dan P. I couldn't believe that they could defend it like crooked lawyers and still purport to believe it. I learned about Hugh Nibley and the John Birch Society and the lunatic whose books Glen Beck pushes. I was hooked. I became a convert to ex mormonism at that point and I've lurked here at least a decade and enjoyed the humor of some of the regular posters and mourned the passing of some. I almost ordered a Tapir pin.

I was only a member for 9 months. I had never known any mormons and didn't know much myself. But when they told me about Joseph Smith I did think it was feasible for a prophet to be shown a vision and start a church. But then once I researched the man's history, it was VERY hard for them to get me to join. VERY hard.

I'm on the east coast and I've never met a missionary or seen an LDS church building, to my knowledge. For most of my life, Mormonism was not even a blip on my radar.

Then, I began a study of cults.

I am a nevermo who has lived in Idaho for many years. I was raised by a Lutheran minister and family in Idaho and learned about Mormonism early on, but didn’t pay much attention – even though Mormons have a strong influence in the area.

My husband and I became more interested in the religion after he divorced his ex-wife and the ex ran back to TSCC and took their daughter with them. (My husband had moved away to another state with his job and was only able to see his daughter occasionally.) Unbeknownst to my husband, the ex raised the daughter to be a devout Mormon (he assumed it was a benevolent religion). He began having problems with his daughter when she became a teenager and now as a young adult.

He understands now, after researching the religion and reading the information on this forum, that his daughter has been brainwashed to believe that her true family is with her mother and her new husband and their children together. The TBM daughter treats my husband and this side of the family with contempt and disrespect.

I think Mormonism is a cult and they strictly brainwash their members and children into a certain belief system that only emphasizes and supports the teachings and doctrine of TSCC. Most of the teachings and beliefs are positive, however, if you are not a Mormon and you are outside the belief system of TSCC (i.e family members, etc.) you will soon discover that you are treated like an outsider and you are forever inferior to them and their beliefs.