I'm the only one in my family who has resigned my membership at LDS, Inc. but everyone else is totally inactive and, I thought, totally non-believing.

The other day I invited my sibling over for lunch and she announced that she thought Illinois was having a lot of economic problems because of Joseph Smith being killed there. WTF? I've been talking to her for YEARS about all the things I've learned about Joseph Smith and the church. She either said nothing or agreed with me. Now I'm beginning to see that she only left the church so she didn't have to live the rules but she still believes the doctrine. YIKES! For me it was seeing the screwy doctrine was false that made me want to leave completely. For her it was just wanting to be free of the judgments and rules. Now she is on Facebook and reconnecting with her Ricks College roommate and friends that are still TBM.

I told my sister that I couldn't believe her theory even as a Mormon because the second Article of Faith says that "men will be punished for THEIR OWN transgressions..." Why would a fair and just god make people in a state who had nothing whatsoever to do with killing Joseph Smith suffer for it more than a century and a half later?

And I thought my sister was "getting it" all this time. : (

Maybe she is secretly reciting the Oath of Vengeance against the US when she goes through the Temple?

She hasn't been to the temple in nearly two decades and hates wearing garments because they are not sexy for her boyfriends. She also drinks wine and beer but doesn't smoke as far as I know.

She's what you call a hypocrite. She's one of those inactives that make us ex-mo's look bad because we all just want to sin right? And so we come up with excuses as to why the church sucks but deep down "we really know its true" until we are ready to go back and be on the straight and narrow.

I think you got THAT right. She's always been able to change her opinions with which ever way the wind blows. I also think she never resigned her membership because she really thinks that the church will give her food and shelter in the event of a worldwide disaster. I don't think she ever paid much, if any, tithing over the years because she never held down a job until after her divorce. And then she was too poor to spare a dime.

Lots of Jack Mormons and inactives still believe on some level. Church inspired fear and superstition still sneak into my psyche and I consider myself a stone cold atheist.

After I left, I called my brother who rebelled big time as a teen. I asked him how he knew so early it wasn't true. He said he didn't care if it was true, he didn't want to live that way. A young friend who'd been pretty wild as a teen came back to church. When I gently asked about the truth thing, he said it didn't matter, he needed church to keep him from being "bad". My aunt and uncle began being devout when they got too old to spend their weekends on their boat. I think I'm going to call them back-burner Mormons. They're so different from me. I made myself miserable until I knew it wasn't true.

The most important thing to my sister is her social life. When she converted to Mormonism I really think it was initially because she fell for a missionary and then later enjoyed all the social activities and attention. Later in her life she couldn't find any Mormon guys in our vicinity so she dated and married a non-Mo. When the divorce came she ran around looking for a social life with anyone of any or no religious persuasion. But the main criteria was that they gave her lots of validation for always being right and smart. Sis is VERY insecure. She's also pretty happy if her latest guy is flush with money but that seldom happens these days. Mormonism still supplies her with some of the things she desires so she takes from it if she can get anything out of it and complains if it makes her feel guilty.

I can't imagine any reason for going back to a church that you know is a hoax.

I also can't imagine anything that the Mormon church would GIVE BACK to me and my family, to make our life better in any way.

If your sister thinks the Mormons will feed her, she is mistaken. The bishop will tell her to go to YOU and her other family members, instead.

If your sister dreams that maybe someday the Mormons will provide her with a decent, non-chauvinist, honest husband, she is mistaken.

The Mormons would never accept your sister, given her past and her lack of morals. The friendships are false, even if you are squeaky-clean and virtuous. After tasting freedom, she would be unhappy under Mormon subjugation. She lives in a fantasy world.

Think about it--would there be any valid reason at all to return to the Mormon cult?

Whoa Nellie! "lack of morals"? Beer, wine and consensual unmarried sex does not equal a lack of morals. Mormon morals she lacks, but she might be a fine person as far as morals most of us care about.

She sounds like those mullahs who are always publicly proclaiming some natural disaster to be due to Allah's wrath...or like Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell when they blamed 9/11 on the gays and abortionists who'd made God upset. Gag.

I had a similar experience with my Christian Science family.

When I fell away from attendance and the practice of "CS," I got along with my family okay. They probably felt I was going through a phase and would return at some point.

Later, I renounced it outright and engaged in anti-CS activities, like handing out anti-CS literature at their meetings etc. My mother (a high-ranked CS teacher) shunned me for 7 years. Only the impending death of my father got us back on speaking terms.

I'm ex-CS, with an in-law who was a C.S. teacher. Fortunately most everyone left with us, once the grandparents died (at ages over 90, btw). I don't think anyone did anything but quietly leave, and attend other churches,or none. No one was shunned in my experience, but I think there are still plenty of people who are "Jack CS."

"The other day I invited my sibling over for lunch and she announced that she thought Illinois was having a lot of economic problems because of Joseph Smith being killed there."

That's hilarious. If your sister wants to know why Illinois has problems, tell her to take a look at the kind of people they elect to run the place:

http://www.wbez.org/blog/city-room-blog/2011-12-07/long-list-illinois-politicians-convicted-corruption-94654

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/25/corrupt-illinois-politici_n_1299478.html

I know! It's so embarrassing because I love this state. We're "The Land of Lincoln" after all and he's probably rolling over in his grave.

At least I have the pride to say I didn't vote for a single one of those guys. However, the corruption is mainly in Cook County ie. Chicago Land. If the city wasn't so much fun to visit I'd gladly hand it over to Wisconsin, Indiana, or Michigan. Or maybe God could just let it fall into Lake Michigan. LOL

It's hilarious sometimes when some of the crazy beliefs come out.

I was in St George, ut for a weekend with some of my family. The kids really wanted the chance to go swimming before we had to leave but we were pretty busy every day except sunday. I asumed we would take the kids swimming sunday. My mom objected.....not because it would be breaking the sabath, but because Satan controlled the waters on Sundays! Facepalm

"lot of economic problems because of Joseph Smith being killed there. WTF?" - this is so far from left field, I have ZERO idea what this could mean....anyone have any ideas?

Don't worry about it too much verilyverly. My sis LIVES in left-field.

I think this comes from Joseph Smith saying that Missouri would be forever cursed for what happened to the Mormons there and for creating the extermination order. Sis just wants equal recognition for her state and came up with this idea all by herself or along with one of her new TBM cronies on Facebook.

One might add that the former Illinois governor Blago...is in prison for corruption. That might have a little more to do with the current state of affairs that the JS shootout.

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/03/rod-blagojevich-jail-88904.html

represent the church? And so they rebell against the church commandments & possibly resent or contempt those tbms in the family, who keep the commandments? So they are also not accepting a former tbm's authorization or research as valid or important?

I don't know. What I do know is, jackmos who stand up for the church but directly deliberatetly defy its dogma in all their actions - are wired differently in some way cognitively and emotionally than, say, the near by TBMs. And it continues, after the TBM researches their way sincerely out of the church.

In my family, at least, it did. Does anyone know what is going on with this jackmormon with a testimony they'd never live issue?

It's not because of Joseph Smith it's because the state is run by crooks.

My sister hasn't been active since about age 17. I could give you a list of her "sins." She has never been through the temple, so she still has that special feeling attached to it that was drilled into us as kids. Some stupid friend of my mother's told her "I feel your mother every time I go to the temple." I told her not to let the Mormons hijack our relationship with our mother.

Three of my siblings left in their teens. Two are like you stated. My youngest brother was thrilled to find out I no longer believed. He told me it gave him the freedom to let go of his beliefs. I was the devout child. I'm the one who has resigned. My brother is going to resign, too.

But jackmos are beyond belief. I'm always shocked at what comes out of my sister's mouth about Mormonism. I really love it when she "likes" pictures of temples on her fb.

Mormonism reminds me of shingles. You get chicken pox as a kid or a teenager, the disease passes and you think you are well. But no, it comes back as shingles.

Mormon brain damage always leaves a little something behind.

Sometimes I still pause before I step on a crack or let a black cat cross my path. That's because I was a superstitious child. I grew out of it, but I still hesitate to break these ridiculous self imposed rules knowing full well they are ridiculous.
I think this is the case too with religions that carry a lot of superstitions around magic and curses. They kind of stick with you.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/12/2014 07:35PM by snuckafoodberry.