When I started my journey leaving the church roughly 16 months ago I would have to say I was extremely naive to how I would be treated by friends, family, and even my wife. I definitely underestimated how bad it would hurt to be treated as 2nd class, to be looked at as if I am no longer in the know and in the grasps of satan. The 2nd glass feeling sucks! And it is only a small glimpse into what the LGBT has dealt with for decades. In my TBM days the "love the sinner hate the sin" statement seemed logical to me. Now I abhor this statement. I know that my friends and family are now saying something similar about me, "love the apostate hate the apostasy". I believe I have developed a much deeper sense of empathy for mankind due to my unbelief. Im glad about this.

That was an excellent and important post. I have always called it being in the Terrestial tier of the family. I also hate it because it's so luke warm and I'm on the same page as Jesus when it comes to that. Give me hot or give me cold.

It's a very empty feeling. Even when they are kind or as loving as they can be, you can still feel what's missing and they leave you feeling like one of the untouchables and act like they need to have some kind of spiritual HAZMAT suit on in order to interact. To be honest, I am never sure why I am maintaining the relationship, but I do.

Forgive them Father for they know not what they do?

I feel the same towards Mormons. I view them as naive, brainwashed, gullible, and just a bit stupid. I suppose that it is a wash. It is not a conscious decision. It is just how I feel.

No Mo, excellent point. I do feel a certain way towards mormons in that I see them as indoctrinated and gullible and it is not something that is up for change. It is what it is.

I can see that the way they see me is not up for change with them either.

It does amount to a wash. I am going to try and keep this right there in the front of my mind where it needs to be.

I suppose what makes the tie breaker is the fact that Mormons are envious of exmos due to the freedom, extra free time, lack of guilt, and money in our pockets from not paying tithing as well as the rest of the monetary demands that the cult puts on its members. I am not envious in the least of their life choices.

Thank you for expressing this so well, Dodgeawrench.

First of all, I hope that the LGBT's, women, little kids, the mentally and physically challenged, people with emotional or mental illnesses, anyone with a broken leg, those of races that are not "white and delightsome", Democrats, the jobless, the homeless, those of the many, many other religions of the world, know that we understand what it is to be treated like a "second-class citizen." Some plights are worse than others. I hope that my empathy for mankind will keep on growing.

I agree that it is a wash, except for the edge ex-Mormons have in happiness, love, and lack of envy.

Some of us have suffered terrible losses, because of Mormonism, and I'm not talking about money and time. We've lost loved ones, and friends. We've lost our social standing. The good news is that this "2nd Class" exists only in Mormondom. I know people who have moved away from Utah because of this. Ouch!

If they can say "love the sin but hate the sinner" we can say "love the believer but hate the belief."

Or "love the indoctrinated souls but hate the indoctrination"

Well put.

Only the lonely know how it feels.

Love the Mormon but hate the Mormonism!

The path of truth is a lonely trod.

They treat you like you're the problem but it's not you, it's them. You can do little but laugh at the insanity of it all.

I feel extremely lucky that I left the church after returning from college to a new town where nobody knew me. Oh, they found me alright, but at least they were not my community and didn't really know me.

My husband is atheist, as is our son, so no problems there.

The part of my family that is still LDS all live hundreds of miles away, but they're all perfectly amiable at family gatherings.

I WAS a bit hurt recently when my MOTHER hinted that some people (as in "me") just don't have the strength to live the gospel. But she changed the subject immediately and just shut off. She's 83 so I just let it go, but it made me sad that she thought that of me.

It did make me think though. None of my family has ever asked me what I believe or why I left. Well, perhaps that's the downside of living so far away.

I've been very saddened to see the real sacrifice that many here have made in order to live honestly and to be true to themselves.

I'm sorry for your pain. And I salute you!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/20/2014 08:31PM by seekyr.