Aside from all the people resigning from TSCC, the other good thing to come out of this policy mess is planting concepts and theories firmly into my brain and apply them.

The other day, I was in the studio glazing bowls, minding my own business when a young woman from another class asked if anyone had heard anything about Nerium. Those who've been around for a couple of years know about the Nerium kerfluffle on this board and how the company tried to pay off and threaten Eric K. to remove any negative information on the MLM company or its products.
http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,1064401,1072520

I raised an eyebrow and asked the young woman, "White Oleander, you mean? That stuff is bad for skin." Defiantly she retorted, "NO IT ISN'T! I've done the research!!!" I looked at her a moment, ready to explain the ins and outs of MLMs and what happened here on the board, and plus my own research on the product, but thought better of it, shrugged my shoulders, and replied calmly, "Okay." I walked back into the glazing room and belief perserverance popped into my head.

After all, if someone had tried to talk me out of joining Mary Kay at the age of 23, I might have said the same thing. We add new information and cognitions as we grow and move through the world and ideally our destructive and negative beliefs are discarded, but most often strange ideas linger because it's too uncomfortable to examine and discard those beliefs. We're all susceptible to this phenomenon, although developed critical thinking can somewhat help.
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-belief-perseverance.htm

So for those who are wondering how Mormons with gay family members can still uphold this bigoted cult, just let belief perserverance pop into your head so you can understand why they're clinging to these sickening beliefs. It won't change their minds or make you feel better, but sometimes looking at it through an objective lens helps you understand their thinking and why people still need to grasp their bigoted beliefs, no matter how inaccurate or destructive.

A related article I saw yesterday:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/11/151109160450.htm

Essentially, even if we recognize that something we believe is irrational, we often still believe in it. Because the parts of our brain that recognize something as irrational are different from the parts that make us feel an attachment to it.

So it seems that even getting people to recognize their beliefs as irrational doesn't necessarily mean they'll let them go. It takes more than such recognition.

Thank you. Very enlightening. You have described my family to a "T." But unfortunately you are right--it doesn't make me feel better.

It does, however, make me appreciate the people on this board and feel honored to be interacting with those who have bucked "Belief Perserverance," the very opposite of blind obedience.

These kinds of beliefs and actions. The only way I can mitigate the fear is looking at it through an academic lens.

Also hope for and seek small victories. I think those who are justifying the cult's new policy know on some level something is very wrong in Zion. You don't need to justify beliefs if you're solid with them.

I feel the same way. It's fairly horrifying to see people try to justify something like this.

I was horrified during prop 8 when TBM's were saying that voting away a person's civil rights was "love".

I am horrified now when the same people say that exclusion and prohibition of saving ordinances that are the supposed only way to god = "compassion and protection".

What? Do they not hear themselves? I hope you're right that on some level, they must know.

at some level, but I like what you have posted. It makes "perfect sense." I can't believe I'm out of the LDS church because it was easier for me to just go along. I left kicking and screaming, but I just couldn't deny what I KNEW any longer, but I clung to it as long as I could without losing my mind.

I've been thinking about this lately and have come to believe that everybody has a 'shelf', even TBM's, they just don't realise they have one. I had a shelf full of confusing stuff I didn't even know was there..
The problem is that members look at this 'stuff', from the perspective that the church is true,
so there must be an explanation, they just don't know what it is at the time,
It's not until you look at the 'stuff' from the perspective of the church bring false does it suddenly make sense,
That is the shelf breaking moment.. The perspective shift.. It's almost like that feelin of vertigo and the room shifts slightly.
And then, like a runaway train, you see your shelf in all its glory, and your life is never the same again.

So the question is, what causes this shift, why do some people experience this and not others?