Met a lawyer yesterday that is working for my sister. Turns out that he joined TSCC while in college. After a year or two he realized it was not a good fit for him as he did not go for the "one true church" concept. He met with his bishop and said he wanted to terminate his membership. This was sometime in the early 1970's and his bishop informed him that there was no way to leave other than excommunication. He then asked the bishop if he could just stop going to church (university singles ward) for awhile and think about his feelings about the church. The bishop said that not going to church was also not an option. The young man just decided to stop going to church anyway but the bishop sent missionaries, priesthood leaders, FHE leaders, and anyone available to harass the man. This fellow went back to the bishop because he was so tired of being annoyed and he asked for the excommunication option. After his excommunication the bishop sent him a letter stating that he was no longer a member and that his status as an apostate put him in a category of sin that was worse than murder, rape, kidnapping, and many other horrible sins. I asked him if he responded to this letter and he said he just realized that if he had any doubts about the decision he made the bishop erased them all. He now tells anyone who will listen what a diseased religion Mormonism is.

That goes on to this day. If you leave the church, you are considered an apostate... worse than anything ever.

The church teaches there are only two churches, the true restored church (them), and the church of Satan (all other churches).

Leaving for any reason, even to go to another church means apostasy from Christ, and you are doomed to outer darkness (hell).

An apostate is considered worse than a murdering child molester in their eyes.

yeppers Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> The church teaches there are only two churches,
> the true restored church (them), and the church of
> Satan (all other churches).

From what I gather, nowadays they want to be regarded as a Christian denomination. Have any of you seen them reconcile this with the highly exclusionary nature of JS's first vision, and the long-standing teaching you other posters have made note of?

Are they trying to "fix" it, somehow, like they did "pure and delightsome," or just ignoring it, letting people work out their own cog-dis individually? Or maybe something else?

This is to try to reduce the number of people slamming the door on the missionaries, without any real change except the size of the font used for Jesus Christ in LDS, Inc signage.

Meanwhile it seems to me that a lot things that TDS, Inc considers important, like outward signs of peity (garments, clothing), emphasis on superficial things like what one drinks or doesn't drink, luxury commerce by the Temple, etc, are the antithesis of what Jesus taught.

I didn't want to be excommunicated so I simply didn't participate. I hated having mormons show up at my door to harass. They also sent mailers and phoned me. Those efforts always gave me hives and a croaky throat for a few days or weeks.

Shame on mormons for not leaving people alone when they're determined to leave mormonism in the dust.

Twenty-some years later I got a letter claiming I had requested to have my name removed. That was a lie as I still didn't know about resignation. The letter claimed I would lose blessings and said that the bishop was disappointed in me. What a nasty joke.

I'm glad to be rid of mormons. They think they're in charge of me and everyone else when all they are is abject fools living a lie and mistreating non-mormons and each other.

On my mission I had a bishop that made us participate in activities such as that. Clearing the ward of people. We were sent to check addresses and see if people really lived there. That is horrible that they sent that to you. I am certain it was the bishop that initiated your name removal.

Not going to church is worse than murder? What a horrible person I must be. Apostasy is when you stop believeing? I thought that would be more like someone saying "an angel came to me and now I am the prophet. Everybody follow me".

After not attending church for over twenty years, some woman in the ward called me. She said I was assigned to bring a hot dish to some cult event.

I said in an exasperated tone, "I can't believe you're calling me!"

She got very huffy and said I was rude and unhelpful. She obviously tattled to the bishop who sent me the letter three or four days later. She was a high strung crazy lady and the bishop was a liar.

But thankfully I'm out. They still bothered me after that but not very often and they were much more tentative about it.

I'd have a few surprises for an asshole like that bishop.

Things have changed a lot since the 1970s when leaders felt that they held all the cards.

No one need ever to be EXed by the Mormon Church again. Resign your membership and excommunicate Mormonism from your life! The Liberated Boner.

Yes, back then (70s) they gawt jayant erecteans at the very thawt.

Then harrable sawbs awf greaf, beggeng fer member blessengs agaen, ye gawna beg fer years, we jest lawve et when ye beggars beg layke that. Enstant arawsal even fer awld men!

Joseph Smith would have loved that bishop. The bishop would have been in JS's inner circle.

And Brigham Young would have encouraged the bishop to send a posse to 'blood atone' him.

Do you think there is any secret blood atoning of apostates happening anymore? Sometimes I wonder… If they could get away with it they would!

I would point out the definition of apostasy: The renunciation of a belief or religion.
It appears that the Mormon definition is different or perverted from that .

Tyrants don't reign with blood and horror on the earth. They reign with a web of lies.

"Then I will raise up armies and navies, popes and priests, and reign with blood and horror on the Earth!" Stan's pre-1990 Boner.

Well thanks to the brave efforts of Norman Hancock back in the 80s the church was forced to allow resignation without the stigma of excom.

After meeting Norman I was inspired to submit my letter of resignation in 1991.

I think we should call resigning the Norman Hancock resignation.
He deserves recognition for doing that. Us exmos should never forget who the pioneers of exmormonism are and were.

So, anyone out there interested in getting a Norman Hancock?

janis Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I think we should call resigning the Norman
> Hancock resignation.
> He deserves recognition for doing that. Us exmos
> should never forget who the pioneers of
> exmormonism are and were.
>
> So, anyone out there interested in getting a
> Norman Hancock?


I was privileged to meet Norman in 1991 after which I submitted my 'Norman Hancock'.

its a secret handshake social club that can also be a terrorist organization as they are allowed to get away with it.

My MORmON male parent told me that I needed to go in and get excommunicated, which was something he would NEVER subject himself to, I mean he would rather die than have that happen to him, but it was perfectly OK with him to have me go through that epic humiliation to gratify him over my increasing lack of respect for his POS MORmON religion. That told me right there that I did not want to be around such an asshole in this life, let alone in any MORmON eternal family. I told Capt Asshole that need sounded a Hell of lot more like a need that he had and not any need of mine, so much the same as when I was told that "I" needed to go on a mission. I never spoke to him again after that nasty incident. Three years and three months later he was dead. Dying was nicest thing that he ever did for me.

I'll take outer darkness over the CK anytime

In 1979 my mother decided I should be excommunicated for not marrying a mormon.

She loaded up all her weapons and got a bishop on board that neither one of us had ever met. He came over to my house late one night to inform me that they were going to have one of those court of love meetings about me. I had no clue who this clown was. It was about 10pm and I lived down a mile long road in the country. My dog wanted to kill the guy. Maybe I should have let the dog have his way.

I got a notice in the mail saying i'd been ex'd. They didn't mention why. I didn't really care. Anything from SLC went straight to the trash.

It wasn't until 30 years later that I called SLC and found out that i'd been ex'd for illegal cohabitation. I burst out laughing. The guy on the other end of the line got very pissy that I thought it was funny. I told him he would have had to have been there to get the joke. That just made him grumpier. His attitude made it even funnier.

What a bunch of clowns.

Excommunicated for marrying a non member. Sounds like I am a worse sinner than I ever imagined. I married outside of race and religion. She isnt even Christian! Go ahead I say, excited mmunicate me!

Power / Authority seems to be the main motivation-incentive for TBM males, but it's partly moderated (for better or worse) by their wives & children.

Perhaps a bit more subtlety, I think LDS women have & use almost as much power as men do...

The church today is far more gordy hinkley than it used to be...relying more on PR and BS...the twin pillars of religeon...just a giggly old grampa who wouldnt hurt a fly...prosperity imo has made them complacent about the old blood and guts doctrine and lead to wishing to be just another christian sect...but pay your tithing and do the temple once a week...they dont ask much do they??...this complacency due to prosperity might be supported with dropping most of the nastiness in the temple rituals...most morms raised in the church will comply willingly without death threats...so why scare the children...just giggle like gordy and tell nice little stories about widows...no one will even notice...except those dammed apostates...curse those apostates...mormism has had a few smart PR guys over the years...all questions can be answered in one sentence...gawds ways are mysterious...its not pertinent to your salvation...well know in the next life...ugg

Good for your lawyer acquaintance! Letting anyone who cares to know what an awful cult the church is. I do that too, when the opportunity presents itself. I get a kick out of telling people (who ask!) the creepier things about Moromonism that make them gape, wide-mouthed, in disbelief. The more anyone can do keep unsuspecting others out of a cult, the better.

Yeah, back in the '70s and early 80's, there was no "resignation process." The only way "out" was to be ex'd.
On the other hand, most bishops didn't actively pursue excommunication for people who just stopped going. Though, of course, the most "righteous" of them did. Because, dammit, these apostates better damn well show up at church or face the wrath of god (as decided upon by the bishop, naturally).

I just stopped going. I did tell the bishop (who tried to get me to take a calling) that I would no longer be attending, and that I wanted no part of the church. He basically sat there stunned and didn't say anything as I walked out.

Over the next couple of years, there were a few half-hearted attempts to "re-activate" me. They had a harder time finding me when I went to the LA area for college. After about four years, they just seemed to forget about me. I counted my blessings.

It wasn't until last year that I found out that I had, indeed been ex'd. One of my aunts wrote me asking for some family info, and included the "group sheet" she had for me stating I'd been ex'd. She assumed I knew...I didn't. No letter (they might have sent one to an outdated address), nothing.

I don't really care, other than insuring that people know they didn't "kick me out," I left on my own. Let 'em have their ignorant, delusional self-righteousness. :)

I think all the excommunicating they did/do makes it even more obvious what a hate filled, unchristian church Mormonism really is. The Bible I read never had Christ telling anyone they could no longer be in his friends group. Christ had an open door policy and forgave everyone. Didn't I read that we should forgive 7 time 7,000. I don't think I've done even 1,000 things for which I need to be forgiven.

Mormonism put me off all religion. But if I really did believe in a religion founded by Jesus I think Jesus sounds like the type of guy to forgive me for not believing in him and he would welcome me into his group with open arms. If he's not that kind of guy, I wouldn't be interested.

but that is how indoctrinated exmos were....and evidence they were not many taking charge of their own lives.

Sometime in the late 70's or early 80's-once we began to really become vocal and thought things out, it was realized that allowing the Morg to "excommunicate" was just another way of letting it have control. A strategy was advised and the practice began of informing the church that they must not use the word "excommunicate" but must remove our names from their rolls without impinging upon our reputation.