I'm not talking about church-related testimonies (but of course, everything they do is church related isn't it) but rather family member testimonials.

TBM FIL has always been a miserable man...in so many ways it's hard to describe. SIL posts a retouched portrait of the man saying how wonderful he is, yada yada. BIL comments on the post saying how FIL grilled him when he asked to date his daughter and BIL and SIL begin a light-hearted back and forth basically stating how stern FIL was when it came to those who wanted to date his daughters (but still, isn't he a wonderful man). Well, when FIL found out that his son (my husband) was dating a nevermo, he called me (among other things) a whore based solely on the fact that I wasn't Mormon. In countless other ways through the years I can't honestly say that FIL is the most miserable human being I've ever met.

Oh how I wanted to comment on the Instagram post with that one-liner. But I didn't.

So here I am, venting on this board once again.

Yeah, I hear ya. Feel that pain.

I have really increasingly distanced myself from social media for so many reasons. But one of them is that my vast Mormon family (all 'connected' with me there of course) is always posting all this crap, much of it links to Mormon propaganda..

BUT I've been bothered by something similar as you have.. the denial of the truth that they are so imbedded with.

My mom posted in re. my deceased uncle all this twisted stuff he did to her as a kid, saying oh he liked to 'tease' me, wasn't he so 'funny'.. and oh how he 'teased' their mom (aka TORMENTED), what a GREAT guy!

I know people tend to do that when someone's passed on. But still.. it just shows me how distorted her thinking is. She talked like that when he was alive to. She refuses to see the bad in people even when it would mean helping her set boundaries, protect and defend herself and prevent herself from being abused.. or I should say even when it means accepting abuse from others because of her need to constantly wear blinders.

How else does someone believe the charlatans the rule TSCC if they are not able to push aside all doubts and all factual evidence of lies, abuse and manipulation? Of course that attitude (being brainwashed) affects the rest of their lives too outside of TSCC.

It can be VERY frustrating to see all the BS on those sites and not say anything.

It's not just with Mormons either.. a lot of people on FB like to present themselves and everyone in their lives as perfect. But I think Mormons with their perfectionism disease esp. do that.

I stayed OFF all social media for over a year and it was GREAT. After that break, I am able to use it very lightly without getting sucked in.

Might be time for a social media cleanse to help you reset and stay away from all that crap! :) I don't know.. in any case I am sorry that does suck!

shapeshifter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> BUT I've been bothered by something similar as you
> have.. the denial of the truth that they are so
> imbedded with.
>
> She refuses to see the bad
> in people even when it would mean helping her set
> boundaries, protect and defend herself and prevent
> herself from being abused.. or I should say even
> when it means accepting abuse from others because
> of her need to constantly wear blinders.
>
> How else does someone believe the charlatans the
> rule TSCC if they are not able to push aside all
> doubts and all factual evidence of lies, abuse and
> manipulation? Of course that attitude (being
> brainwashed) affects the rest of their lives too
> outside of TSCC.


You are oh so right shapeshifter. I am all for forgiving and not holding onto the past but when you are in complete denial and in fact choose to laud someone who has caused damage with their abusive behavior and never once indicated they were sorry or wrong....THAT is a problem.


It's disgusting and frustration.

but since our "falling out" on mother's day, I no longer follow her on fb. She was extreme. I hate to say I think she does it so all her mormon friends (ward members here) will think she is so holy, etc. She really gets off on that stuff.

Yeah it also really bothers me how they all post about how blessed they are, how god is looking out for them all of the time and if it's not overtly stated it is always implied that the reason THEY are so blessed is because THEY are 'saints'.. a chosen people, 'good' Mormons, etc.. And by default then anyone who is NOT as they are, is NOT blessed by god and not being looked out for.

No matter that god wasn't there for them for all of the trials they endured (That they don't mention, or it they do, it's because they are 'being tested' or it's for some 'greater purpose') and that they had to bust their asses to get the new job, etc..

My TBM sis, has been in a dinky apt for her whole 10 plus years of marriage and now with 3 kids and totally overcrowd. Her very skilled husband could not get a better job. He (she helped him a lot) applied for over 300 jobs and it took them what 5 years now (can't remember how long they have been looking) and finally he got other employment? Actually he had to take 2 other jobs because the one he was at he was about to lose as the company was about to tank.

So all that work and they are still really just getting by, same hated apartment and town that they don't want to be in. BUT 'god' saved them and now they don't have to be totally jobless and homeless which is what they were facing.

So his going on a mission, them getting married in the temple, going to church every Sunday, other meetings during the week, accepting callings, paying tithing.. all adds up to what? God, finally taking just a little pity on them to make sure they didn't go totally broke and get kicked to the streets? Is that 'god' really 'blessing' them???!!

I bet they would have been a lot more 'blessed' had they not had to give up 10 percent of their meager income for the last decade or so.

But you read that crap on FB, all those 'I am so blessed' (read- 'I am so SPECIAL, poor you, you are NOT.. BUT you COULD be if you became a 'member' of 'god's only true church').. just makes you want to vomit!

… which begs the question..


What do TBMs think when 'non-members' (or esp. apostates) have good things happen to THEM?

Does it mean that 'God' has also blessed THEM, equally so or even MORE so than they?

WHY would 'God' do such a thing IF he required obedience and sacrifice in his one and only 'true' church in order to be blessed?

I am sure there is some 'logical' explanation on their part.. they probably assume that the person who seems to be 'blessed' or is saying so is likely lying and secretly suffering terribly (esp. 'spiritually' so) or 'God' is about to bring them to their knees, sometime soon, or eventually.. and they will get what they really deserve…

But in the meantime does 'God' bless them? OR is 'Satan' 'blessing' them?

I noticed that if 'gentiles' were doing well financially and seemed happy my mom would go on and on about material wealth not being spiritual wealth and relate all of the pitfalls of material wealth. I grew up believing all rich people were miserable and that money was the root of all evil. It's likely why I am still dirt poor!

BUT, if WE came into money, than it meant that God was definitely blessing US! 'Opening the windows of heaven' and all the rest. AND if another member of our church was materially blessed.. well whether it was from God or not seemed to be related to my mother's level of envy and grief at the time. Sometimes they were not really blessed as it seemed and she'd lecture again about the illusion of blessings in the material form and how 'spiritual' ones were really always so much better!

Definitely a double standard going on and a LOT of confusion in that department!

When we were dirt poor,.. God still loved us.. he was just 'trying' us, testing us, making sure we will still obey.. if we came into money we were finally blessed, but when we didn't have it, we were still blessed because we still had the lord's true church that we were members of. And ONE DAY, God would definitely reward us for all of our suffering. The suffering just made us more and more worthy and more and more special.

BUT IF the suffering happened to an outsider (or an insider my family didn't approve of) than it was just deserved and a result of 'sinning' and NOT being a 'member'.. AND If they seem to not be suffering at all then it must be an illusion of some kind and one day surely they would be punished more visibly!

shapeshifter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> But you read that crap on FB, all those 'I am so
> blessed' (read- 'I am so SPECIAL, poor you, you
> are NOT.. BUT you COULD be if you became a
> 'member' of 'god's only true church').. just makes
> you want to vomit!

Yep.
My breaking point came when a TBM relative, with young kids, had her kids' school bus get in an accident. Two (non-mormon) children on the bus died. Her two were fine, just minor bruises. The next day her facebook page was full of "We are so blessed, god was looking out for us" crap -- and not a word of sympathy for the families who lost their precious children.

Vomit is too mild a word for my reaction.

I swore off FB after that. Between that garbage and the constant alt-fact-right "memes," I couldn't stand to look at my page. So I stopped looking. Don't feel like I lost anything -- I stay in touch through direct contact with people I want to stay in touch with.

about mormonism on fb, I told him that I would never have done that. I didn't even bear my testimony unless forced as I felt it was too private and personal.

He is a Jewish convert and he told me that in Judaism to post like mormons do on fb is blasphemous. I told him that is exactly how I see it.

And as for being blessed, when my old boyfriend came back into my life 12-1/2 years ago, there were many of the mormons who just waited for it to fall apart. My ex and I live here in huge sin having boyfriends of our own and somehow, some way, we are better off than my mormon sibling (and definitely all his mormon siblings) and most of our mormon neighbors.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/20/2017 12:09PM by cl2.