Hi,

I was born and raised in the LDS church. My parents were both converts around age 10. My dad served a mission, and both my parents were very active at times throughout my life, inactive at other times. Eventually, after years of never "getting it," they did research and decided to leave the church, along with my younger brothers. I was in high school at the time and they decided that they would let me decide whether to stay or go.

I stayed for a while. I think this was due partially to the fact that I felt "safe" or "secure" in it.. Even though we were so inactive sometimes, it was all I knew, how could it suddenly be "false?" The other reason I stayed was because I was a troublemaker as a teen, grounded all the time. Only time I saw my friends outside of school was at church and church activities :P

After "a while," I came to terms with the fact that I didn't coincide with many things the church taught. I swore, I drank mass amounts of caffeine (and sometimes alcohol), I was sexually active. And the thing was, I didn't feel guilty about any of it. I didn't ever feel like I was doing something wrong (other than the times I was sneaking around behind my parents' backs).

And so, I asked my dad to help me to write a letter, to be withdrawn from church records? Not sure what the exact terminology is (getting to that here in a minute), but I am no longer a member. I am not sad about it, I don't miss it, and I think the whole operation is ridiculous.

I was still 2-3 years from graduating high school when I left the church. Living in Utah, I was surrounded by members constantly. Everyone at school had known me as a severely Mormon person before this, and when I left the church, no one really knew, so no one really talked to me about it.

Since, I have moved 300 miles away (still in UT.. ugh). I married my husband, and gave birth to our amazing son last month. And now, when people find out I am not LDS, they invite me to church or church-related activities. Or they will say something pertaining to the church and then try to explain it to me. I have to tell them I don't want to go, or I already know what they're talking about and how it works because I was LDS for most of my life (so far, someday it will be "a small part" of my life). Then, some people get uncomfortable, and don't say anything. Others ask me why.

I never researched much about the church and all its bullshit. I simply saw my parents leave, and then went "hm, you know, I don't really like it all that much either" and left myself. I feel stupid when I tell my story to people. I feel like I look like one of "those" non-members who are just "misguided" and don't know what they're talking about. I'm firm in my decision to not be a member of the LDS church, but I want to know what I'm talking about. I want to have substance behind my decision other than "I just didn't like it and didn't follow along with everything taught." People give me a look like "that poor girl" when I finish telling them my "story." I hate it.

So, can someone please provide me with a general idea of some of the stuff that has gone on within the church that is shy of respectable? Or some sort of link to a basic outline? I'm just starting to finally look into all of this now, and trying to reading mass amounts of information feels overwhelming right now. I want to start slow... This probably sounds weird, but I thought I'd try.

Thank you,
Katie

I recommend mormonthink.org (.com?).
Jim Whitefield's books are pretty good - "The Mormon Delusion" I think.
Here's something I threw together, that I really should edit again. (There are a few errors in it.) http://www.lulu.com/items/volume_68/8674000/8674201/1/print/themormons.pdf

Wow, thank you! :)

Watch the Southpark mormon episode. I think you can find it on youtube. I watched it today. Very accurate and short summation.

For a quick overview, scroll down on this link to "What the missionaries won't tell you":

http://www.exmormon.org/tract2.htm

“I say, there are men and women that I would advise to go to the Presidency immediately, and ask him to appoint a committee to attend to their care; and then let a place be selected, and let that committee shed their blood. We have amongst us that are full of all manner of abominations, those who need to have their blood shed, for water will not do, their sins are too deep a dye... I believe that there are a great many; and if they are covenant breakers we need a place designated, where we can shed their blood... Brethren and sisters, we want you to repent and forsake your sins. And you who have committed sins that cannot be forgiven through baptism, let your blood be shed, and let the smoke ascend, that the incense thereof may come up before God as an atonement for your sins, and that the sinners in Zion may be afraid.”

- Apostle Jebediah M. Grant, 2nd counselor to Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, v. 4, pp. 49-51



“I will tell you how much I love those characters. If they had any respect to their own welfare, they would come forth and say, whether Joseph Smith was a Prophet or not, ‘We shed his blood, and now let us atone for it;’ and they would be willing to have their heads chopped off, that their blood might run upon the ground, and the smoke of it rise before the Lord as an incense for their sins.”

- Prophet Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, v. 2, p. 179, February 18, 1855

“The time has been in Israel under the law of God, the celestial law, or that which pertains to the celestial law, for it is one of the laws of that kingdom where our Father dwells, that if a man was found guilty of adultery, he must have his blood shed, and that is near at hand.”

- Prophet Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, v. 4, p. 219

“Suppose you found your brother in bed with your wife, and put a javelin through both of them. You would be justified, and they would atone for their sins, and be received into the Kingdom of God. I would at once do so, in such a case; and under the circumstances, I have no wife whom I love so well that I would not put a javelin through her heart, and I would do it with clean hands.... There is not a man or woman, who violates the covenants made with their God, that will not be required to pay the debt. The blood of Christ will never wipe that out, your own blood must atone for it.”

- Prophet Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, v. 1, pp. 108-109

“If you want to know what to do with a thief that you may find stealing, I say kill him on the spot, and never suffer him to commit another iniquity. I will prove by my works whether I can mete out justice to such persons, or not. I would consider it just as much my duty to do that, as to baptize a man for the remission of his sins.”

- Prophet Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, v. 1, pp. 108-109

I know that there are transgressors, who, if they knew themselves and the only condition upon which they can obtain forgiveness, would beg of their brethren to shed their blood, that the smoke might ascend to God as an offering to appease the wrath that is kindled against them, and that the law might have its course.”

- Prophet Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, v. 4, p. 43

“Now take a person in this congregation who has knowledge with regard to being saved... and suppose that he has committed a sin that he knows will deprive him of that exaltation which he desires, and that he cannot attain to it without the shedding of blood, and also knows that by having his blood shed he will atone for that sin and may be saved and exalted with the God, is there a man or woman in this house but what would say, ‘shed my blood that I may be saved and exalted with the Gods?’”

- Prophet Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, v. 4, pp. 219-220

“It is true that the blood of the Son of God was shed for sins through the fall and those committed by men, yet men can commit sins which it [the blood of Christ] can never remit.”

- Prophet Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, v. 4, p. 54

“This is loving your neighbour as ourselves; if he needs help, help him; and if he wants salvation and it is necessary to spill his blood on the earth in order that he may be saved, spill it.”

- Prophet Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, v. 4, p. 220

“If men turn traitors to God and His servants, their blood will surely be shed, or else they will be damned, and that too according to their covenants.”

- Apostle Heber C. Kimball, Journal of Discourses, v. 4, p. 375

Another of the murders under this dispensation, which Judge Cradlebaugh mentioned as "peculiarly and shockingly prominent," was that of the Aikin party, in the spring of 1857. This party, consisting of six men, started east from San Francisco in May, 1857, and, falling in with a Mormon train, joined them for protection against the Indians. "When they got to a safer neighborhood, the Californians pushed on ahead. Arriving in Kayesville, twenty-five miles north of Salt Lake City, they were at once arrested as federal spies, and their animals (they had an outfit worth in all, about $25,000) were put into the public corral. When their Mormon fellow-travellers arrived, they scouted the idea that the men even knew of an impending "war," and the party were told that they would be sent out of the territory. But before they started, a council, held at the call of a Bishop in Salt Lake City, decided on their death.

Four of the party were attacked in camp by their escort while asleep; two were killed at once, and two who escaped temporarily were shot while, as they supposed, being escorted back to Salt Lake City. The two others were attacked by O. P. Rockwell and some associates near the city; one was killed outright, and the other escaped, wounded, and was shot the next day while under the escort of "Bill" Hickman, and, according to the latter, by Young's order. *


* Brigham's "Destroying Angel," p. 128

============
Stenhouse relates, as one of the "few notable cases that have properly illustrated the blood atonement doctrine," that one of the wives of an elder who was sent on a mission broke her marriage vows during his absence. On his return, during the height of the "Reformation," she was told that "she could not reach the circle of the gods and goddesses unless her blood was shed," and she consented to accept the punishment. Seating herself, therefore, on her husband's knee, she gave him a last kiss, and he then drew a knife across her throat. "That kind and loving husband still lives near Salt Lake City (1874), and preaches occasionally with great zeal."*


* "Rocky Mountain Saints," p. 470.

...to the followers of Brigham Young -- those who would eventually become the Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- the value of the Book of Abraham was incalculable. It could never be laid aside without forfeiting some of that Church's most sacred and distinctive doctrines.

The Book of Abraham contains information on Priesthood and God that is not found in any other scripture- here are the real translations:
http://www.bookofabraham.com/boamathie/BOA_6.html
http://www.bookofabraham.com/boamathie/BOA_7.html

-------------------
And what about plurality of gods? Is that real, or made up? Let's look at the Doctrine and Covenants which is a book of revelations given to Joseph Smith-
http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/122

can you see where DC 122 begins?
http://www.utlm.org/images/changingtherevelations/changingtherevelations_p177.gif

When the D&C was reissued in 1844, Section 121 was not included. Section 121 was originally a letter written by Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, Lyman Wight, Caleb Baldwin, and Alexander McCrae while inmprisoned in Liberty jail. Published originally in The Times and Seasons in Nauvoo 1840. The 1844 DC did not include any portion of the letter. Since JS oversaw the publication of the Doctrine and Covenants, it is apparent that he did not consider the material in the latter as revelation.

In 1876 the new edition of the Doctrine and Covenants included it, but it was chopped, added to, rewritten with entirely new concepts and material including Plurality of Gods. Entire paragraphs were cut, while portions of sentences were moved around. This became 121, 122, and 123 as part of the new theology being taught in Salt Lake City.

Here is a fantastic layout of the changes in photographic form:
http://www.utlm.org/onlinebooks/changingtherevelations.htm

Scroll down past the Book of Commandment changes, to the section called Other Changes. Pictures clearly show what was cut, including the authors names, and it shows what was inserted. In the end, section 121,122, and 123, no matter how important, is a complete fabrication.

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And what about the Sermon on the Mount given to the Lamanites but changed in the JST?:

3 Nephi 13:25-27:
25. ...Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26. Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27. Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? “

Matthew 6:25-27: (from the KJV of the Bible – not the JST)
25. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26. Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27. Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?”


The passages are identical which is understandable as Jesus may have said the same thing to both groups of people in the Old and the New World.

The Joseph Smith Translation of those same passages in the LDS Bible for Matthew 6:25-27
25. And, again, I say unto you, go ye into the world, and care not for the world: for the world will hate you, and will persecute you, and will turn you out of their synagogues.
26. Nevertheless, ye shall go forth from house to house, teaching the people; and I will go before you.
27. And your heavenly Father will provide for you whatsoever things ye need for food, what ye shall eat; and for raiment, what ye shall wear or put on.”


Joseph Smith corrected the Bible. In doing so he also corrected the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is the most correct book and was translated a mere decade before the JST. The BOM was not corrupted over time and did not need correcting. How is it that the BOM doesn’t match the JST?

Another Example:

3 Nephi 14:6
6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

Matthew 7:6
6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

JST Matthew 7:10-11
10 And the mysteries of the kingdom ye shall keep within yourselves; for it is not meet to give that which is holy unto the dogs; neither cast ye your pearls unto swine, lest they trample them under their feet.
11 For the world cannot receive that which ye, yourselves, are not able to bear; wherefore ye shall not give your pearls unto them, lest they turn again and rend you.

--------------
The Book of Commandments was the first book of revelations published in 1833. It was later reissued as the Doctrine and Covenants in 1835. At the time of the publication of the 1833 Book of Commandments, Jesus Christ said that it was correct and approved by Him.

Book of Commandments Chapter 1:7
>1:7 [S]earch these commandments, for they are true and faithful, and the prophecies and promises which are in them, shall all be fulfilled. What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself, and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice, or by the voice of my servants, it is the same: For behold, and lo, the Lord is God, and the Spirit beareth record, and the record is true, and the truth abideth forever and ever: Amen.


Here's a very good resource to see the changes
http://www.2think.org/hundredsheep/boc/boc_main.shtml

Changes to Joseph Smiths Authority:
http://www.2think.org/hundredsheep/boc/boc4.shtml

Changes to Oliver Cowderys (Rod of Aaron) revelation:
http://www.2think.org/hundredsheep/boc/boc7.shtml

Changes to the Parchment of John the Revelator:
http://www.2think.org/hundredsheep/boc/boc6.shtml

Change- note the difference between 24:7 and 20:6
http://www.2think.org/hundredsheep/boc/boc24.shtml

Changes to the revelation to Emma:
http://www.2think.org/hundredsheep/boc/boc26.shtml

Change to the revelation to consecrate the property of the Gentiles:
http://www.2think.org/hundredsheep/boc/boc44.shtml

Changes to Priesthood revelation:
http://www.2think.org/hundredsheep/boc/boc28.shtml

During the Sunday afternoon session of Gen. Conf., LDS Apostle Jeffrey Holland told Latter-day Saints:

"When Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum started for Carthage to face what they knew would be an imminent martyrdom, Hyrum read these words to comfort the heart of his brother:

“Thou hast been faithful; wherefore . . . thou shalt be made strong, even unto the sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my Father.

“And now I, Moroni, bid farewell . . . until we shall meet before the judgment-seat of Christ.”

A few short verses from the 12th chapter of Ether in the Book of Mormon. Before closing the book, Hyrum turned down the corner of the page from which he had read, marking it as part of the everlasting testimony for which these two brothers were about to die. I hold in my hand that book, the very copy from which Hyrum read, the same corner of the page turned down, still visible."

Holland's talk is online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMWK20vZFwQ
(or http://broadcast.lds.org/genconf/2009/10/50/GC_2009_10_503_HollandJR___eng_.mp4)

However, the Book of Mormon read by Hyrum and mentioned in D&C 135 was previously identified in the LDS Church's news as belonging to Bathsheba Smith, the Wife of Geo. A. Smith (ref. http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/50543/Fabric-of-history-Geo-A-and-Bathsheba-Smith-artifacts-donated-to-Church.html)

The book has her name inscribed on the front, and Hyrum's dog-ear folds over about four lines of type (on the folded-over corner):

http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/9084/16658.jpg
http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/4585/16653m.jpg

Holland's copy has no inscription on the front cover, and the dog-ear turns over about ten lines of text:

http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/2284/bookwave.png
http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/1487/bookfront.png
http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/354/smithbook.png

Holland didn't inform members of the following 'faith-disrupting' historical facts:

"Smith faced growing opposition among his former supporters in Nauvoo, and he "was stunned by the defections of loyal followers." Chief among the dissidents was William Law, Smith's second counselor in the First Presidency, who was well respected in the Mormon community. Law's disagreement with Smith was partly economic. But the most significant difference between the two was Law's opposition to plural marriage. There is even evidence that Smith propositioned the wives of both Law and his associate Robert D. Foster. Law and others gave testimonies at the county seat in Carthage that resulted in three indictments being brought against Smith, including one accusing him of polygamy. On May 26, just a few weeks before his death, Smith spoke before a large crowd of the Saints in front of the uncompleted temple and once again denied having any more than one wife."

"Unlike earlier dissenters Law had enough money to buy a printing press and publish a newspaper called the Nauvoo Expositor. Its only edition, published on June 7, 1844, contained affidavits testifying that the signers had heard Smith read a revelation giving every man the privilege of marrying ten virgins. The paper also attacked the attempt to "christianize a world by political schemes and intrigue" and denounced "false doctrines" such as "doctrines of many Gods," which, the paper said, Smith had recently revealed in his King Follett discourse. The newspaper also refused to "acknowledge any man as king or lawgiver to the church."

Smith declared the Expositor a "nuisance." On June 10, the Nauvoo city council passed an ordinance about libels; and Smith, as mayor, ordered the city marshal to destroy the paper. Press, type, and newspapers were dragged into the street and burned. Smith argued that destroying the paper would lessen the possibility of anti-Mormon settlers attacking Nauvoo; but as Richard Bushman [LDS historian and author] has written, he "failed to see that suppression of the paper was far more likely to arouse a mob than the libels. It was a fatal mistake."

"Nauvoo Mormons feared reprisals from the non-Mormons, and non-Mormons were apprehensive about the Nauvoo Legion, especially after Smith, fearing for his life, declared martial law on June 18. Illinois Governor Thomas Ford, desperately trying to prevent civil war, then mobilized the state militia. The governor promised Smith that he would provide protection if Smith would stand trial at Carthage for the destruction of the newspaper. Smith ordered the Legion to disarm but then fled across the Mississippi to Iowa. Emma warned Joseph that Nauvoo residents believed he had left due to cowardice and that they feared reprisals from local mobs. Smith returned to Illinois on June 23, gave himself up, and was taken to Carthage to stand trial."

(ref. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith#Dissent_in_Nauvoo)

Who first had the idea to destroy the Nauvoo Expositor press? George Harris, church member (since 1834) and acting associate justice on the Nauvoo city council. "The minutes of the meeting record: “Alderman Harris spoke from the chair, and expressed his feelings that the press ought to be demolished."'

"In early 1838, amidst growing dissent and legal problems, Joseph Smith fled Kirtland, Ohio for Far West, Missouri. A leader in Far West, George Harris met Joseph and Emma upon their arrival. Joseph wrote: “We were immediately received under the hospitable roof of George W. Harris who treated us with all kindness possible. here we refreshed ourselves with much satisfaction after our long and tedious journey.”. The Smiths lived in the Harris home for two months before moving into a home of their own."

Perhaps very significantly, George Harris was the husband of Lucinda Harris, the first married woman whom Joseph Smith made his plural wife (in 1838).

"The date of the marriage between Joseph and Lucinda is uncertain. Sarah Pratt, a friend of Lucinda’s (and wife of Apostle Orson Pratt), indicated that the wedding occurred sometime during Joseph’s stay in Missouri."

(ref. http://www.wivesofjosephsmith.org/03-LucindaMorganHarris.htm)

'Prophet' and church president Joseph Smith 'repaid' the kindness of George and Lucinda Harris by pursuing and marrying George's wife, which must have been a HUGE shock to him if he found out about it or suspected that something was going on between Lucinda and Joseph.

Did George Harris suggest that the Nauvoo Expositor printing press be destroyed knowing that Joseph Smith, Nauvoo's mayor, would issue the destruction order, thereby getting himself in serious legal trouble (violation of the First Amendment/freedom of the press) and via his incarceration, get JS away from his wife, Lucinda? Possibly.

---------------------
One more lie about Thomas Marsh and Milk Strippings told over the pulpit many many times-recently told by Monson:

In 1864, George A. Smith claimed in a sermon that Marsh had left the church because of a dispute between his wife and other Mormon women over a milk cow. Although this tale has made its way into Mormon folklore, Smith’s statements are not supported by any contemporary evidence.

JoD3:360 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Holland's copy has no inscription on the front
> cover, and the dog-ear turns over about ten lines
> of text:

this to me was one of the concrete evidences that the church was a fraud on my way "out". the odd thing is that i still have no answer as to why holland used a different copy when the church supposedly had hyrum's real copy and that they were stupid enough to show closeup images of the non-hyrum copy!

why i left the lds mormon church corporation:
https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1jBgSzf90ONPlif_jNHu_pV0UKZQQ3pFNpAgX-YsYW94&pli=1

and a super simplified version:
science proves that mankind did not begin 6000 years ago. end of story for christianity, judaism and islam.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/24/2010 07:44AM by Nick Humphrey.