I am with a small group of engineers as we just finished some work in Wyoming. They want to visit temple square. Sigh... I guess at some point they are going to find out I was a Mormon. I am still embarrassed to mention my previous association with the corporation. We are going in about an hour or so.

Perhaps tonight I will get to meet a couple of SLC exmos. Trying to arrange that in a few minutes.

It was interesting to use the computer at the hotel and with Google and using the word Mormonism, we were number 3 on the search list results. Lots of work went into moving us to a better server and hopefully better posting, archiving and setup.

If you wish to meet with us and we know what we are doing, it might happen... My email that I will be monitoring on my phone is erickett@wingnet.net

Eric

Please let us know where and when you will be available, Eric.

What a "missionary" opportunity!!!!

I think they'd be surprised and perhaps veryinterested to learn you are a recovered Mormon, and then to tell them you started a little itty bitty site to help your fellow escapees from the collective.... would be interesting indeed!!

If you can make it mail me and I will try to hook everyone up. ExMoLight@gmail.com

But SLC loves you. :)

It was all my fault on the bistro; should've checked it out first, but we were getting a lot of business out of it and it was right next to Eric's hotel... Fortunately Eric and M.I.B. had dinner downtown beforehand... Waitress did say the cook had called in sick that day... But they were also out of everything.

Eric is every bit as unassuming as people have said he was...

Roll Call of the Danite Dodgers...

EricK
Mav
Cabbie
Man in Black
Lazarus

And yes, Daniel C. Peterson... We talked about you...

No ladies (I invited a few with their husbands), but as I look at the list, I'm the only single guy on it...

Addendum: Eric and Susan probably tried to invite some as well, but the board's being down this afternoon put the kibosh on it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/24/2012 12:20AM by SL Cabbie.

the venue was so bad. You took the time to get us together. An honor to meet Eric. Next time, the Hilton or Holiday Inn restaurants are ok.

"Brother Bistro-cook, I raise my right arm to the square and say unto you that you have been called of gawd to call in sick, and make sure the evil apostates evening is ruined---Mu-huwah-ha-ha!"

the huge, secure, regional FBI headquarters going up a block away. Hmmmm. Run by a Mo??

...next time take them to where we met up. Wish I could've been there.

We can put something together at the Oyster Bar or any number of places... Here's a partial list of possible invitees...

Cricket (whom you've already met)
Rodolfo (Alas, he was out of town on business)
Socrates2 and IMWO (We're still doing genealogy on how we're related)
Will "We're All Cousins" Bagley
Brian-the-Christ
Adult of God
Any of the others who were present this time, including Man in Black who will assure you my French is quite acceptable in spite of my somewhat limited vocabulary...

(A few others whose names escape me right now)

And please, take your kids to the Leonardo in the old public library building on 500 South! It's incredible (Jesus Smith as my witness). I'm always working weekends or I'd have my daughter show yours around...

My e-mail is the same...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/26/2012 07:23PM by SL Cabbie.

AHH YES the lovely (NOT) Zion curtain. Too bad such a beautiful and scenic state had to be ruined from the second BY set his ugly and disgusting polyg feet on the soil.

but props to Eric K for his work & the new board.

Glad you guys were able to get together and have a good time.

What did you say about DCP? Just kidding.

Last time I was in Salt Lake I stayed at the Gateway Hyatt. Really, it just seemed like any other city. It could have been San Diego or it could have been Denver. Hotels look the same and malls are the same.

Amazingly there were a lot of people of color staying at the hotel. Quite a few black people and of course some polynesians. I didn't see any white and delightsome folks in white shirts and ties. The church owned property downtown seemed like a Mormon vatican. It was more steril and controlled than the Gateway. Nothing very interesting at all.

You hardly see the temple anymore. To be frank, Salt Lake pretty much looks like any other American downtown for a city it's size. If anything, it's become as predicatable and boring as every place else in America.

"I am with a small group of engineers as we just finished some work in Wyoming. They want to visit temple square. Sigh... I guess at some point they are going to find out I was a Mormon. I am still embarrassed to mention my previous association with the corporation. We are going in about an hour or so."

I say tell them you were mormon and tell them all the wierd, strange stuff done in the temple all under the "sacred" umbrella

I wonder if it will feel a little weird.... beings that I will be surrounded by Mo's that defriended me on FB over my resignation... hmmmmm screw em

Or do they have to wait until you order a cup of coffee to get a clue?

It is true SLC now looks pretty much like any other city of its size - same chain restaurants, hotels, etc. I guess for me it was awkward as I founded this site and as was going to be with people who were unaware that I had been a Mormon. I do not discuss my previous association at work as the majority are Christian and Christian fundamentalists at that. The top leadership are primarily Seventh Day Adventist. To announce I was once a Mormon and now an atheist, would probably put my career at jeopardy, just like those of you who work in Mormon dominated environments. So the 'strangeness' is more than Salt Lake City. These men I traveled with are professional people with advanced degrees and well known in their fields. I do not expect any problem with my colleagues. I enjoy my association with them. Word may or may not filter up to the top and nothing may happen either way.

Temple square now seems to be more like Scientology than the church I joined in 1972. The strange looking conference center right out of a Scientology blue print and along with the numerous missionaries patrolling the area made me quite uncomfortable. The group I was with asked what the probability was that the missionaries would hit on them. I told them 100% and they laughed. I was right. The sister missionaries seemed to have a canned giggle when they ask someone a question and get a brief response. It did not matter what the visitor stated. There was always this unnerving little giggle from the sister missionary before beginning her next pitch. It appears to be part of their approach technique to attempt to make someone at ease. I must of heard it 6 times as we watched them hit on other visitors.

I enjoyed meeting the group of exmo's and talking for awhile. It is always a good feeling to know that this site is helping people. That is why we continue on.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/26/2012 11:06AM by Eric K.

Eric, few people in a lifetime of effort will have the impact you have on making the world a better place.

You are the virtual counterpart of the Tanners, which (for lurkers) were the original Christian ex-Mormons still operating online and in person at www.ulhm.org). Remember how they were attacked when they first started microfilming all the original documents the church was squirreling away?

And how they refused to authenticate the forged Salamander letter when the Mormon church accepted it and was already spinning an explanation that the world "salamandar" was another common word for "angel"?

There is such irony now that RfM is the predominant anti-Mormon cyber coffeehouse and Mormons are now trying to 'encourage' members to have a blog/website in order to increase their rankings in Googlesearch. I can't wait until it is 'required' of all faithful members to labor in the cyberfield.

Hats off to you and all the work you did on making sure that RfM continues under the strain of the increased traffic and GLORY HALLELUJAH, the surge to come when people start uncovering some of the even weirder practices that we all came to know and hate.

Best

Anagrammy

PS. Next time you are in SLC, give us more notice!

Eric -

It was great to meet you. Your website was the perfect thing I needed to begin to process the tough issues I had ignored for so long. I had no interest in the sites that seemed to want to convert me to some other ideology. I, as well as many others, will always be indebted to you.

I guess I need to go back to temple square. I always wear a BYU hat in hopes the missionaries will leave me alone. I never stayed and talked to them long enough to be hit on, that could be fun.

Temple Square:

Where the sculptures of men outnumber those of women.

Where the men honored in sculpted forms are named.

Where females shall forever be nameless and generic.

was still alive. I remember getting so hungry smelling the Wonder Bread baking next door. I watched the owner cutting some of the rock with a torch. Not sure how that works.

is the tabernacle organ recital. Last time I went they had a half hour show of classical pieces. You've gotta hear those 32 foot pipes! The bass rolls over you in waves.