One of my fine sons lives in Manhattan and is gay. Today a fellow with a strong German accent called in behalf of TSCC and requested his address. I told him that if my son wanted his whereabouts known to the church, he'd probably tell them himself. This started a minor tiff with TBM DW, who disagrees. I told her that people are bothered when the church chases them and I can't see why she doesn't understand that he'd go to church if he wanted to, being a sentient adult. She offered no comeback. I hopefully think she may have gotten my point.

Not only that - but it's simply unsafe to give out personal information to a random person over the phone, particularly for a call that wasn't initiated on your end. Sure, the guy may have claimed he was from the church - but really, how do you actually know that?

Your wife really needs to understand that.

When I resigned my membership, my youngest was 16, so I didn't resign for him and told him he could do whatever he wanted, he was almost an adult anyway. I was in Utah Valley, but moved from the place I'd rented for about 4 years to a new apartment. I'd been using a P.O. Box for my mail because it was close to my work, so I just kept that address.

Everyone kept asking my son where we were moving and he's just say "Orem." I know it killed the bishop not to know where to send his records becuase they wanted to keep tabs on him even though he'd quit going to church. They called everyone they could think of. My daughters both told them "what part of 'he is a minor' do you not understand? I am not going to give you information about a minor and might even report you to the police for soliciting that information."

Finally I got a letter in the mail at my P.O. Box from TSCC, addressed to him, so I opened it. It was a form letter asking for his current physical address. I filled it out with "the person you are seeking information about is 17 years old. I am his parent and legal guardian. This is your official notice to cease this invasion into the privacy of myself and my son. If any further attempts are made to locate this minor child, I will contact Federal authorities. Please send me the information on the physical address a summons and complaint should be sent to." Funny, they never answered me either.

You raised some kicka$$ daughters, Norma Rae. I love to hear stories of parents advocating for the well being of their children against the never-ceasing invasiveness of TSCC.

Bravo to both you and RationalGuy!

Kestrafinn, I don't get why more people don't understand that giving out others' personal information to strangers can be dangerous. If it's not theirs, it's not theirs to tell. Hell, I taught my mom that even when people I knew asked her for my phone number or e-address to nicely say, "Give me your phone number and I'll make sure she gets it." It helped her practice setting boundaries on her own behalf and protected me from things like "friends" I hadn't heard from in years calling to convince me that their latest, most wonderous MLM would change.my.life.

NormaRae, you are a GODDESS of Kick-Ass-ness! That is an awe inspiring story!

...please say it was something like ...

...

...

"I'll be bock."

I had a visual of her standing on top of a car (a la, well, "Norma Rae") giving her speech with a swarm of Mormons around her.

edit: That was supposed to be under xyz's "I'll be bock" post. Oy.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/20/2012 06:22PM by Surrender Dorothy.

On one hand, your son is "almost an adult" and you want him to make his own decisions. On the other, you not only open mail addressed to him, but you answer it for him. I'd be pretty pissed-off if I was your son.

It seems that Cog-Dis is not just for (active) Mormons anymore.

It's one of the rights that accompanies being a parent.

In the case of a 17 year-old who, by the writer's account, is thoughtful/smart enough to put off the nosy Morg, I disagree. But parent's rights are not my point.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/20/2012 06:45PM by jaredsotherbrother.

Your point is irrelevant. As the parent they have rights, the church has no right to this information.

Helping your child grow into an adult does not mean you no longer protect them from a cult.

Right. The point is that the son doesn't want to go so he's protecting his son. rationalguy said it's his son's choice as to whether or not to go, and his son doesn't want to, so now he's got his son's back on the decision he made.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/01/2015 12:14PM by Carrots Tomatoes and Radishes.

you can leave the church, but they won't leave you alone.

you might mention to your wife that nothing says "i don't accept you for who you are" like giving the cult personal information (address and phone number) of your out gay son.

she doesn't seem to care about his free will or personal privacy. ick

Was it Dieter F. Uchtdorfff? They must have really farmed out the work to the members--or the Big Three are really taking the "Rescue" personally.

I was wondering myself why Dieter would take such an interest in your son. Or maybe it was Erich Kopischke and he's trying to accomplish another "Swedish Rescue" since the first one went so well.

I'm with you 100%. At the very least check with the son first and let him make the decision, I mean since he is an adult and what not.

I am pretty certain that since he's gay, he has rightly decided to be inactive and doesn't want them to hound him. Being gay is difficult enough dealing with general society without bringing in these condescending bastards to pity you and try to correct your "defect."

Let me guess, the last thing he said was, "Vell vee 'ave our vays."

don't forget to salute with

your right are to the square!

Heil Monson!

Hahahaha can you imagine life here if Mitt had won?

Between Uchtdorf running the church and Mitt running the country into the ground under the morg's direction - it's all too horrible to contemplate.

wait until the 'THANK YOU for re-electing' card from the rest of the World arrives; you'll get a Kick out of it!

There are lots of ways to find someone now using the WEB. You shouldn't have to put up with anyone calling you to find out information for someone else. If you don't "see" a badge or a warrent hang up.

TSCC harassed me for years, to get my children's addresses from me. Each time I said, "I don't give out anyone's personal information, without their permission." I must have told the Mormons that about 30 times--phone calls, house visits, the missionaries, two different bishoprics, the stake, the stake basketball and baseball teams, neighbors, etc.

Besides being upsetting by itself, these intrusions upset the family. A good example is RationalGuy's wife, and jaredsolderbrother on this thread. Whenever there was someone around to witness my assertiveness in putting off the Mormons, I would get criticism, and even a fight. I was always accused of being rude. I always had to defend myself, just like RationalGuy.

No one has to answer personal questions, no matter who asks. No one should give out another person's personal information--no matter if the person is a minor or an adult. This is a good thing to teach children, for their own safety.

Sometimes I have to remind my children and grandchildren that I say "NO" because Mormons are SOLICITORS (my sign says "No Soliciting") The Mormon church wants 10% of my income, 10% of my Social Security, 10% of the sale of my house, and 10% of everyone else's income, for life--plus more if they can get it.

Wow nothing like having LD$ inc interject itself into your marriage to create unneeded tension.

It's never a good idea to give out information like that to strangers on the phone. Yes, it was probably an actual Mormon who called which doesn't make it right.

They have called me a couple of times but I was less than helpful. The first time was with my son. At the time he lived and worked on a cruise ship. That totally baffled the lady who called.

She asked me where he lived - on the cruise ship.

Full time? Yes, of course, how could he live anywhere else when that was his job?

Did he go to church? I doubt they have an LDS church on the cruise ship.

Should I send his record to your ward? No, my son is adult and hasn't lived here for eight years. If he ever leaves the cruise ship I doubt he will ever live in Utah.

But, what should I do with his church record? I have no idea. What do you do with records of transient people?

The next time I was called, it was about my brother who lives with whatever girl he is currently dating or in his truck. That conversation went just as well. She just couldn't understand how someone could live in a truck and not have a permanent address.

I wouldn't have divulged an address for either of those people even if they weren't without a regular home. It just amused me to confuse the daylights out of a church spy.

I used to get calls and members dropping in asking for the address of one of our kids. I got so fed up with BYU asking for $ I guess I unloaded and they never called back!
I also tell the callers that if they wanted them to know their address, they would give it to them.
I've also given out the wrong address or area.
So annoying.

That would have lit me up (since I was followed/harassed by the church previously).

Wait, let me get his social security number.
Do you want his bank account routing number?
How about his VISA Platinum number?

The audacity, that they think they have the right to personal information... and honestly don't understand why everyone doesn't welcome the invasion of privacy...