Back in February when I brought my concerns to my former LDS bishop (Joseph Smith having 34 wifes, sex with 14 year-olds, blacks being unfaithful in the pre-existence, Book of Mormon's Isaiah has same errors as the KJV version of Bible that J.S. was using, etc.) He told me, "It's like that [State Farm] commercial where you can't believe everything that's on the Internet." to which I replied, have you ever heard of Jerald and Sandra Tanner? To which he replied, "No."
I told him that they know more about church history than most LDS historians and their information actually comes from the LDS church's historical archives. Of course, his answer to that was that I need to pray and seek the guidance of the Holy Ghost.
His condescening attitude and his dismissal of my questions as being Internet lies turned me from the church even further and showed me how little inspiration from the Holy Ghost these "so-called" men of God actually have.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/2013 03:40AM by rd4jesus.

Ironic, I was taught many things mormons now deny in seminary and church sponsored "Know Your Religion" mid week classes in church buildings with my parents before the internet.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/2013 03:50AM by homoerectus.

H can't possibly argue the evidence, so he argues you are not devoted enough.

He plays that card because it is the only one he's got.

Incredible in some ways. I mean, absolutely no pastoral sense of obligation and concern for you, no real wisdom to offer, no compassion, no aid, nothing. These Mormon Bishops are hollow men who have no training, no theological education or vocation, no counseling background-- they bring nothing to the table but blind devotion and unimaginative, untested devotion to CES boilerplate.

There should be a standard that to be a Bishop, you need to have gone through a profound faith crisis and education of your own, finding your way back, having explored various spiritual paths. But none of that could happen at all really in the LDS church's regimen of birth to grave assignments and living life by the standard LDS success and life waypoint markers.

The LDS church needs a trained and sensitive, theologically and historically educated clergy. Oh, but that would mess with the calling and status culture of all the dutiful, sometimes ambitious, organization men so much. To say nothing of the pyramid scheme culture of buy-in and pay-off.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/2013 09:24AM by derrida.

Love this comment!

Your story is so very typical. You're right of course, there is no inspiration from a holy anything from the leadership of TSCC. At the end of any discussion about moism, that is all any of them have to offer... it your fault for having doubts, and let me bear my testimony of faith to you that bla bla bla... That's all they got to stand on. Their faith in the con.

My brother told me that after I shared peer reviewed scientific journal studies with him. He told me that I had placed "the almighty science on the altar for worship."

In his world of Morondumb, these sources are like the State Farm commercial:

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
http://www.pnas.org/

American Association for the Advancement of Science
http://www.sciencemag.org/

PLOS One
http://www.plosone.org/

Nature
http://www.nature.com

Him: "you have placed the almighty science on the altar for worship."
You: "thank you"
There is no way he meant that as anything but a compliment.

For rational people it should be a compliment. It was meant as an insult for turning my back on the feelings of a testimony.

Have you been reading anti-mormon material again? The Internet is not true all lies? The biggest Internet lie is LDS.com

Well I know the church is true. The Book of Mormon is true. The prophet is true. The temples are true. The name of Geesus...

Boiler plate response to the only life they know. They are like ants or bees all-in for the colony or the hive. They don't think, they follow with out question.

When you follow without question you become a drone. When you become a drone you you pay 10% to TSCC. When you give part of your income to the TSCC you become poor. When you are poor you stop thinking for yourself and become intellectually lazy. When you become intellectually lazy you become a crazy Mormon. When you are a crazy mormon you become a crazy bishop telling crazy stories to other crazy mormons.
Think for yourself...don't become a crazy mormon.

Hahahaha!

That's why you need to make this all one sentence. "I read _____ on the internet but I know you can't believe everything you read on the internet, so I double checked it against LDS sources. I always make sure I have information from several different places before I proceed." The one or two people I've said that to have shut right up because I called them on their B.S. debate point before they even get a chance to say anything.

That won't keep them from telling you to pray and listen to the Holy Ghost though. Maybe you should look at them and ask "Really? Is that all you've got?"

That's true! There are some websites out there that tell some really absurd lies. I saw one, for example, that says Native Americans are actually decedents from about 20 Jews that all sailed from the Middle East to the Americas on one boat! Can you believe that?

Really, people like this have clearly never done a research paper in their life. The internet is no different from books, you have to examine your sources, look up their references, and figure out what's most likely the truth. If you've done your research, its easy to determine which pages on the internet are quality sources of information, and which are LDS.org!

funnily enough, a lot of the things which I was NEVER taught in church - things which were actively denied - are now starting to be talked about within the church

apparently, in institute, they now teach that Smith (at his *martydom*) actually had a gun and used it to shoot at his attackers...........at least, this is what I am told by TBM's

{many years ago, when I mentioned the gun in a sunday school class, I was labelled as a liar for spreading such *obviously false stories*}

My TBM daughter was trying to tell me that the LDS church doesn't teach that they'll become Gods if they remain faithful. So I pulled out the Lorenzo Snow manual they're currently using and showed her the Lorenzo Snow couplet. That shut her right up, but not before her telling me to quit bashing on the church.