u/slskipper

Either one will do. Thank you.

All to often we keep thinking that if only "we" present our case to the leadership of the LDS church, they will be touched by our sincerity and insightfulness and realize that they need to alter their modes of thinking about the role of religion in their followers' lives. Reality check: not a chance in hell. They got where they are because the system rewarded them, and no way are they ever going to buck the system that gave them such power over other people. The following are not part of their make-up: compassion, introspection, humility, or any interest in listening to the peons. They simply can't. It's just not in their psyches. So stop trying to change anything. Vote with your feet. Thank you.

And I don't see that happening any time soon.

Thank you.

The ball is in your court. Maybe someday you will grow up.

That's what the LDS religion has sunk to. Organizational issues are handled by immoral robber barons. What little theology remains is being decided by who gets the most IG exposure. Those with any brains- or any nostalgia for the church of our youth- are driven out without a second thought.

It wasn't my shelf that broke. It was my heart.

Okay, so I'm not serious about the $100. Like who can afford that these days? But I am serious about the potential for protests when the Grand Marshall (always a Mormon GA) rides past in his convertible. Some possible triggers:

CSA coverups

Electroshock therapy at BYU overseen by the current head honcho

Ensign Peak Advisors

A "church" that owns half of America

And finally: the descendants of all those Native Americans who got massacred by God's Chosen Messengers.

People all over are starting to get tired of letting religion get away with anything they damn well please. The anger is palpable and surely will erupt sometime soon. The Days of '47 parade is a perfect opportunity for the disenfranchised to finally get heard.

Thoughts?

Lots of people apparently do just fine in the Mormon paradigm. I was different- and they blamed me for that. I grew up wondering why Satan was so involved with my life. If Satan was all around, I expected some sort of tools to rise above all that. Surprise, surprise- nobody had any real solutions. And they blamed me even more for not "getting" it. Dear Q-15: that's why most of us here left. The problem is not us. The problem is you. Thank you.

And this is the best you can do? Face it- your enterprise is a resounding failure.

Or am I mistaken?

It makes me sick.

I know it is a tough call. Take your time. We need your answer by next week.

That is all. Thank you.

No mentions on WaPo or NYT as far as I can tell. Clearly The Brethren have failed, after two hundred years of trying, to get anybody to notice. Dear Q-15: please grow up. Thank you.

Mormonism is inextricably linked to the thong we call the Bible- and it absolutely requires a literal reading of that document. All the Mormon scriptures refer to events described in the Bible, and if the stories in the Bible are fiction then the whole of Mormonism breaks down. News flash: the events of the Bible never happened. So I suggest that all Mormons grow up.

Just a few examples: Most of Genesis was developed during the time of the Babylonian captivity. To wit: the seven-day week was devised by the Babylonians (IIRC) based on the seven main things they noted in the sky: the sun, moon, and the five planets they were able to detect. God did not ordain the seven day week- the Babylonians did. So there were no seven days of creation and the Sabbath happened because the Babylonians did not understand nuclear fusion. The two creation accounts were garbled retelling of serpent cult myths and do on. And if those events never happened, there was no Fall and no Garden of Eden. The flood story started as an origin myth similar to numerous other earth-diver myths. And if there was no flood there was no Tower of Babel and hence no Jaredites.

There was no Exodus from Egypt. Palestine at the time was part of the Egyptian empire. There was no conquest of Canaan. The Hebrews did not invade Canaan because they were already living there- along with a whole bunch of other groups that somebody decided needed to all descend from one family (Israel). If there was no exodus there was no Moses- and hence no Book of Moses and absolutely no Ten Commandments. There. may have been some progenitor like Abraham- I just don't know. But if there was no common progenitor for the twelve tribes, there was no tribe of Manasseh from which the Nephites and Lamanites descended and hence no Book of Mormon, period.

As for the whole Jehovah thing: that was the invention of King Josiah, who preferred Yahweh and happened to "discover" a screed that said the reason the Israelites kept having troubles was because they worshiped their own tribal deities and he- Josiah- was duly authorized by Yahweh to kill anybody who did not worship his guy. If you look up Josiah in Bible dictionaries they will tell you he was a reformer. He was not a reformer. He was a tyrant who made everybody else do what he told them to do- and that required them to say that Yahweh really liked Josiah or else get killed. And that is why God is absolutely vengeful and jealous.

But wait- there's more. The Bible itself started out as a whole bunch of texts about all sorts of gods and amazing claims and stories that got collected and revised and edited to make it all sound coherent. That happened at least three times before we got what people insist we believe as an inerrant proof of the intervention of this God thing into human existence. All I can say is, good luck with that.

Thank you.

That is all. Thank you.

It is clear that they need help. Here is my suggestion.

People everywhere are baffled by the intense vitriol arising over the use of the term "Christian". It really blew up this week with the Pentagon memo. But the fundamental reason is that, in America (the only country that matters, by the way) the only people who are valid citizens are the Christian types. At least that's what the Christians want you to believe, and they have pretty much taken over the government. Mormons understandably want to be considered valid citizens, so they desperately want to be included in the club. But the terrible truth is that the Christians have reached a stage where they get to decide who can vote, who can run for office, and even who gets to live or die. That is the reality that we are living under. Thank you.

Most "other" Christian groups say that any baptism is valid. They see baptism as a sign of acceptance of Jesus as one's savior. Mormons see baptism as enlisting in the Mormon church. Big difference. I don't see that changing any time soon.

who never saw his wife naked and who never saw a female leg that he deemed attractive. Let that sink in. Is it any wonder that we are so messed up inside????