It seems to me that Mormonism is on the run... like the bank of a large river during spring run off... Mormonism’s claims are eroding faster than they can shore up their doctrine. Of course they will never admit this... but have they even gotten one thing right? Anything?Let’s just look at a few examples:
Mormon Claim: Native American’s are descended from an Israelite linage
Science: DNA conclusively proves that Native American’s can trace their ancestry back across the Barring Straight to middle Mongolia.
Mormon Claim: Their was no death on this earth prior to 6,000 years ago, prior to “The Fall of Adam “our first father.
Science: There has been both life and death on the earth for millions of years. Man in his current state has existed for over 80,000 years.
Mormon Claim: The first man and woman (Adam and Eve) lived in what is currently the State of Missouri, USA in the Garden of Eden.
Science: Mankind evolved out of Africa... Through our own DNA, every member of mankind can trace his or her linage back to our common beginnings in southeastern Africa.
Mormon Claim: Polynesians emigrated westward from the American continent to the Islands of the Pacific. They too are descendants of Father Lehi.
Science: Polynesians emigrated eastward from micro-Asia, Linguistic, DNA, plant DNA migration, archeological evidence is overwhelming and undeniable.(except to Mormon faithful)
Mormon Claim: The Sun borrows its light from some mystery planet called Kolob.
Science: This is so ridiculous, it hardly needs comment...however let me just state that the Sun does not borrow any of its power from any other planet or source...and is self powered.
Mormon Claim: Our solar system revolves around the this central planet, Kolob
Science: Our universe is expanding but it does not revolve around any central planet.
Mormon Claim: Noah collected two of every species onto an Ark prior to a universal flood, which was also the baptism of the earth.
Science: There is no observable evidence supporting the concept of a universal flood, no evidence supporting the concept of a so-called human bottle neck created with the death of the entire human population 4,000 years ago, no evidence that all earthly animal life migrated from some central final landing area following a flood. And "NO" evidence that Noah strategically placed each species throughout the earth so that their uniqueness would confirm Darwin’s Theory of Evolution.
Mormon Claim: Dinosaurs are not native to this earth, but were merely used parts from some other world used by God in the creation of this earth.
Science: Again a ridiculous Mormon claim, the Scientific evidence is overwhelming that dinosaurs are not only native to this planet, but an essential element in the evolutionally chain that reaches back millions of years.
Mormon Claim: Horses were first introduced to the American continant in 2200 BC with the arrival of the Jaredites.
Science: An early ancestor of horses in the Americas were killed off my humans in about 12,000 BC. Horses were not again introduced into the Americas until the arrival of the Spanish in the 1500’s AD.(The same could be said about all other Book of Mormon claims regarding sheep, pigs, elephants, barley grapes, figs etc etc)
Mormon Claim: All living things exist in the same form in which they were created by God.All plant, animal and human life is unique unto itself and does not change. Man procreates man. Dogs procreate dogs; corn seeds grow corn etc.
Science: All life is subject to the same forces of natural selection, mutation, genetic drift. Life is always in a constant state of evolution and change. This process has been going on for billions of years.
Mormon Claim: The earth is 6,000 years old.
Science: The earth is billions and billions of years old. This is a confirmed fact.
Science is observable, testable and always subject to question. Mormonism is fixed, absolute and is not subject to any subjective test, skepticism or questioning.
So again I ask the question... Has Science EVER had to YIELD to Mormon Doctrine? Has the Steam Roller of Science ever had to Yeild to the Ant of Mormonism crossing the street and say oops we were wrong... and admit that you Mormon's... you got that right???
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Is That All There Is?
Is that all there is? Have I now been exposed to all of Mormonism's problems? Are there no more secrets?
When I first dared to question my faith and venture down this path of critical examination... I was constantly being confronted with revelation after shocking revelation of the cover-up, lies and whitewashing the Mormon Church had perpetrated on its own membership.I remember the disgusting disbelief I experienced as I first discovered the bizarre stories of Joseph‘s glass looking and his head in a hat translation process. I am amazed that through 4 years of seminary and three years of Institute I was never exposed to “Kinderhook” and “Zelph“.
I remember how sick I felt upon learning that there were “other” accounts of the first vision. That there was an island Comoros whose capital was Moroni, that Joseph Sr. had had Lehi’s same dream prior to the writing of the Book of Mormon, That Joseph had married other men’s wife's, missions to the men in the moon, Joseph’s alcohol consumption etc etc etc. I still shake my head in amazement that I had never been exposed to these things or that I had faithfully refrained from an exploration of these difficult matters.
Each day brought a new shocking discovery greater than the day before, the accumulation of which ultimately led to the complete collapse of my faith in Mormonism and the resulting conclusion that the church was not what it claimed to be. That time of discovery, as painful as it was, was also very exhilarating. I felt like a man who finally awakes from a life long coma and experiences reality for the very first time in his life. Each new discovery slowly and sometimes painfully dispelling the darkness... Through this process I lost the faith of my youth. I stepped through a threshold, into a new understanding of life and reality; old understandings were discarded as I underwent this cataclysmic paradigm shift in my life.
So is there no more discovery to be made? Have I reached the bottom of the rotten barrel of Mormonism? Is there nothing more that can shock me?I want to be surprised... but the innocence is gone... and my discoveries now lay in other areas and realms...
When I first dared to question my faith and venture down this path of critical examination... I was constantly being confronted with revelation after shocking revelation of the cover-up, lies and whitewashing the Mormon Church had perpetrated on its own membership.I remember the disgusting disbelief I experienced as I first discovered the bizarre stories of Joseph‘s glass looking and his head in a hat translation process. I am amazed that through 4 years of seminary and three years of Institute I was never exposed to “Kinderhook” and “Zelph“.
I remember how sick I felt upon learning that there were “other” accounts of the first vision. That there was an island Comoros whose capital was Moroni, that Joseph Sr. had had Lehi’s same dream prior to the writing of the Book of Mormon, That Joseph had married other men’s wife's, missions to the men in the moon, Joseph’s alcohol consumption etc etc etc. I still shake my head in amazement that I had never been exposed to these things or that I had faithfully refrained from an exploration of these difficult matters.
Each day brought a new shocking discovery greater than the day before, the accumulation of which ultimately led to the complete collapse of my faith in Mormonism and the resulting conclusion that the church was not what it claimed to be. That time of discovery, as painful as it was, was also very exhilarating. I felt like a man who finally awakes from a life long coma and experiences reality for the very first time in his life. Each new discovery slowly and sometimes painfully dispelling the darkness... Through this process I lost the faith of my youth. I stepped through a threshold, into a new understanding of life and reality; old understandings were discarded as I underwent this cataclysmic paradigm shift in my life.
So is there no more discovery to be made? Have I reached the bottom of the rotten barrel of Mormonism? Is there nothing more that can shock me?I want to be surprised... but the innocence is gone... and my discoveries now lay in other areas and realms...
Thursday, April 20, 2006
My Meeting with a Mormon "General Authority"
Driving east on North Temple, I knew I was going to expose myself to a surreal experience unlike anything I had ever been subjected to. In advance of my arrival, my name had been given to church security, so that as I arrived at the VIP underground parking lot under the controversial main street plaza, I was greeted by a white gloved (yeah that's right, they actually wear white cotton gloves) white shirt, suit and tie garage attendant. He checked my name on a computer against a list of approved guests and directed us to the VIP (red reserved) parking area. There is a basement access to the Administration Building...with more security men there. We reported in and were asked to wait in a richly appointed walnut paneled waiting room. While waiting Elder Faust drove by in a golf cart (see I told you this was going to be surreal) on his way to his car...which I assumed was chauffeur driven. He gave a cute wave to my wife as he passed. He looked particularly old.
We were then directed to the office of my former mission president and current GA, one of the top 22 GA's in the church. While passing time in his waiting area we looked out his north-facing window onto the church office plaza. His office has a commanding view of the best flowerbeds in the COB complex...they were just finishing the fall planting of bulbs and pansies.
Pres. "X" came out and greeted my wife and I with a warm hug and a smile; he was genuine and loving. It was great to be able to have this personal time with him.
After some small talk and family catch-up, Pres "X" asked how he could help us...I reminded him that he had asked for the meeting. I again referred to my earlier letter and again described my situation. For some reason he misunderstood and thought that I was in my current situation because I had been offended...but I assured him that I was where I am currently because of historical facts and not how I have been treated. He seemed to miss this again and felt that how I was treated was the motivation for my loss of belief. He got my letter out and reread a portion of it so as to convince me. I told him that I felt they were not related again.
At this point he asked my wife and me to follow him into a special room down the hall from his office. The large windowless room was much like a conference room except there was no conference table in it. Instead, sitting in the center of the darkened room was a ornately carved mahogany oval table, perhaps 5 feet in diameter. Through the darkness I could see that this room was also richly appointed in fine hard woods and moldings As we entered the room Pres “X” turned the light switch on... a single spot light positioned directly over this table shown a pillar of exacting light down on what can only be described as the most amazing thing I have ever seen with my own two eyes. Lying on a red velvet gold-fringed cloth.... was a single solid “White and Delightsome” Brick.
Turning to me Pres “X” directed me to pound this brick several times into my head...assuring me that once I had done so enough times...my testimony would return. As I sat there in utter shock...he pressed a button on the wall behind us, causing one of the wood paneled walls to slide away, exposing a solid wall made of these same white and delightsome bricks. He told me that if I preferred...instead of hitting my head repeatedly with the single brick, I could instead run headfirst into the brick wall over and over and over again until my testimony returned. He said that the church had had much success with both methods in the past.
Since leaving the church...I have been asked to repeatidly bang my head against that same brick wall... over and over and over again... in the hope that I can somehow believe in the Mormon claims again... My head is so F***ing sore from trying to force belief in things that to me are so unbelievable.
Several times through my interview with this GA, I had to literally grit my teeth. Its time to move on...
PS: I gracefully declined his generous offer for a priesthood blessing...
We were then directed to the office of my former mission president and current GA, one of the top 22 GA's in the church. While passing time in his waiting area we looked out his north-facing window onto the church office plaza. His office has a commanding view of the best flowerbeds in the COB complex...they were just finishing the fall planting of bulbs and pansies.
Pres. "X" came out and greeted my wife and I with a warm hug and a smile; he was genuine and loving. It was great to be able to have this personal time with him.
After some small talk and family catch-up, Pres "X" asked how he could help us...I reminded him that he had asked for the meeting. I again referred to my earlier letter and again described my situation. For some reason he misunderstood and thought that I was in my current situation because I had been offended...but I assured him that I was where I am currently because of historical facts and not how I have been treated. He seemed to miss this again and felt that how I was treated was the motivation for my loss of belief. He got my letter out and reread a portion of it so as to convince me. I told him that I felt they were not related again.
At this point he asked my wife and me to follow him into a special room down the hall from his office. The large windowless room was much like a conference room except there was no conference table in it. Instead, sitting in the center of the darkened room was a ornately carved mahogany oval table, perhaps 5 feet in diameter. Through the darkness I could see that this room was also richly appointed in fine hard woods and moldings As we entered the room Pres “X” turned the light switch on... a single spot light positioned directly over this table shown a pillar of exacting light down on what can only be described as the most amazing thing I have ever seen with my own two eyes. Lying on a red velvet gold-fringed cloth.... was a single solid “White and Delightsome” Brick.
Turning to me Pres “X” directed me to pound this brick several times into my head...assuring me that once I had done so enough times...my testimony would return. As I sat there in utter shock...he pressed a button on the wall behind us, causing one of the wood paneled walls to slide away, exposing a solid wall made of these same white and delightsome bricks. He told me that if I preferred...instead of hitting my head repeatedly with the single brick, I could instead run headfirst into the brick wall over and over and over again until my testimony returned. He said that the church had had much success with both methods in the past.
Since leaving the church...I have been asked to repeatidly bang my head against that same brick wall... over and over and over again... in the hope that I can somehow believe in the Mormon claims again... My head is so F***ing sore from trying to force belief in things that to me are so unbelievable.
Several times through my interview with this GA, I had to literally grit my teeth. Its time to move on...
PS: I gracefully declined his generous offer for a priesthood blessing...
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Looking Over My Shoulder
I caved into pressure...
Ok here’s the deal... I’ve been out of the church for over 3 years now... but few of my TBM neighbors even know about it. I have no agenda and view my loss of belief as a private matter.
This morning I stopped at a local convenience store to buy a cup of coffee. Just as I was about to walk in, my neighbor and a former bishop’s councilor of my former ward drove up (he is unaware of my apostasy; as he was released before I left the church). For some reason I caved into the pressure and instead of buying that cup 'O Joe I went and bought a cold caffeine beverage. And now I’m pissed at my self. I gave so much power to the Mormon Church to mess with my life for so many years...and I’m still doing it by caving in to pressure...acting as if I was doing something wrong.
I hereby swear that I will live my life honestly, without consideration to what others may think of me. I am giving myself permission to make decisions regarding my life, irrespective of others perceptions. I promise NOT to look over my shoulder when doing something that the Mormon culture frowns on...that is unless I run into someone else from my former ward.
Ok here’s the deal... I’ve been out of the church for over 3 years now... but few of my TBM neighbors even know about it. I have no agenda and view my loss of belief as a private matter.
This morning I stopped at a local convenience store to buy a cup of coffee. Just as I was about to walk in, my neighbor and a former bishop’s councilor of my former ward drove up (he is unaware of my apostasy; as he was released before I left the church). For some reason I caved into the pressure and instead of buying that cup 'O Joe I went and bought a cold caffeine beverage. And now I’m pissed at my self. I gave so much power to the Mormon Church to mess with my life for so many years...and I’m still doing it by caving in to pressure...acting as if I was doing something wrong.
I hereby swear that I will live my life honestly, without consideration to what others may think of me. I am giving myself permission to make decisions regarding my life, irrespective of others perceptions. I promise NOT to look over my shoulder when doing something that the Mormon culture frowns on...that is unless I run into someone else from my former ward.
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
One Size Does NOT Fit All
This past weekend my TBM college age daughter went to Las Vegas with her friends. While there the inevitable happened. She Gambled. At the urging of her other TBM friends she placed a $5.00 bet on a 21 Table and let it ride... and ride it did... with in three hours that one $5.00 bet had increased to a total of $250.00. With in an additional hour that amount had taken the proverbial Vegas ride and reduced down to $150.00 at which point my daughter smartly decided to cash in her winnings.
In a moment of unthinking excitement, my daughter called my Uber-Mormon- wife to share her enthusiasm. Upon hearing the news my wife immediately chastised my daughter for not following the council given by Gordon B. Hinckley, President of the Mormon Church, “The Prophet”.
Having experienced Mormon enduced guilt trips my entire life...I immediately jumped into the fray... I expressed my view that the Mormon Church‘s, one size fits all, view of gambling is wrong. By placing guilt on adult members of the LDS church who choose to gamble (think Wendover and Mesquite) is just plain misguided. I then went on to express my belief that gambling in and of itself is "NOT" wicked ...it is the uncontrolled or addictive gambling that is immoral. Those who gamble away funds necessary for food, housing and survival are the ones in need of helpful council...not the recreational gambler who might make the occasional weekend trip to one of the afore mentioned cities and blow a few hundred dollars. After all Wendover and Mesquite weren't built from gentile monsy, they were built from funds that were already tithed.
Needless to say... I am now in the dog house for sharing my evil wicked counter Mormon views of gambling...
In a moment of unthinking excitement, my daughter called my Uber-Mormon- wife to share her enthusiasm. Upon hearing the news my wife immediately chastised my daughter for not following the council given by Gordon B. Hinckley, President of the Mormon Church, “The Prophet”.
Having experienced Mormon enduced guilt trips my entire life...I immediately jumped into the fray... I expressed my view that the Mormon Church‘s, one size fits all, view of gambling is wrong. By placing guilt on adult members of the LDS church who choose to gamble (think Wendover and Mesquite) is just plain misguided. I then went on to express my belief that gambling in and of itself is "NOT" wicked ...it is the uncontrolled or addictive gambling that is immoral. Those who gamble away funds necessary for food, housing and survival are the ones in need of helpful council...not the recreational gambler who might make the occasional weekend trip to one of the afore mentioned cities and blow a few hundred dollars. After all Wendover and Mesquite weren't built from gentile monsy, they were built from funds that were already tithed.
Needless to say... I am now in the dog house for sharing my evil wicked counter Mormon views of gambling...
Monday, April 17, 2006
Literal Belief
Once a former believer breaks through their Mormon bubble and gets a dose of reality... Life will never be the same again. Once a former believer asks the question "What if the church is not what it claims to be?" they have opened a door that leads from a dark closet out into the bright sunshine of reality. But for those that make this journey without their believing families... This journey is not without its trials
A few days ago my wife and I were once again discussing my apostasy from Mormonism. She wanted to know why I couldn't just compromise and believe something, anything regarding the church. As I contemplated her question I asked her how I could get all the tooth paste back into the tube once its all been squeezed out? The point being, I do not know how to reinvent my former religion to accommodate all the false claims that it has made. I do not know how to again believe in a church that has covered-up or changed important historical evidence that I felt was essential to an honest assessment of its truth claims.
Mormonism is a literal religion. It teaches and believes in a literal universal flood, a literal tower of Babel, a literal 6,000 year earth age, that dinosaurs literally are not of THIS earth but lived on another earth like planet and that their bones were transplanted here during the creation of this earth, that there was no death prior to Adam and Eve some 4,000 years ago, that the Garden of Eden was in the State ofMissouri, that Noah literally carried 2 of ever species on his Ark and then somehow placed them through out the earth so that they reinforced not Noah's story but Darwin's theory of evolution and on and on and on... These are things I can not put back into the tooth paste tube of Mormon faith...To me they are beyond question... And "literally" unbelievable...
A few days ago my wife and I were once again discussing my apostasy from Mormonism. She wanted to know why I couldn't just compromise and believe something, anything regarding the church. As I contemplated her question I asked her how I could get all the tooth paste back into the tube once its all been squeezed out? The point being, I do not know how to reinvent my former religion to accommodate all the false claims that it has made. I do not know how to again believe in a church that has covered-up or changed important historical evidence that I felt was essential to an honest assessment of its truth claims.
Mormonism is a literal religion. It teaches and believes in a literal universal flood, a literal tower of Babel, a literal 6,000 year earth age, that dinosaurs literally are not of THIS earth but lived on another earth like planet and that their bones were transplanted here during the creation of this earth, that there was no death prior to Adam and Eve some 4,000 years ago, that the Garden of Eden was in the State ofMissouri, that Noah literally carried 2 of ever species on his Ark and then somehow placed them through out the earth so that they reinforced not Noah's story but Darwin's theory of evolution and on and on and on... These are things I can not put back into the tooth paste tube of Mormon faith...To me they are beyond question... And "literally" unbelievable...
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