As a true believing member of the Church, I always avoided anything that could even remotely be considered "anti Mormon material." I had been dutifully conditioned to perceive anything negative about the Church to be lies, half-truths or unfair characterizations of the organization I knew to be perfect.
Because I was raised in the Church by parents who were completely devoted to the Church, I learned the Gospel very well. We were constantly taught the principles of the Gospel, so I knew it frontwards and backwards. We read the Book of Mormon twice a day, as a family. From the age of 7 until I left home at the age of 19, we averaged reading completely through the Book of Mormon (including the Introduction, testimonies of the witnesses, etc) once every 6 months. Realistically speaking, I've read through the Book of Mormon more than 20 times.
I say this to demonstrate that I knew the scriptures and the doctrines of the Church. And I have a habit of thinking about things, a lot. My Dad once told me my problem is that I "just think about things too much." He's got a point, because I eventually thought my way out of the Church. You see, when you really get down to it, the Gospel really doesn't make any sense. From a most basic level, the "plain and simple truths of the Gospel" are fundamentally flawed and contradictory. I will list here a few items to illustrate this point.
God gave two contradictory commandments in the Garden of Eden. Have children, and don't eat the forbidden fruit. But they couldn't keep the first commandment without breaking the second. Why did God do this? It makes no sense for a perfect being to contradict himself, from the very first get-go. I guess one could argue that it was by sinning that Adam and Eve were able to learn and grow. But if that's the case, then why do the Church leaders go to such great lengths to control members and keep them from "sinning?" Wouldn't they grow personally by exploring the world and learning for themselves, instead of just following every command handed down by the Brethren?
God loves us unconditionally, yet we must conform to hundreds, if not thousands, of conditions to be privileged to receive the fullness of his love.
When the Prophet speaks, the debate is over. Yet Prophets have made many statements in the past that the Church now has to publicly disavow or quietly distance itself from. What are the Prophets saying today that will someday have to be retracted or modified?
God commanded the Israelites to commit genocide on many cities. He commanded them to kill everyone, men women and children and livestock. Is this a loving father deserving of my worship?
God uses earthquakes and floods to destroy 16 cities in 3 Nephi chapter 9. Supposedly these cities were wicked so God was just punishing them. Am I the only one uncomfortable with the concept of a loving father killing his children because they disobeyed him? What about the innocent children in the cities? Is it somehow okay because He used floods and earthquakes instead of his own hands? This is a very disturbing story from the Book of Mormon that clearly illustrates why I can not love, worship or respect the Mormon God.
How is Nephi obeying the voice in his head, commanding him to chop off Laban's head, any different than all the other crazies out there claiming God commanded them to perform some horrible deed?
How does it possibly make sense that we will live out the rest of eternity, based entirely on how well we followed the commands given to us by other humans who claim to speak for God? Why would God set up such a flimsy method for determining the outcome for something of literal eternal consequences. There are hundreds of thousands of humans who claim to speak for God. And all of their followers claim to know in their hearts that their Prophet/Leader/Guru is the right one. I think God should have come up with a better plan. At least, one not so fraught with so much ambiguity and subjective methods for determining truth.
Alma and Amulek were forced to witness the burning of believing women and children. When Amulek questions Alma why they can't step forward and use the Priesthood to save the women and children, Alma give a very interesting response. He says the spirit constrains him from doing so because God will now be justified in killing and punishing the wicked. Let me get this straight. God wants to punish his own children so he allows them to burn his other children. Again, this is not a God I find particularly desirable or moral. Alma 14
When we ask questions about how the Priesthood works (or why it doesn't work) or what exactly determines who goes to the Celestial Kingdom or the other kingdoms or other aspects of the Gospel that are hazy or unclear, it's typical to receive a response along the lines of "Well, there are many things we just don't know" or "We'll have to wait for the next life before we can understand that" or "God is beyond our mental capacity to comprehend." And yet, despite all of this vagueness and uncertainty and inability to understand how God works and what he thinks, Church leaders have an amazing ability to discern precisely what God wants us to do. For instance, we know God wants exactly 10% of our money. We know God wants us to wear very specific underwear with very precise markings on them that are placed in very specific locations on the article of clothing. And God has even gone so far as to provide us with a card to read each time we renew our temple recommend where we can see it plainly spelled out when, where and how God wants us to wear this underwear. God does not want us to watch R rated movies. God does not want us to drink coffee, ever. God does not want anyone who doesn't pay 10% of their income, and doesn't wear the correct underwear in the exactly perfect manner and does drink coffee to witness us getting married. These are all very specific behaviors required of a God that is beyond our mental capacity to comprehend and yet who is so very vague about so many other things. I always found it interesting that God seems to be so clear about what behaviors are acceptable or unacceptable, yet seems to be so hazy and inconsistent on many other things. For instance, why don't priesthood blessings really heal anyone, why don't prophets today actually prophesy, why women are not allowed to have the priesthood, why are billions of people on earth allowed to be afflicted with disease and abuse and neglect, why would God want the Church to build a $5 Billion mall next to the Salt Lake temple, etc. I could go on and on.
Why are revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants so very specific and directed at specific individuals? Why don't prophets today receive such specific revelations. Why are so many of the revelations in the D&C self serving for Joseph Smith? It's rather convenient for Joseph that he received Section 132 from God that states Emma is to get in line and be ok with Joseph having multiple wives or else she will "be destroyed."
I could go on and on. The Gospel is chock full of inconsistencies and contradictions and things that just don't plain make any sense. At the end of the day, after a few years of thinking about everything, I finally had to face the reality that there was no way to distinguish between Joseph Smith and the many thousands of charlatans and scammers who have perpetrated frauds on society. A warm feeling in my heart is no way of establishing truth. In fact, scientific studies have shown time and time again that the human brain is prone to fooling itself. The human brain has a knack for completely convincing itself of things that just aren't true.
Joseph Smith wasn't a real Prophet. The Book of Mormon is not a literal history of an ancient Jewish civilization that lived in the Americas before Columbus arrived. President Monson no more speaks for God today than I do. The Church is not what it claims to be. And I will gladly go toe to toe with anyone who thinks they can demonstrate otherwise. I'm always open to new information and if someone thinks they can enlighten me, please, I will absolutely listen to you.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Friday, April 19, 2013
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Mormons are not polygamists!!
Brother Jake is here to explain away any misconceptions or apprehensions you have with regards to Mormons and polygamy.
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Confirmation bias is powerful
If I were approached with an investment opportunity that would require a significant sacrifice on my part, I would have an interest in fully vetting and investigating the organization.
Lets say I go to the Internet and am quickly deluged with thousands of sites exposing this company as a complete fraud. And there are tens of thousands of former investors telling their personal stories of being harmed and swindled by the company. They all tell basically the same story of being hurt and damaged when they learned the company was not honest about itself and had kept critical information from the investors.
Further investigation provides hard factual evidence of dishonesty and immoral behavior by the founders of the company. So you look closer at the slick and attractive website of the company. It doesn't discuss any of the negative aspects of the company. In fact, the company doesn't acknowledge any of the evidence against it. All of the information from the company paints a beautiful picture of happy people who are living fulfilled lives of joy and contentment.
You question the representatives of the company about the negative aspects of the company. They quickly become defensive and suggest that former investors are a terrible resource for understanding the truth about the company. They advocate only speaking to current investors. Also, anything negative about the company is to be avoided.
After all this, would you feel comfortable investing in this company?
This is essentially what happens when potential converts to Mormonism begin looking into the religion. For the objective investigator, a large population of former members speaking out about their negative experiences with the church, along with a mountain of verifiable evidence refuting the fundamental claims of the church are both huge red flags.
So how do current believing members explain away all of these detractors and the mountain of information disproving their religion? The answer is quite simple really. Satan is working overtime to tear down the church. The church is being attacked not because it is built on a foundation of lies and deception, but rather because the devil just wants to make people miserable.
It's simple, really.
Lets say I go to the Internet and am quickly deluged with thousands of sites exposing this company as a complete fraud. And there are tens of thousands of former investors telling their personal stories of being harmed and swindled by the company. They all tell basically the same story of being hurt and damaged when they learned the company was not honest about itself and had kept critical information from the investors.
Further investigation provides hard factual evidence of dishonesty and immoral behavior by the founders of the company. So you look closer at the slick and attractive website of the company. It doesn't discuss any of the negative aspects of the company. In fact, the company doesn't acknowledge any of the evidence against it. All of the information from the company paints a beautiful picture of happy people who are living fulfilled lives of joy and contentment.
You question the representatives of the company about the negative aspects of the company. They quickly become defensive and suggest that former investors are a terrible resource for understanding the truth about the company. They advocate only speaking to current investors. Also, anything negative about the company is to be avoided.
After all this, would you feel comfortable investing in this company?
This is essentially what happens when potential converts to Mormonism begin looking into the religion. For the objective investigator, a large population of former members speaking out about their negative experiences with the church, along with a mountain of verifiable evidence refuting the fundamental claims of the church are both huge red flags.
So how do current believing members explain away all of these detractors and the mountain of information disproving their religion? The answer is quite simple really. Satan is working overtime to tear down the church. The church is being attacked not because it is built on a foundation of lies and deception, but rather because the devil just wants to make people miserable.
It's simple, really.
Friday, March 22, 2013
An increasing number of members are falling prey to the devil
I recently had a conversation with a family member who has recently been going through a difficult time. A couple months ago she learned one of her close siblings no longer believes in the church.
Then last week she found out a sibling had resigned from the church. To top it all off she recently asked me where I'm at with my testimony, so I told her.
I can't help but sympathize with my sister. She has been absolutely hammered in the last few months. 3 of her siblings have left or are on their way out of the church. As a true believing member of the church, this has to be devastating.
I can't help but think of a parallel for this scenario. If all my family had our money in a financial institution, and had done so for our entire lives, I would feel confident in the security of our investment. But if suddenly, within 3 months, 3 of my siblings quickly withdrew every penny from their accounts, I would probably be very curious as to their reasoning. I would be very anxious to contact them and determine if they had some information I should know about. If they knew something that indicated our money was at risk, I would want to know. 3 people, who I trust, simultaneously reversing a lifetime of devotion and allegiance would raise a huge red flag to me. What do they know that I don't know?
This is not the response I have received from my believing siblings. Instead of honestly seeking to understand what I know, they have responded with emotionally charged responses.
"Have you considered the Devil has deceived you?"
"Did you ever have a belief in the church?"
"It sounds like you have been reading anti-Mormon material."
Members of the church are so emotionally tied to the church, they can't help but respond in this way. They cannot fathom even the slimmest possibility the church may not be exactly what it claims to be. They are so conditioned to recoil at any information that does not paint the church in the best possible light, they then refuse to look at any truthful historical information about the church.
It makes for a very difficult conversation. The true believer is heartbroken at losing their family member for eternity and the non believer wants to help them understand they haven't really lost anything at all. But any factual information about the church is met with an emotional firewall conditioned to repel "anti-Mormon" material.
The conversation participants are speaking completely separate languages. There is no common ground to meet on.
So rather than honestly seek to understand why 3 siblings in a row have left the church, and what valuable information they may posses, the believer must explain away this phenomenon. All too often, the believer must resort to saying such things as, "Well, it's the last days. And we know in the end, even the very elect will be deceived."
This is a classic example of confirmation bias. Rather than accept the 3 siblings may have a valid position, the believer twists it around to fit within the paradigm of the church being true. It really doesn't matter what facts or evidence is supplied, the believer will somehow manage to twist it to fit, so as to not disrupt their closely held beliefs. And for those things they cannot make fit, no matter how much they twist, they then set them aside and say things like, "There are just some things we can't know in this life." Or "Thats not pertinent to my eternal salvation." These thought stopping techniques are very effective in allowing the believer to set aside or ignore the uncomfortable facts and evidence that challenges their emotionally held beliefs.
Then last week she found out a sibling had resigned from the church. To top it all off she recently asked me where I'm at with my testimony, so I told her.
I can't help but sympathize with my sister. She has been absolutely hammered in the last few months. 3 of her siblings have left or are on their way out of the church. As a true believing member of the church, this has to be devastating.
I can't help but think of a parallel for this scenario. If all my family had our money in a financial institution, and had done so for our entire lives, I would feel confident in the security of our investment. But if suddenly, within 3 months, 3 of my siblings quickly withdrew every penny from their accounts, I would probably be very curious as to their reasoning. I would be very anxious to contact them and determine if they had some information I should know about. If they knew something that indicated our money was at risk, I would want to know. 3 people, who I trust, simultaneously reversing a lifetime of devotion and allegiance would raise a huge red flag to me. What do they know that I don't know?
This is not the response I have received from my believing siblings. Instead of honestly seeking to understand what I know, they have responded with emotionally charged responses.
"Have you considered the Devil has deceived you?"
"Did you ever have a belief in the church?"
"It sounds like you have been reading anti-Mormon material."
Members of the church are so emotionally tied to the church, they can't help but respond in this way. They cannot fathom even the slimmest possibility the church may not be exactly what it claims to be. They are so conditioned to recoil at any information that does not paint the church in the best possible light, they then refuse to look at any truthful historical information about the church.
It makes for a very difficult conversation. The true believer is heartbroken at losing their family member for eternity and the non believer wants to help them understand they haven't really lost anything at all. But any factual information about the church is met with an emotional firewall conditioned to repel "anti-Mormon" material.
The conversation participants are speaking completely separate languages. There is no common ground to meet on.
So rather than honestly seek to understand why 3 siblings in a row have left the church, and what valuable information they may posses, the believer must explain away this phenomenon. All too often, the believer must resort to saying such things as, "Well, it's the last days. And we know in the end, even the very elect will be deceived."
This is a classic example of confirmation bias. Rather than accept the 3 siblings may have a valid position, the believer twists it around to fit within the paradigm of the church being true. It really doesn't matter what facts or evidence is supplied, the believer will somehow manage to twist it to fit, so as to not disrupt their closely held beliefs. And for those things they cannot make fit, no matter how much they twist, they then set them aside and say things like, "There are just some things we can't know in this life." Or "Thats not pertinent to my eternal salvation." These thought stopping techniques are very effective in allowing the believer to set aside or ignore the uncomfortable facts and evidence that challenges their emotionally held beliefs.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Is there a better alternative to truth?
My wife and I were discussing the differences between us. Specifically, we talked about where I'm at with respect to the church vs where she's at.
I pointed out that yes, we may be in different places, but we shared a common goal. We are both seeking the truth.
She hesitated for just a moment and then said, "Maybe."
I was struck by the implications of this statement. Was she really saying that maybe, just maybe, living the illusion of Mormonism is preferable to living the truth?
I can't really get my brain around the idea of avoiding truth because you prefer the comfort of a fantasy. If the Mormon church is demonstrably false, what does it offer that has more value than the truth?
I pointed out that yes, we may be in different places, but we shared a common goal. We are both seeking the truth.
She hesitated for just a moment and then said, "Maybe."
I was struck by the implications of this statement. Was she really saying that maybe, just maybe, living the illusion of Mormonism is preferable to living the truth?
I can't really get my brain around the idea of avoiding truth because you prefer the comfort of a fantasy. If the Mormon church is demonstrably false, what does it offer that has more value than the truth?
I believe families can be together forever
I don't believe God will damn me for not believing in a book that has been proven to be a fraud, time and time again.
I don't believe I will be denied an eternal life with my family for not accepting an adulterer, liar, pedophile, and fraud to be a prophet of God.
God gave me 5 senses along with a brain capable of reason and logic. Why would God give me all this and expect me to ignore everything I am able to learn about Mormonism by using them? My 5 senses and my skills for reason and logic all emphatically and irrefutably indicate Mormonism is not what it claims to be. Why would God punish me for drawing conclusions that are consistent with the evidence I have before me?
The church teaches we should ignore all the evidence against the church and just listen to our hearts. Our hearts will feel warm and we are to interpret that to mean the church is true. This method is fraught with problems and is not in any way a reliable method for determining truth. If it were reliable, then there would not be millions of people arriving at contradicting conclusions based on the exact same feeling.
In short, I believe I will face God and he will say something like this.
"I'm proud of you, my son. You were born into a family that told you to believe in a lot of false things. You were told Joseph Smith spoke for me. You were conditioned to believe the Book of Mormon was a literal historical record, etc.
It's very difficult for the human brain to let go of beliefs that are developed from a young age and repeated over many decades. Even when presented with facts and evidence, the human brain clings to the beliefs that got there first. And with family pressure to conform being added to the mix, it makes it even more difficult to admit your beliefs just may be wrong.
But in the face of family and societal pressure, and a lifetime of constant teachings, you were able to find the truth. You explored the facts surrounding your cherished beliefs and you were able to recognize truth and set aside the beliefs that did not line up with reality.
You used my gifts to you, 5 senses and reason and logic, to overcome a lifetime of false teachings. It was not easy to overcome your brain's tendency to retain your false beliefs. And you certainly paid a high relational cost with respect to your family and friends. But you were willing to pay the highest price for the truth. You valued truth above all else and made any and all sacrifices necessary to seek it.
Well done, my good and faithful servant. Well done"
I look forward to meeting God and having that conversation.
I don't believe I will be denied an eternal life with my family for not accepting an adulterer, liar, pedophile, and fraud to be a prophet of God.
God gave me 5 senses along with a brain capable of reason and logic. Why would God give me all this and expect me to ignore everything I am able to learn about Mormonism by using them? My 5 senses and my skills for reason and logic all emphatically and irrefutably indicate Mormonism is not what it claims to be. Why would God punish me for drawing conclusions that are consistent with the evidence I have before me?
The church teaches we should ignore all the evidence against the church and just listen to our hearts. Our hearts will feel warm and we are to interpret that to mean the church is true. This method is fraught with problems and is not in any way a reliable method for determining truth. If it were reliable, then there would not be millions of people arriving at contradicting conclusions based on the exact same feeling.
In short, I believe I will face God and he will say something like this.
"I'm proud of you, my son. You were born into a family that told you to believe in a lot of false things. You were told Joseph Smith spoke for me. You were conditioned to believe the Book of Mormon was a literal historical record, etc.
It's very difficult for the human brain to let go of beliefs that are developed from a young age and repeated over many decades. Even when presented with facts and evidence, the human brain clings to the beliefs that got there first. And with family pressure to conform being added to the mix, it makes it even more difficult to admit your beliefs just may be wrong.
But in the face of family and societal pressure, and a lifetime of constant teachings, you were able to find the truth. You explored the facts surrounding your cherished beliefs and you were able to recognize truth and set aside the beliefs that did not line up with reality.
You used my gifts to you, 5 senses and reason and logic, to overcome a lifetime of false teachings. It was not easy to overcome your brain's tendency to retain your false beliefs. And you certainly paid a high relational cost with respect to your family and friends. But you were willing to pay the highest price for the truth. You valued truth above all else and made any and all sacrifices necessary to seek it.
Well done, my good and faithful servant. Well done"
I look forward to meeting God and having that conversation.
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