Ex-Mormons Why Did You Leave the Church II

[LivingWaters7]

I left the Catholic church for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I was so tired of years of hypocritical teachings like “don’t put idols before God” and yet all my friends were huge drinkers (drunkards) and smokers. But what really turned me off was the decades of child molestation and subsequent cover-ups… not to mention the centuries of war crimes carried out by the Church.

I too left the Catholic Church for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and now I have returned to the Catholic Church. Your assessment and portrayal of the Catholic Church above demonstrates that you never really understood it, and what you say is really just a caricature for the actual, historical, facts (centuries of war crimes carried out by the Church? Really? Cite your sources, because those of us that have actually studied history know better).

I’m not sure about your friends, but my Catholic friends were and are nothing like what you describe. Further, there are LDS that are just like you describe. On the day of my LDS baptism, I went out to lunch afterwards with a few guys. I forgot how exactly it came up, but one of them talked about how he liked margaritas. I was like “well, virgin margaritas of course!”. He responded, “no, real ones”. In my head I was like “ohh…I guess not all LDS actually follow the WoW”. Trust me when I say that that he’s not the only one that seemed hypocritical (and I served as Elders Quorum President, so I was well aware). But I don’t judge Mormonism based on them. We’re all sinners, trying to do our best, struggling sometimes.

When I converted, I had plenty of family members point to online resources outlining the dangers of mormons and all the weird things they believe (never anything concrete, all circumstantial and full of half-truths). It led me to believe that I would research the faith myself… what I found was a church full of loving, caring and genuinely nice people who loved Christ and want nothing more than a Christ centered life.

I agree that the LDS people generally are nice, caring, love Christ and want a Christ centered life. The problem is, many of the LDS beliefs simply are untenable, and it doesn’t matter how nice you are if you’re believing false doctrines or following an unorthodox, false understanding of God the Son/Jesus Christ, as such things will not save you (which as a Latter-day Saint, I assume you understand, since you claim an apostasy of the ancient Church, and that no other Church, as nice and as loving as the people in them may be, has the proper priesthood authority to administer the saving ordinances).

I will always have roots in the Catholic Church, but am now and will always be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I find it sad that people have to put postings and blogs about how “other churches are of the devil… but mine is perfect and the only way to Heaven!” or the typical “tell me why and how awesome it was to leave a church for our church!” How arrogant. Many churches have different beliefs but in the end, God will judge.

As others have already demonstrated, your Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has had prophets and apostles refer to the Catholic Church as the Church of the Devil, the Great and Abominable Church, and of course, as your D&C 1:30 states, you believe, if you’re following the teachings of your Church, that your Church is the “only true and living church on the face of the earth”, and that it is only through the ordinances offered by the LDS Church that we can receive eternal life.

The world is a much sadder place with threads like these and I urge my “Christian” friends to see beyond the differences and learn to get along with other Christians. We’re all adults here, so let’s grow up.

I participated in a converts fireside in my stake where they asked a number of recent converts in the stake to share their conversion stories. Basically, why did you leave your previous faith (or non-faith) and join the LDS Church. It really was no different than what you’re seeing here.

The fact of the matter is that the Catholic Church and the LDS Church both claim to be the “one true Church” established by Jesus Christ. Both can’t be right.

But thank you for the laugh!

 

[LivingWaters7]

Sure the LDS church has sinners - what church doesn’t? The only difference is (in my experience) the LDS church hasn’t committed genocide, doesn’t condone the molestation of thousands of alter boys, etc… I’m just saying my PERSONAL experience is that the Catholic church was full of hypocrites when I attended – people getting drunk after church, abusing their bodies, doing things that are not in line with God’s teachings…

I was one of those alter boys, and nothing makes you feel lower than a “man of God” touching your genitals and saying it’s the lord’s work…

My personal experience in the Catholic Church wasn’t the same as yours. Further, as Elders Quorum President, I came to realize that many LDS put on the appearance of everything being together, that they have it all in order, when really, it’s just a front. Meeting with people, sitting in ward council, etc, you realize that things aren’t really as they seem. Is that hypocritical?

Believing I’m a God? No. Mormonism teaches that we can become LIKE God… just as we all strive to become LIKE Christ. It does not mean we actually become a God and inherit planets or whatever the rumor spreading is…

Oh dear. Are you a recent convert to Mormonism? You really don’t seem familiar with what it teaches, and what it has taught previously. Various manuals, teachings of prophets and apostles, the D&C, etc, speak of becoming gods, not just “like God”. Further, it has been taught that you would inherit planets, have spirit children, etc, by prophets and apostles, and in Church manuals. While the part about inheriting your own planet may have been deleted from the latest edition of the Gospel Principles manual, it was taught, and it is still taught that you will have spirit children that will have the same relationship with you as you have with Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother. So no, this isn’t just something we’re making up. It was taught.

L. Tom Perry, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, October 1997 General Conference

---

President Spencer W. Kimball gave us some instructions about the knowledge we should seek and in what sequence. Using Peter and John as examples, he taught:

“Peter and John had little secular learning, being termed ignorant. But they knew the vital things of life, that God lives and that the crucified, resurrected Lord is the Son of God. They knew the path to eternal life. This they learned in a few decades of their mortal life. Their righteous lives opened the door to godhood for them and creation of worlds with eternal increase.***
lds.org/general-conference/1997/10/receive-truth

Gospel Fundamentals LDS Church Manual

To live in the highest part of the celestial kingdom is called exaltation or eternal life. To be able to live in this part of the celestial kingdom, people must have been married in the temple and must have kept the sacred promises they made in the temple. They will receive everything our Father in Heaven has and will become like Him. They will even be able to have spirit children and make new worlds for them to live on, and do all the things our Father in Heaven has done. People who are not married in the temple may live in other parts of the celestial kingdom, but they will not be exalted.*
lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?locale=0&sourceId=12a3cb7a29c20110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&vgnextoid=e1fa5f74db46c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD

And that’s just a taste:

mrm.org/spirit-children-and-planets

I’m sure you can go back to the sources at that link so you’ll see that it’s not just “anti-Mormons” making things up.

And uh, anti-Catholic roots of Mormonism? not sure what you mean by that…

Perhaps you should do a little more reading about your faith…

 

[zaffiroborant]

I left the Catholic church for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I was so tired of years of hypocritical teachings like “don’t put idols before God” and yet all my friends were huge drinkers (drunkards) and smokers. But what really turned me off was the decades of child molestation and subsequent cover-ups… not to mention the centuries of war crimes carried out by the Church.

When I converted, I had plenty of family members point to online resources outlining the dangers of mormons and all the weird things they believe (never anything concrete, all circumstantial and full of half-truths). It led me to believe that I would research the faith myself… what I found was a church full of loving, caring and genuinely nice people who loved Christ and want nothing more than a Christ centered life.

I will always have roots in the Catholic Church, but am now and will always be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I find it sad that people have to put postings and blogs about how “other churches are of the devil… but mine is perfect and the only way to Heaven!” or the typical “tell me why and how awesome it was to leave a church for our church!” How arrogant. Many churches have different beliefs but in the end, God will judge.

The world is a much sadder place with threads like these and I urge my “Christian” friends to see beyond the differences and learn to get along with other Christians. We’re all adults here, so let’s grow up.

It seems your two post in this thread do just what you’re complaining about, maybe you should stop adding to the sadness in the world. At the very least it would probably be good to drop accusations of hypocrisy, that would lower the level of irony in your posts a bit.

 

[IdahoHusker]

Codyfire,
Thank you for your comments here, but you surely cannot believe that the Catholic Church condones child molestation. I just finished a book about a Mormon elder who abused dozens of boys in the Portland area and his bishops and stake president covered it up just like our bishops did. This happens in all churches and I hope and pray that as we learn more about the incurable nature of pedophiles we can’t cover up their crimes to protect our respective religions or scouting organizations.
You also seem to display an huge lack of understanding of both Catholic and Mormon theology. Do you have a picture in your home? Do you look at it to remember a loved one? We don’t have a picture of Mary, Joseph and other saints. Kodak wasn’t around then. We erect statues to remember them; that doesn’t make them idols. Come on, you know better than that.
And, as a former LDS elders quorum president, missionary and Gospel Doctrine teacher, I can tell you that the church most definitely believes that men can be exalted to Godhood. That’s for more than becoming Godlike or Christlike. It’s true the modern-day church is trying to run away from its earlier teachings or at least trying to bury all conversation about it (recall the Gordon Hinckley interview with Larry King) but you cannot deny that the church still does not teach the doctrine of eternal progression.
Finally, you object to Catholics wanting to share their conversion stories with others. That is rich irony coming from a member of a church who sends 60,000-plus missionaries out into the world not to just convert pagans to “Christianity” but to convert Presbyterians, Baptists, Catholics, etc. to Mormonism because Mormonism in the ONLY TRUE church and the only way to get to the highest heaven where God the Father dwells is through a Mormon temple! I was a missionary in Australia for two years. We told everyone that all other churches had fallen into apostasy, that we had the only valid priesthood, the only valid baptism, the only valid priestly ordination. Catholics believe Jesus is the founder of our church, but we also believe people of many faiths and even no faith while on earth will be in heaven. Can you say that about Mormonism and its highest heaven where God is?

 

[eddie_too]

i belive codyfire is making decisions based on his feelings. being sexually abused by a priest has created emotional and faith difficulties for many people. pray that codyfire will receive healing from the Holy Spirit to overcome the extremely negative emotions that developed as a result of his being abused. it is only through this healing that codyfire will be able to quell the negative emotions and be able to apply his intellect to his faith development. codyfire is not the first, nor will he be the last, whose faith has suffered extreme damage as a result of the actions of a person with spiritual authority. many young people have had their sexual maturity severely damaged as a result of sexual abuse by an adult. it would not hurt us to pray daily that the good Lord bring healing to all of the world’s victims of sexual assault, in particular those assaulted while still young.

for an innocent youth, even loose speech about sexual acts are a form of sexual assault, as are pictures and films that portray human sexuality in an immoral fashion. alll such acts work to destroy innocence.

 

[eddie_too]

it is not likely that, for a person who is experiencing extreme emotional problems, that simple reasoning will produce the effects the person needs to experience.

our prayers are the best way to aid codyfire. he is not ready to engage in intellectual discourse.

 

[Marie5890]

Prayers for you Codyfire, for your healing

Abuse happens in ALL faith denominations, including Mormonism and Catholicism.

Those who have been abused such as yourself need our prayers and support. Praying that God heals your deeply abused soul…

God Bless

 

[TexanKnight]

As a former prosecutor and criminal defense attorney, I look askance when someone claims sexual abuse on a board like this in the manner it was done here: as a weapon.

Most victims with whom I have worked in my 23 years as an attorney are very private about abuse and do not use it as a weapon.

Just sayin…

 

[eddie_too]

texas knight,

i understand your doubts based on your experiences. perhaps i hold such doubts myself. however, codyfire’s words may well be true. we cannot know for sure. for all we know, he may never have been a catholic.

accepting that he wrote the truth, i stand by my advocacy of prayer for him.

if he lied, he is in even more need of our prayers would not you agree?

 

[TexanKnight]

texas knight,

i understand your doubts based on your experiences. perhaps i hold such doubts myself. however, codyfire’s words may well be true. we cannot know for sure. for all we know, he may never have been a catholic.

accepting that he wrote the truth, i stand by my advocacy of prayer for him.

if he lied, he is in even more need of our prayers would not you agree?

I pray for all Mormons…I was just making an observation based on 23 years experience.

 

[lynnettejane]

To Codyfire, I can’t believe how little you know of your theology, it is basic to mormonism that men become gods, that is exaltation, and these gods are polygamists, as was Jesus Christ one of whose marriages was at Cana. These are the teachings or your so called prophets. And it is finding out that the watered down version of mormonism that is being taught these days, and the true beliefs of this system is what is leading so many people to leave it. We have been there and can tell you straight that mormonism teaches that men can become gods and that god was once an ordinary man like you, in fact he was Adam, all of this can be supported by references and our own experiences of mormon teachings. You are obviously a recent convert, mormoism is not Christian, it is a heresy and a lie, and its leaders have been shown to be liars and hypocrites. I suggest you start doing some studying, then come back and tell us that we are wrong. Please excuse me, I am assuming that you are male, apologies if you are not.
’

 

[CarolNoel]

Or, has never heard of Westridge Academy.

Thanks for the website on Westridge. Eye opening.

 

[CarolNoel]

As a former prosecutor and criminal defense attorney, I look askance when someone claims sexual abuse on a board like this in the manner it was done here: as a weapon.

Most victims with whom I have worked in my 23 years as an attorney are very private about abuse and do not use it as a weapon.

Just sayin…

Excellent point.

 

[rmcmullan]

For those people who have had a crisis of faith and come from Mormon families:

When you announce to your families that you don’t want to follow the Mormon way, the main concern they might have is that there is something you are either doing or contemplating that is not in harmony with their teachings or Christ’s teaching in general. Which would be a cause of great disappointment. That they (who are likely faithful people) failed to inspire a noble character in you.

As has been noted, the Mormon church is one of the few churches who will discipline their members. I’m not saying there aren’t sinners in their churches but they don’t have confessionals. Church discipline is for serious transgressions and repentance can be a long road back. And people who are in that sort of situation will avoid the church.

I knew a young Mormon girl who appeared to be a faithful member who all of a sudden dropped off the face of the earth. It turned out much later she was living with a married man which, in any Christian religion, is a serious transgression. So it’s likely that your families will worry that you’re doing something like that. Which would be cause to mourn and worry.

I noticed that in almost every divorce I ever heard of, he’s abusive and she’s a psycho. And I know on the Catholic forums, ex-Mormons always claim they became disenchanted through study. I don’t know for sure but I’m doubtful about these sort of claims.

 

[twopekinguys]

For those people who have had a crisis of faith and come from Mormon families:

When you announce to your families that you don’t want to follow the Mormon way, the main concern they might have is that there is something you are either doing or contemplating that is not in harmony with their teachings or Christ’s teaching in general. Which would be a cause of great disappointment. That they (who are likely faithful people) failed to inspire a noble character in you.

As has been noted, the Mormon church is one of the few churches who will discipline their members. I’m not saying there aren’t sinners in their churches but they don’t have confessionals. Church discipline is for serious transgressions and repentance can be a long road back. And people who are in that sort of situation will avoid the church.

I knew a young Mormon girl who appeared to be a faithful member who all of a sudden dropped off the face of the earth. It turned out much later she was living with a married man which, in any Christian religion, is a serious transgression. So it’s likely that your families will worry that you’re doing something like that. Which would be cause to mourn and worry.

I noticed that in almost every divorce I ever heard of, he’s abusive and she’s a psycho. And I know on the Catholic forums, ex-Mormons always claim they became disenchanted through study. I don’t know for sure but I’m doubtful about these sort of claims.

We hear this alot from the mormon community.

Brother X, or Sister Y, left because they wanted to sin.

In the case of those who study their way out, I think it is uncalled for, and a lie.

There have been cases of mormon church discipline that were way out of line too. In the cases of affairs, the guy gets off scott free, and the women gets ex’d.

How about that mormon Utah state senator that admitted to naked play in a hot tub with a 15 year old girl? He never got ex’d, in fact, he got a standing ovation from his fellow senators (mostly mormon).

Why would you doubt someone when they say they studied their way out? Why must you think their is a reason other than what is stated?

 

[LivingWaters7]

And I know on the Catholic forums, ex-Mormons always claim they became disenchanted through study. I don’t know for sure but I’m doubtful about these sort of claims.

Well I can’t speak for others, but in my personal journey, that was the case. I loved being LDS, loved the community, the beliefs in general (especially on things like the necessity of infant baptism and original sin, though that isn’t really unique to LDS), the concept of living apostles and prophets, and of course the temple (I wanted to volunteer as a temple ordinance worker, but then I was called as Elders Quorum President, and decided to focus on that). I was a firm believer, followed the WoW, Law of Chastity, tithed, went to all 3 hours of church, prayed, read my scriptures daily, etc.

When I starting studying the Bible, history, and looking at both sides, I came to realize, in my view, that the LDS claims, specifically on apostasy and restoration, were not tenable. Things like the Father progressing to Godhood (at least the fact that such a teaching is plausible within LDS theology), the priesthood restriction on blacks (and how prior prophets and apostles, a First Presidencies, etc understood it, as well as the teachings on the pre-mortal conduct of blacks), whether the current prophets, seers, and revelators functioned as the Biblical prophets, whether the LDS faith really “restored” things that were believed by the “primitive Church” (such as the temple Endowment), and Book of Mormon archaeology, were also things I looked at.

As I’m sure other posters here and elsewhere can attest, I really wanted to remain LDS and for it to be true. I posted many threads here, as well as at Mormon Dialogue and Discussion Board, to talk about issues related to apostasy and restoration, temple rites as a restoration, apostles leading the Church, etc, in an attempt to understand how Catholics and LDS view such things. I read article after article on FAIR and FARMS/MI (I’m quite interested to read the latest from the FAIR Conference going on now), in addition to the dozens of books I own in hardcopy and Kindle. But then I found that in many cases, the answers provided by FAIR and MI caused me to ask more questions than to provide a solid answer. After much study and fervent prayer, I came to realize that the Catholic Church really is the Lord’s Church. Although I don’t have any LDS family, it was still hard to leave, though I’m grateful that my close LDS friends understood, and while obviously they desire for me to return (as my Catholic family and others desired for me to return to the Catholic Church), they haven’t let it come between us.

 

[twopekinguys]

Well I can’t speak for others, but in my personal journey, that was the case. I loved being LDS, loved the community, the beliefs in general (especially on things like the necessity of infant baptism and original sin, though that isn’t really unique to LDS), the concept of living apostles and prophets, and of course the temple (I wanted to volunteer as a temple ordinance worker, but then I was called as Elders Quorum President, and decided to focus on that). I was a firm believer, followed the WoW, Law of Chastity, tithed, went to all 3 hours of church, prayed, read my scriptures daily, etc.

When I starting studying the Bible, history, and looking at both sides, I came to realize, in my view, that the LDS claims, specifically on apostasy and restoration, were not tenable. Things like the Father progressing to Godhood (at least the fact that such a teaching is plausible within LDS theology), the priesthood restriction on blacks (and how prior prophets and apostles, a First Presidencies, etc understood it, as well as the teachings on the pre-mortal conduct of blacks), whether the current prophets, seers, and revelators functioned as the Biblical prophets, whether the LDS faith really “restored” things that were believed by the “primitive Church” (such as the temple Endowment), and Book of Mormon archaeology, were also things I looked at.

As I’m sure other posters here and elsewhere can attest, I really wanted to remain LDS and for it to be true. I posted many threads here, as well as at Mormon Dialogue and Discussion Board, to talk about issues related to apostasy and restoration, temple rites as a restoration, apostles leading the Church, etc, in an attempt to understand how Catholics and LDS view such things. I read article after article on FAIR and FARMS/MI (I’m quite interested to read the latest from the FAIR Conference going on now), in addition to the dozens of books I own in hardcopy and Kindle. But then I found that in many cases, the answers provided by FAIR and MI caused me to ask more questions than to provide a solid answer. After much study and fervent prayer, I came to realize that the Catholic Church really is the Lord’s Church. Although I don’t have any LDS family, it was still hard to leave, though I’m grateful that my close LDS friends understood, and while obviously they desire for me to return (as my Catholic family and others desired for me to return to the Catholic Church), they haven’t let it come between us.

 

[debbie_h]

For those people who have had a crisis of faith and come from Mormon families:

When you announce to your families that you don’t want to follow the Mormon way, the main concern they might have is that there is something you are either doing or contemplating that is not in harmony with their teachings or Christ’s teaching in general.

I know on the Catholic forums, ex-Mormons always claim they became disenchanted through study. I don’t know for sure but I’m doubtful about these sort of claims.

I actually find this quite demeaning. Do you not understand that those who have studied their way out of the Mormon faith, have put great efforts & gone through much pain to search for the truth? Or is it the common misconceptions that have been thought to you that you believe that those who have left are devoid of any moral compass or intellect?

 

[debbie_h]

Thanks for the website on Westridge. Eye opening.

WOW!!! I’ve never heard of this before… Very eye opening indeed!

 

[iepuras]

Mormon leaders who say that people leave Mormonism because they want to sin or were offended are lying. They are trying to put a wedge between the apostate and their Mormon families. They don’t want Mormons to see that apostates can be happy and successful outside the Mormon church. I can say that all the people I personally know who have left Mormonism did not leave to sin. They are all still faithful to their spouses, they still don’t abuse their children, they haven’t murdered anyone and they haven’t started robbing banks. We are still the same people. We just don’t believe in Mormonism, like the vast majority of people in this world. When I told my parents, they reacted as if I just told them I had murdered my children. The only thing that changed was I chose to sit in a different church pew on Sundays.

We believe in seeking and standing for the truth. It is extraordinarily difficult and painful to learn that the church you trusted lied to you. It was devastating, but when I decided to have courage and stand up for truth, a great burden lifted from my shoulders. I felt amazingly free. It was scary but liberating. It is offensive when Mormons say we left to sin. We do not desire to sin. We desire truth, often at great personal sacrifice.