Leaving Mormonism

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RebeccaJ said:
Sure, the obvious reasons, but particular people, who are Catholic, are here, and we aren’t moving to Rome as a sign that God wants us to be Catholic.
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Oh my goodness, what would it be like if everyone who was Catholic thought they had to go to Rome: in order to confirm itD
 
Porknpie said:
So some speculation above on some points but no where do I see a God who is all Truth, entering into a covenant to lead Tex to SLT to follow a church which is not of His making.
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Leaving all of whether or not God would lead Tex to SLC and whether or not either church is “true”, I just don’t see the whole thing as all that miraculous. 🤷
 
Thank you all for your kind thoughts, words and prayers! My journey will be a long one I know but i’m willing to take the path.

And a happy belated St. Paddy’s to you Marie as well!
 
zaffiroborant said:
Leaving all of whether or not God would lead Tex to SLC and whether or not either church is “true”, I just don’t see the whole thing as all that miraculous. 🤷
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The part that really sticks out to me is that he told his Mormon friend that if his wife got a job in SLC he would become a Mormon.

Knowing that the Mormons have a very tight “support system” it doesn’t surprise me in the least that this job “miraculously” appeared.
 
zaffiroborant said:
Oh my goodness, what would it be like if everyone who was Catholic thought they had to go to Rome: in order to confirm itD
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The same thing happens when people visit the Holy Land.

I believe they call it the “Jerusalem Syndrome”. All of a sudden, everyone wants to be in the Holy Land after their visit.
 
iepuras said:
Yup. And ex-Mormons all become a bunch of sinners.
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When I left the LDS, I was told often by LDS acquaintances and relatives that I would end up like all apostates - alone and drunk in the gutter. They really believe that.

Here I am now, 28 years ex-LDS - happily married with wonderful children and grandchildren and a great career; and still gutter-free. 😃

Paul (formerly LDS, now happily Catholic)
 
Janderich said:
  1. Seek in the right light: A person filled with hatred, doubt, fear, or anger will be blinded in their search, they will misinterpret and misunderstand.
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That is the view of a cultist. There is no “right light” in which to seek. Jesus is fine with us starting from where we honestly are, wherever that may be. Jesus takes me as I am and leads me gently closer to Him. It’s not about me; it’s about Him.

Jesus is patience personified. Jesus didn’t demand that I search according to some standardized procedure. Being all-knowing, He was clever enough to guide me in spite of my hurt, angry and fearful self, even when I didn’t believe in Him. He knows me as the unique individual He Himself created, and He loves me for it.

Thinking that one cannot find Truth unless he seeks in the correct way is a typical cultish belittling of Jesus and His ability to call all people to Himself. All of Mormon thinking belittles Jesus.

Paul (formerly LDS, now happily Catholic)
 
lax16 said:
The part that really sticks out to me is that he told his Mormon friend that if his wife got a job in SLC he would become a Mormon.

Knowing that the Mormons have a very tight “support system” it doesn’t surprise me in the least that this job “miraculously” appeared.
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I’m glad I’m not the only one that considered that as a possibility. It’s certainly something that fits the MO of LDS’s evangelizing methods. They do tend to use smoke and mirrors, like the magic stone in JS’s hat, to lure people in and make them believe something that happened is a ‘sign from God’, when in reality it was all arranged for that purpose. Sadly, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if that’s what actually happened. I hope I’m wrong. 😦
 
PaulDupre1 said:
When I left the LDS, I was told often by LDS acquaintances and relatives that I would end up like all apostates - alone and drunk in the gutter. They really believe that.

Here I am now, 28 years ex-LDS - happily married with wonderful children and grandchildren and a great career; and still gutter-free. 😃

Paul (formerly LDS, now happily Catholic)
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My parents thought that we were becoming alcoholics and irresponsible parents to our children. They probably still think that. We don’t talk to them anymore because they decided that they had to “save” our children by teaching them about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon behind our backs, undermined our parental authority and told them that their parents were making bad decisions.

I think it has been about a month since I’ve had a glass of wine at home. I think my husband had one beer over the weekend. My biggest “sin” is that I drink coffee and tea.

We have been out 2 years. We are still happily married. Our kids are growing and behave well most of the time. My oldest is doing well in kindergarten, and he is going to start being an altar server soon. Our pastor thinks he is calm enough and listens well enough at age 6 to do so. My career is going very well. I was promoted at work a couple of months after I resigned, and I am working on what I need for the next one in the next couple of years. My husband enjoys his job.

The only time we spend in the gutter is after a good rain. We go down to try and catch crawfish. 😃
 
Matthew_Light said:
The problem is, many of the beliefs of Mormons are (in my view) more true than the prevailing cultural atheism most Mormons fall into into when their faith is crushed.

Here are a few of the teachings of Mormonism that I believe are true:
  • Family and the raising of the next generation is much more important than just entertaining ourselves
  • Drug use and drunkenness are a scourge on society
  • Personal integrity is very important
  • One should work hard and do a good job in your career
  • Sexuality should be channeled into marriage, not treated as a diversion and a plaything
  • Jesus is Lord
Typically, some or many of those beliefs are lost when a Mormon loses his or her faith. Taking them (in my view) away from Truth, not towards it.
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This list is so different from what I read on ex-mormon sites. The ex-mormons I read talk about doing the right thing ie., be faithful in your marriage, don’t drink excessively, be a good person. Their beliefs seem to be that a religion does not make you moral, your own personal code makes you moral. You don’t need to be religious to have a conscience.

Yes many are atheist or agnostics but, they still have a very strong moral code.
 
Matthew_Light said:
Great question.

This is why I cannot accept the idea that “We have the truth and everyone else is following falsehood”.
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If you are referring to Catholicism proclaiming this, then you are operating under a gravely impoverished understanding of Catholicism.
 
Matthew_Light said:
I have a lot of lovely Mormon friends, and I would never, ever try to destroy their faith. And I do see a lot of anti-Mormon posts right here in this very forum. I’m just raising the question of whether going after someone else’s religion with the goal of destroying their faith is in fact a good idea. I don’t think it is.
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What about the Westboro Baptist Church, Matthew?

Do you not think it’s a good idea to destroy their faith in such falsehoods such as this?

http://forums.catholic-questions.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=20227&d=1403928673
 
PRmerger said:
What about the Westboro Baptist Church, Matthew?

Do you not think it’s a good idea to destroy their faith in such falsehoods such as this?

http://forums.catholic-questions.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=20227&d=1403928673
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Of course we must all seek to turn people away from beliefs in hate and fear. The question is how? I am coming to see that what truly works is through the example of a heart filled with love for God and His children, no matter how far astray they have gone.

This is difficult for me, but I have faith it is God’s way.

I’ve struggled a lot with anger towards the greedy, selfish and power-hungry. But it’s simply not the correct view of things. Those people are here on this planet for a tiny moment of time, they have wasted their lives and destroyed their souls. And for what? A few finite moments of loveless greed and joyless pleasure. They are to be genuinely prayed for, not hated and envied.

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”
 
Matthew_Light said:
I’ve struggled a lot with anger towards the greedy, selfish and power-hungry. But it’s simply not the correct view of things. Those people are here on this planet for a tiny moment of time, they have wasted their lives and destroyed their souls. And for what? A few finite moments of loveless greed and joyless pleasure. They are to be genuinely prayed for, not hated and envied.
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If only more people realized this. I myself have been mocked for my faith, and have witnessed many people who have no faith mocking and insulting Christianity and other religions, in particular at religious events where people of faith would most likely be attending. Mocking someone’s religion for the sake of mockery is extremely hateful because religion is so central to a person’s identity. It is comparable to insulting someone’s mother, only worse.

I always wondered, what is their motivation? If their goal is to change peoples’ hearts and minds, then hate isn’t very effective at doing that, in fact, it most often has the opposite effect. Perhaps, instead, they consider hate their own way of dealing with and expressing their negative emotions toward those they disagree with. If that’s the case, then it’s unhealthy and they are wasting their time and emotional energy being angry and hateful. Either way it ends up helping noone at best, and hurting people at worst.

If you disagree with someone’s beliefs, if you believe them to be false, then the best thing to do is either to discuss it with them calmly and respectfully, and ask challenging questions without dragging their beliefs through the mud but instead in a way that honors and respects their dignity as a person. Either that, or just don’t bring up the subject at all, especially if you think that you can’t discuss it with respect.
 
Matthew_Light said:
Of course we must all seek to turn people away from beliefs in hate and fear.
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Excellent. So we can see that there are some faiths/religions which are wrong.

And it is a decent person who doesn’t permit another to persist in beliefs which are wrong, yes?

And should we turn people away from other beliefs that are wrong, not just necessarily because they are steeped in hate and fear–but beliefs that are false for* other* reasons?
The question is how?
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With gentleness and respect, and, of course, with good apologia/logic.
They are to be genuinely prayed for, not hated and envied.
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That is certainly the Catholic paradigm. 🙂
 
PRmerger said:
Excellent. So we can see that there are some faiths/religions which are wrong.

And it is a decent person who doesn’t permit another to persist in beliefs which are wrong, yes?

And should we turn people away from other beliefs that are wrong, not just necessarily because they are steeped in hate and fear–but beliefs that are false for* other* reasons?

With gentleness and respect, and, of course, with good apologia/logic.

That is certainly the Catholic paradigm. 🙂
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👍👍👍
 
PRmerger said:
Excellent. So we can see that there are some faiths/religions which are wrong.

And it is a decent person who doesn’t permit another to persist in beliefs which are wrong, yes?

And should we turn people away from other beliefs that are wrong, not just necessarily because they are steeped in hate and fear–but beliefs that are false for* other* reasons?

With gentleness and respect, and, of course, with good apologia/logic.

That is certainly the Catholic paradigm. 🙂
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Absolutely! 👍
 
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