Mormon Church Trying to Keep the Wheels On

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Mormons also use the conversation Jesus had with Peter as proof that John is still alive. (John 21:21-22)
 
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Chris-Wa1 said:
For those of you who keep up with developments in the Mormon church, there have been a large number of changes over the last couple of years to make the religion more palatable to the membership and keep the wheels from falling off.
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I know we’re a good 20 days since the original comment of this thread, but I just came across a current news article on the subject, wanted to share. Apparently we’ve been doing steadily well, before and after the changes:

Vox.com: Most churches are losing members fast — but not the Mormons. Here’s why.
 
The LBGTQ movement is rapidly growing as well.

So what’s your point?

The OPs point was that it’s all these changes that is keeping the church from falling apart. You seem to just be confirming what he said.
 
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After reading the article I’m convinced the writer is most likely Mormon.
 
I don’t know if people are leaving the Mormon church or not. I do know there are sub-groups of Mormons. They believe mostly the same things, but not entirely. But regardless, I don’t know the attrition rate.

I would say if I had been raised Mormon and got disaffected, it wouldn’t likely be for any of the reasons in the original post. It would be for much more powerful reasons. I’m not trying to start a fight here with the Mormons who have come to this thread and will probably not return to it. But the church is a society all its own, and is very tightly controlled. I don’t think I could take that very long the way I have seen it operate.

So if the Mormon church really is losing members, and I don’t know if it is, I’m fairly confident it’s not because of the age of missionaries or the length of church services.
 
The writer of this article joined that site on the 6th of this month. But I think you are correct. Typical.
 
Horton said:
After reading the article I’m convinced the writer is most likely Mormon.
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I thought the same so I looked him up but didn’t see anything that suggested he was Mormon. I think it said he was Jewish.
 
Ridgerunner said:
So if the Mormon church really is losing members, and I don’t know if it is, I’m fairly confident it’s not because of the age of missionaries or the length of church services.
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I don’t know what the attrition rate is either and I doubt you would find any reliable information from the Church. As others have said before, the Internet may very well be the death knell for the Mormon church. They can only hide in the darkness for so long. The Internet has helped shed a lot of light on Mormonisms sordid existence.
 
I think you are missing the point. No one is saying that LDS are leaving the church because of the age of missionaries or the length of church services. What I am saying is that the leadership of the LDS church recognizes they have a large and spreading faith crisis on their hands among the membership, and so they are trying various peripheral changes to see if that will keep the machine going. Obviously the reasons for the faith crisis go far beyond any of these smaller issues, but there is only so much they can change without admitting that Mormonism is a fraud. The church is closing and consolidating many wards across the country. They no longer talk about growth numbers at General Conference. There are ever more LDS reading themselves out of the religion as they learn the history of the church from easily accessible online sources. There are ex-Mo support groups popping up everywhere. This happening is different from what is going on with religion in general across the country and the world. People are becoming less religious overall, by and large due to apathy. In Mormonism, the cause has much more to do with members finding out the truth about their own religion and leaving it because they found out they had been deceived by the church their whole lives.
 
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Chris-Wa1 said:
People are becoming less religious overall, by and large due to apathy. In Mormonism, the cause has much more to do with members finding out the truth about their own religion and leaving it because they found out they had been deceived by the church their whole lives.
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This is absolutely correct. As an ex-Mo, leaving the church nearly shattered my faith in God completely, because if the Mormon church had lied to me so thoroughly then what hope was there for religion at all?

There was nothing apathetic about leaving the church. In fact, it’s almost impossible to fade out of attendance - the missionaries, bishops, and home teachers that knock down your door if you miss two sacrament meetings in a row make it almost impossible. There’s an incredible amount of guilt pressed onto anyone not attending church weekly, and it took multiple, heart-wrenching steps just to be left alone to think.

Leaving Mormonism is like prying yourself out of a massive wad of gum.
 
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Very good post. Members of the church are just whistling past the graveyard.
 
I understand.

I don’t purport to be an expert on Mormonism, so I’m not sure at all what “lies” you’re talking about. The history of the church? The revelations? What?

What I have been told about by Mormons is the invasiveness and control. Giddy speaks to that, and rather mildly, to be frank. It’s pretty heavy-handed. Again, not wanting to start a flame war on here, I’ll leave it at that.
 
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I dunno, for my entire Mormon family, by far more have stayed then left. There was a period in my life where I couldn’t be at family gatherings without thinking how incredibly dumb everyone was. shrug They’re into it. Beats me as to why.
 
It works for a lot of people who fit into the mold and “just don’t want to go there.” As I’m sure you have experienced with your family, you can bring up stuff to them, but they just don’t want to hear it because to go down that rabbit hole is threatening to everything they’ve ever believed in. It’s an almost unconscious automatic defensive reaction to anything that challenges the truth claims of the Mormon church.
 
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Ridgerunner said:
I don’t purport to be an expert on Mormonism, so I’m not sure at all what “lies” you’re talking about. The history of the church? The revelations? What?
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My friend that topic is a world unto its own. Suffice it to say that the real history of Mormonism compared to what Mormons are taught in church is drastically different. So different in fact that the historical evidence proves Joseph Smith was a conman and a fraud. The entire religion is based on false prophets and fraudulent scripture/revelation.
 
Mormons bitterly discount it but the book written by Barbara Tuchman on it is devastating.
 
giddyromilly said:
As an ex-Mo, leaving the church nearly shattered my faith in God completely, because if the Mormon church had lied to me so thoroughly then what hope was there for religion at all?
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What “lies” exactly are you referring to?
giddyromilly said:
There was nothing apathetic about leaving the church. In fact, it’s almost impossible to fade out of attendance - the missionaries, bishops, and home teachers that knock down your door if you miss two sacrament meetings in a row make it almost impossible.
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Isn’t that preferred in a Christian faith, a faith that “leaves the ninety-nine” and “seeks after the one astray”?
 
gazelam said:
What “lies” exactly are you referring to?
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Oh, @gazelam, it’s you. I and many others have hashed out this argument with you. Read the CES letter if you actually care about learning why we leave the church in droves. It’s full of all the lies we confronted and never received answers to.

Here, I’ll even give you a link.
 
giddyromilly said:
Oh, @gazelam, it’s you.
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In all my CAF glory…
giddyromilly said:
I and many others have hashed out this argument with you.
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When? I’ve never debated the CES letter, or any other alleged “lies” with you.
giddyromilly said:
Read the CES letter if you actually care about learning why we leave the church in droves. It’s full of all the lies we confronted and never received answers to.

Here, I’ll even give you a link.
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Read the CES letter responses if you want to understand why it’s wrong. Here, I’ll return the favor and give you a link. Take care and God bless you.
 
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