tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8568072161793472490.post267729243774409744..comments2024-01-14T09:34:36.670-09:00Comments on Mormonism-Unveiled: Fact Vs. Fancy: Australian Rules Football Star Israel Folau Leaves The LDS Church, Joins The Assemblies Of GodJack Mormonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08671278467022843855noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8568072161793472490.post-73079701589482437242011-11-14T14:26:54.492-09:002011-11-14T14:26:54.492-09:00You do realize that Michael Crook is a fraud and a...You do realize that Michael Crook is a fraud and a clown, right? Sure, today he's a "Mormon", but it'll most likely only be until he gets bored and needs to attack someone again. Michael spent most of the last decade being as objectionable as is humanly possible and he still to this day makes no qualms about it. Just last year he was actively shilling his Holocaust-denial book, attacking car crash victims via his "blogs", ripping off customers who believed he was a "search engine optimization" expert, filing frivolous lawsuits after being scolded for using the wrong parking spot, pretending to be drunk and getting arrested for DUI, threatening local police officers, and too much more to even list here. Wait and see if this new "transformation" lasts through the year before taking this weird nitwit seriously.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8568072161793472490.post-75750888804479313982011-11-11T07:30:43.514-09:002011-11-11T07:30:43.514-09:00I appreciate the observation. Indeed, that does vi...I appreciate the observation. Indeed, that does violate on of the church's Articles of Faith. But it's violated regularly, notwithstanding. <br /><br />One things that continues to enrage ex-Mormons everywhere is how they are painted as being simply "offended" or as having committed some "sin" as a reason for having left the church. But the reasons are always deeply rooted and more solid. I should have been offended when my bishop tried to sexually abuse me while simultaneously telling me of my father's death. Yet I endured and went on a mission and raised a family in the church, even if his attempted sexual abuse was a real offense of all that is supposed to be held worthy in the LDS church. This is what we're up against in Mormonism in general, real problems that are laughed off, the burden of which is then placed on the shoulders of the hurt and offended. Many of us carry lasting damage from our splits with the church, which we sooner would not have made but for the necessity of it all. We lose children, we lose spouses, we lose siblings, and often with the help and even encouragement of church leaders.<br /><br />Plus, it--The Church--just ain't true. That, unfortunately, is quite demonstrably so. But I can forgive people for religious belief. I'll admit that none of the various religions have any more truth than the next, but some people seem to need religion, regardless. But having to deal with corrupt, arrogant, and bungling LDS leadership is another thing entirely. Just you knowing that the ex-Mormons I know and deal with are standing on solid, moral ground is enough for me.<br /><br />Anyway, it's good to have someone who at least looks on the other side of the argument and can make informed remarks, so I really appreciate that.<br /><br />Best,<br />mttweedmeisternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8568072161793472490.post-74183681467822102972011-11-10T11:49:24.830-09:002011-11-10T11:49:24.830-09:00I referred to Joanna Brooks as a revisionist becau...I referred to Joanna Brooks as a revisionist because, in my opinion, she's become excessively solicitous of gays in the Church. She attached more significance to the calling of Mitch Mayne than I believed was appropriate.<br /><br />Mitch Mayne is to be commended for his courage in choosing to remain celibate in order to maintain his membership. But Joanna Brooks and some other progressive Mormons seem to act like he's the second coming of Joseph Smith. <br /><br />One of the benefits for me in regularly visiting RFM is that I've become much more tolerant of ex-Mormons, except for those few who actually lead public anti-Mormon campaigns. It bothers me when people who leave the Church report being oppressed by Church members; it actually violates one of our Articles of Faith where we proclaim our respect for the principle of worshipping "how, where, or what they may".Jack Mormonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08671278467022843855noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8568072161793472490.post-88883976173297003142011-11-10T05:36:09.558-09:002011-11-10T05:36:09.558-09:00Forgive my second comment, but I didn't want t...Forgive my second comment, but I didn't want to mush it together with the first. You name Joanna Brooks as "revisionist," which gives me no little trouble. I'm not so sure that being a revisionist in a revisionist church does not equal out. Revisionism is whenever a person believes in or makes up a revised outcome of actual events. The LDS church has been guilty of this very thing since its inception, re-writing major events as early as the Kirtland Anti-Banking Society, the dedicatory events at the Kirtland temple, Zions Camp, reasons for expulsion from Missouri, the Mormon Battalion, and especially polygamy. Very recently we heard the LDS president deny (and thus revise) an important LDS belief right in the international media, and Scott Trotter continues this time-tested behavior when he speaks to the press. So it is especially unfair to label a person who seeks to point out flawed LDS revisionism as a revisionist herself.<br /><br />I never seek to rub one's nose in stuff, but I hope I am doing a favor to a person wallowing in misunderstanding when I am able to explain the actual details of events in order to replace fabricated-but-uplifting stories seeking merely to make us feel good rather than to make us informed. I would argue that this doesn't make me revisionist. This is The Thing which led me out of the LDS church, finding that much of the church's so-called history and origins are demonstrably false.tweedmeisternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8568072161793472490.post-43123970562871554862011-11-10T05:24:42.909-09:002011-11-10T05:24:42.909-09:00I am hoping that you are a person who appreciates ...I am hoping that you are a person who appreciates dialogue. You seem to be, in contrast to those LDS people who want to hear only the sunny side of Mormonism. Thinking about your response, one should remember that although there is no particular guidance to pursue and sometimes persecute those who leave the church, the LDS church allows each bishop and stake president has his own latitude to decide whatever he pleases. Supporting all bishops and SPs is paramount to the LDS church running properly. The result is that often a resignation from the church, in addition to hailing the end of a lifestyle for many a good person, has been met with vindictiveness and downright evil actions by local leadership. It would be far easier in most situations to be excommunicated for some perceived sin. In the end, it matters little what the Handbook advises, as the SP will ultimately do what he wants. And what would the former member do? After all, there are no appeals, and no recourse is entertained.tweedmeisternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8568072161793472490.post-19262329684425346322011-11-09T07:36:05.180-09:002011-11-09T07:36:05.180-09:00From having read RFM on a regular basis, I have se...From having read RFM on a regular basis, I have seen that many of the people who post there do so primarily to get their anger out and then ultimately move on. There are indeed other issues, and Church leaders have repeated urged the family members of departed Mormons not to be vindictive.Jack Mormonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08671278467022843855noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8568072161793472490.post-90789564612985066852011-11-09T05:22:00.303-09:002011-11-09T05:22:00.303-09:00Too bad you dismiss RfMers as mere "spleen-ve...Too bad you dismiss RfMers as mere "spleen-venters." Apparently you are unaware of the difficulty in leaving Mormonism, the family rift, the condemnation by leaders, having the bishop recommend divorce to your husband or wife, being marginalized from a marriage of your own child. It turns out that, in the end, Mormonism can be very vindictive and not very "Christ-like."tweedmeisternoreply@blogger.com