I've been giving this matter a little thought lately and it has occurred to me that the LDS church uses harsh penalties to the "naughty" in order to keep the sheep inline.
Ever since I have departed from the fold, I have wondered why the church cares so much about peoples personal lives. Afterall, as long as the person is paying tithing, what does it matter? Right? Wrong!
LDS, Inc. knows that if they heap shame and guilt on people for their "sins", then those people will remain loyal to the church because they believe the church can help them "overcome" their sins and weaknesses. So the church heaps on the guilt, and the member clings desperately to it, and the vicious Mormon cycle continues.
What about those who go to their bishops, in confidence, with a serious sin? The church uses those people and makes examples of them for all others to see. A church forgives; a cult punishes. The LDS church has no mercy on the non-conformer.
For example: I know a man who went on a mission and after the mission he joined the military. Overseas, he hooked up with a woman and had a sexual relationship with her for several years. Upon his return home (even though he married the girl) his priesthood was stripped and he was ex-communicated.
He worked hard to become worthy to rejoin the church. But man has his weakness and he messed up again just as his blessings were being restored. He accepted the restoration without revealing his current sins. Guilt got the better of him and he eventually confessed.
That was nearly 20 years ago, and the church is still punishing him. He has been working (I'm not sure how hard) to get restored again. But you see, he defied the church and they are making him pay hard. He has now been married to a good Mormon girl and they have been active for several years. During that time, they have been pushing and pushing for a temple marriage and it's been years in the process.
LDS, Inc. wants it's members to know where the authority is. You don't defy them. You don't question them. If you do, you pay the price and then some.
If someone seriously messes up, the church makes a harsh example. A sin should never become public, but a bishop can order an individual to stop taking the sacrament. Of course, as soon as the person stops taking the sacrament, everyone knows they are going through church discipline. I was always terrified of confessing to a bishop because I had an image to maintain. I couldn't let everyone see me not taking the sacrament (not that my "sins" were that bad, but I was still afraid of it).
The church knows that if they make harsh examples, people will quietly follow. And it works. How shameful is it knowing that the lords only true church kicked you out? Excommunication to a Mormon is like a life sentence to a convict.
Once a person is ex'd, they are no longer allowed to take the sacrament, but they are also not allowed to participate in church in any way. They can attend church, but are not allowed to give prayers, bear testimony, teach lessons, or talk in sacrament meeting. Of course, the church will still gladly accept their tithing! OMG, what a shocker!
To make a long story short, Mormonism is an organization that heaps guilt and expectations on its members. They are told that they are never good enough and need to give more. They give more and do more and still it is not enough. It will never be enough. The absolute best part of this deal, however, is that the member pays 10% of their income to the church in exchange for this privilege; in order to be told how inadequate and pathetic they are! And the church brainwashes them to think they have true happiness and true joy, whereas the truth is that they are miserable. But they put on their smiley masks, because everyone is happy in the church. If you are unhappy, then something is wrong with you. You don't have enough faith or you haven't prayed enough. The more they are told they don't have enough faith, the more they cling to the organization to help them overcome it. And so you see, the vicious Mormon cycle is not only alive, but very effective in keeping the sheep inline. Those who see the cycle and get out are labeled apostates, having been deceived by the devil. This scares all the other sheep into even more strict obedience.
Naturally, as all cults do, LDS, Inc. required strict obedience from its members. A call or command given by any Mormon authority came directly from god, so therefore must be strictly obeyed. To defy a Mormon leader is to directly defy god. Therefore, you just don't do it. The Mormon god hates being defied and will make you pay the price.
Mormonism is a cult that is full of vicious cycles. It reaks of cult. It is an elitist group that teaches its members that they have a special mission to save the world. They alone have god's approval to do this and so the burden is on the members to bring in as many new members as possible (another characteristic of a cult). Mormonism requires strict obedience (just like a cult does), teaches its members to never question authority (just like a cult does), requires heavy donations in both time and money (just like a cult does), teaches that life outside the church is miserable and confusing (just like a cult does), etc. Mormonism is a cult.
It's members are miserable and yet either think they are happy or pretend to be.
They pay their 10% expecting great blessings but never actually get them.
They give time, money, and talents to the church only to be told how inadequate it is.
They go to the creepy temple and come out declaring how beautiful and wonderful it was.
It's insane how burdened down the Mormon people are and yet the church has them thinking that they are happy. They only way to be truly happy is to be a conformin' Mormon.
Conform, obey, pay, work, you inadequate dogs! Just remember, that you're happy doing it!
Just another evil apostate...
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