Thursday, October 23, 2008

MUST READ: Why I Do What I Do

Ok, for all the ignorant LDS folks out there who keep emailing and commenting about how I need to get a life and find a new hobby, this post is for you. I'm going to place this under "Posts of Interest" and hopefully that will serve to help y'all understand why I do what I do.

Mormons, I know that you believe your church is true and that by actively blogging against it I have bought myself a one way ticket non-stop to hell. I know that you revere your leaders as great prophets, seers, and revelators who give god's will to modern man. I know that many of you would die for your true church.

If it's such a great thing, why would I dare turn against it and openly blog my feelings? Mormons, if you really want to know why, then please read my next words carefully and slowly...

I just discovered that it is not true. Whether you believe it or not, there are many, many issues within the church that your great leaders do not want you to know about. They hide these things from you by 1) not telling you about them, 2) telling you which books to read, 3) telling you to avoid and ignore anyone who opposes them, and 4) telling you to rely on your testimony.

Ask yourself this question and answer it honestly... if the church is so true and they have nothing to hide, then why do they restrict what you read and who you talk to? If the true church has nothing to hide, then they should encourage you to ask questions. But instead they just tell you to shut your eyes and blindly follow them. People, that is what cults do.
  • Cults teach their members elitism, meaning that by being a member of the group, you are elite. You are special.
  • Cults often require their members' unquestioning obedience.
  • Cults teach their members that life outside the group is miserable and confusing.
  • Cults are pre-occupied with bringing in new members.
  • Cults are usually profit oriented.
  • Cults require their members to pledge everything they have to the group.
  • Cults require many sacrifices from their members, including time and money.
  • Cults teach their members that they have a special mission to save the world from some evil.
  • Cults teach undying loyalty to their leaders and founders, who have a divine calling. The leader is to be obeyed at all costs and his word is law, even above the laws of the land.

Doesn't that bullet list describe the LDS church to a tee? No doubt you've heard the church called a cult before, but has it ever occurred to you that it might actually be true? If you don't believe what I'm saying, then I will find some independant web sites for you to look at. You will see that cult experts everywhere see the LDS church as one of the biggest cults in America.

Now how about some problems with LDS church history, which the late GBH referred to as "little flicks of history," and addressed them by saying, "so what?"

I'll share the one that really rocked my boat. In 1967 the papyrus scrolls from which Joseph Smith supposedly translated the Book of Abraham were found. The church, anxious to have them examined by professionals, was sure that this would prove Smith to be a true prophet. Back in Smith's day, no one could read or translate Egyptian Hieroglyphics by scholarly means and so there was no one to challenge him. Today however, thanks to the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, we can now translate and understand ancient Egyptian. It wasn't long before the results starting coming in...

The papyrus scrolls are common Egyptian funerary texts and have absolutely nothing to do with Abraham or the "translation" that Joseph Smith provided. In fact, the scrolls are dated to have been written some 2000 years after the time of Abraham. Joseph Smith's lie is finally discovered after over 100 years! There is no way he translated it. He made it up as he went along.

Now, if he made it up and there is solid proof, then that makes one wonder what else did he pretend to translate? Of course, the unofficial apologetics department of the church tries desperately to explain away this problem, but if you care to do a little research, you will see that their desperate attempts are exactly that, desperate.

I have done my research and have come to the conclusion that the LDS church is not true. I guarantee that your precious leaders are very much aware of the things I have talked about here and they will do anything to keep you from hearing about it. If you do hear about them, then they try to convince you that evil and conspiring men have made it up to deceive you.

Now, what would my motivation be to just deceive you? What am I getting out of it? Nothing, except the knowledge that I am exposing their lies and secrets. Seriously, if I am getting nothing out of it then why would I do it unless I was absolutely sure that it's all a fraud?

Seriously LDS people, what do you have to lose by checking out what I'm telling you? If I'm wrong, then you are in the true church and it's all good. If I'm right then you are in a cult and I can show you how to get out. Either way, you will lose nothing. So if I have peaked your curiousity, then I challenge you to objectively question your religion. Weigh what they teach you against facts that you know to be true.

For example: we all know that it is impossible to walk on water. Since Jesus supposedly did it, then that should shed some serious doubt about whether that story is true or not.

I have shown you the shocking similarities between the LDS church and a cult. I have shown you that Joseph Smith has been caught in a huge lie. If you want to know more, then read my past posts where I talk about all sorts of these issues. Interestingly, many of the so-called "lies" about the LDS church come from it's own records. Brigham Young was a racist dictator, according to the Journal of Discourses.

Unlike your leaders, I'm not asking you to take it all just because I said so. I want you to read. I want you to question. I want you to ask. If you give it an honest attempt and find that I'm full of shit, then what have you lost? Nothing, except your time.

All I ask is that you do your research with an open mind and be willing to entertain the idea that the church might not be true. If you are open minded you will find the truth. What do you have to lose?

Oh, if you actually do discover that the church is false and decide to leave, then you actually stand to lose quite a bit. The church will pressure your spouse to divorce you. Your boss will most likely fire you. Your family and friends might just shun you. So yea, by leaving Mormonism, they will see to it that your life becomes miserable so they can rub it in your face and say, "See? Leave the church and look what happens!"

Ten years ago I would never have believed that I would be where I am now. I thought I was happy, but when I was truly honest with myself, I had to admit that I was miserable. I have found true freedom and it is awesome!

Mormons, I'm not your enemy. I am simply a voice for truth. Whatever your truth turns out to be, I wish you all the best.

Folks, it's a cult and it's not true. This is my testimony, and I know it because of research and common sense, and NOT just because of a special feeling.

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