Wife #19, or A Life In Bondage

I am very pleased to announce that I have located a digital copy of a very rare book. TBM's are aware that Brigham Young had many wives. What they don't know is that wife #19 left that abusive bastard and the church and wrote a book to tell her story. She dedicated her life to ending the abuse that is and was polygamy.

Naturally, when she left the church and began telling her story, the church told lies in order to quiet and discredit her. This book tells her story of abuse and unrighteous dominion by LDS leaders and prophets. Here it is, in her very own words:

Wife No. 19,

or

A Life In Bondage,

Being A

Complete Expose of Mormonism,

And Revealing the

Sorrows, Sacrifices and Sufferings of

Women In Polygamy,

By

Ann Eliza Young,

Brigham Young's Apostate Wife.

http://www.ebershoff.com/pdfs/Wife_No_19_Ann_Eliza_Young.pdf

You can click on this link to read the book or right click the link and choose "Save Target As..." to save it to your computer.

If, at any time, this link fails to work and you would like a copy of this book, please email me and I will provide a copy of it to you.

How About A Bit More On Tithing

I was visiting a friend and happen to glance at the most current copy of the Ensign. Naturally, there is an article all about tithing and what a blessing it is. Naturally, if 14 million people gave me 10% of their income, and I could write it off tax-free, then I would consider it a blessing too!

Here it is right from the horses mouth: Why Tithing Settlement?

Quotes from the article and my thoughts on them:

"Those who have seen the fulfillment of this promise can testify that the blessings are often more spiritual than financial..."

This is referring to Malachi 3:8-12 which promises great blessing for your money. Oh, so now the truth comes out! Spiritual blessings. You mean brownie points for the afterlife!

"Tithing is an important test of our personal righteousness. President Joseph F. Smith (1838–1918) said: 'By this principle it shall be known who is for the kingdom of God and who is against it. … By it shall be known whether we are faithful or unfaithful.'"

Yea, that's right! Tithing separates out those who are for and against the kingdom! Further, only the faithful pay tithing. Amazing! Is that prophetic advice... or pathetic advice? Is he actually saying that faith equals tithing? It sure sounds like it.

"A time to show our commitment. Tithing settlement allows all members the chance to demonstrate their obedience to the principle of tithing. Parents can use it as a teaching time. Children who hear their parents’ declaration learn that paying tithing and fast offerings is important to their parents and to the Lord."

Doesn't god know the thoughts and intents of our hearts? We have to prove our commitment with money? Oh yea, that's just great. Bring the whole family to tithing settlement (especially those little future tithe payers). Make sure they get indoctrinated nice and young!

"It is our privilege to exercise our accountability by declaring to him our own tithing status."

They have the gall to preach "accountability" when they can't even come clean about their own history. They have to whitewash their past and/or outright lie in order to make themselves and their perverted founder look spotless.

"If you are not a full-tithe payer or if you haven’t paid any tithes or offerings, the interview with the bishop can be the beginning of repentance, a time to commit to begin or to do better."

So now, tithing is not only a way to show our faith and commitment, but it is a sin to not pay? If I haven't paid then I need to repent? It's getting pretty obvious that the church places a lot of emphasis on this "law". Make them feel faithless if they don't pay. Make them feel uncommited if they don't pay. And most importantly, make them feel guilty if they don't pay.

"Great blessings come to those who faithfully pay tithing and to those who faithfully attend tithing settlement."

Like what? Oh yea, "spiritual" blessings. That is their fancy way of saying, "If you end up getting nothing for it, you're still getting something!"

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I have no problem with anyone donating money to any church of their choice. But when the guilt is piled on thick and deep, when the member is made to feel like shit, when the person is threatened with damnation for not paying, then I have a huge problem with it.

LD$, Inc. will never get another penny from me!

A Mormon Testimony

"It's such a neat thing that when I need to hear something the very most, often times I usually hear it. I am so grateful for that, and most importantly during this strange, difficult, confusing time in my life I'm so grateful for the gospel, my Heavenly Father, and his Son Jesus Christ. I would be so lost without this church and without my Father in Heaven. I am so grateful for His influence in my life every day. I'm so grateful for the surety that I know, for myself, that no matter what obstacles life throws at me I will be okay because the Lord is on my side. I'm so grateful for the Holy Ghost in my life and for it's constant and never ending guidance. I know this gospel and this church is true with every fiber of my body. I know it more than I've ever known anything before. I know that I am a Daughter of God, and that I am loved. I know that Heavenly Father is so aware of me, and my problems, and my concerns, and my doubts, and my fears. I know that He is keeping a close watch over me. I know that each and every one of the gospel principles are true, and that it is all a small part that leads to Heavenly Fathers great plan for each of us. The Atonement was real, and it's amazing to me how much it blesses my life every day. I am so grateful that the Savior loved each one of His children enough to die for us. And I am truly amazed how merciful and giving our Father in Heaven is and how little he asks of us in return. I am so grateful for the power of the priesthood, and for the miracles it has created in my life. I know that the power of prayer is real, and I know that the scriptures can impact our lives in unbelievable ways if we let it. I love this beautiful gospel, I love my Heavenly Father and Savior, and I am so grateful for this wonderful time of year to remember Christs birth, and the significance of His life. I'm so grateful for that. And above all I can't wait to return home to my Heavenly Father in Heaven one day. And oh what a wonderful day that will be."

Kenna Christensen of: http://andsohesenthisonlybegottenson.blogspot.com/ (Unfortunately, this link no longer works. It appears that this blog has been removed.)

Now that's a mouthful! This is a typical Mormon testimony. It's full of "I know" and "I'm so grateful". This one is particularly interesting.

"It's such a neat thing that when I need to hear something... I usually hear it."

Okay, what the hell does that mean? God has nothing better to do than just sit around and wait for you to need to hear something. That MUST mean the church is true!

"...during this strange, difficult, confusing time in my life I'm so grateful for the gospel..."

Your testimony is full of I know this and I know that, and yet you admit that you're confused.

"I know that Heavenly Father is so aware of me, and my problems, and my concerns, and my doubts, and my fears."

Doubts? I thought you KNOW. In fact, you state that you "know this gospel and this church is true with every fiber of my body."

"I would be so lost without this church and without my Father in Heaven. I am so grateful for His influence in my life every day."

I don't know why so many Mormons are so readily willing to admit how lost they would be. It's just like saying, "Without someone to do my thinking for me, I would be a complete and total fuckup!"

"I'm so grateful for the Holy Ghost in my life and for it's constant and never ending guidance."

The HG must be doing a lousy job because you admit that you're both confused and doubtful. Besides, are you telling me that because of the HG, you have never made a bad decision in your entire life?

This is a perfect example of a cookie cutter testimony. If you attend any LDS service on the first Sunday of the month, you can hear person after person get up and state nearly the same thing.

"I'm so grateful"

"I know"

"Prophets"

"Temples"

"Priesthood"

"Joseph Smith"

In this testimony, she says "I am so grateful" nine times.

She says "I know" nine times as well.

Mormons know. As soon as they can talk, they "know" the church is true.

This is a sad example of someone who has switched their brain to "auto-pilot". She openly admits that without the church she would be lost. All she can say in her testimony is what she has heard repeated to her hundreds if not thousands of times. It's sad. She "knows" so much and yet knows nothing at all. Without some invisible ghost to guide her, she would be wandering aimlessly like a lost child.

LDS, Inc. wants all of it's members to be as hopelessly dependant on the system as this poor girl is. This girl is a guaranteed source of income for another 60 to 70 years!

The Empty Cross: Why Jesus Didn't Exist

This set of videos is a very objective and historical view of the Bible and the Jesus story. They present some very powerful evidence that Jesus never existed.

The Mormon View of Sexuality

I look back on my life and regret how much I let the church rob me of my childhood. You are taught, as a young Mormon, that sex is a horrible sin if used outside of marriage. You are forbidden from heavy kissing, feeling out, going all the way and even THINKING ABOUT IT!

What normal teenager doesn't think about sex? What normal boy doesn't look at an attractive girl and just wish he could have his way with her? But teenage Mormons are taught that these feelings and desires are evil.

I'm no expert in the psychology of sex. But I do know that it is good not only for your health, but also your esteem. However, it's the complete opposite for Mormons. If you've engaged in anything sexual, then you have offended god. You are only slightly less wicked than a murderer. You might as well just flush your self esteem right down the toilet.

In the name of being righteous, I turned down several sexual opportunities (much to the surprise of the girl making the advance). I even had one girlfriend who broke up with me because I wouldn't "do" anything with her. She was hot. I'm kicking myself now, of course. She would have let me do anything.

Of course, there were those times when the flesh gave way to temptation. I had a few girls here and there who let me play with their boobs. Of course, I felt terribly guilty. But damn! It was so much fun! What is it about boobs that is so damn cool? I even went as far as "dry humping" with one girl. I had an orgasm and really wondered if I was still a virgin.

So mission time came along and I had a few minor sexual sins under my belt. I debated with myself as to whether or not I confess to the bishop. I had to serve a mission, to fulfill the " *right of passage".

* The right of passage is the event in any culture in which a boy is transformed into a man. In Mormonism, completition of a successful mission is the right of passage.

Do I confess? If I do, I might not be allowed to serve. That is way not cool. If I don't confess, I can serve, but I will have unresolved issues. It turns out that I decided to lie to the bishop. I figured that if his sense of discernment couldn't detect my crimes, then they must not be that bad. I was allowed to serve.

It turns out that in the MTC, they put tremendous guilt and pressure on missionaries who have gone on a mission with unresolved sins. They pile the guilt high and deep. They threaten you that if you serve unworthily, you will go to hell. It turns out that there are thousands of bishops all over Utah who need to have their spirit of discernment in the shop.

Why does the LDS church control the sexuality of it's members so much? Sex is a very strong desire. If you can control that, then you can control anything. TSCC tells you when you can and can't have sex. They tell you how and where.

In Mormonism, sex is viewed as the "power of pro-creation". It is a gift given to us by God that, when used righteously, can allow us to bring more of his spirit children into the world. Since the power of pro-creation is so powerful, it must be used carefully. If you abuse it, then you will be in big trouble.

I always used to wonder that if sex outside of marriage was so offensive to god, then why would he allow a child to come of it? Doesn't that child have a right to be born into a righteous home with two righteous parents? Why would god send an innocent child to a whoring woman who has no right to be a mother? I mean, if you get pregnant outside of marriage, then obviously you're a sinner and a whore. So why would god send an innocent child into these circumstances? Only god knows. That child is being given the trials that it best needs.

So that must mean that god wanted the woman to get pregnant outside of marriage. Since he wanted it to happen, then she is actually fulfilling gods will. How can that possibly be a sin?

If everything that happens is gods will, then everything we do, both good and bad, must be gods will. And since whatever happens is gods will, then they can't be a sin, because sinning is doing what god doesn't want us to do. But since all things happen, then all things must be gods will. Therefore, there is no such thing as sin! Everything you do must have been gods will; otherwise, he would have stopped you from doing it!

It was gods will that a boy and a girl liked each other and had sex.

It was gods will that the girl got pregnant.

It was gods will that the girl got an abortion.

It is gods will that some people are for abortion.

It is gods will that some people are against abortion.

Basically, anything that happens is gods will. Because if it wasn't gods will, then it wouldn't happen.

So if I have sex, or drink, or smoke, or gamble, or steal, it is all gods will because he doesn't stop me from doing it.

This is why I am an atheist. For one thing, if god didn't want me to have sex then he wouldn't have given me a dick. If he didn't want me to masturbate, then he wouldn't have given me hands. Secondly, when you sit down and really analyze what god is, you'll realize, as I just demonstrated above, that it's all just nonsense.

It must be gods will that I am an atheist; otherwise he would force me to not be an atheist.

I really jumped around a lot in this post, but I wanted to provide a good look into how Mormons view sex. I also wanted to complain about all the opportunities I passed up. If I sit down and count the opportunities missed, there is probably about a dozen.

Damn it! I'm just sitting here kicking myself! The few memories I have are very nice. I wish I had a dozen more to add to the list!

Spiritual Giants

Every ward has its person who everyone considers to be the spiritual giant.

Spiritual Giant: As far as I know, this is strictly a Mormon term. It is used to describe a person who is hopelessly in love with TSCC. This person is admired by all the Mormons around them as being so "strong" in the church, that they will never lose their testimony. In fact that person always bears their testimony, always has comments in sunday school lessons, and is usually a convincing speaker so they always give talks in SM and teach lessons.

Every ward I have ever lived in, I can still remember the spiritual giant. In one ward, there was one week where there was not enough priests to bless the sacrament so they got another priesthood holder to do it. I remember that as he recited the sacrament prayer that he was in tears.

The ward where I currently reside has its spiritual giant as well. In fact, the male spiritual giant is married to the female spiritual giant. Together, they are the giant couple. She teaches at BYU and he teaches at church. They really are a nice couple with really great kids. They love the church so much that the missionaries are at their house almost every other night.

During my days of activity, I was once in a conversation with Dan (we'll call him Dan). He recounted to me how, out of all his siblings, he was the only one who was still strong in the church. At the time, I admired him for his strength.

Of course, now I look at him and see a man who is desperately clinging to a myth. Don't get me wrong, he really is a great man. Even as an apostate, I admire him. He is generous and kind. In fact, his only flaw is that he is Mormon.

His wife, while humble on the outside, just loves knowing that she is the golden woman of the ward. You can just tell when you look at her. She loves being looked at. She has some way of drawing attention to herself while doing nothing at all. She sings in the ward choir and somehow, you always find yourself watching her. It's almost scary. She's not even that attractive.

What more prestigious couple could there be? She is a professor at BYU for cryin out loud! In Mormon Land, that is the ultimate job.

Every ward needs it's spiritual giant. This ward has it's spiritual couple. Awww, how sweet.

Looking Back

http://www.exmormon.org/mormon/mormon558.htm

An ex-Mormon gives a short but awesome overview of life as a Mormon. The follow up comments are good to read as well.

Testing the Book of Mormon

This post is actually a flyer produced by Utah Lighthouse Ministry. Since it does not say anywhere that it can't be reproduced, I have gone ahead and posted it here...

Some members of the LDS Church have made fantastic claims about archaeologists using the Book of Mormon. For example, one letter circulated among LDS members in Ohio in 1959 claimed that the Book of Mormon was used by "the government to unravel the problem of the aborigines... it was 1920 before the Smithsonian Institute officially recognized the Book of Mormon as a record of any value... it is true that the Book of Mormon has been the guide to almost all of the major discoveries... This record is... recognized by all advanced students in the field" (Mormonism - Shadow of Reality?, Tanners, p. 97)

Because of many false statements disseminated by members of the LDS Church, such as the one cited above, the Smithsonian Institute was forced to publish a statement concerning these matters. The 1986 statement begins with a denial of the claims put forth by Mormon enthusiasts:

"The Smithsonian Institution has never used the Book of Mormon in any way as a scientific guide. Smithsonian archeologists see no direct connection between the archeology of the New World and the subject matter of the book." ("Statement Regarding The Book of Mormon." Smithsonian Institute, Spring 1986).

In 1973, Michael Coe, one of the best known authorities on archaeology of the New World, wrote an article for Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Summer 1973. After summarizing Book of Mormon claims, he frankly stated:

"Let me now state uncategorically that as far as I know there is not one professionally trained archaeologist, who is not a Mormon, who sees any scientific justification for believing the foregoing to be true... nothing, absolutely nothing, has ever shown up in any New World excavation which would suggest to a dispassionate observer that the Book of Mormon... is a historical document relating to the history of the early migrants to our hemisphere." (pp.42, 46)

Some LDS scholars are beginning to publicly admit that archaeology does not furnish any significant evidence for the Book of Mormon. Dee F. Green, who at one time served as editor of the University Archaeological Society Newsletter, published at the church's Brigham Young University, made it plain that archaeological evidence did not prove the Book of Mormon:

"The first myth we need to eliminate is that Book of Mormon archaeology exists... If one is to study Book of Mormon archaeology, then one must have a corpus of data with which to deal. We do not. The Book of Mormon is really there so one can have Book of Mormon studies, and archaeology is really there so one can study archaeology, but the two are not wed. At least they are not wed in reality since no Book of Mormon location is known with reference to modern topography. Biblical archaeology can be studied because we do know where Jerusalem and Jericho were and are, but we do not know where Zarahemla and Bountiful (nor any other location for that matter) were or are. It would seem then that a concentration of geography should be the first order of business, but we have already seen that twenty years of such an approach has left us empty-handed." (Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Summer 1969, pp. 77-78)

Thomas Stuart Ferguson was one of the most noted defenders of Book of Mormon archaeology. Mr. Ferguson, co-founder of the New World Archaeological Foundation, hoped to prove the Book of Mormon through archaeological research. The LDS Church granted hundreds of thousands of dollars to this organization, but in the end, Thomas Stuart Ferguson admitted that although the Foundation made some important contributions to New World archaeology, all his work with regard to the Book of Mormon was in vain. He admitted, in fact, that he had wasted twenty-five years of his life trying to prove the Book of Mormon. In 1975 Ferguson prepared a 29-page paper in which he wrote: "I'm afraid that up to this point, I must agree with Dee Green, who has told us that to date there is no Book of Mormon geography." In a letter to Mr. and Mrs. H.W. Lawrence, dated Feb 20, 1976, Thomas Stuart Ferguson plainly stated: "...you can't set Book of Mormon geography down anywhere - because it is fictional and will never meet the requirements of the dirt-archaeology.

"Dr. Ray T. Matheny, Professor of Anthropology at the church's Brigham Young University, admitted that he has a difficult time reconciling New World archaeology with the Book of Mormon:

"I really have difficulty in finding issue or quarrel with those opening chapters of the Book of Mormon [i.e. the first seven chapters which only relate to Lehi and his family around the area of Jerusalem]. But thereafter it doesn't seem like a translation to me... And the terminologies and the language used and the methods of explaining and putting things down are 19th century literary concepts and cultural experiences one would expect Joseph Smith and his colleagues would experience. And for that reason I call it transliteration, and I'd rather not call it a translation after the 7th chapter. And I have real difficulty in trying to relate these culturalconcepts as I've briefly discussed here with archeological findings that I'm aware of...

"If I were doing this cold like John Carlson is here, I would say in evaluating the Book of Mormon that it had no place in the New World whatsoever. I would have to look for the place of the Book of Mormon events to have taken place in the Old World. It just doesn't seem to fit anything that he has been taught in his discipline, nor I in my discipline in anthropology, history; there seems to be no place for it. It seems misplaced. It seems like there are anachronisms. It seems like the items are out of time and place, and trying to put them into the New World. And I think there's a great difficulty here for we Mormons in understanding what this book is all about." ("Book of Mormon Archaeology," Response by Professoy Ray T. Matheny, Sunstone Symposium, August 198, typed copy transcribed from a tape recording, pp. 30-31)

Three years after speaking at this sypmosium, Dr. Matheny wrote a letter in which he made it clear that there was still no Book of Mormon archaeology:

"While some people choose to make claims for the Book of Mormon through archaeological evidence, to me they are made prematurely, and without sufficient knowledge.

"I do not support the books written on this subject including The Messiah in Ancient America, or any other. I believe that the authors are making cases out of too little evidence and do not adequately address the problems that archaeology and the Book of Mormon present. I would feel terribly embarrassed if anyone sent a copy of any book written on the subject to the National Museum of Natural History - Smithsonian Institution, or other authority, making claims that cannot as yet be substiantiated... there are very severe problems in this field in trying to make correlations with the scriptures. Speculation, such as practiced so far by Mormon authors has not given church members any credibility." (Letter by Ray T. Matheny, dated Dec. 17, 1987).

When we turn to the Book of Mormon, we are unable to find any evidence at all that the Nephites ever existed.

Hmm, I wonder why...