Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Religious Thoughts and Their Appropriate Endings

Tonight I went browsing through the stuff at Ross and came upon several wall hangings with different faith promoting sayings. Being the analyst that I am, I decided to share the quotes and then add the appropriate endings.

"He fills my life with good things." ...but ignores starving children in Africa.

"God bless this house and all who enter." ...but everyone else can go to hell.

"Miracles happen to those who believe in them." ...unless you're an amputee.

"Faith is the essence of all things." ...so hold your breath and let faith become oxygen.

An Absolutely Heartbreaking Story

Shunning - A Result of the Cult
Posted in the exMormon.org forums by: Anagrammy

Our ward was distributing Christmas presents to the old folks in the nursing home. I spoke with one sweet lady with hair still dark, no gray, but she seemed a little anxious. I asked her if something was bothering her and she said,

"Yes, I can't remember my children's names. I have eight, you see, and I can only remember the oldest two, Robert and James." I asked her if she had any grandchildren. She said she didn't know. I asked if her children lived far away. She said they lived in Orem (where she was!) I asked her if she had any pictures --because sometimes looking at their pictures would remind her.

She said, "Oh, no pictures... They took those away. They haven't spoken to me since I left the church. I am not a Mormon anymore. Are you Mormon? Do you know if I have any grandchildren?"

Where is the heart in these people? This is their MOTHER!

An awful chill went through me. What would it be like to raise all those children and then be thrown away like trash? There is no question this church hurts people ON PURPOSE. And the more people hear about it from one person after another, finally they will realize that this is the RESULT OF THE CULT, not some random meanie who didn't have the Spirit.

Anagrammy

Sunday, December 19, 2010

TBM Mother Refuses to Attend Her Own Daughters Non-Temple Wedding

Someone very close to me had to make her vows to her Catholic fiancee with her Mormon mother absent.

Why? Her mother refused to support a non-temple wedding since that is what Satan wants. This persons mother is one of the most extreme TBM's I have ever known (yes, I know her).

You've got to hand it to her for standing up for what she believes, but damn! How often does your daughter get married? And whatever happened to family values? I have often wondered what the fiancee thought about that. Being from a Catholic family, I am sure that they are all just baffled by it.

This persons mother is staunch Mormon and will defend it no matter the cost... no matter who is offended. The rules and commandments of TSCC must be obeyed and she'll see to it that you obey them all!

Just slightly extreme? This is what Mormonism does to people who take it seriously.

I guess Mormonism is about excluding family from weddings no matter where they take place!

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Why "god" Does Not Deserve My Praise

I'm going to share a little piece of information with you that you already know. This is powerful stuff and it's been right there in plain sight the whole time but you've never really thought about it. It's simple, yet amazingly powerful at convincing people that the god they adore is absolutely not worthy of the title "good".

It's so simple...

The Bible instructs us to not kill. Killing is a sin.

God kills thousands of people and at one point, he even drowns everyone on planet earth.

So if killing is a sin, then god is a sinner.

The god that you adore and worship is a murderer!

He breaks his own commandments.

This is not a god who is worthy of any type of praise or adoration.

This god is a jackass and a hypocrite.

I would rather go to hell than worship him!

The truth is out there, people, and it's staring you in the face!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Top Ten Signs You're a Fundamentalist Christian

From an atheist chat room: Original author unknown.

10 - You vigorously deny the existence of thousands of gods claimed by other religions, but feel outraged when someone denies the existence of yours.

9 - You feel insulted and "dehumanized" when scientists say that people evolved from other life forms, but you have no problem with the Biblical claim that we were created from dirt.

8 - You laugh at polytheists, but you have no problem believing in a Triune God.

7 - Your face turns purple when you hear of the "atrocities" attributed to Allah, but you don't even flinch when hearing about how God/Jehovah slaughtered all the babies of Egypt in "Exodus" and ordered the elimination of entire ethnic groups in "Joshua" including women, children, and trees!

6 - You laugh at Hindu beliefs that deify humans, and Greek claims about gods sleeping with women, but you have no problem believing that the Holy Spirit impregnated Mary, who then gave birth to a man-god who got killed, came back to life and then ascended into the sky.

5 - You are willing to spend your life looking for little loopholes in the scientifically established age of Earth (few billion years), but you find nothing wrong with believing dates recorded by Bronze Age tribesmen sitting in their tents and guessing that Earth is a few generations old.

4 - You believe that the entire population of this planet with the exception of those who share your beliefs -- though excluding those in all rival sects - will spend Eternity in an infinite Hell of Suffering. And yet consider your religion the most "tolerant" and "loving."

3 - While modern science, history, geology, biology, and physics have failed to convince you otherwise, some idiot rolling around on the floor speaking in "tongues" may be all the evidence you need to "prove" Christianity.

2 - You define 0.01% as a "high success rate" when it comes to answered prayers. You consider that to be evidence that prayer works. And you think that the remaining 99.99% FAILURE was simply the will of God.

1 - You actually know a lot less than many atheists and agnostics do about the Bible, Christianity, and church history - but still call yourself a Christian.

Re: The Collapse of Evolution

As you may recall, I posted a YouTube video on my blog which attempts to refute evolution. I shared this video on the exMormon.org forums to see what they had to say about it.

The post where I shared the video: The Collapse of Evolution

Here is where I asked my question and the reponse:

http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,53911
http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,54136

A great thanks to all those who took the time to give their input!

Saturday, December 11, 2010

I Know the FSM is True

Today I prayed to the Flying Spaghetti Monster that the earth would not blow up. Since the earth didn't blow up, I know the church of the FSM is true! I know he is real and I know that he loves me.

If you take a Mormon testimony and replace all the "god" or "Jesus" or "Joseph Smith" references with "The Flying Spaghetti Monster", it suddenly sounds ridiculously absurd. All I did was change the name. Think abouti it...

"I know the FSM was a true prophet."

"I know that the FSM died for my sins"

"I know that if I follow the commandments, I can return to live with the FSM someday."

Trying to convince an atheist that "god" loves them is like me trying to convice you that the FSM is literally real. Your well meaning testimony, however sincere it may be, is as absurd to me as the FSM is to you.
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And since you can't prove the FSM isn't real, then it must be real by default.
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I just totally debunked you! But it wasn't me... it was the spirit of the FSM, which is in me.

My TBM DH just admitted Joseph Smith was "creepy"!!!!

On the exmormon.org forums: A comparison of Joseph Smith and Brian David Mitchell

CA Girl said:

My Facebook status talks about how glad I am that Brian David Mitchell was convicted and reads, in part, "What kind of middle aged freak marries a 14 year old child as a plural wife?" A subtle dig at Joseph Smith that I am very proud I had the nerve to post, with all the TBMs on my Friends list. I figured it would go over their heads. Anyway, I read it to DH and he said "I agree." I paused and gave him that look wives give and said "Uh, you know Joseph Smith married 14 year old girls, right? You remember looking that up with me on Family Search, don't you?" and DH said "Yeah, that was creepy of Joseph Smith to do that."

And suddenly, despite the cold, rainy day where I am, I swear I saw the sun shine. Some days are just sooo good. ;)

Summer replied:

The evening news tonight (12-10-10) showed the following photo of Elizabeth Smart, at fourteen years of age: http://wwwimage.cbsnews.com/images/2002/06/05/image511240x.jpg

Her photo should be shown to every missionary, and they should be told, "Joseph Smith took two fourteen-year-old girls as plural wives. They were the same age as Elizabeth Smart was when she was kidnapped. Does this girl look old enough to be anyone's wife? Why did Brian David Mitchell choose Elizabeth, do you think? (Carefully consider her account of being raped EVERY DAY.) Why did Joseph Smith choose his two fourteen year old girls, do you think? Are these the actions of a man who is trustworthy? Are these the actions of a man who should be offering direction and moral guidance to ANYONE AT ALL?"

"Brian David Mitchell was caught, prosecuted, convicted, and jailed because the larger community was fed up with him, and understandably so. The larger community of the people of Illinois were fed up with Joseph as well. He wasn't a martyr to his beliefs. He was a despicable man, and was recognized as such by decent people."

To read the entire thread, just click here!

Monday, December 6, 2010

Really Bad Mormons

Recently, I've had the mispleasure of exchanging a few words with a fellow who calls himself the Screaming Nephite. He is a pro-Mormon blogger who uses several dishonest tactics to arrogantly defend Mormonism.

One of these tactics is to put a list on his side bar of ex-Mormons and list their crimes, trying to make it appear as if everyone who leaves the church suddenly becomes a raging criminal. I called him out on this and he accused me of "talking smack".

So, I thought it would only be fair to put up a list of believing Mormons who have done a lot of whacky shit. I present: Really Bad Mormons

Jason Brown - Murder and armed robbery

He served in the France Paris Mission from 1988-1990.

Featured on Americas Most Wanted
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Ted Bundy

Serial Killer

Converted to Mormonism in 1974 while attending law school in Salt Lake City
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Arthur Gary Bishop

Child Serial Killer. Preferred young, small boys

Served an LDS mission to the Philippines
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Mark Hacking

Murdered his wife in her sleep and dumped her body in the trash.

Missionary service to Canada.
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Glenn Taylor Helzer

Serial Killer

Believed he was called by God to kill.
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Mark Hoffman

Murder and forger

Planted bombs that killed two people.

Produced fake letters from the Joseph Smith era and sold them to the church.
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Brian David Mitchell
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Kidnapper and rapist
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Self-proclaimed prophet who believed he was commanded by God to kidnap a young virgin to be his polygamous wife.
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Disclaimer: By posting this I am not trying to suggest in any way that ALL Mormons are criminals. The people shown here represent an overwhelming minority. Most Mormons are good, law abiding people.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Boyd K. Packer: "Don't Look Here" - An Exit Story

I had about an hour long conversation with a nice lady today. She is ex-Mormon and I asked her to tell me her exit story.

I could hardly believe it when she told me... When she was 16 and in seminary, they had a special speaker: Boyd K. Packer.

She related to me how Packer proceeded to tell the group that they should not focus too much on church history. If they did, they would find things that are dangerous to their testimonies.

I wonder if Packer ever had any children? I mean, you tell a teenager NOT to do something, what are they going to do? Exactly what you told them not to.

So this young lady began reading church history to find out what "she wasn't supposed to know." At 16 years old, she came to the conclusion that the church was not true and that they have been dishonest about their past!

Damn! I would give almost anything to go back and find out the truth at such a young age.

Oh, what would I do differently?

Does anyone else find it a little strange that Packer would use a negative to direct young minds to inquire about church history by saying, "Don't look right here"? It seems to me, that the best way to keep it secret, IS TO NOT SAY ANYTHING AT ALL! Is Packer really that stupid? If he had kept his mouth shut about the churches past, this lady would have never even thought to inquire into its history. She would probably be a TBM to this day.

The man is an idiot and a bigot, but he gets one point for helping someone leave the church.