Saturday, September 8, 2012

It's One Thing to Have Your Own Set of Personal Morals...

... but it's another thing to force them on everyone.

I spent a few days out of town with family a few weeks ago, and, of course, they are Mormon. It's amazing to me how they expect everyone to follow THEIR morals all the time.

Case in point... Several other family members were staying there as well and on Sunday morning, the patriarch of the family was grumping because not everyone had brought church clothes. He offered to let me wear some of his. Several of the grandkids have not been raised LDS and grandpa was even trying to make them go, even though they clearly didn't want to. Although grandpa was quite unhappy about it, I ended up staying home with all the unfit-for-church-because-of-their-clothes grandchildren, and they all expressed their relief at not having to go.

As they were walking out the door for church, the only instruction I received was, "Don't let the kids watch PG-13 movies because they MIGHT have sex in them. Their parents let them watch it at home, but I don't let them watch it here." That's all fine and good. I respect their right to choose which movies are watched in their home, but what does she think we're going to do? Pull out the pornos and have a family incest fuck fest? Really! If a PG-13 movie shows nudity, it is always brief and usually only shows boobies. For crying out loud, we all sucked our mommies titties when we were babies; what is so evil about seeing a pair?

These same non-LDS grandchildren went swimming with the family and one 10-year-old granddaughter wore a bikini swimming suit, and she is not even starting to sprout her feminine features yet. Even though the child's mother was there (who is an ex-Mormon), grandma made her put on a shirt over her immodest body.

This bothers me. What gives grandma the right to go above the head of this child's parents and demand what she wears, especially when they are NOT at grandma's house? If grandma doesn't want to wear a bikini, then she doesn't have to. But to force your views on others, especially those who are not of your faith, really bothers me.

Mormons claim that we all have our free agency, which is the god-given right to make our own decisions. Yet at every turn, all I saw was Mormons trying to force their views and standards on everyone. I am an atheist and yet I still allow them to pray to their god and say a blessing on their food when they eat dinner at my house. I don't force them to eat unblessed food, even though I don't believe blessing food is necessary. When they bless the food at their house, I sit quietly and respectfully. I don't throw a fit that not everyone is staunchly following my religious standards.

In my opinion, this type of behavior is very unChrist-like.

This is the very reason why I am terrified of having a Mormon in the White House. They can believe whatever silly nonsense they want all day long, but they are not happy until their standards have been shoved down the throats of every person in America.

5 comments:

Karah said...

We had a situation like this at my house over the summer. My cousins visit from Korea for two months every summer. I live with my grandparents and my mother, all Mormon. Last summer I was forbidden from wearing my bikinis around my cousins, and forced to by a tankini swimsuit that covered me up. Well, this summer I told them I wasn't having any of that. If my aunt wanted her kids to dress a certain way then that was her prerogative, but it shouldn't dictate how I dress. Nor do I think I dress provocatively in the least.

Well, let me tell you how much of a shock to my grandmother it was when all three of my female teenage cousins brought bikinis with them this summer (and yes, they are Mormon, too. I've met quite a few Mormons who are lax when it comes to dress standards as long as it's not out of control.) When my grandma approached my aunt about it she simply said, "These are my kids, not yours. And my husband and I have decided that they can wear a bikini if they want. They're only young once." I was never more proud of her for standing up to my grandma, because I have seen a little of a progressive change in some Mormons who are realizing their clothes don't have anything to do with how worthy they are, or how much faith they have.

Karah said...

forced to buy* Ugh. I hate typos.

Brad said...

Your post reminds me of an occasion when one of my kids wasn't feeling well and had to stay home from church. At this point I was still a member, but had stopped going to church. My wife, at the time, who was TBM, told me not to have fun with our son while they are at church. What? So, I'm supposed to make his experience away from church boring so that he feels more inclined to go to church? God forbid! This goes right along with not being being able to express what I felt about the church because it was negative, even though everything that bothered me was and is true.

erin said...

I completely agree. The #1 reason I will not be voting republican in the next election is because he is Mormon. I have not met a mormon yet who simply can not keep from forcing their ways onto everyone else.

Mormon411 said...

Karah, thank you for sharing that. If you got it, flaunt it!

No but seriously, that's really cool that your aunt did that.

Brad, I was sick on my mission once and my super, over-achiever companion actually tried to guilt trip me for wanting to stay home and rest.

Erin, if Romney wasn't a Mormon, I would vote for him. However, if he becomes the president, who will be running the country? LDS, Inc. There will be a hotline from the Whitehouse to Temple Square. I shudder at the thought...