Thursday, December 26, 2013

Christmas with the Mormons

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas.  Mine was good.  I was able to see family that I haven't seen in a while.

I had a few interesting experiences that I thought I'd share.

For our annual family Christmas Eve party, we gather and listen to someone read the traditional story from the Bible of the birth of Jesus, exchange gifts, and eat.

This time is not, of course, without a fair amount of religious talk.

One nephew has his ears pierced and wears very large earrings in them.  We all know how much the Mormon god hates earrings, so, of course, this leads to many comments.

I overheard one uncle talking down to this nephew and making comments about how he would lock his children outside if they dared come home with earrings.  If the example of a Mormon parent is any reflection of how god treats his children, then NO THANKS!

This same uncle called one of his own children "rebellious" simply because they were wearing a "U" shirt instead of a "Y" shirt.  (In Utah, the big college rivalry is between USU and BYU (correction: that's U of U and BYU.  Thanks, Eli).  Of course, any true blue Mormon roots for BYU.  Clearly you're a rebel if you don't root for god's true university).  This uncle may have been being sarcastic, but that really is the attitude of many Mormons.

This same earring-wearing nephew confided in me that he is seriously doubting the existence of god.  As such, doesn't want to attend seminary.  And as any good Mormon parents should do, they are punishing him for it by not letting him get his driver's license.  Anyone who will not comply with the gospel needs to be punished.  This only reaffirms my childhood belief that the Mormon god is vengeful and angry.  If you don't kiss his ass, you will pay the price.

This nephew lives at home and has been told numerous times by his mother that he is going to hell, disregarding the fact that she has recently had an affair on her husband.  Not only do Mormons feel the need to punish those who don't comply, but many of them are guilty of far worse sins.  She cries when he doesn't want to go to church but feels just fine sneaking around having affairs. 

Seeing this blatant hypocrisy only reaffirms my belief that the LDS church produces liars and fakes.  If you sin, it's ok as long as no one knows, but it is still ok to exact punishment on others.  I read a quotation on exmormon.org recently where someone said, "This is the only church I know of where people lie to belong and get kicked out for telling the truth."

I had a short talk with this nephew and told him that everyone has freedom of religion, and that includes the right to NOT believe.  Mormons don't honor that.  They do not give their children the right to choose.  I had a cousin years ago who HATED church.  His parents didn't make him go, but did make him stay home and dig holes in the yard the entire time they were at church.  Their hope was that he hated digging more than he hated church.  Nope.

One uncle shared a story about how he had his femur shattered in an accident while on his mission.  He recounted how the doctors told him he would never walk again.  After a few surgeries and several months, he was finally able to walk without even a noticeable limp.  But all the credit for this amazing healing is given to god.  Not one word about the doctors or drugs which were the real cause of his recovery.  He shared how many years later in the temple he was given a revelation about this accident:

He was "told" that he would have had an accident whether or not he chose to serve a mission.  The reason god healed him was because he had chosen to serve a mission.  If he had not gone on a mission, god would have left him confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

The whole time I'm hearing this story, I'm just mentally shaking my head in disgust.  Really?  God only gives favors and healings to those who kiss his ass!  If you rebel in the slightest, you are no longer worthy for any type of love or blessing.  How absolutely arrogant is Mormonism!  While Mormons deny it, their god and their belief system is not one of love but one of intolerance and hate.

All these Christmas experiences really brought home to me the reality that the church is a mind controlling cult which has it's members so firmly in it's grip that they would rather die than get out.  They are all judgmental and arrogant.  They are all hypocrites.  They do not respect any choices of others that do not conform to their worldview.  They gladly cast stones at the sinners when they, themselves, are far more guilty.

As they gather to celebrate the birth of their saviour, they have no idea about what his message even was.  They just arrogantly strut around in their true church, judging and casting stones.  Even if I did believe in god, there is no way in hell I would ever be a Mormon again!

As I was leaving the party, grandma hugged me (she is unaware of my defection) and asked how my wife hunt was going.  She then urged me to "make sure you get married in the church, whatever you do!"

I simply nodded and smiled.  Puke! 

It's just amazing how seeing the same thing from two different perspectives yields such different opinions.  The stories I shared above are all faith-promoting for the TBM, and to me they are disgusting and revolting.  To them, it makes the church even more wonderful and true; to me, it makes me cringe and wonder how I ever believed in it.

7 comments:

Brad said...

That actually sounds horrific!! I would much rather have Christmas alone with a good book or movie than have to be with such people.

To this day I cringe to think that I was a mormon and feel bad in how I treated some people, even my own family. I try to make up for it to this day.

I don't really care much for Christmas, with all of the commercialism that surrounds it these days. But, I do enjoy family, and luckily most are not mormons. It's great to be with people with good drink and good conversations.

Hopefully, you were able to find time for yourself in this regard.

Peace, my friend

Unknown said...

I am so glad I am growing up with parents who let me choose my faith, my opinions and whatever else. You must be glad to be out of the mormons. I sure am that you are.

Eli said...

I think the rivalry is between U of U and BYU, not USU and BYU.

Mormon411 said...

Brad, I agree. If Jesus was alive and real, he'd have a fit over what is still being done in his name. Overall, I had a pretty good holiday.

Meg, thanks. I'm glad I'm out too. It's been 8 or 9 years since I left and I am still feeling a huge wave of relief.

Eli, thanks for that correction. I always get the two mixed up. I have made a note of it in the post.

Heather said...

Oh wow! What a fun party. =) Its so hard to be around ultra over the top TBM's. They justify everything, the world is always ending, and the finger pointing gets out of control.

So glad to be out. So glad you are out. And when you do find a new companion, and if you choose to get married, an open bar sounds lovely. =)

Mormon411 said...

That does sound nice! Are you offering? LOL

Heather said...

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
;)