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I am very uncomfortable with the church using mind control techniques . Yes they are it is very obvious today and even more prevelant today than in past years. To follow someone or something blindly without question is mind control . The guilt,shame and other obvious techniques are deplorable and should be abandoned . The biggest problem I have with the church is “This is the only true church on the face of the earth” saying well ok but what about all the other billions of people that are not members ???? Are they damned to hell ??? It is my belief that this is not the only true church on the face of the earth !! Their are many good people who are not members and many good churches besides our own , the truth comes from being a follower of Jesus Christ who is the savior of the world end of story . the church has taken a stance of excommunicating questioning members , which is really anti Christian in my view perhaps they should be a little more inclusive of people with different views and admit to wrong doing in the past suchas denying the priesthood to blacks etc etc etc . To follow the prophet blindly is a recipe for disaster , just my take on it !! I am sooooooo sorry you are having a hard time and especially sorry for your sons experience. Let me just say that my son Dustin had planned to go on a mission all his life and we were so proud of him for that. Dustin was born with Cerebral Palsy and walks with crutches and is unable to walk long distances. Well the time came for him to go on a mission and he was told he would not be able to go on his mission !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Needles to say he was devastated to the point of being suicidal . We tried several different angles to get the church to change their mind to no avail. In my opinion he could have served a mission at a temple visitor center explaining the gospel to non members but noooooo they wouldn’t go for that !!! This is where my faith began to crumble as Dustin was a very innocent hard working faithful member . He is still a member but not nearly as active as he once was . I went on trying to be active in the church and just put it on my shelf but this past year my shelf finally broke and crashed with a loud thud !!!! If I had my way I would be out of the church but I have a TBM spouse who will divorce me if I leave the church at least that is what she says . My point is it is ok to talk about it and continue to be a member even if not a totally comitted member . I have found that talking with others who have or are having a faith crisis really does help. Please don’t be a stranger here keep us updated. God Bless you and your son. I pay on net income and always have. I do not believe many things in the church but still attend for family issues . I really consider myself a Christian attending a Mormon church . I have no problem paying tithing because it funds the good things about the church (which it does many good things) . I attend the temple just to please my wife and God if God hopefully recognizes the sacrifices I make to attend. Long story short I like flying under the radar and have done so for many many many years . I do not want doctrine discussions or debate it is not my way . I love many things about the church but also disagree on many key points but again keep it to myself , in short I attend , pray and believe what I believe !!!!!!!!!!! Hope that helps. I struggled with football on the sabath for years and finally gave in to my wife and we agreed I could watch almost as many college games on saturday as I wanted . I gave up football on sunday it has been tough I find myself checking scores on the computer etc etc but I love college football more than ever especially BYU . I also do not want to minimize a tough choice by many of those who have resigned but most of those folks were already on the edge and this was just the last bit of weight that tipped the scales in the wrong direction for them. I have come to believe you can either feed your testimony and watch it grow or you can feed your doubts and they will grow. It is all a choice , I can say this because i have been there good advice would be to doubt your doubts until you reach a place in faith that you can feed your testimony. My heart goes out to those who have made that difficult choice and ask them to please reconsider and come back to the joy you once knew. As members we must try to welcome them back with open arms and hold nothing against them . I too am asking myself should I stay or should I go now ? With last weekends policy I really don’t know , for now I am taking the approach wait and see . I think perhaps this policy will be changed but I’m not sure. In any event I did type up my resignation letter and placed it on the shelf just in case. the church has several policies I do not agree with and it gets harder and harder to go to church and pretend like I agree with everything . the only thing that has saved my membership for now is the website church is true. I really enjoy looking at our faith in a different way . God Bless.
This is exactly the problem I have with the church. They sneak around even when you ask them not too. this whole issue is way out of line putting wedges between family members , they seem to go out of their way to do it. I have always been present for my kids interviews because I demanded it , no one has the right to interview a child alone just way too much at stake!! I worked in law enforcement years ago and I know what could happen and am not willing to take a chance. I thought I was on my way back to being active in the church but with all the stuff that has gone on this past weekend with the new church policy etc etc etc I’m not so sure I even want to be associated with this church !! I really like the “New Mormonism” approach . In fact I have been doing this for a few years now !!! It’s nice to not worry about the literal and historical things. I like looking at the church and what it teaches today !!! The church is clean living has a great teaching and stands out in todays society . I see nothing wrong with the new Mormonism approach and hope others will also adopt it !!! You are right when someone has a crisis of faith that is not the time to withdraw friendship. All to often that is what happens because (I believe members feel threatened or that someone elses disaffection will rub off on them) I have to agree with someone who wrote on this thread prior to me that when I was having my crisis of faith it was a cry for help and I withdrew. To my suprise not one person called or came over to check on our family to find out why we were not at church. I was hurt to say the least especially because I needed help !!!!!!!! It is only because of my wife that I am still a member . So the moral of the story is help those in need or at least check on them to see if they need help, Love is the key and is thr greatest of all the commandments !! Wow this could have a lot of answers depending upon where he/she is on the scale of Mormon beliefs . I like the question so I will take a stab in the dark. 1. Basic Christian Beliefs (essential) Jesus was crucified for our sins died and was resurected on the third day and ascended to heaven and will return.
2. A belief in the prexistence (we were all once spirits waiting for the chance to come to earth)
3. Beleif in the Apostasy of the original church Jesus set up on earth.
4. Belief in the restoration , not so much in Joseph Smith although he was a part of it but that the church has been restored to earth and that Jesus leads and directs the church through prophets .
5. I personaly do not believe the Temple should be included as we are all going to be together somewhere in the kingdoms after death , I do not need the temple for help in this area. (God is a God of the Living not the dead) .
6. I also do not believe this is the only true church I believe thier are many and it is more of an individual worship than the beliefs of one church.
That’s about it for me I hope that is what you were looking for , I could go on but that is the short answer for now.
I think the most important thing darkjedi is that the focus was on Jesus Christ . I would like to see more members work toward being more Christ centered and get some distance from joseph Smith . Jesus Christ should always be our focus and we should live a life that reflects that !!! The church by it’s own definition is in a state of apostasy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They do form Doctrine by a council which they said was a sure sign of apostasy . What else is their to say about it !!!!! They cannot deny they have contradicted themselves on this one. I am ok with it though after my crisis of faith I decided to stay but I no longer say this is the one and only true church, I am over that. I have come to the conclusion (after months of research) that it doesn’t matter what church one belongs too. Gods greatest commandment is and still is Love . Love him and love each other that’s it, it is asimple as that. I live my life with faith and conviction thinking of god and praying for guidance in all I do . I guess i am a new type Mormon if that is a catagory ? i believe what I believe and the great thing is no one else can change that !!! I still love the church don’t get me wrong but my definition of things has changed . Thanks Sheldon & GB Smith I could not for the life of me remember who said that !!!!!!!!! Thanks Again. Jack. I know I originally posted here on July 13th but my crisis actually began around Feb. 1, 2015. I have spent many many days investigating and reading asking questions so on and so forth. A crisis in faith is a tough road and as many have expressed mostly an unexpected one. I do enjoy reading all the posts here as many are finding ways to stay Lds . Faith does have a great deal to do with it and must be exercised like any other part of the body and or mind. My faith was shaken but I am still in the church where I plan to be for life !!!! God Bless and I will write again soon. Jack
