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First off, you haven’t failed God or anyone else for that matter, so don’t let the guilt eat at you. Second if you are waiting for answer to your prayers on how to reconcile what your doing to the teachings of the Church it isn’t going to happen. the rules are pretty cut and dried here. You will find a lot of support on here. I have found that you will not be judged and you will be accepted. I guess you have to determine how important being a TBM is to you, those of us on here (most of us I would say anyway) are here because we have problems with the Church but don’t want to cut ourselves off from the Church for social reasons or spiritual reasons. So I think you have to sit and think about is important to you in this regard and follow accordingly. I would have to agree with Ray on this one. I am curious though and please don’t answer on here but are the other couples LDS? if so, you’ll probably be found out anyway as someone will probably go to their bishop on this. I’m thinking if you’re going to continue anyway then either go the social route or go to your Bishop and confess and get the whole court thing over and done with. I definitely wouldn’t go to any temple recommend interviews or accept any callings though. Ghostman, welcome. My advice to you would be to just stay here. Even though I have doubts about the church I still feel that as long as we center ourselves around Christ and live a Christlike life the rest of it doesn’t matter. I think you should embrace what feels right and good and whatever doesn’t feel right and good simply discard or at least set aside. I think the worst thing you can do is let guilt set in. Guilt about having doubts, guilt about exploring alternative views. etc. once the guilt sets in the next step is becoming an ex-mormon. If you do have those feelings we are here to help and support you. It sounds though, as if you are doing pretty well and I’ll probably be turning to you for advice. welcome again and hope to keep seeing you on here. Glad you’re here! Quote:Collingwood Magpies are like the Yankees, you either love them or hate them. I love the Yankees, and so I now like the Magpies.
Actually, Collingwood are the club that Bogans are famous for following. They are famous for choking in championships. so much so that the term ‘collingwobbles’ was coined just for them. If any club is universally loved or hated it’s Carlton, they even have the same color scheme. so go Carlton.
Like you, I didn’t have a rock solid, spritual, I know the chruch is true, type of testimony. Actually, that is why I went on a mission. I would hear RM’s describe how spiritual their missions were and I felt that’s what I needed to do in order to have that assurance. If you read my intro post you’ll see that my mission was the worst two years of my life. You need to know before you go that there are missions where love is the rule and are very spiritual and there are others (like mine) which preisthood leaders use as a stepping stone for more prestigious callings, where love of the people and the spirit are not the main goal but gaining statistics and basically trying to impress your preisthood leaders. I read somewhere where one young man had doubts about the dogma of the church and was told by his bishop that he should just go and convert the people to Christ and that tactic worked for this young man. yankeedownunder wrote:When you ended back up in Price, did you run into any of the bullies and did they apologize or acknowledge their bullying ways from the younger years? I always wonder if bullies grow up and realize at some point they are bullies
I ran into a few of them. No apologies but they treated me ok too, no hard feelings etc…
sorry for the repeat, I’m new to this sort of thing, message boards and such.
Welcome to the jungle. Like you, I often wonder how seemingly scriptural Mormons can hold to tea party conservative politics or even espouse capitalism. It’s as if they totally ignore the Jesus of the scriptures and even the teachings of Joseph Smith. I belong to the Socialist Party of Australia so US politics don’t concern me anymore as far as having to vote. The whole conservative nature of Mormons also mainly applies in the US. Here in Australia as in other parts of the world I’m sure members are more liberal leaning. Most rank and file Mormons here in Australia are more concerned about their own political parties and don’t really pay that much attention to US political philosophy. They are mainly proud of the fact that Mitt Romney is a Mormon without really seeing what a bankrupt person he is coming across as. anyway, I hope you enjoy it here. hope to talk to you again soon. Most of my life I have struggled with feelings of unworthiness (just read the miracle of forgiveness if you want to feel worth less than nothing) mainly because I happened to like books, movies, music etc. that I wanted to hear, see, and read. I fell away from the church mainly because of feeling guilty for just being myself. It was a navy chaplain (LDS) who explained to me that guilt should be a step towards repentance not a knife with which to cut your spiritual throat. When it becomes a weapon in the hands of Satan, you need to discard it. That simple explination went a long way towards coming back into the fold. I hope this helps a bit. I would like to extend a welcome also. First off you are extremly lucky that your wife is so understanding, its clear she truly loves you and values you and your family more than what others in your ward might think. I really liked your story and hope to have more interaction, it’s good to have this particular point of view( atheism) to look forward to. In this article Danny Ainge was quoted as saying, ‘every young man should prepare for a mission but not every young man should go on one.’ Sounds like someone told him playing hoops was mission enough. personally, if it came to playing basketball or going on a mission I know which one I would choose, hint, it doesn’t involve knocking on doors. Scooter, you might regret wanting to read my intro post. It is pretty long. That is probably why it isn’t up yet. Who ever is reviewing it is probably thinking ‘ geez, there goes my evening.’ anyway, kidding aside I hope you find it interesting. Rumpole, you pose an interesting paradox with your ratchet theory, one thing I can say is, we are not a minority. I would suggest that all members, if they are honest with themselves, have doubts. but they quiet these doubts by leaning on their testimony, or leaning on the words of the church leaders. Those of us who wrestle with these doubts and form internet groups such as this one to discuss these doubts, are probably just the tip of the iceberg. As for wanting a confirmation as to the truthfulness of the church as the ‘ one true church’ as a means for staying. I doubt anyone here can help you with that. My doubts aren’t that different from yours and I get the feeling because you are wrestling with these doubts that you are probably more spiritual than you give yourself credit for. I also doubt my spirituality yet if I am so un-spritual why do the doubts bother me so much? Hi Scooter, I’m new here myself and can relate to all the things you are going through, I like my iced coffee and don’t always pay my full tithe either (although I have it automatically taken from my bank account so that takes the sting out a bit). Like you, I see no reason to abandon the ‘faith of our fathers’ either and as long as there are like minded individuals out there you and I can talk things through with, the journey is hopefully easier. So welcome, I’m glad you’re here.
