This honestly made my blood boil. Sent to 12-18 year olds. Reads like the Nancy Rigdon happiness letter. “Ignore your intuition, what might look false is true. Satan is trying to deceive you. Who can you really trust anyway?!? Here’s some optical illusions that will help you distrust your gut when you see things that CLEARLY show you the church isn’t true…”

Hey MFMC…if your church was true you wouldn’t this absolute horseshit in your youth magazine. Freaking cult garbage. Ughhhhh.

Jk. They probably could.

Just capitalizing on any chance I get to dress as least Mormon-y as possible these days.

To the women taught we could be walking pornography, endowed with the power from on high to control the thoughts and actions of men:

Fuck
That
Shit.

Our shoulders and legs and stomachs and clavicles deserve to be seen and shown and treasured and valued exactly as much as we do or do not wish. This decision, of displaying skin in celebration of our bodies? May it forevermore be ours and ours alone.

“My body may be a temple but I am the god to whom it is devoted. Do not presume to tell me how I may decorate my altar.”

(Edit: Reddit. I beg of you. Please install the feature to edit post titles, at least once, after they are posted. “ . . . they MAY take our [shoulders]. MAY.”)

If anything will be done about it remains to be seen, still it's nice to be vindicated

https://read.cesletter.org

So I was talking with an ex mormon friend of mine and he encouraged me to read the CES letter. I'm still reading the letter because there are a lot of sections but from what I've read so far, there were so many things I didn't know about. Joseph Smith made multiple accounts of his first vision, the Book of Mormon, the godhead, and polygamy/polyandry. I know there's more. I'm still reading it. I've heard of some of those topics before never thought much of it. I'm relieved that I'm not questioning my faith anymore. However, I can't help but feel so betrayed, hurt, and lied to my whole life. It's a lot to take in. If you've read the letter before, how have you handled it? Any advice on what to do? Because I still go to church to be with my family. And plus I have a disability and I really can't be at home by myself for too long. I don't know what to do

I saw this post from a Mormon couple and about vomited. This is disgusting to get engaged in 6 days after the first date. Looking at her comments and posts she wishes she didn't wait the 5 months to get married. I guess sex really is that important in a relationship.

I need to fix my algorithm but that's what you get when you're friends with Mormons and follow ExMo creators.

This is a repost to remove the name. It was a public post. I don't know them.

Hello! I feel hesitant to post, but ultimately I think I can really use some community and advice from anyone here. Alt account for privacy.

Firstly, I would like to explain some context before this story. I attend church nearly every week but I don’t believe in the church. My family relatively knows where my beliefs are, but no one at my Single’s Ward does. I attend church for the sole reason of my family. They mean more than anything to me, and I go not only to keep my sibling company but as an ode to my parents because I know they appreciate it. It feels like the least I can do for crushing their hopes for me in the church, and I find that attending doesn’t really hurt me in any way and I find keeping structure/spirituality in my life has still benefited me.

Back in January, Bishop texted me asking if I wanted to give a talk. Feeling brave to open up, the response I gave him was as follows: “Hi Bishop!! I’m really sorry but I believe I’m not in a good place to give a talk. I don’t believe in the church so I can’t really promise a lot of what I would say would completely line up with the church’s teachings.” I thought it was direct enough about my stances, and open enough if he wanted to ask about it more or if he was still okay with me giving a talk. But I never got a response back, so I just assumed that I scared him or something. A few months later, he texts asking how I am and I say I’m doing well. I figured he was asking out of formality more than actually caring because that was all that conversation was and we have had no more interactions.

Fast forward to last Sunday where we had the Stake visiting, and Bishop gave a talk. I was only half paying attention until I heard him start to quote my text word for word. He never said my name, but it still made my heart drop. I was shocked for it to randomly appear again after 7 months and I felt blind sighted. (His talk was about how we should love and make effort to reach out to people in the ward, even if they’re different/etc). He followed the quote by saying something along the lines of how and yet I’m still attending this ward or others every week and then proceeded to tell another story.

This really hurt me. I can get over the fact that he didn’t ask me to use me as a story (it would have been nice, but I can get assuming it was okay without permission due to it being anonymous..). What really hurt me and made me feel ill for the rest of church time was that he spun my story into something it wasn’t. Whether intentional or not, by ending that I still attend church weekly, it left a “hero” undertone. Like that I’m holding on to the church even if I still don’t believe, like I’m full of faith for still attending. It hurts because that is not the reason I attend at all, my narrative was shifted into something that benefited his story and the church. Even in Sunday School it was brought up again by another person giving the lesson with that same underlying tone.

All of that to say, I don’t really know how I should proceed from here. I’ve felt so conflicted the past few days, but I’m very good and burying things that bother me until they disappear, so I can probably proceed as if nothing happened. But should I confront the Bishop on this? Would that be rude? Am I blowing this way out of proportion in my head? How have you overcome something hurtful that was said during church? Any insight or thoughts would be helpful. Thank you for taking the time to read this, just knowing people will be aware of my real story, even anonymously, tremendously helps.

I was just reading something and it got me thinking about the few things that we were allowed to do as kids but weren’t supposed to tell anyone in church about. My grandmother (who I grew up with) was an absolute true believer and super Mormon. We followed all of the basic rules with the exception of a couple of Words of Wisdom guidelines. My grandmother was diabetic, so fast Sunday was out. Which meant we could all skip it. Granny loved her Tab, which was a diet soda with major caffeine. Again, it was hard to find diet soda that she liked, and so her medical condition allowed it. The rest of us drinking diet Mountain Dew was therefore allowed. This was the seventies, water was not a beverage anyone considered 😂

There’s one more that isn’t so much a rule as it just seemed to me at the time to be completely hypocritical, especially since I wasn’t allowed to go watch the movie Grease when it came out in the theaters. I did see it, but that’s not the point. I had a strict bedtime, so that Granny could stay up and watch Benny Hill. Granny immigrated from England when she was fifteen, and I’m sure it made her feel closer to her birthplace. However, Benny Hill often had women in bikinis and sometimes topless. It was just a lot of misogynistic jokes, and sometimes actually funny stuff too. Now it’s funny to think about, but got me wondering, what kinds of things were you guys allowed to do growing up that were not exactly approved by the Church?

Anybody have any funny bishops stories/interview questions?

Before I got married, my (now ex) wife and I were having issues with the law of chastity (because we are human and that’s what our natural bodies want to do), so we were frequenting the bishops office. When we got close to the end, right before we were going to get married, he gave us a bunch of unsolicited sex advice and tips and tricks on positions, etc. it’s absolutely crazy they’ll just let completely un qualified men be responsible over people and young adults in such crucial times in their lives. While I believe there are good people in the church, this should not ever be a topic of discussion. Thank god my kids will never go through this.

Nevermo, but reading a lot of Joseph Smith's writings for something else and I keep coming across specific instances of him berating someone for killing a non-aggressive snake, using the hunting of prey animals for consumption as one of his MAIN EXAMPLES of what was evil about the Lamanites, clarifying explicitly in the Word of Wisdom that meat should only be consumed "in winter or times of famine"

Like it takes very little reading comprehension to understand that the only reason Joseph Smith himself was not a vegetarian was because he'd have starved.

I'm sure an amount of it is the fact that most mainstream mormons are americans first, capitalists second, and mormons third, but this still feels like an odd thing not to practice.

The people pushing these conspiracy theories (thanks to YouTube Channels such as We The People Utah) want us to believe that Satanic Ritual Abuse is real the same way the LDS Church wants us to believe their church and the Book of Mormon is divine and true.

They don't want to give us physical, tangible, investigatable evidence that satan worshipping cabals are ritually abusing children for special powers the same way the LDS Church cannot give us evidence anything in the Book of Mormon is more than 19th century spiritual fiction based on the Bible.

They just want to give us stories, and then ponder on our feelings to see if they're true. I'm sorry, that's absolutely bullshit.

Sorry, it takes more than spooky stories, "witnesses" claiming on words alone what they've seen is true, and feelings/vibes to believe that what you're saying is true.

It all boils down to lack of evidence and the philosophical burden of proof. It's annoying that this shit is having a resurgence online for political and spiritual clout by self proclaimed God warriors, both on the believing and non believing forums.

I need to stop fighting with the SRA pushers online but people also love to eat this shit up. I'm not trying to be callous towards victims of sexual abuse which makes talking about this topic candidly hard.

However at the end of the day, there has never been any credible evidence EVER produced of organized groups sacrificing, mind controlling, and molesting children for special powers on satanic altars in Utah. Full stop. No, some lady sharing a sad story online is not evidence of these organized satanic cabals mind-controlling children either.

I had been keeping an eye on FB posts, assuming that I would find out when the funeral was planned for, but it was silent nothing about the death from any family members to clue me in on the funeral plans, but after seeing a new update yesterday, I now know that my family's intent has always been to exclude me, it could have been dangerous to try to just attend the funeral, but it still hurts to not be included - that's another thing I have a problem with about the "family is forever" BS that TSCC dishes out... It's clear now that I have no real family on earth, the only person who gave AF about me was my dad- I'd be happy only if he's the only family member who I have to interact with for eternity...anyone know what the MFMC has to say about what if you have a shitty family and being around them for forever would be legitimate torture & punishment? 🤬😪🤬

Obviously, you can't be Mormon and post about a funeral on social media without including shitty quotes from past General Conferences, so I guess I didn't miss anything by not taking a long plane flight!🙄

Y'all my dad watched this movie called "The Amish Stud" and the plot revolves around a man pressuring his wife to break Amish rules around sex (specifically oral sex). He started going off about how weird and restrictive it is and that, "at least the church isn't that bad" 😐 I mentioned the letter and he tried brushing it off with classics like, "well, it was part of the culture" and "maybe it was just taught incorrectly on the local level".

Does anyone know where it could be found on the church's website, if at all? I thought I'd check here first before I waste my time since it's such a maze.

I was able to find the original document online, but you know how these things go. It's not a credible source unless it's on the (definitely impartial) church's website 🤪

Imagine how interesting it would be if Bruce R. McConkie became President of the LDS Church—just the sheer amount of damage control they’d have to do.

You already know the PR cadence would be nonstop: “It was just his opinion. He was speaking as a man.”

McConkie's "dOcTrInEs" are already a headache to Mormons. Imagine if he taught and instituted them as a President.

The McConkie talks are awful for their rebranding in order to try to appeal to Mainstream Christians.

McConkie's also probably spinning in his grave right now.

While he was reactionary asf, I can't help but find the church's departure from his ideas to be fascinating.

Ever since leaving, I’ve realized even more how crazy this church is. I used to baptize myself for dead people??

And I’ve started becoming judgmental of my still believing family. How can they believe that a church that forces 12 year olds to talk alone in a room with a 50 year old man who has power over her, about masturbation, is true?? How do people actually believe Joseph smith was a good person? And that God talks to them? It all feels ridiculous to me and it gets more and more ridiculous the more I think about it.

I know it’s wrong but I’ve started struggling with thinking that I’m better than members, or smarter than them. Idk how to get rid of this thinking. Am I the problem or do others struggle with this as well?

Just wanted to share that I officially submitted (to quit Mormon) my resignation. I realize my records are still technically there as of this moment but submitting the notarized paperwork feels good. I’ve been out ten years but knew they still have records and info on me. Thinking of the MFMC using me as a statistic in anyway gives me the ick.

My deconstruction process has been long and hard. It may never be over but I think the worst is behind me and now officially resigning feels good, light, freeing. It’s over. 🥹 ehem….

it is finished 😂😂😂

nevermo (but fascinated with mormonism) here! why in the HECK do all the apostles, etc. include their middle (or first!) initial in their name? thanks that’s all

This is the second ad for institute that I've received in the mail, however this time they didn't even say what it was for! The back side had a big address printed and a tiny institute label that had been stamped over, making it hard to read. I didn't take a picture though, as I would have had to black out half of it to avoid doxxing myself.

The thing about prayer (especially Mormon prayer) is, the answer is inside us the whole time. But if you're stressed or anxious you aren't gonna get anything and just feel more stressed because of it.

But with tarot you can gently get the answer out of you without having to force anything. You can even get multiple answers instead of just one! Mormon prayer seems to tell people "go with the first answer you get" which isn't healthy once you realize that the answers are inside of you and not from a god.

I also like how it has to be an intentional event. I care about my cards so I'm not gonna do it half awake before bed or in front of a cluttered desk. When I feel like i need to do a reading I'll clear space on my desk or make a note to sleep on the worry then read tomorrow with mental clarity.

Also I recommend looking up your birthday cards even though there isn't anything magic about it, since having a reason for personal attachment to certain cards is just useful for introspection.

I don’t want to cause family drama so I figured I would share and vent here….

I attended a family reunion recently. All of my family besides my husband and myself are still very active members. A family member shared this story about one of our ancestors.

My great great great grandfather was a polygamist. He and his 3 wives left salt lake and moved to California during the gold rush. Brigham Young commanded the saints to come back to salt lake. My great great great grandmother left her husband and his other wives to “follow the prophet” and came back to salt lake where she later remarried. Out of the three wives, her line has significantly more descendants.

My family member then went on to say that it was because she followed the prophet that her line is so large. Queue eye roll.

I really wanted to comment that I guess my line is just going to dry up then because I won’t be following any prophet anytime soon. Anyway, just overall frustrating that they talk about the church all the time and have little to no regard to how that impacts those of us that are no longer members.

Also, why the obsession with having a lot of descendants? I really do not care if I have direct descendants in a few generations.

I posted about this yesterday and I think I was wrong. I removed the post to get the ID info off reddit. Here's what I learned after talking to a non member with access to legal info that I don't pay for the subscription for. If he was a bishop in 2018 like it says on floodlit, then he probably was not a bishop in 2024 at the time of the offense. The victim was a member of his home, as DCFS was involved, so it was probably his daughter and the abuse was unlikely to be related to the church in any way. If he wasn't an active bishop at the time of the offense and it's a creeper filming his daughter naked, the church might not even have known about it. It's pretty common in family sex abuse cases for the media and courts to keep things under wraps (the media doesn't have to, but they do out of respect) to protect the victim from being identified in the community and being embarrassed as they are trying to get over the abuse. I think I was wrong about this one.

From Bryant S. Hinckley’s ’That Ye Might Have Joy’. Hilarious double standards.

And I blame him, the church, the bishop and the stake presidency. They talk to him on going into a mission. At first he didnt want to but then he left because it was the "right" thing to do. And now we are stuck with a big debt that specifically my mother has to deal with.

My whole family basically rejoiced him when he decided to go, my grandparents, uncles, aunts and even me. I thought look how he goes into a mission, when I never did. And 2 weeks later he told us about his debt.

Now I feel like a mess and betrayed, I always thought if someone went to a mission then that means that he would be doing his own things and there was nothing to worry about but no. What if he never went and paid of his credit debt like he supposed to but no, looks like God had other plans, serve me and fuck your family.