A Very Apostate Christmas
So far, my apostasy from the LDS church has been without major incident.
We went to an annual family Christmas party at my wife's grandmother's house last night...of the 35 or so people there, I think there were only about 3 or 4 of us non-members (or apostates) of the church.
I think I'm fortunate to have a family (both immediate and extended) who are willing to accept me regardless of my religious beliefs. While I'm fairly certain there's an amount of hushed whisperings and "tsk tsk's" that goes on behind our backs (I know because I've not only heard it myself, I've also been guilty of doing the exact same thing), there isn't any serious backbiting or reprimanding going on.
If anything, the other family members just feel pity towards us "Sons of Perdition" because to them, we've rejected the one and only true gospel of Jesus Christ and have resigned ourselves to a lower glory of heaven, if not outer darkness itself (a Mormon version of Hell).
Members of the Mormon faith just can't help it. They're conditioned to think that they are God's new chosen people (Jews? Who are they?) and everyone else is just Satan's modeling clay, subject to his every evil will and whim. To the Mormon faithful, everyone else is an outsider who just lacks knowledge, or faith, or God's Holy Spirit, or a combination of all three.
By the way, this is a classic cult characteristic...establishing an "us versus them" mentality. To Mormons, there are only two kinds of people - especially in the state of Utah: "Members", or the enlightened recipients of God's only true and restored gospel, and "Non-Members".
That's it...there isn't really a third option.
Of course, thanks to comments made by their "Prophet, Seer and Revelator" Gordon B. Hinckley, many members have accepted the very possibility that members of other faiths may actually have some divine inspiration. "Bring us what good you have and see if we can add to it" is a paraphrase GBH has delivered during a semi-annual Conference address.
Wow, that view has certainly come a long way from Joseph Smith's original claim that "they were all wrong...that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt..."
How nice of Mr. Hinckley to distance himself and the church even further from the authenticity of its very origins and promote a more loving, accepting, and "politically correct" mindset of church members. For a church that used to take such pride in being different from all the other Christian sects (you know, being that they're such a unique and "peculiar" people), it's now trying so hard to fit in with everybody else and find acceptance within mainstream Christianity.
I'm kind of on a tangent here...
So the party went well last night. I adhered to my strategy of avoiding all topics of conversation dealing with the church and all it's many tentacles (callings, Scouting, etc.) as well as the obligatory "blessing on the food". As uncomfortable as I am having to sit through these "blessings" or any other prayer (Mormon or not) for that matter, I absolutely despise being the one asked to give the damn thing.
The majority of my family, or my wife's family, aren't even aware of my apostasy as far as I can tell. I don't know...I guess word may have gotten around, but I know that isn't something they like to talk about. It's too negative...too controversial for their taste. I haven't been asked anything about my exodus from the faith, but then again, nobody asked me about my current church calling, or anything like that...so it's difficult to determine.
I guess I could always stand up on a chair and start waving my arms and yell "hey, look at me! I've left the church because I learned it's all a fraud and that you're all brainwashed members of a frackin' cult!"
That probably wouldn't be received very well.
There's undoubtedly a better way to handle it, but I'm clueless as to the approach. Perhaps it's best to just keep my mouth shut until someone actually asks me something about it and then I can be as honest and forthright about it as I possibly can be, without stepping on any toes in the process. I don't want to be accused of being an evil "anti-Mormon"...even if that's what I really am.
We have another family get-together tonight...so we'll see how that goes.
Merry Christmas to all!
We went to an annual family Christmas party at my wife's grandmother's house last night...of the 35 or so people there, I think there were only about 3 or 4 of us non-members (or apostates) of the church.
I think I'm fortunate to have a family (both immediate and extended) who are willing to accept me regardless of my religious beliefs. While I'm fairly certain there's an amount of hushed whisperings and "tsk tsk's" that goes on behind our backs (I know because I've not only heard it myself, I've also been guilty of doing the exact same thing), there isn't any serious backbiting or reprimanding going on.
If anything, the other family members just feel pity towards us "Sons of Perdition" because to them, we've rejected the one and only true gospel of Jesus Christ and have resigned ourselves to a lower glory of heaven, if not outer darkness itself (a Mormon version of Hell).
Members of the Mormon faith just can't help it. They're conditioned to think that they are God's new chosen people (Jews? Who are they?) and everyone else is just Satan's modeling clay, subject to his every evil will and whim. To the Mormon faithful, everyone else is an outsider who just lacks knowledge, or faith, or God's Holy Spirit, or a combination of all three.
By the way, this is a classic cult characteristic...establishing an "us versus them" mentality. To Mormons, there are only two kinds of people - especially in the state of Utah: "Members", or the enlightened recipients of God's only true and restored gospel, and "Non-Members".
That's it...there isn't really a third option.
Of course, thanks to comments made by their "Prophet, Seer and Revelator" Gordon B. Hinckley, many members have accepted the very possibility that members of other faiths may actually have some divine inspiration. "Bring us what good you have and see if we can add to it" is a paraphrase GBH has delivered during a semi-annual Conference address.
Wow, that view has certainly come a long way from Joseph Smith's original claim that "they were all wrong...that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt..."
How nice of Mr. Hinckley to distance himself and the church even further from the authenticity of its very origins and promote a more loving, accepting, and "politically correct" mindset of church members. For a church that used to take such pride in being different from all the other Christian sects (you know, being that they're such a unique and "peculiar" people), it's now trying so hard to fit in with everybody else and find acceptance within mainstream Christianity.
I'm kind of on a tangent here...
So the party went well last night. I adhered to my strategy of avoiding all topics of conversation dealing with the church and all it's many tentacles (callings, Scouting, etc.) as well as the obligatory "blessing on the food". As uncomfortable as I am having to sit through these "blessings" or any other prayer (Mormon or not) for that matter, I absolutely despise being the one asked to give the damn thing.
The majority of my family, or my wife's family, aren't even aware of my apostasy as far as I can tell. I don't know...I guess word may have gotten around, but I know that isn't something they like to talk about. It's too negative...too controversial for their taste. I haven't been asked anything about my exodus from the faith, but then again, nobody asked me about my current church calling, or anything like that...so it's difficult to determine.
I guess I could always stand up on a chair and start waving my arms and yell "hey, look at me! I've left the church because I learned it's all a fraud and that you're all brainwashed members of a frackin' cult!"
That probably wouldn't be received very well.
There's undoubtedly a better way to handle it, but I'm clueless as to the approach. Perhaps it's best to just keep my mouth shut until someone actually asks me something about it and then I can be as honest and forthright about it as I possibly can be, without stepping on any toes in the process. I don't want to be accused of being an evil "anti-Mormon"...even if that's what I really am.
We have another family get-together tonight...so we'll see how that goes.
Merry Christmas to all!
posted by Al Jordan | 6:35 AM
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