It's Official!
My departure from the LDS church is now complete. It's taken 6 MONTHS to process, but it's finally done.
On Friday, June 29th, I returned home from work and right there waiting for me was an envelope from the Member and Statistical Records Division of the CoJCoLDS. Inside was a letter dated June 27th that simply stated that, per my request, I was no longer a member.
It was a bittersweet victory. Frankly, I expected something more. I'd heard from others who have left that they received a little card with a picture of the First Presidency pleading with them to return to the fold. I was almost hoping to get one of those...not that it would have done any good of course...at least not in convincing me to go back. Leaving the church was the only sane, rational, and logical decision I could have made. Going back now would be virtually impossible, since I cannot unlearn what I have learned about it's history.
I've been wanting to establish a date of my departure so I could make an annual celebration of it, but I wasn't ever sure of what that date would be. The date I sent in my letter? The date the Bishop acknowledged it? The date my request is processed, or when I received the letter of confirmation?
I think I'll go with June 27th. From now on, I'll celebrate that as my "Religious Independance Day". I am now free from any and all organizations, groups, or figurative shackles that keep me, my mind, or my soul in bondage under a wacky set of religious beliefs.
Religions, especially the extremely controlling and legalistic ones, such as the LDS church are more dangerous to the human spirit than they appear.
In closing, I'd like to bear my testimony (I know, this is a bit of a tongue-in-cheek comment). The LDS aka Mormon church is NOT true. Joseph Smith was a liar and a con-man and was NOT a prophet of God. Brigham Young was a terrible tyrant, NOT a prophet. None of the other so-called "prophets" up to Gordon "I don't know that we teach that" Hinckley have any kind of special connection to God (if he even exists.)
They only perpetuate the lies that old Joe Smith started, and when those lies are revealed, they back-peddle and spin it whichever way they can in an attempt to save face and credibility. The LDS "priesthood authority" is pathetic and worthless. It does nothing. The temple garments are worthless; they do not actually protect people from physical harm (I can't believe I ever bought into that nonsense) and the temple ceremony itself is NOT divinely inspired - wake up folks, it's based on Masonic rituals, nothing more. The Mormon God is pretty absent-minded if he requires secret "tokens and signs" (i.e. handshakes) to know who's worthy of his "heaven" and who isn't. Paying your tithing will not bless your lives any more so than not paying it. It only takes food, clothing, and other necessities from your family - people who need it. God and Jesus and the Corporation of the President DO NOT NEED YOUR MONEY. Keep it. Go do something useful or fun with it.
I say these things in the name of religous freedom, amen.
On Friday, June 29th, I returned home from work and right there waiting for me was an envelope from the Member and Statistical Records Division of the CoJCoLDS. Inside was a letter dated June 27th that simply stated that, per my request, I was no longer a member.
It was a bittersweet victory. Frankly, I expected something more. I'd heard from others who have left that they received a little card with a picture of the First Presidency pleading with them to return to the fold. I was almost hoping to get one of those...not that it would have done any good of course...at least not in convincing me to go back. Leaving the church was the only sane, rational, and logical decision I could have made. Going back now would be virtually impossible, since I cannot unlearn what I have learned about it's history.
I've been wanting to establish a date of my departure so I could make an annual celebration of it, but I wasn't ever sure of what that date would be. The date I sent in my letter? The date the Bishop acknowledged it? The date my request is processed, or when I received the letter of confirmation?
I think I'll go with June 27th. From now on, I'll celebrate that as my "Religious Independance Day". I am now free from any and all organizations, groups, or figurative shackles that keep me, my mind, or my soul in bondage under a wacky set of religious beliefs.
Religions, especially the extremely controlling and legalistic ones, such as the LDS church are more dangerous to the human spirit than they appear.
In closing, I'd like to bear my testimony (I know, this is a bit of a tongue-in-cheek comment). The LDS aka Mormon church is NOT true. Joseph Smith was a liar and a con-man and was NOT a prophet of God. Brigham Young was a terrible tyrant, NOT a prophet. None of the other so-called "prophets" up to Gordon "I don't know that we teach that" Hinckley have any kind of special connection to God (if he even exists.)
They only perpetuate the lies that old Joe Smith started, and when those lies are revealed, they back-peddle and spin it whichever way they can in an attempt to save face and credibility. The LDS "priesthood authority" is pathetic and worthless. It does nothing. The temple garments are worthless; they do not actually protect people from physical harm (I can't believe I ever bought into that nonsense) and the temple ceremony itself is NOT divinely inspired - wake up folks, it's based on Masonic rituals, nothing more. The Mormon God is pretty absent-minded if he requires secret "tokens and signs" (i.e. handshakes) to know who's worthy of his "heaven" and who isn't. Paying your tithing will not bless your lives any more so than not paying it. It only takes food, clothing, and other necessities from your family - people who need it. God and Jesus and the Corporation of the President DO NOT NEED YOUR MONEY. Keep it. Go do something useful or fun with it.
I say these things in the name of religous freedom, amen.
posted by Al Jordan | 5:53 AM
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