This last Sunday in my Elders Quorum class, the discussion of why people leave the church came up. In my readings of people's personal experiences when leaving the church I had always heard members of the church always claiming the reasons for leaving the church are one of two things: the person sinned or they were offended.
How obtuse of an outlook can people have? That is the most uninformed and judgmental bias I could imagine in this circumstance. How hurtful is it to judge what the reasons why someone else left the church are without being willing to hear those very reasons.
Maybe they are right about being offended but in the wrong way. If I end up leaving the church I guess it will because I am offended. Not offended by another church member or by rules or by tough commandments. I will be offended that the church is a lie and although I will admit it has benefited me in multiple ways, it has stolen much of my life away from me.
I don't think it is judgmental, but rather a coping mechanism.
ReplyDeleteIn the same way that they warn people to beware of pride or being "learned" (to be learned is good... but only if you keep following their god).
If people realized that the majority of those who leave the church do so because of discovering truth, their fragile palace would crumble.
So they find an excuse that sounds good and is believable. Just like any of us did when we got dumped (it's not that I'm boring/ugly/annoying/rude/etc... it's their fault).
It might not change the result, but at least it has made me not be so bitter/angry at mormons who assume that I left because of sin/offense.
I know the church is false.
I can prove it with the BoM vs D&C's stance on David/Solomon's plural marriages.
I can prove it with the origins and content of the Book of Abraham and its facsimiles.
I can prove it with Mormon 9.
I can prove it with conflicting doctrines, not just from early leaders, but in EVERY general conference.
...but none of those things matter, because any mormon will justify them away with "he just invented those false facts to justify his own sin/offense"
Leaving mormonism isn't easy, but for many of us, truth is more important that easiness.
I highly recommend exmormon.org
Their you can find my email address if you want/need to chat (my handle is JustRob).
Thanks Rob! I'll look for you on RFM!
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