The Out Campaign

 INTJ

"It is error only, and not truth, that shrinks from inquiry." ~ Thomas Paine

In fairness I have to say not everything in Mormonism was bad for me.  Especially for people with higher social needs than mine, it can be a good social network.  If you're Mormon, anywhere you move you will have "instant friends".  Unfortunately the "friendships" can at times be superficial and insincere, but at least you have people to hang out with if you need it.  If you're a kind of "lazy" parent, you can let the church do a lot of your moral/ethics teaching for you.  You can let the church take care of service projects and civic responsibility teaching instead of always planning your own family service projects.  So there are some pros, but honestly, I find the cons far outweigh the pros of Mormonism for me.  People often want to know why I left.  I'll try to briefly explain why.  It happened slowly over a long period of time, starting in my mid teens and culminating in my mid 20s.

To quote Ed Bliss: "If you are a devout Latter-day Saint, however, you may want to proceed no further. The church urges its members to read only those things about Mormonism that are "faith promoting,” and what you’ll find on this site doesn’t meet that test. It’s all true, but sometimes the truth is not “faith promoting,” as Apostle Boyd Packer has famously pointed out.

So the question you must ask yourself is this: “If my beliefs about Mormonism were wrong, would I really want to know?”  If not, don’t risk your peace of mind by reading further. Religious beliefs, even if incorrect, can be comforting, and I’m not interested in upsetting your equanimity. Of course, it wouldn’t make any difference anyway, because if you are a faithful Mormon you say to yourself, “I know that the Book of Mormon is true, and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and anything that could cast doubt on that is automatically false.” If that’s how you feel, read no further. Depart in peace. I wish you well.

Now that there’s nobody left here except us genuine Seekers after Truth, let’s take a look at Mormonism, and consider both its strengths and its weaknesses.
 
Mormonism is a mixed bag. Because many devout Mormons are trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent (to borrow a list of virtues from the Boy Scouts) it is obvious that the church appeals to the positive tendencies in human nature. Mormons are good people, always striving to be even better. At the same time, devout members of the church often lack certain qualities that most people consider important: open-mindedness, objectivity, healthy skepticism, candor, and a willingness to submit their beliefs to the test of logic. When the church warns its members never to read anything critical of its teachings, its history, or its leaders, it is demonstrating that the notion of a free forum of ideas is alien to the culture of Mormonism."

The "Burning In The Bosom"
I think I know what many Mormons will want to write to me:  It's not about facts, it's about feelings.  You have to pray about and get a testimony (which is a feeling about Mormonism).  It's highly emphasized that believing that Mormonism is 'true" is all about relying on strong emotional reactions instead of facts.  There have been many general conference talks emphasizing this idea.

Sorry, but that's not the way to discern truth.  You can make yourself feel whatever you want.  That's been scientifically proven.  People are easily swayed into strong emotional reactions about things.  Here's my perspective - Let's assume that God really exists and is all powerful and all knowing, as Mormons believe. Of ALL the ways he could communicate to humankind, God chooses to use the only method that humans could manufacture themselves? Of all the ways he could communicate his will, he chooses the least reliable, most error-prone method he could find?

Now assume that we live in a world in which God does not exist but most people believe in him. How would most people justify their religious belief in a natural world - i.e. how do they find evidence for the supernatural in only a natural world?  Would it not be through the same method: emotions?  The only method they can manufacture themselves?

Faith cannot be sustained on falsehoods and deception. Faith is not sufficient when all tangible evidence contradicts the church.  I agree with Thomas Edison who said  "Faith, as well intentioned as it may be, must be built on facts, not fiction--faith in fiction is a damnable false hope."  Here's a link to another person's thoughts on these same things that I think is well written.  Another excellent document discussing the whole "burning in the bosom" scenario is here.  Additional writings are here & here.

And what about all the people of other religions who are so sure they've had the "burning in their bosom" - that witness from the Holy Spirit - that their particular religion is true?  I know Mormons who will say those people are deceived, but honestly, the only claim they can lay to their "burning in the bosom" being superior is because the Mormon leaders say so.  That falls under faulty reasoning.

Intelligent ≠ Rational
I'm not saying that Mormons are not intelligent.  Please understand that "rational" and "intelligent" are not synonyms.  One can be taught to be rational and not be overly intelligent.  One can also be quite intelligent yet not rational, or be able to compartmentalize and be rational in regards to some subjects yet not others.  Multiple social science studies have demonstrated that once indoctrinated into a set of beliefs, only 5% are able to break free of that indoctrination.  It is for that 5% open to examining the foundations of their religion that I speak out and make an attempt to reach.

The problem with more fundamentalist type religions, of which I include Mormonism in, is that they really screw with your rational (critical) thinking skills.  In order to swallow many claims and arguments made in religions, one must rely on faulty reasoning.  A lot of circular reasoning is used.  Rational thinking and open questioning are just not encouraged.  They are frowned upon.  One can "question" within a very narrow scope, but anything outside of that very narrow scope is frowned upon.  Unquestioning obedience is highly prized.  GAs have stated this many times. 

Mormon apostle Boyd K. Packer has said that intellectuals are one of the biggest threats to the LDS church.  The only reason anyone would say something like this would be because they fear the use of the rules of rational argument being used to analyze their claims.  If the Mormon religion had a solid foundation and a leg to stand on, it wouldn't have anything to fear from "intellectuals" and scrutiny.  They would embrace intellectuals instead of consider them threats.

I find it rather ironic that Mormons have scriptures in their D&C that talk about how important knowledge and learning is, how important freedom is, yet the leaders really try to keep their members on a tight leash, and treat them like they think they are a bunch of dumb or retarded people, telling them what they can and can't read, what to do, what to think, indoctrinating them that it's bad to question.  "You can't figure things out for yourself - just do what we say, we know what's best."  This was extremely evident when I attended BYU.  I personally find it extremely insulting & a load of BS.  Only an organization (or an individual) that has something to hide would proclaim things like "oh when they are learned they think they are wise...etc."  That mindset was developed and institutionalized in order to attempt to maintain control over people.

What About The 11 Witnesses To The Book of Mormon?
Grant Palmer has some excellent information about the 11 witnesses in his book "An Insider's View of Mormon Origins."  Some online information is here & here.  Also seriously consider this:

Questions often asked by Mormons are “What if you’re wrong?” and “What about all the witnesses testimonies that they never denied?” After watching the following video ask yourself how worried you are that you might be wrong about Sathya Sai Baba. Isn’t it easy to see that the testimonies about Sathya Sai Baba aren’t credible despite the sincerity of the believer? There are well educated people that believe him. There are people that have abandoned their devotion for Sai Baba and still profess belief in his mystical abilities. Sathya Sai Baba has millions of followers that believe he’s divine. With perspective it’s quite easy to see he’s a fraud and does cheap parlor tricks to produce “holy ash” and trinkets.

Video on Google  

Why Do I Speak Out Against The Mormon Church?
When people ask why I speak out against the Mormon church, I like to give them the following quotes from their own past leaders:

Orson Pratt, an early apostle, said: "The Book of Mormon must be either true or false. If true, it is one of the most important messages ever sent from God. If false, it is one of the most cunning, wicked, bold, deep-laid impositions ever palmed upon the world, calculated to deceive and ruin millions. The nature of the Book of Mormon is such, that if true, no one can possibly be saved and reject it; If false, no one can possibly be saved and receive it. If, after a rigid examination, it be found imposition, it should be extensively published to the world as such; the evidences and arguments on which the imposture was detected, should be clearly and logically stated, that those who have been sincerely yet unfortunately deceived, may perceive the nature of deception, and to be reclaimed, and that those who continue to publish the delusion may be exposed and silenced by strong and powerful arguments by evidences adduced from scripture and reason." (Orson Pratt's Works, Divine Authenticity of the Book of Mormon: Liverpool, 1851, pp. 1,2)

Joseph Fielding Smith, a relatively recent president of the church, said: "If Joseph [Smith] was a deceiver, who willfully attempted to mislead people, then he should be exposed, his claims should be refuted, and his doctrines shown to be false." (Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 1 pp 188-189)

I could ask faithful Mormons why they proselyte and their answer would likely be "because we have the truth and we want to share it."  Well, I feel the same way.  The only difference between me (& other former Mormons) & the LDS faithful is that I have real historical and scientific evidence to back up my beliefs while faithful Mormons don't have any of that - they only have their testimonies based on subjective emotional experiences.  I can't stand idly by while people I care about continue to be deceived.

Why Your Donation (Tithing) Money Would Be Better Utilized By Real Charities
I've had some people say that while they don't really believe Smith was a prophet or the Book of Mormon is a real history, they think the church does a lot of good humanitarian work and their tithing dollars are well spent on humanitarian efforts.  Many are surprised to receive the following information:

Of course the Mormons have frequently stepped in with humanitarian aid on many occasions. It is the comparison of the amount of their aid with that provided by similar-sized groups and with their own massive wealth that shows how comparatively little the church does in that area. I often get e-mail from Mormons boasting about what marvelous humanitarian work the church does. This is what I usually send in response (some of this is quoting from posts by others):

As for the church's charitable work, any Mormon should be ashamed of your church for how *little* it does, in comparison with other religious organizations such as the Salvation Army or the Lutherans. Mormon author Bradley Walker admits that "the proportion of our available resources going to humanitarian services is not very great when compared to the tithing received by the church or to the amount invested in proselyting missions. Other well-known denominations of comparable size, such as the Lutherans and the Seventh-Day Adventists, devote far more to humanitarian service." (Dialogue, vol 36 no 1 p 36). He cites Ostling's book "Mormon America", p 128-29, that in the 13 years 1984 through 1997, the church donated $30.7 million to non-Mormon humanitarian aid, but the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, with about the same size U.S. membership, contributed $15 million in 1997 ALONE to humanitarian relief. (View Walker's article online here ).

So the score is:

Mormons: $2.3 million per year (1984-1997)
Lutherans: $15 million in one year (1997)

In evaluating the amount of Mormon relief, one should keep in mind that the income of the Mormon church from tithing alone has been estimated at five BILLION dollars per year. $2.3 million represents a piddling .0046% of its income. Building temples is more important, obviously, since apparently temple work is the "work of the Lord," not helping the needy. (As prophesied - and condemned - in the Book of Mormon, Mormon 8:37: "For behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel, and the ADORNING OF YOUR CHURCHES, more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted." And 2 Nephi 28:13: "They rob the poor because of their FINE SANCTUARIES...")

In Great Britain, the government requires all charities, including churches, to make public disclosures. The 2005 statement of the church's British humanitarian activities is at here . It shows that in 2005 the British Mormon church spent only 34,000 pounds on humanitarian aid, and half a million on "Welfare" (which goes only to needy Mormons). It shows income of almost 47 million pounds.

On lds.org the church reports that since 1985, they have expended $259.8 million in “Humanitarian Cash Donations,” and $750.9 million in “Value of Humanitarian Material Assistance.” (This would be clothing etc. donated by members, then re-donated by the church.) That comes to an average annual expenditure in “Humanitarian Cash Donations” of $11,295,652.00 and an average annual expenditure of “Value of Humanitarian Material Assistance” of $32,647,826.00.

Now, let’s find out the average membership over these same 23 years since 1985. With about 6 million in 1985 and about 13 million in 2008, that comes to about an average membership of about 9.5 million each year.

If we take the average membership and divide it into the 2 average annual humanitarian aid expenditures, we should come up with a dollar amount of humanitarian aid expended each year per member.

So to summarize: Since 1985, the church has expended about $1.19 each year per member (or a total of $27.37) in “Humanitarian Cash Donations” and about $3.44 each year per member (or a total of $79.12) in “Value of Humanitarian Material Assistance.”  I don't know about you, but when I work out all the contribution amounts & percentages, they seem quite paltry.  If I really want to help the needy, there are much better organizations to give to than the Mormon church.

General Authority Quotes Then & Now
I'll leave you with a few quotes from earlier Mormon apostles and prophets:

Apostle George A. Smith: "If a faith will not bear to be investigated; if its preachers and professors are afraid to have it examined, their foundation must be very weak ."

Joseph Smith, Jr. said:

I will not seek to compel any man to believe as I do, only by the force of reasoning, for truth will cut its own way. (History of the Church, vol. V, pp. 498, 499)

I ask, Did I ever exercise any compulsion over any man? Did I not give him the liberty of disbelieving any doctrine I have preached, if he saw fit? (Documentary History of the Church, vol. VI, 273-274, as quoted in Alma P. Burton, Discourses of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 105, 106)

It looks too much like the Methodists, and not like the Latter-day Saints. Methodists have a creed which a man must believe or be asked out of their church. I want the liberty of thinking and believing as I please. It feels so good not to be trammeled. It does not prove that a man is not a good man because he errs in doctrine. The high counsel undertook to censure and correct Elder Brown, because of his teachings … Whether they actually corrected him or not, I am a little doubtful, but don’t care. (Documentary History of the Church, Vol. VI, 273- 274, as quoted in Alma P. Burton, Discourses of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 106, 107)

David O. McKay, at the General Conference just after his famous encounter with Sterling McMurrin and in reference to it, said:

Ours is the responsibility … to proclaim the truth that each individual is a child of God and important in his sight; that he is entitled to freedom of thought, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly; that he has the right to worship God according to the dictates of his conscience. In this positive declaration, we imply that organizations or churches which deprive the individual of these inherent rights are not in harmony with God's will nor with his revealed word. (124th Annual Conference, p. 24)

Apostle Hugh B. Brown said:

I hope that you will develop the questing spirit. Be unafraid of new ideas for they are the stepping stones of progress. You will of course respect the opinions of others but be unafraid to dissent if you are informed. Now I have mentioned freedom to express your thoughts, but I caution you that your thoughts and expressions must meet competition in the marketplace of thought, and in that competition truth will emerge triumphant. Only error needs to fear freedom of expression. Seek the truth in all fields, and in that search you will need at least three virtues: courage, zest and modesty. The ancients put that thought in the form of a prayer. They said, “From the cowardice that shrinks from new truth, from the laziness that is content with half truth, from the arrogance that thinks it has all truth – O God of truth, deliver us. (BYU Devotional, 1958)

Now contrast those with statements of modern day GAs.  If those GA quotes aren't even a tiny bit disturbing to you, I'd say you're probably not ready for the truth yet.  If you are even a little bit disturbed, please read this letter to Elder Jeffrey Holland written in 2003 by Bob McCue.

A list of things from Mormonstories.org that the GAs know are either untrue or misconceptions but let the general membership believe are true.  I don't like the whole "lying for the lord" attitude that the LDS leaders appear to have.  That should be one of the biggest indicators that they are fakes.

If you are investigating (considering joining) Mormonism, please read this tract by Richard Packham carefully.

Below are links and book recommendations for people who might be questioning Mormonism.  I'm not going to go into further detail here on this page.  The information is readily available and people who are ready for the truth will seek it out for themselves.  Trying to force it on someone who isn't ready for it is a waste of time.

Websites: I consider these the best of the sites I've seen thus far:

Mormon Think	20 Truths About Mormonism	Rethinking Mormonism
Zarahemla City Limits	Mormonism: Pro & Con	The Mormon Curtain
Bob McCue's site	Richard Packham's site	New Order Mormons
Further Light & Knowledge	Post Mormon Site	Ex-Mormon Foundation
Utah Lighthouse Ministry	Essays by Equality

Books: The following books are what I'd consider essentials for the questioning Mormon or prospective Mormon's bookshelf.

A Friendly Discussion	Insider's View of Mormon Origins	By His Own Hand Upon Papyrus
Farewell to Eden	Losing a Lost Tribe	Mormon America
Quest for the Gold Plates	Suddenly Strangers	Keystone of Mormonism