Sunday, October 30, 2016

The Family of President John Taylor in 1886


Notes:
The photos of the women aren’t actual photos of Taylor’s wives.

Taylor married his youngest wife in December of 1886. He died in July 1887.

John Taylor married twin sisters in 1847.  They were 22 and he was 39.

This Ensign Article from 1980 Entitled "The Family of John Taylor" only mentions 3 of his wives.
Kind of tells us how the LDS Church felt about women in 1886 as well as 1980.

These notes were from an ExMo Reddit Post a year ago:
John Taylor was in Kaysville at the time, hiding from federal marshals. These marshals were attempting to arrest Taylor on the charge of bigamy. Josephine was helping Taylor with office work during this period.
According to author Samuel Taylor (John Taylor's grandson), even though the prophet "had one foot in the grave, he had not lost his eye for a pretty girl." (The Last Pioneer, Signature Books, p. 373). Samuel also states that President Taylor became "frisky as a colt" and "became downright courtly."
The marriage was short-lived as Taylor passed away in 1887.

Friday, October 14, 2016

Jesus Loves (to kill) the Little Children

The Book of Mormon teaches that 
when Jesus is pissed off 
he randomly destroys entire cities, including all the CHILDREN. 


The Mormon God is 
particularly good a committing and encouraging 
Murder of the Innocent.



Thursday, October 6, 2016

The Most Hurtful Doctrine in Mormonism

....That God Loves One Type of Person More Than Another


or that one person is better than another because of their birth.

I grew up in the LDS Church in the 1970's and 80's.  I was a white, American, straight young man born into a wealthy home to 5th generation Mormon parents.

Literally hundreds of times in my youth I was taught that I was "A chosen generation", "Saved for the last days", "A Saturday's Warrior" and more.  I was hand-picked by God for the days when Jesus would return to Earth.  I was literally Mormon Royalty, and I believed it in every way.

The Romney's
Donny and Marie Osmond

Family trips around the world reinforced the narrative of how special I was.   I saw poverty and suffering.  I would put a few coins in the hat of a blind man begging in the streets of Istanbul or a crippled child in Mexico and feel so good about myself.

What had these poor people done to deserve this fate?  Were they like the Black People who almost followed Satan before we were born?  Were they like the American Indians who were cursed with a skin of darkness because of the sins of their forefathers?  Were they like those People of Jericho where God ordered "the destroying of all that lived in the city". to make room for the people of Israel?


I also remember learning about the "Great Apostasy".  This was the period of time between the death of Jesus' Apostles in the late 1st Century and the Restoration of the "One True Church" in 1830.  Those dark ages when God did not speak to his children and he watched the plagues, slavery, wars and immense suffering of humanity while gradually setting the stage for the young Joseph Smith to kneel in the forest to pray.

I wondered how bad those people must have been to live in that 1700 year period when Heavenly Father took his priesthood the Earth?

I would love to say that in college, or on my mission to South America, or during the years I was raising my children that I realized how painful, how racist, how dismissing and demeaning those doctrines are.  What it took was a perfect, beautiful child adopted by a friend.

Ashleigh is a mixed race child.  She's Black, Mexican and White.  She has perfect brown skin and dark thick hair.  The very first time I held Jessica it somehow came into my mind, "If She had been 12 years old in 1977, as her Bishop, what would I say to her when she asked, "Why can't I go to the temple with my friends?"

That one thought took my belief in the doctrines of pre-birth cursing, and valiant spirits and dark ages and chosen generations and brought them crashing down around me.

How could the same God that preaches about going after lost sheep, ignore the pleadings of generations of men, women and children because they belonged to the wrong Branch of the House of Israel?

The Mormon God has two very distinct personalities.  We see paintings in Mormon chapels of Jesus holding baby lambs or with small children sitting on his lap.  I doubt that paintings of the Old Testament wrath-of-God stuff would sell too well at Deseret Book.  How about a painting of all the bloated bodies of people and animals floating on the ocean as Noah is sailing away?  Wouldn't that look good on the walls of the Relief Society Room?

I apologize to the World for the self serving, racist, misogynistic, and homophobic things I have said and done in the past. I need a lot of catching up to do.

As I reconsider my belief in God, and what that God is like, I have to start from scratch.

As a member of the "chosen" race, gender, or church it is easy to dismiss in broad strokes the lives of people we don't know.  It is easy to believe that I'm special because God made me this way, and you have less value because you were evil....uh, sometime....or your parents were bad.  I'm embarrassed that I ever thought that way and acknowledge that I have a lot to do to make up for it.

Sadly I need to beginning by saying, "If it wasn't for one small child, I might still be convinced of my own unearned superiority."

Additional Reading:
LDS Church's Version of "Diversity"
Women in Mormonism
Birthplace of Every Apostle the past 100 Years
Africans and Mormons


Reasons I Went From Mormon to Atheist


INTRODUCTION:

When my belief in Mormonism collapsed I briefly considered several other Christian and non - Christian Religions.  My quest didn't last long. This is my thoughts on why I and so many Mormons that leave the church ultimately end up as Atheists.

Reasons I Went From Mormon to Atheist

1. The Mormon God is Pretty Cool 
The Mormon God is human, real and "like me". The nebulous God of traditional Christianity is harder to grasp. 

2. I Don't believe in Magic Anymore 
Once you realize that Mormon tales of angels, magic rocks and gold plates are fake, you quickly reject all supernatural.


3. I'm Finally off Prozac!!
Mormons are overwhelmed by guilt and stress. Leaving all religion has been great for my mental health.

4. Second Saturday !!
Having one more day a week to rest, play and work around the house is awesome!

5. I've Made Real Friends Now
The LDS social structure is very fake and judgmental. Although it was hard at first, it's nice to make friends for reasons other than because you see them at church.   





6. Great and Abominable Church Mindset
I was raised thinking other churches were evil. Mormons judge other churches very harshly. Once I placed the same standard on Mormonism, I left, but I still see other churches in the same way. 

7. I've accepted that Science is Truth
Most other religions carry the same anti-science baggage that Mormonism does and I can't ignore it anymore. 

8. Mormon History and Doctrine are Fascinating!
Learning about LDS theology and how it developed is intriguing. Other religions seem boring by comparison. 

9. I Can't Leave Mormonism Alone
Mormonism is way more interesting as an Ex-Mormon!  Researching about LDS Church History and doctrine as an ExMo eats up a ton of my time. 

10. Mormon services are Boring
And I've found that every other religion's meetings are as bad or worse and I don't know their songs. 


11. Family and Friends
My Mormon family can handle it if they think I'm just "inactive". Joining another church would be hard for them. Just don't announce you are an atheist. In Mormonism, atheism = Satanic Baby Killer.

12. I Love Technology! 
The LDS Church has great web sites, digital books, apps and videos plus free WiFi! Most other churches fail by comparison in the digital world. 


13. I'm too old to learn new tricks!
The Mormon brand of Christianity is so unique and bizarre that trying to learn the language of any other creed is too hard and I'd probably sound like a fool. 

14. Being Motivated by Humanism is way better
Mormons are guilt zombies!! They push themselves to do everything out of fear of neighbors, Bishops and a God who wants to drown, burn or torture them for eternity. It's pretty nice to help others because you care about them. 

15. I Just Don't Believe in God
The idea of God sounds intriguing, but once you realize that there isn't a vindictive being spying on me at all times, life can be pretty great!!



Tuesday, October 4, 2016

I'm Calling Your B.S. Elder Cook !!!

Elder Cook,  

I say B.S.


You claim to speak for Jesus Christ, you claim to have the ability to discern what are the "Philosophies of Men" and "Christ's basic essential doctrines".

And yet you have risen in leadership without an understanding of "Christ's basic essential doctrines" like loving unconditionally and not punishing children for the acts of their parents.

You are the worst of humanity!  Someone who claims moral authority over others and claims people with different thoughts are from Satan.



More From Elder Cook's Talk 
Link
There is great value in acquiring learning and intelligence. “But we also know the preferred strategy of the adversary is to lead people away from God and cause them to stumble by emphasizing the philosophies of men over the Savior and His teachings.”
The Great Apostasy occurred, in part, because the philosophies of men were elevated over Christ's basic essential doctrine. Instead of the simplicity of the Savior's message, many plain and precious truths were changed or lost.
“Historically, and in our own day, some people reject the gospel of Jesus Christ because in their view it doesn’t have adequate intellectual sophistication,” he said.