4 Reasons Why Disaffected Mormons Become Atheists

[stromboli]

Just to clarify things about leaving Mormonism- since somebody else brought up the topic  I recommend that you go to r/exmormon

and see what its like getting out of the religion. Mormonism is a cult in every way but name.

https://www.reddit.com/r/exmormon

And just to note, Utah has one of the highest teen suicide rates in the U.S. It is directly connected to the church's practice of disenfranchising gays and their children. something like 30 since November in a state with under 3 million population.

[reasonist]

Hey stromboli, ask the expert: Did you ever learn as a Mormon that Joseph Smith, the cult's inventor and 'prophet' was convicted 1826 by a court in Bainbridge, New York, of being a disorderly person and an imposter? He admitted to defrauding citizens by organizing fake gold digging expeditions and claiming to possess necromantic powers. That should have been enough from this fraudster, but look what happened.
I bet many people don't even know that ridiculous story of the golden plates. And look at the businesses they have acquired over the years. Geezus, religion is a money making machine!

[stromboli]

Hey stromboli, ask the expert: Did you ever learn as a Mormon that Joseph Smith, the cult's inventor and 'prophet' was convicted 1826 by a court in Bainbridge, New York, of being a disorderly person and an imposter? He admitted to defrauding citizens by organizing fake gold digging expeditions and claiming to possess necromantic powers. That should have been enough from this fraudster, but look what happened.
I bet many people don't even know that ridiculous story of the golden plates. And look at the businesses they have acquired over the years. Geezus, religion is a money making machine!

Yes. That was mostly covered up by the church until the 50's, but Fawn Brodie's history of JS brought out a lot of bad character traits. He was a manipulative, charismatic individual that was capable of anything with no shame at all. He defrauded his own people, had sex with teenage girls, slept with other men's wives after sending the husbands on missions and a whole lot more. He actually bragged before his death that he owed over $100,000 dollars to various people and had gotten away without paying it. That is about a million in today's dollars.

A good rundown of the problems with Mormonism can be had here

http://cesletter.com/

If you have any Mormon friends, get them to read the website. It is very detailed and very damning.

[SGOS]

If you have any Mormon friends, get them to read the website. It is very detailed and very damning.

My Mormon cousin was a strong believer before he died, although he was certainly not a paragon of Mormon virtue.  There were times I wanted to ask him if he realized Joseph Smith was wanted for fraud and murder and what that says about his religion.  I also wondered if Smith's story about the golden tablets, their subsequent unavailability to others, along with the magic spectacles Smith used to interpret them didn't sound at least a hair crazy, if not completely off the wall like it did to me.

I never asked him these things because I thought it might be too offensive.  Instead I tried to appear interested in learning about his religion.  Maybe, I lost my nerve, because there are many things I am ignorant of in Mormonism, and when I would inadvertently show my ignorance, he would act all disgusted with me as if everything about his religion should be common knowledge to everyone, and only an idiot wouldn't know about his or that.

But Mormonism does test the limits of gullibility.  It seems even more so than Christianity, which is probably just as wackadoodle as the Mormon sect, but so widespread that people kind of get used to mainstream Christianity doctrine and just accept it as some wackadoodle metaphor that few Christians really take seriously.

[stromboli]

Its crazy because you don't realize how insular and how cult like the church is until you start looking at its history and see what the true story is. I challenged myself to prove the truth of my religion. It only took me about 2 weeks to see the falsehood in it, but it took me 2 years of trying to disprove what I learned in 2 weeks before I left. People don't realize how deeply involved you are. Everything- your time, your tithing, your lives really are immersed in it.

Consider the fact that +or- 4 million people still believe that a bunch of white Jews with steel swords and armor were doing battle with their dark skinned cousins in chariots, building vast cities, fighting in vast battle and leaving no trace actually happened. You know you are in the boonies when you see a truck or car with a bumper sticker quoting the Book of Mormon.

You have to be in a cult and leave to understand how it impacts your life.

[SGOS]

You have to be in a cult and leave to understand how it impacts your life.

It was hard enough for me to let go of my religious superstition, and my church didn't seem like near the cult that Mormonism is.  My cousin was highly successful in his career and had what seemed like a good deal of innate intelligence, but he was committed to believing his Mormon nonsense in ways that were hard for me to fathom.  He would often use the phrase, "Our Church teaches...," and I would want scream, "Yes, it teaches that, but did you ever think about it on your own?"  Maybe it was just a commonly used way of talking about Mormon doctrine, but to me it sounded like mindless rote learning, like he was regurgitating Mormon doctrine, rather than explaining it to me.

[stromboli]

It was hard enough for me to let go of my religious superstition, and my church didn't seem like near the cult that Mormonism is.  My cousin was highly successful in his career and had what seemed like a good deal of innate intelligence, but he was committed to believing his Mormon nonsense in ways that were hard for me to fathom.  He would often use the phrase, "Our Church teaches...," and I would want scream, "Yes, it teaches that, but did you ever think about it on your own?"  Maybe it was just a commonly used way of talking about Mormon doctrine, but to me it sounded like mindless rote learning, like he was regurgitating Mormon doctrine, rather than explaining it to me.

I worked with Mormon engineers and scientists about the time I was exiting the church at Hill AFB. Smart people, but you can easily see how cognitive dissonance works, because they would simply compartmentalize the one when doing the other.

[Baruch]

An non-theist, atheist or anti-theist who has been fully religious, and then grown out of it ... knows what they are talking about, more than those who have never gone thru that cycle (but no diss on those have always been outside looking in).  Same as people talking about marriage, who were never married themselves.

[stromboli]

An non-theist, atheist or anti-theist who has been fully religious, and then grown out of it ... knows what they are talking about, more than those who have never gone thru that cycle (but no diss on those have always been outside looking in).  Same as people talking about marriage, who were never married themselves.

What is funny about this thread is I'm pretty sure our boy RC put it on here to rile me, but his worldview is such that he considers going to atheism a failure rather than a progressive step. I consider myself a graduate more than anything, having waded through the theology swamp to get here.

If there is a difference it is the fact that I was raised to have an open mind and disregarded all of the "don't go there" warnings I was given from early on. Grew up reading science fiction. Read Buckminster Fuller's "Operating Manual For Spaceship Earth" as a teenager just because I saw it mentioned in an article in a sci fi mag. Always had a different perspective and a different worldview even when a young man. And then the Navy corrupted me, of course.....

[reasonist]

You have to be in a cult and leave to understand how it impacts your life.

But no more magic undies!

[stromboli]

But no more magic undies!

There is no joy like burning garments. While drinking a beer. While your devout Mormon neighbors watch.

[reasonist]

Here is a list of businesses owned by the Mormons. I don't know if it's complete but it shows how a scam like that can become successful when selling a godly product to start with.

Affiliated Computer Services ACS
AES Corp. AES
Avista Corp. AVA
American Express Company AXP
Black & Decker BDK
Cadence Design CDN
Corvis CORV
Central Pacific Bank CPBI
1-800-Contacts CTAC
Cygnus Inc. CYGN
Diebold DBD
Dell Computer DELL
Dionex DNEX
Downey Savings and Loan DSL
EarthShell ERTH
Franklin Covey
Hillenbrand Industries
Headwaters, Inc.
Hollywood Entertainment HLYW
Host Marriott HMT
Iomega IOM D
JP Realty JPR
KeyCorp KEY
Knight Transportation KNGT
K-Swiss Inc. KSWS
La Quinta Properties, Inc. LQI
Marriott International MAR
Micro General MGEN
Merit Medical Systems MMSI
Monaco Coach MNC
Microsemi Corp. MSCC
Myriad Genetics MYGN
Novell NOVL
NPS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. NPSP
NuSkin NUS All Mormon Mgmt,
Oil States International OIS
Oakley OO
priceline.com Inc. PCLN
Phelps Dodge Corp. PD
Ryder Systems R
SkyWest Airlines SKYW
Swift Transportation SWFT
Cornerstone Realty Income Trust Inc TCR
Tropical Sportswear TSIC
Williams Companies, Inc. WMB
Zions Bancorp ZION

[stromboli]

The LDS church's holdings in real estate alone are vast. what the rank and file members don't realize is that the temples they keep building are a huge scam. What they do is find properties that are of middling value that they can develop. they buy a large chunk of acreage and then put the temple up in the middle of it. By doing so they automatically raise the value of the land- land they don't pay taxes on.

Then they parcel up and sell off the remaining properties to Mormon developers who put up housing or other structures and further raise the property values; because they bought in early, their property now becomes much more valuable and they can sell with a large profit, either to other Mormons or to "gentiles" to make money. It is no accident the church is run by millionaire lawyers and businessmen.

They own a large chunk of land near Orlando Florida that will be condos and apartment complexes. People also don't know that Mormons were invested early with Disney (his wife was Mormon) and they are involved with a lot of the goings on as far as real estate is concerned.

They also own land in Vermont and are looking for development there. Many square miles of downtown Salt Lake is owned by the church. They own hundreds of square miles of wilderness, including most of Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake. They own most of the mountainous region East of Ogden.

I keep up on what they are doing. It is disturbing, but fortunately their numbers are static and may even decline, as members are leaving the church in droves now, thanks to the internet. But the church will last a very long time as a corporation. The religion itself is mostly a facade for what goes on in the background. 

Oh and by the way; Mormon bankers bankrolled Las Vegas and the casinos back in the 60's. You can even find tie ins with the Mafia if you look hard enough.

[reasonist]

Unbelievable!  And then there is also the sexual gratification for some perverts. In the US it's Warren Jeffs, here in BC it's Winston Blackmore at Bountiful, who finally was officially charged with a slew of offenses, from polygamy to child abuse. 
Good to read that people are leaving in droves. The Internet is a game changer for sure. We should use it against the fanatics on all sides.