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But I’m a good Mormon wife: Sean and I had the perfect life. Then his faith started to crumble...
Salon ^ | June 1, 2012 | Maren Stephenson

Posted on 06/20/2012 12:17:00 PM PDT by Colofornian

...When Sean replaced his temple garments — the sacred underwear he’d promised to wear day and night — with boxers, I couldn’t take it anymore. It was too much betrayal. I called up a neighbor with a husband like mine and cried. But instead of empathy, she offered questions that stunned me into silence. Was Sean addicted to pornography? Watching R-rated movies? What sin had brought him to this terrible place?

...Her questions were so off-base...She was sincere, and trying to help, but she believed what the Church teaches — that a man would only leave because he’s disobeying the commandments. She couldn’t understand this was a rational inquiry. She saw everything as the result of sin.

...The Church was wrong about him. What else might they be wrong about?...

...I often found him hunched over his iPad reading everything he could find on Mormon origins...“I’m sorry, but I just have to tell you. Did you know that…” and then he’d tell me...About how Joseph Smith mistranslated some Egyptian hieroglyphics that are part of our canonized scripture. About how he translated the Book of Mormon while looking at a stone inside of a hat.

I listened half-heartedly...though I wasn’t about to go looking at them myself...until one night it was about polygamy, my archnemesis.

“Did you know that Joseph Smith married a 14-year-old girl against her will? Did you know that he’d send men on missions and marry their wives in secret when they were gone?” ...he kept talking, a horror growing in my gut. I knew that if Sean was right, then Joseph Smith was a fraud. I saw no difference between his acts and the modern-day acts of Warren Jeffs, whom I abhorred. And if Joseph Smith was a fraud — then what did that make the Church?

(Excerpt) Read more at salon.com ...


TOPICS: General Discusssion; Other non-Christian; Religion & Culture; Theology
KEYWORDS: exmormon; exodus; inman; lds; mormon
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To: Flintlock
Behold: the attack on Romney!

Romney spent MILLION$$$ on attacking conservatives for years with LIES. Why do you have a problem with an article on someone's experience within the cult?

21 posted on 06/20/2012 12:40:15 PM PDT by presently no screen name
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To: OrangeHoof

And I am not condemning anyone who leaves LDS because of faith issues here

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I didn’t say YOU were, I was saying that is what the LDS say, exactly what the author of the article stated. She is right about that and about reasons for leaving.


22 posted on 06/20/2012 12:40:43 PM PDT by reaganaut (Ex-Mormon, now Christian "I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see")
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To: OrangeHoof

And I am not condemning anyone who leaves LDS because of faith issues here

- - - - - -
I didn’t say YOU were, I was saying that is what the LDS say, exactly what the author of the article stated. She is right about that and about reasons for leaving.


23 posted on 06/20/2012 12:41:14 PM PDT by reaganaut (Ex-Mormon, now Christian "I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see")
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To: OrangeHoof

I’m simply pointing out that the liberal media will find ways to attack Romney’s religion now that he’s the nominee.

- - - - - - -
It isn’t just the liberals, conservatives come out all the time against Mormonism as well they should.


24 posted on 06/20/2012 12:42:09 PM PDT by reaganaut (Ex-Mormon, now Christian "I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see")
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To: 5thGenTexan

But the fact that Romney is Mormon has been covered strongly. How many articles did Salon have in it’s entire history on Mormonism prior to Romney’s primary runs?

- - - - -
They have had a few. We all said this is what would happen if Romney got the nomination. We warned you several years ago and no one believed us.

I would never vote for a Mormon, I can’t. I know way to much about them and what they really believe and what they are really like.


25 posted on 06/20/2012 12:45:05 PM PDT by reaganaut (Ex-Mormon, now Christian "I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see")
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To: 5thGenTexan
How many articles did Salon have in it’s entire history on Mormonism prior to Romney’s primary runs?

Before Joseph Smith came along, how many sects came along and called worldwide Christianity "sects" that had "corrupt" professors of the faith -- labeling "ALL" such professing believers as "corrupt" -- who believed creeds that were supposedly 100% abominable?

Well, doubt there were many ... but once Joseph Smith had this as his founding "vision" -- a LATER generation of Mormons (in the 1870s) decided that "vision" was "scripture" on par with the Bible...put it in one of their sacred books, the Pearl of Great Price...even gave it Scripture "verses" -- verses 18-19 in Joseph Smith, History...

And ever since, it's been republished and translated/published/republished/ and electronically produced by the Lds church more times than the entire MSM will EVER critique ALL of religion!!!

And yet, what? No peep from you and the likes of you over how much the Mormon church has blasted away at worldwide Christianity???

26 posted on 06/20/2012 12:47:07 PM PDT by Colofornian
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To: Colofornian

If Romney were to win the presidency, Lds, Inc. would try to make it “standing cultural orders” that Mormonism cannot be critiqued in public — lest it be construed as an an “unAmerican” attack on the Presidency.

- - - - -
Worse, they will follow ex-freeper Spammy’s call and make it ‘hate speech’.

I wonder how these same people would react if the WSJ had a piece on Mormonism.

I can and have told the truth about Mormonism long before (and will long after) Mitt Romney. I want to warn others the way I wished I had been warned before I was lied into that cult. This is about souls not politics.


27 posted on 06/20/2012 12:48:47 PM PDT by reaganaut (Ex-Mormon, now Christian "I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see")
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To: muawiyah

The problem arises when they show Warren Jeffs in too good a light, which they will.

- - - - - - -
Perhaps, but I think that will have more to do with the up and coming attempt at legalizing polygamy.


28 posted on 06/20/2012 12:49:57 PM PDT by reaganaut (Ex-Mormon, now Christian "I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see")
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To: OrangeHoof
"...If Romney believed in magic jelly beans..."

Note the larger bowl. Plenty more. Gotta love it.

29 posted on 06/20/2012 12:49:57 PM PDT by BlueDragon (Will Rodgers would be aghast at things today, but he might like his road if they'd waive the toll)
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To: butterdezillion

Some who have left Islam have said that the way to get people out of that cult is to have them actually read the Quran.

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I had to read the Quran (both in sura order and chronological order) for a class on Religion in the Middle Ages...scariest book I ever read.

The best way to get the LDS out, is to get them to read the Bible without the LDS footnotes and chapter headings.


30 posted on 06/20/2012 12:51:55 PM PDT by reaganaut (Ex-Mormon, now Christian "I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see")
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To: 5thGenTexan
How many articles did Salon have in it’s entire history on Mormonism prior to Romney’s primary runs?

How many times has the Mormon church published & republished the info cited below?

And if you've been silent on it, 5thGenTexan, you're willing to accept the cultural benefits that Christians have bestowed on Texas and this nation, but you're not willing to defend them when they are heavily criticized by cultists?

Oh, and when you come to that last line in the chart below -- the official Lds, Inc. reference about "THE APOSTASY" -- keep in mind that the Mormon church believes that ALL Christians prior to the 1830 establishment of the Mormon church were apostates and part of the apostate church.

Now what does that then tell you is the Mormon church position on the Founding Fathers of this country??????

Are you & others going to defend our Founding Fathers when the Mormon church smashes, bashes, and clashes with our Founding Fathers -- or are you going to join their chorus????

Snapshot of Joseph Smith’s Slanderous Invectives vs. Christian Sects

Mormon Source

[Note: Most of these are Mormon ‘scriptures'. In fact, First three rows below are Lds 'scripture' & therefore cannot be rug-swept any more than a Jew might try to take three commandments off of the very tablets of stone Moses brought down from the mountain]
“...which of all the sects was right… must join NONE of them, for they were ALL WRONG… those professors were ALL CORRUPT…” Joseph Smith – History vv. 18-19. – Lds "scripture" Pearl of Great Price
...“which of all the sects was right…ALL their CREEDS were an ABOMINATION in his sight…they teach for doctrines the commandments of MEN…” Joseph Smith – History vv. 18-19. – Lds "scripture" Pearl of Great Price
Mormon church the only ‘Christ-sanctioned’ church on earth: “…the foundation of this [Mormon] church…the ONLY true and living church on the face of the whole earth” [Obvious ‘scorched earth’ implication: All other churches are false and dead] Lds “scripture” Doctrines & Covenants 1:30
Direct question asked of Joseph Smith: 'Will everybody be damned, but Mormons?" Answer from Lds "prophet" Joseph Smith: 'Yes, and a great portion of them, unless they repent, and work righteousness." Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 119 [Not “scripture” – but still publicly spoken by the Mormon ‘living prophet’ and published by a later Mormon ‘living prophet,’ Joseph Fielding Smith – via a publisher owned by the Mormon church – Deseret News Press, 1938]
“In 1952…the first official proselyting plan was sent to missionaries throughout the world…It included seven missionary discussions that emphasized…[four topics, one of them being]THE APOSTASY and Restoration…” [This makes it 60 years that Mormon church missionaries, now numbering 55,000, have formally emphasized in its training & door to door saturation a priority in bashing the worldwide Christian church as “apostates” (100% AWOL)] Our Heritage: A Brief History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints p. 116, 1996

31 posted on 06/20/2012 12:52:07 PM PDT by Colofornian
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To: Colofornian
No peep from you and the likes of you over how much the Mormon church has blasted away at worldwide Christianity???

Big leap there from my one little comment. I in no way, shape or form defended Mormonism or it's views towards Christianity.

I was only commenting on how the issue of Mormonism only now matters to people like those at Salon because the Republican nominee is one.

Take a deep, cleansing breath - I am one of the evil "won't pull the level for Romney crowd"...

32 posted on 06/20/2012 12:54:36 PM PDT by 5thGenTexan
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To: Colofornian
Whoa there, Nellie. I answered a similar retort here:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/2897463/posts?page=26#32

33 posted on 06/20/2012 12:58:57 PM PDT by 5thGenTexan
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To: Colofornian; 5thGenTexan

The LDS still hold to these views and I have even MORE quotes about the LDS political takeover and their disdain for the US Government....

Purpose according to modern LDS church:
“to organize the political kingdom of God in preparation for the second coming of Christ.”

- Church History in the Fulness of Times, Church Educational System, 1989, p. 270

Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr. (1805 - 1844):

“The time has now come to tell why we held secret meetings. We were maturing plans fourteen years ago which we can now tell... When God sets up a system of salvation, he sets up a system of government. When I speak of a government, I mean what I say. I mean a government that shall rule over temporal and spiritual affairs.”

- Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr., History of the Church, v. 6, p. 290, 292

Sidney Rigdon (1793 - 1876):

“A man is not an honorable man if he is not above the law, and above government.... The law of God is far more righteous than the laws of the land; the laws of God are far above the laws of the land. The kingdom of God does not interfere with the laws of the land, but keeps itself by its own laws.”

- Sidney Rigdon, Times and Seasons, v. 5, May 1, 1844, p. 524, alternative version in History of the Church, v. 6, p. 292

We used to have a difference between Church and State, but it is all one now. Thank God.”

- Prophet John Taylor, Journal of Discourses, v. 5, p. 266, September 20, 1857

“Now the Kingdom of God is assuming another phase to what it has done... And what shall we do? ... Seek to carry out the designs of the Almighty and his representatives upon the earth. And if we do these things, in the name of Israel’s God we shall arise and flourish, and Zion will become a terror to all nations.”

- Prophet John Taylor, Journal of Discourses, v. 7, pp. 123-125

“Let us now notice our political position in the world. What are we going to do? We are going to possess the earth. Why? Because it belongs to Jesus Christ, and he belongs to us, and we to him; we are all one, and will take the kingdom and possess it under the whole heavens, and reign over it for ever and ever.”

- Prophet John Taylor, Journal of Discourses, v. 1, p. 230, April 8, 1853

Apostle Orson Hyde (1805 - 1878):

“The kingdom and government of God are the only legitimate jurisdiction that ever did exist.”

- Apostle Orson Hyde, Journal of Discourses, v. 6, p. 49, November 1, 1857

“... the church must not triumph over the state, but actually swallow it up.”

- “Religion and Politics,” Times and Seasons, v. 5, March 15, 1844, pp. 470-471, 477

“It is well understood by the British Mormons that the Prophet is ‘King over all the earth’ in this day. I was unmistakably told that the Prophet of Utah is ‘King,’ and the only King reigning upon the earth by ‘Divine authority:’ that I must obey him in preference to any king, ruler or potentate on earth.”

- William Jarman, USA – Uncle Sam’s Abscess or Hell Upon Earth for U.S., 1884, p. 34

“Joseph Smith had himself anointed King and Priest… in a revelation dated 1886 given to President John Taylor, mention is made of Joseph Smith being crowned a king in Nauvoo. Not only was he ordained a king but the leading members of the Church were assigned governmental responsibilities. Brigham Young was to be president, John Taylor vice president, members of the Church were assigned to represent different states in the house and senate of the United States, and a full cabinet was appointed.”

- “Causes of Mormon Non-Mormon Conflict in Hancock County, Illinois, 1839-1846,” Ph.D. dissertation, BYU, 1967, pp. 63-65

“... you do solemnly swear in the presence of Almighty God... that you will avenge the blood of Joseph Smith upon this nation, and so teach your children; that you will, from this day henceforth and forever, begin and carry out hostilities against this nation, and keep the same a profound secret now and forever. So help you God.”

- Apostle William Smith, Arguments Before the Committee On Privileges and Elections of the United States Senate In the Matter of the Protests Against the Right of Hon. Reed Smoot, A Senator from the State of Utah, to Hold His Seat, 1905, p. 231

“We will go to a land where there are at last no old settlers to quarrel with us…. We will leave this wicked nation, to themselves, for they have rejected the gospel, and I hope and pray that the wicked will kill one another & save us the trouble of doing it.”

- Prophet Brigham Young, quoted in “Journal of Heber C. Kimball,” under January 2, 1846; see Abanes, One Nation Under Gods, p. 216

“Who goes to the White House these days?... A gambler and a drunkard. And the Vice-President is the same. And no man can get either office unless he is a gambler and a drunkard, or a thief. And who goes to Congress? You may hunt clear through the Senate and House, and if you can find any men that are not liars, thieves, whoremongers, gamblers, and drunkards, I tell you they are mighty few, for no other kind of men can get in there.”

- Prophet Brigham Young, quoted in Hirshon, The Lion of the Lord: A Biography of the Mormon Leader, Brigham Young, 1969, pp. 278-279

“[U.S. President] Zachary Taylor is dead, and in hell. And I am glad of it.”

- Prophet Brigham Young, quoted in Perry Brocchus, “Utah Officials’ Report to President Fillmore,” Congressional Globe, new series, v. 25, p. 87; cited in B.H. Roberts, Comprehensive History of the Church, 1930, v. 3, p. 520, footnote #3

“Joseph Smith escaped many conspiracies against his life…. But the Lord said – ‘Now let my servant seal up his testimony with his blood;’ and that sealed up the damnation of the United States, not of individuals, but of the nation…. I am prophet enough to prophesy the downfall of the government that has driven us out…. Wo to the United States! I see them going to death and destruction.”

- Prophet Brigham Young, in William S. Harwell, ed., Manuscript History of Brigham Young, 1847-1850, 1997, pp. 221, 238

“The people of the rest of the country are our enemies…. When the government conflicts with heaven, we will be ranged under the banner of heaven and against the Government…. I defy the United States. I will obey God.”

- Prophet John Taylor, Salt Lake Tribune, January 6, 1880, quoted in Samuel W. Taylor, Rocky Mountain Empire, 1978, p. 29

“The American Nation will be broken in pieces.... you live in the day and hour of the judgments of God Almighty.... the hour of God’s judgment is at the door.... I wish to warn all nations.... Thrones will be cast down, nations will be overturned, anarchy will reign, all legal barriers will be broken down, and the laws will be trampled in the dust. You are about to be visited with war, sword, famine, pestilence, plague, earthquakes, whirlwinds, tempests, and with the flame of devouring fire.... the slain of the Lord will be many.”

- Prophet Wilford Woodruff, April 21, 1879, in Millennial Star, v. 41, p. 241

“Brigham raised his hand and said, ‘I swear by the eternal Heavens that I have unsheathed my sword, and I will never return it until the blood of the Prophet Joseph and Hyrum, and those who were slain in Missouri, is avenged. This whole nation is guilty of shedding their blood, by assenting to the deed, and holding its peace.’ ... Furthermore, every one who had passed through their endowments, in the Temple, were placed under the most sacred obligations to avenge the blood of the Prophet, whenever an opportunity offered, and to teach their children to do the same, thus making the entire Mormon people sworn and avowed enemies of the American nation.”

- Elder John D. Lee, Mormonism Unveiled, 1877, p. 160, online at http://www.helpingmormons.org/Rare_Books.htm

“These people [the Mormons] repudiate the authority of the United States in this country, and are in open rebellion against the general government…. So strong have been my apprehensions of danger to the surveyors that I scarcely deemed it prudent to send any out…. We are by no means sure that we will be permitted to leave, for it is boldly asserted we would not get away alive.”

- David H. Burr, Surveyor-General for Utah, August 30, 1856, letter to Thomas A. Hendricks, General Land Office, March 28, 1857; see Abanes, One Nation Under Gods, p. 229

“Mormon leaders consistently expressed their feelings that the war had been brought on by the wickedness of the United States, which had rejected Mormonism and permitted the death of the prophet of God and his servants…. Although the waste of lives was lamentable, a war between states would avenge the death of Joseph Smith. The Saints seemed especially gratified that Jackson County was a war zone and that Missouri would suffer the penalty of its cruelties to the Mormons. Besides avenging the blood of the innocent, the Lord would also prepare the way before his coming, which Mormons believed would occur in Jackson County, Missouri…. William Clayton wrote that such a spirit seemed to operate on Brigham Young’s mind: ‘All Latter-day Saints will not stay here [in Utah] forever. He [Young] talks much and frequently about Jackson County, Missouri.”

- Eugene E. Campbell, Establishing Zion: The Mormon Church in the American West, 1847-1869, 1988, p. 235

“So as to make you realize the enormity of Mormonism suffice it that I found them a community of traitors, murderers, fanatics, and whores. The people publicly rejoice at the reverse to our arms and thank God that the American government is gone as they term it, while their prophet and bishops preach treason from the pulpit. Federal officers are entirely powerless and talk in whispers for fear of being overheard by Brigham’s spies. Brigham Young rules with despotic sway and death by assassination is the penalty of disobedience to his command.”

- Colonel Patrick E. Conner, Union Army officer, letter dated September 14, 1862; see Abanes, One Nation Under Gods, p. 274


34 posted on 06/20/2012 12:59:51 PM PDT by reaganaut (Ex-Mormon, now Christian "I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see")
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To: 5thGenTexan

I was only commenting on how the issue of Mormonism only now matters to people like those at Salon because the Republican nominee is one.

- - - - - -
Perhaps, but it has come up before and sadly the liberals always play up those who leave who become athiests. But Conservative publications have posting things against the LDS in the past and have now STOPPED (or nearly so) because of Romney. That smacks of hypocrisy to me for both sides.


35 posted on 06/20/2012 1:02:37 PM PDT by reaganaut (Ex-Mormon, now Christian "I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see")
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To: 5thGenTexan

I was only commenting on how the issue of Mormonism only now matters to people like those at Salon because the Republican nominee is one.

- - - - - -
Perhaps, but it has come up before and sadly the liberals always play up those who leave who become athiests. But Conservative publications have posting things against the LDS in the past and have now STOPPED (or nearly so) because of Romney. That smacks of hypocrisy to me for both sides.


36 posted on 06/20/2012 1:03:03 PM PDT by reaganaut (Ex-Mormon, now Christian "I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see")
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To: reaganaut
We warned you several years ago and no one believed us.

My, goodness. Why has my pointing out that the Liberal Salon folks are simply carrying water for the Obama campaign with a Mormon attacking article getting such a violent reaction?

Go view my posting history - you will see that I was against Romney and chided endlessly for stating I would not vote for him if nominated. I stand by that.

37 posted on 06/20/2012 1:08:20 PM PDT by 5thGenTexan
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To: BlueDragon

They are “Jelly Bellies” not jelly beans to be precise. There is a remarkable difference!


38 posted on 06/20/2012 1:10:50 PM PDT by old school
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To: 5thGenTexan; reaganaut
I was only commenting on how the issue of Mormonism only now matters to people like those at Salon because the Republican nominee is one.

(Would you not agree that those who haven't said much about Mormonism one way or the other -- among those who support Romney -- Mormonism also now only seems to matter to them because the Republican nominee is one...you see how that runs both ways? The MSM is more critical of Mormonism due to Romney...and those conservatives abandoning principles in favor of Romney are more apologetic of Mormonism due to Romney...The previous attempted "neutrality" on Mormonism is splitting both ways)

39 posted on 06/20/2012 1:10:58 PM PDT by Colofornian
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To: OrangeHoof
I’m simply pointing out that the liberal media will find ways to attack Romney’s religion now that he’s the nominee

He is NOT the nominee - check your calendar, it is only June. Why be so antsy to have a cult leader who initiated same sex marriage, socialistic healthcare and baby killing who appoints liberal judges as a candidate for the Republican party? That is NOT the republican platform and NEVER was! That's EVIL infiltrating it and the weak bow to it!

Did you have a problem with the free ride he got from the media during the campaign debates onward? Besides Romney enjoys the media when they fulfilled his NEED to trash conservatives with LIES and this is TRUTH about a cult.

What happens when he is attacked personally and his emails are confiscated or someone moves next door and writes a book and they go through his garbage and attacks everyone of his children and grandchildren, for starters? Simmer down - this is child's play for this anti-conservative and KNOWN LIAR POS.

40 posted on 06/20/2012 1:10:58 PM PDT by presently no screen name
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