Yearly Archives: 2024

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"The maximum home height in this area allowed is 35 feet. Zoning is tightly enforced. There is nothing new about the way our town is zoned. It was done this way intentionally. The building that your leaders from Salt Lake City are proposing is 65ft tall and about 45,000 square feet. Surrounded by gleaming white marble and topped by a 109ft spire. The proposed temple building itself is literally twice as large as our town hall. And then you stick to 109 foot spire on top. It takes it up to 174 feet, which is taller than our water towers." - Fairview Mayor, Henry Lessner, Regarding the Proposed Mormon Temple, Aug 6, 2024 | wasmormon.org
"The maximum home height in this area allowed is 35 feet. Zoning is tightly enforced. There is nothing new about the way our town is zoned. It was done this way intentionally. The building that your leaders from Salt Lake City are proposing is 65ft tall and about 45,000 square feet. Surrounded by gleaming white marble and topped by a 109ft spire. The proposed temple building itself is literally twice as large as our town hall. And then you stick to 109 foot spire on top. It takes it up to 174 feet, which is taller than our water towers." - Fairview Mayor, Henry Lessner, Regarding the Proposed Mormon Temple, Aug 6, 2024
"The issue of revising our zoning ordinance for this proposed building is the biggest crisis that has ever impacted our town. Many of the folks supporting the LDS position are not from Fairview, matter of fact the vast majority are not! This is a zoning issue. Not an issue related to anything to do with the LDS Corporation." - Fairview Mayor, Henry Lessner, Regarding the Proposed Mormon Temple, Aug 6, 2024 | wasmormon.org
"The issue of revising our zoning ordinance for this proposed building is the biggest crisis that has ever impacted our town. Many of the folks supporting the LDS position are not from Fairview, matter of fact the vast majority are not! This is a zoning issue. Not an issue related to anything to do with the LDS Corporation." - Fairview Mayor, Henry Lessner, Regarding the Proposed Mormon Temple, Aug 6, 2024
“There's this underpinning belief in Mormonism that even if something is make-believe, does it matter? It's this fantasy that keeps the church going. They don't care about evidence or science. They care about faith and promoting this feeling of goodness and happiness... Members only see the good because the good works for them, but this is a selfish point of view. Even if the doctrine teaches unkind, bad, horrible, racist, sexist, and homophobic things about other people, if it works for me why would I walk away? That's why the heart of Mormonism is very insidious because those who are members turn a blind eye to the people who are damaged by the religion, because if it works for them, where's the problem?” - Alyssa Grenfell, YouTube: ExMormon Reacts to South Park's "All About Mormons" | wasmormon.org
“There's this underpinning belief in Mormonism that even if something is make-believe, does it matter? It's this fantasy that keeps the church going. They don't care about evidence or science. They care about faith and promoting this feeling of goodness and happiness... Members only see the good because the good works for them, but this is a selfish point of view. Even if the doctrine teaches unkind, bad, horrible, racist, sexist, and homophobic things about other people, if it works for me why would I walk away? That's why the heart of Mormonism is very insidious because those who are members turn a blind eye to the people who are damaged by the religion, because if it works for them, where's the problem?” - Alyssa Grenfell, YouTube: ExMormon Reacts to South Park's "All About Mormons"
This is a spotlight on a profile shared at wasmormon.org. These are just the highlights, so please find the full story at https://wasmormon.org/profile/exmo-in-flames/. There are stories of Mormon faith journeys contributed by hundreds of users like you. Come check them out and consider sharing your own story at wasmormon.org!
This is a spotlight on a profile shared at wasmormon.org. These are just the highlights, so please find the full story at https://wasmormon.org/profile/exmo-in-flames/. There are stories of Mormon faith journeys contributed by hundreds of users like you. Come check them out and consider sharing your own story at wasmormon.org!
In the meantime, I am pretending. I attend church and Young Women's activities, and try to stay quiet and compliant. In secret, I sneak out to drink coffee and joke with friends. I will make it out of this cult eventually, and I will take my life back. - Ally's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/exmo-in-flames/
In the meantime, I am pretending. I attend church and Young Women's activities, and try to stay quiet and compliant. In secret, I sneak out to drink coffee and joke with friends. I will make it out of this cult eventually, and I will take my life back. - Ally's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/exmo-in-flames/
Right now, it is not safe to come out as exmormon. When I do, I will be the first in my family to leave. However, my hope is to not be the last. By exposing the hypocrisies and harm done by the church, I might be able to put some weight on the figurative "shelves" of my parents, sibling, and extended family. - Ally's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/exmo-in-flames/
Right now, it is not safe to come out as exmormon. When I do, I will be the first in my family to leave. However, my hope is to not be the last. By exposing the hypocrisies and harm done by the church, I might be able to put some weight on the figurative "shelves" of my parents, sibling, and extended family. - Ally's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/exmo-in-flames/
It has been a year and a half since I fully deconstructed the church. It will be three more years until I can leave, and yeah, it gets pretty shitty sometimes pretending to be someone I'm not. But I have found a support system with my non-Mormon friends and with other exmos online. - Ally's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/exmo-in-flames/
It has been a year and a half since I fully deconstructed the church. It will be three more years until I can leave, and yeah, it gets pretty shitty sometimes pretending to be someone I'm not. But I have found a support system with my non-Mormon friends and with other exmos online. - Ally's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/exmo-in-flames/
I cried in my room for hours and hours one night, praying and pleading desperately for God to give me something, some sign that it was all true. There was nothing. No answer. I was alone. On that night my "shelf" had broken at only thirteen, and ever since then I have been researching the history of Mormonism and contemplating how I will escape the church once I am eighteen. - Ally's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/exmo-in-flames/
I cried in my room for hours and hours one night, praying and pleading desperately for God to give me something, some sign that it was all true. There was nothing. No answer. I was alone. On that night my "shelf" had broken at only thirteen, and ever since then I have been researching the history of Mormonism and contemplating how I will escape the church once I am eighteen. - Ally's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/exmo-in-flames/
I remember this awful hollow feeling in my chest. If the church really wasn't true, then who was I? What would happen to me? I am fifteen. My family doesn't know. I am hiding. I have been PIMO (physically in, mentally out of the church) for close to two years. - Ally's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/exmo-in-flames/
I remember this awful hollow feeling in my chest. If the church really wasn't true, then who was I? What would happen to me? I am fifteen. My family doesn't know. I am hiding. I have been PIMO (physically in, mentally out of the church) for close to two years. - Ally's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/exmo-in-flames/
When I was thirteen, it all came crashing down. Over a year or so, I realized that I was queer and started doing some research about the Mormon church, and what I found shocked me. - Ally's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/exmo-in-flames/
When I was thirteen, it all came crashing down. Over a year or so, I realized that I was queer and started doing some research about the Mormon church, and what I found shocked me. - Ally's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/exmo-in-flames/
I had doubts about the church even as a kid. Things just didn't seem to line up sometimes, but I still trusted and followed with blind faith. I didn't know anything different. - Ally's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/exmo-in-flames/
I had doubts about the church even as a kid. Things just didn't seem to line up sometimes, but I still trusted and followed with blind faith. I didn't know anything different. - Ally's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/exmo-in-flames/
I was raised in a multigenerational traditional Mormon family. My ancestor was one of Joseph Smith's wives. I was diagnosed with severe anxiety at age twelve, which was, in part, because of Mormonism. I was a Mormon. - Ally's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/exmo-in-flames/
I was raised in a multigenerational traditional Mormon family. My ancestor was one of Joseph Smith's wives. I was diagnosed with severe anxiety at age twelve, which was, in part, because of Mormonism. I was a Mormon. - Ally's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/exmo-in-flames/
A stack of issues on a scale vs a single issue about a warm feeling: • Zero archeological or DNA evidence to support the Book of Mormon's claims • Joseph's "translation" of the Book of Abraham scrolls bears no relation at all to what the scrolls actually say. • Joseph's 14 year old "wives", and his 15 year old ones, and his 16 year old ones, and his "wives" who were still married to other men • Dark skin is how God marks sinners. When they repent they become "white and delightsome". • To prove that a man has the initiative and intelligence needed to become a god, he must accept without question everything "the brethren" say. • Oh, and the best a woman can ever hope for is to be one of a man-god's multiple wives, pumping out spiritual babies. • Drastically differing versions of the First Vision story • Temple ceremony, garments, and secret handshakes copied from Free Masonry • Kinderhook plates • Book of Mormon contradicts later Mormon teachings (about nature of the Trinity, Plan of Salvation, and many others). • Place names in the Book of Mormon strikingly similar to place names near where Joseph grew up • Events in the Book of Mormon strikingly similar to those described in "View of the Hebrews" • For years church leaders denied negative claims about Joseph Smith, and even excommunicated members who talked about them, yet they now admit those claims are true. • And many many more vs • I prayed about it and got a warm feeling in my heart.
A stack of issues on a scale vs a single issue about a warm feeling: • Zero archeological or DNA evidence to support the Book of Mormon's claims • Joseph's "translation" of the Book of Abraham scrolls bears no relation at all to what the scrolls actually say. • Joseph's 14 year old "wives", and his 15 year old ones, and his 16 year old ones, and his "wives" who were still married to other men • Dark skin is how God marks sinners. When they repent they become "white and delightsome". • To prove that a man has the initiative and intelligence needed to become a god, he must accept without question everything "the brethren" say. • Oh, and the best a woman can ever hope for is to be one of a man-god's multiple wives, pumping out spiritual babies. • Drastically differing versions of the First Vision story • Temple ceremony, garments, and secret handshakes copied from Free Masonry • Kinderhook plates • Book of Mormon contradicts later Mormon teachings (about nature of the Trinity, Plan of Salvation, and many others). • Place names in the Book of Mormon strikingly similar to place names near where Joseph grew up • Events in the Book of Mormon strikingly similar to those described in "View of the Hebrews" • For years church leaders denied negative claims about Joseph Smith, and even excommunicated members who talked about them, yet they now admit those claims are true. • And many many more vs • I prayed about it and got a warm feeling in my heart.
This is a spotlight on a profile shared at wasmormon.org. These are just the highlights, so please find the full story at https://wasmormon.org/profile/greensockninja/. There are stories of Mormon faith journeys contributed by hundreds of users like you. Come check them out and consider sharing your own story at wasmormon.org!
This is a spotlight on a profile shared at wasmormon.org. These are just the highlights, so please find the full story at https://wasmormon.org/profile/greensockninja/. There are stories of Mormon faith journeys contributed by hundreds of users like you. Come check them out and consider sharing your own story at wasmormon.org!
Surprisingly, my aunt and uncle and their 4 children have also left the church. I only found this out recently, and it blindsided me as my aunt especially was so deeply involved in the church, but she couldn’t look past the skeletons in the church’s closet. It makes me happy to know they’ve come to their senses. I only hope that more of my family will do the same and leave this destructive cult. - Ian's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/greensockninja/
Surprisingly, my aunt and uncle and their 4 children have also left the church. I only found this out recently, and it blindsided me as my aunt especially was so deeply involved in the church, but she couldn’t look past the skeletons in the church’s closet. It makes me happy to know they’ve come to their senses. I only hope that more of my family will do the same and leave this destructive cult. - Ian's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/greensockninja/
Less than two months later, I announced my own atheism, and my subsequent leaving of the church. The response was the same. I lost many friends in an instant. But I chose that time to show my brother he was not alone, that I’d had the same thoughts and conclusions he had. I wanted him to know it, and this was my way of showing him. I’m now closer to him than ever. Six months later, I shipped off to basic training, avoiding much of the fallout of my falling away, which took a lot of the flak off of my brothers back. Now, 4 years later on, all of my siblings have stated to me their disillusionment with the church and their desire to abandon it. - Ian's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/greensockninja/
Less than two months later, I announced my own atheism, and my subsequent leaving of the church. The response was the same. I lost many friends in an instant. But I chose that time to show my brother he was not alone, that I’d had the same thoughts and conclusions he had. I wanted him to know it, and this was my way of showing him. I’m now closer to him than ever. Six months later, I shipped off to basic training, avoiding much of the fallout of my falling away, which took a lot of the flak off of my brothers back. Now, 4 years later on, all of my siblings have stated to me their disillusionment with the church and their desire to abandon it. - Ian's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/greensockninja/
During this time, my younger brother had delved deeper into the scripture as well, becoming even more devout than ever. He studied and made notes every night, prayed and discussed with my grandpa, who was in the bishopric. He was the star Mormon teenage boy. And then suddenly he publicly announced he was an atheist and despised the church and all it stood for. This took me by complete surprise, and what surprised me even more was the reaction of those we knew. The responses he got were vile, telling him he’d burn forever, saying he was possessed by the spirit of the devil, saying he had no right to make that choice as he was still a minor. He became depressed and withdrew from all of us. This was the time, I felt. - Ian's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/greensockninja/
During this time, my younger brother had delved deeper into the scripture as well, becoming even more devout than ever. He studied and made notes every night, prayed and discussed with my grandpa, who was in the bishopric. He was the star Mormon teenage boy. And then suddenly he publicly announced he was an atheist and despised the church and all it stood for. This took me by complete surprise, and what surprised me even more was the reaction of those we knew. The responses he got were vile, telling him he’d burn forever, saying he was possessed by the spirit of the devil, saying he had no right to make that choice as he was still a minor. He became depressed and withdrew from all of us. This was the time, I felt. - Ian's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/greensockninja/
That’s when I found the CES Letter. It flipped everything I knew upside down and tore it to shreds. For those who have read it, I’m sure you know why. So many falsehoods and lies the church taught me since childhood, I couldn’t believe it. I had to find more. And so I did. My shelf crumbled at the age of 16 or 17 and I stayed a closeted atheist for nearly that whole time, waiting for the right time to announce my unbelief to the world. The right time would come soon, though. - Ian's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/greensockninja/
That’s when I found the CES Letter. It flipped everything I knew upside down and tore it to shreds. For those who have read it, I’m sure you know why. So many falsehoods and lies the church taught me since childhood, I couldn’t believe it. I had to find more. And so I did. My shelf crumbled at the age of 16 or 17 and I stayed a closeted atheist for nearly that whole time, waiting for the right time to announce my unbelief to the world. The right time would come soon, though. - Ian's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/greensockninja/