Hi, I'm Will.

It took more than a few years and a series of epiphanies for me to finally find the courage to leave Mormonism. A key moment happened during an institute class about the kingdoms of heaven.
The lesson was about how our short time on earth had eternal consequences. Eternity is a long, endless string and our time on earth is a tiny speck on that string. I heard this many times before, but this teacher had formerly been a Southern Baptist. He emphasized the hellfire and brimstone angle. No matter how much we grew and progressed in eternity, we would always be limited in what level of heaven we could advance to due to the mistakes we made during our very short mortal life.
It's an anxiety-inducing idea that puts maximum pressure on people to obey the church and conform to god's supposed laws. This time, I realized how horribly cruel that idea is. Why would any god punish me for endless eternity, no matter how much I change, progress and grow spiritually in the future? What would be the point of limiting me eternally for some stupid mistake made in mortal life, no matter how hard I try to find forgiveness?
I realized I couldn't believe in a god so unjustly cruel and vindictive. The mormon version of god is an asshole. If that god is real, I'd rather join satan and his angels in rebellion.