Do Mormons Believe in a Loving God?

Mormons believe in a God who rules through absolute conformity and control. Their God cares more about a woman's sleeve length and wearing dresses to church than the member's well-being. They believe families can be separated from each other for eternity for a multitude of reasons, much outside of anyone's control. They believe in rules, regulations, and secret handshakes to get into heaven more than simply being a good person. I found nothing loving or forgiving about the Mormon God.

maisy220

They try to, but all in all, the god they believe in is toxic.

kingofweird

One of the first things I did when I began organizing my thoughts on deconstruction was write an essay called “The Benevolent Extortionist”.
Mormons believe in a loving god. They also have a very skewed interpretation of what love is.

ashmonster2000

No, because the mormon god is the LDS Church. Think about it--for most mormons, and certainly for the leadership, the institution of the church is their idol. They testify that "the church is true." The church is what they cling to, what they obey.

frank

They claim to. As with most religions though, they don't.

serene

No. Mormons believe in an abusive parent. A parent who will love his children unconditionally. . . but will also lovingly separate them from everyone they love if they don't do what they're supposed to.

Anonymous

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.

Anonymous

Not if they believe every word and story in the Book of Mormon. Would a loving God kill thousands of men, women and children like it's written in Third Nephi, 8?

Brent Hale

I think Mormons believe in God in two different ways. The first one is the brainwashed one, the explanation they give if asked about a loving God, and that is yes, they believe God is all forgiving and loving. But in a doctrine way and or a control way, they believe God is wrathful and pretty elitist.