Why I Disagree With Mormonism

As some people who know me will be aware, I was born and raised a Mormon. However, I left that Faith decades agoin spirit and practice long before they decided to remove me physically. Below, I will go into a few of the larger reasons why I so profoundly disagree with Mormonism. Firstly, I will start by noting how much those Mormons love their 'meetings' (and by that, I'm not referring to 'worship services'). When I say 'meetings', I mean the word in the sense of business 'meetings'. I have said before that they should be called the "Church of the Latter-Day Businessmen"! Truly. They preach what can only be called the "Gospel of Wealth" (to borrow the phrase from Andrew Carnegie): they think that being "successful" in life (a word they use an awful lot!) is the same thing as being blessed, and that the more "successful" a person is (in terms of making money), the more "blessed" he or she must be! Now, how twisted is that? That's the way the primitive-minded Hebrews of Old Testament times thought! ("The more goats and cattle I have, the more wives, concubines, and children I have, the more 'God' has showed favor upon me ...") Good God! To think that these 'Mormons' still think like that! To think that the human race has not budged (or evolved) one inch in all those thousands of years! What a sad, sad commentary on the human race! 'Mormon' presidential candidate Mitt Romney (the former Governor of Massachusetts) wants people to think he is good presidential material because he is a "successful leader" and businessman (his exact words). He is certainly every inch a 'Mormon', just like all the rest of them! The truth of the matter is, that we are constantly being "blessed" by God! Just being alive here on this earth is the greatest blessing of all. And we are being blessed by God, even when we think we are not! As Thoreau, Blake, and Whitman would have all been quick to agree, it is a blessing even to be povertystricken! Think about that ... Yet it teaches humility, and compassion for all living beings, doesn't it? Hard to learn those lessons if one is filthy rich ... And as Thoreau pointed out, being povery-stricken is also a blessing, in the sense that we then don't ever have the chance to become unduly attached to material possessions; instead, we learn to love other people (instead of desiring and growing jealous over our "possessions"). Didn't "Jesus" say that "where your treasure is, there your heart is also"? Yes, of course "he" did. ... And--though we may not recognize it as such--we are even being 'blessed' when disaster or tragedy visits its awful, heavy hand upon us. ... Think about that! Yet, if you will really think about it, and work it out in your mind, you will realize I am speaking the truth here. "Disasters" and "tragedies" and sufferings teach us to appreciate the good times. We could never learn to value the "good", if we did not also experience the "bad" (right?) So even the "bad" times are also blessings for us--"blessings in disguise". Much, much more could be said on this subject. The 'Mormons' also place far too much emphasis on "leaders"! Everyone in that church aspires to be a "leader"! "Jesus" had choice words to say about people who desire preeminence among their fellow-men, didn't he? Rather than desiring that human beings should live in a hierarchical, stratified, or layered society (and helping to bring such a thing about), shouldn't we rather strive to serve one another, humbly, with "broken hearts and contrite spirits"? Didn't "Jesus" make this point (beautifully, simply, and elegantly) when he stripped naked in front of his disciples, and washed their feet (which was considered filthy, demeaning work back then)? Of course he did. So I therefore think that the 'Mormons' have got the idea of "religion" completely backwards and twisted around! And that is very sad. It took me many years to figure this out (since I was raised by them). As you well know, it is so very hard to turn against the beliefs one was taught as a child ...

And remember, I have here spoken of (and quoted) "Jesus" as if he was a real human being. Remember--I only do this so as to better be able to teach certain important points. ... Now, in saying all of the above, I do not for a moment mean to be understood as saying that all Mormons are necessarily bad people. There are in this Faith (as indeed in all faiths) an enormous number of otherwise decent, wonderful human beingssome of whom I count as friends, and some of whom are my own distant kin. I would never say they are bad peopleonly greatly deluded or mistaken people. I truly believe that if they could only see the serious, profound contradictions inherent in Mormonism, they would soon have to view the religion in much the same way I now do. T.J. White 23 December, 2007