Hello again

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larecherche
Posts: 23
Joined: Fri Mar 08, 2019 5:08 pm

Hello again

Post by larecherche » Sat Mar 09, 2019 9:56 am

Hey everybody. I'm yet another old forum-goer that's back for more; my fingers still start with "forum." when I want to visit NOM. I was an infrequent browser/poster on the old forum, and thought that I'd give it another go.

I think that it was really Jana Reiss book "The Next Mormons" (or rather, her interviews. I haven't actually read the book yet) that has spurred me to return. I've been feeling a lot of angst about my membership in the church lately, and I'm thinking of scaling it back.

My faith crisis journey started as a teenager many years ago, but I eventually got to the point where I felt OK about going along with all of the peer pressure and going on a mission (it was overall a pretty miserable experience with a few good points). I'm way past any anger, but I'm also to a point where I'm not going to study and pray my way back to belief. Any study just seems to magnify the differences between what I believe and what the church teaches. I'm OK with shaping my own beliefs and trying to maintain boundaries, I'm just concerned about whether or not I will be able to stick around or be welcome if I'm not all-in.

The hardest part, for me, is all of the life events that require you to be at least mostly in to participate. Baptism, ordination, temple sealings... if my family wanted to leave I'd be OK skipping them all, but I don't think that I'm OK sitting on the side while somebody else does all of that with my family.

My biggest hope is that Bill Reel's sources are right and the church is planning on dropping garments and the the no coffee rule soon. Those are probably the worst two things about being all-in right now, and if they were dropped then there wouldn't be a lot of difference between half-in and all-in aside from my internal dialogue.

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MoPag
Posts: 3739
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2016 2:05 pm

Re: Hello again

Post by MoPag » Sat Mar 09, 2019 11:49 am

Welcome back!
larecherche wrote:
Sat Mar 09, 2019 9:56 am
I'm just concerned about whether or not I will be able to stick around or be welcome if I'm not all-in.
It's always the Pharisees who are obsessed with virtue signaling that wouldn't welcome you in the church. But those people are usually so broken on the inside, their friendships are more draining that anything. The people who will welcome you are the ones you want in your life.

And you are always welcome in the NOM ward family! :D
...walked eye-deep in hell
believing in old men’s lies...--Ezra Pound

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Hagoth
Posts: 7062
Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2016 1:13 pm

Re: Hello again

Post by Hagoth » Sun Mar 10, 2019 7:19 pm

MoPag wrote:
Sat Mar 09, 2019 11:49 am
And you are always welcome in the NOM ward family! :D
Agreed. Welcome back larecherche! I hope you will participate in the conversations.
“The easy confidence with which I know another man's religion is folly teaches me to suspect that my own is also.” -Mark Twain

Jesus: "The Kingdom of God is within you." The Buddha: "Be your own light."

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SoJo
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon Feb 18, 2019 2:55 pm
Location: South Jordan Utah

Re: Hello again

Post by SoJo » Mon Mar 11, 2019 2:16 pm

Hello larecherche! I'm just back as well! Welcome again and best of luck in your journey.

misterfake371
Posts: 68
Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2019 10:20 pm
Location: San Tan Valley, Arizona
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Re: Hello again

Post by misterfake371 » Tue Mar 26, 2019 8:47 pm

Garments aren't that bad. I remember during my faith crisis, I thought about taking off my garments, but then I felt like the Spirit told me to keep them on. So, I kept them on. I still wear them, pretty much all the time. I think God's happy about my underwear situation.

And is coffee really that good? I've never tried it.

Ha! This is like, TMI, but, in an indirect way, I have had coffee. I did a coffee enema a couple of times. Those are good for cleaning out colons.

I don't care if the Church does away with garments and the coffee ban. All I want from the Church is this: a bigger theological tent.
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. Ecclesiastes 12:13

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Corsair
Posts: 3080
Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2016 9:58 am
Location: Phoenix

Re: Hello again

Post by Corsair » Wed Mar 27, 2019 8:16 am

larecherche wrote:
Sat Mar 09, 2019 9:56 am
My biggest hope is that Bill Reel's sources are right and the church is planning on dropping garments and the the no coffee rule soon. Those are probably the worst two things about being all-in right now, and if they were dropped then there wouldn't be a lot of difference between half-in and all-in aside from my internal dialogue.
The institutional LDS church taught that we were supposed to be a "peculiar people" for a long time and the outward signal of garments and (no) coffee were part of it. I am certain that the very top leadership of the church has asked itself what is the bare minimum that the LDS church must retain to still be a distinctive church with something to offer. If they get rid of garments, WoW restrictions, BoM historicity, temple restrictions, and other LDS shibboleths, what is left that makes us different from the rest of the Christian world? I do not know where this might end but it's entertaining to watch the slow creep of culture changes that inorexably lead to us looking like a regular Protestant church.

We are glad to have you here, Larecherche.

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