Red Ryder wrote: ↑Mon Jul 31, 2023 3:58 pm
Hey ceeboo!
Hey Red Ryder!
I’ve read many of your posts over on MD over the years.
Welcome to the board.
Thanks for the warm welcome. Very kind. I think I remember a few posts from Red Ryder as well.
Let’s play out a rhetorical “what if”
How would your childhood or adult life be different had you been born and raised in the Mormon church compared to your real life experience? Is Mormonism really strange from a non-Mormon perspective?
Interested to understand from your point of view.
The short answer to your last question is, yes - Very strange from an outsider's view.
To the other question/questions: They are so very hard for me to imagine such a thing. I guess the best I can do is to comment from where I am today (after all the time spent on LDS.Net, MAAD, and mostly Mormon Discussions.)
Most important to me is to make it clear how deeply grateful I am to the many Mormons and ex-Mormons and others who were willing to share a bit of their life journey with me online or via private message. In regard to the ex-Mormon people who were willing to share,
I honestly don't think I will ever really be able to completely understand and/or fully appreciate some of the extremely meaningful and hugely important things that people had to navigate (family relationships possibly hanging in the balance, marriages potentially at risk, careers, friendships, family legacies, grandparents, children, etc) - These things, above all, stopped me dead in my tracks. The price of poker simply doesn't get any higher. Many times, I honestly didn't know what to say so I usually just tried to stay in my lane, and I refrained from trying to pretend like I had any answers or sound council because I did not. I just didn't.
While Mormonism was fascinating for a while, I did get bored with it over time. I never grew tired of the human beings though (Mormons and ex-Mormons) because they, in many ways, are exactly like me. They are human beings that have similar experiences that most human beings have in common (especially so in the west) - facing challenges - experiencing loss, tasting success, seasons of tragedy, times of sorrow, periods of joy, managing doubts, modifying/changing personal beliefs, raising children, etc, etc. I have made many online friends and I have my share of online foes who don't appreciate me as much as others.
In my personal opinion, Mormonism, in at least some ways, is very similar to many religions in that is places people in bondage and puts them under a system of control. It makes demands of people's time, energy, and money. It suggests all the things one must do to earn whatever proclamation it is that they announce to those who are within earshot (In Mormonism - things like sealings to a spouse, Temple worthiness, exaltation, ticket to heaven, etc). Perhaps worst of all in my opinion, this prison that religions place people in, has a deep and significant amount of negative impact on personal peace and freedom. Peace and freedom of mind, peace and freedom in the family, peace and freedom in the marriage.
So yeah, I love, admire, and respect many people who I have met over the years who just so happen to be Mormon or Ex-Mormon.