NOM

Posted: **Thu May 18, 2017 4:42 am**

I think I've turned more into a Deist as time has gone on. I still believe in a higher power, but I'm not sure anymore how much that higher power has to do with our lives. I'm now convinced that most of the miraculous stories in the scriptures are highly exaggerated, and that's why we don't see many miracles anymore - yet I still think there are things that can't be explained, and that keeps my sense of wonder about the world. I still hope that Jesus and the Atonement are real things, but I certainly don't feel the Mormon guilt anymore. And I like the idea that the HG is female. So, I have a "testimony" of these things, but not the way I SHOULD, if I was closely questioned.

What I am for sure, is an quasi-agnostic non-believer in religious thinking. Organized religion is not my thing anymore, that's for sure. I take as my mantra that great Monty Python line, "there's nothing an agnostic can't do, if he's not sure he believes in anything or not." That's it.

Posted: **Thu May 18, 2017 6:39 pm**

Nope. God is a construct of ancient society designed to keep everyone in check.

Posted: **Fri May 19, 2017 4:58 pm**

My honest answer is that I've never really understood the question - or at least it has never made much sense to me.

Since there seems no reliable way to find out about the existence of God, I have never felt like I had enough evidence to base a belief on. I guess I neither believe nor disbelieve pending further light and knowledge.

Posted: **Fri May 19, 2017 5:35 pm**

I believe in a God but not the LDS God. I believe that there have been many great men and women who have set examples for us (ie Jesus, Buddha, MLK, Martin Luther, Mohammad, Joan of Arc, Mother Theresa, etc) but am not sure of the Atonement. Still reconciling my belief system.

Posted: **Sat May 20, 2017 12:21 pm**

NOWmormon wrote: ↑Wed May 17, 2017 6:55 am Church members are asked 15 questions (the Q15) during temple recommend interviews with church leadership.
But since you are essentially anonymous on this site, how would you answer those same questions here?
--
Each day, for the rest of May, please share your honest response to each question, based on what you believe right now.
--
#1
Do you have faith in and a testimony of God the Eternal Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost?

I define that as some spiritual something. Short answer, yes.

Posted: **Sat May 20, 2017 1:28 pm**

I'm arriving late to this series of questions - so I will fill in the ones I missed. Yes, I believe in God, Christ and the Holy Spirit.

Posted: **Sat May 20, 2017 10:43 pm**

NOWmormon wrote: ↑Wed May 17, 2017 6:55 am #1 Do you have faith in and a testimony of God the Eternal Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost?

No. I kinda sat here staring at the screen trying to elaborate, but the short of it is that I don't. You might as well be asking my former believing self if I had faith in or a testimony of Zeus.

Posted: **Tue May 23, 2017 11:41 pm**

NOWmormon wrote: ↑Wed May 17, 2017 6:55 am #1
Do you have faith in and a testimony of God the Eternal Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost?

I'll bite. This sounds fun.

I'm not sure what the definition of testimony is. In a court of law, it is an eyewitness. I have never seen God outside of dreams. I do have faith in the Father and the Son. I have a different view of the HG than I used to. It's more along the lines of it being the mind of God, and if we are aligned with the mind of God, then our spirits ("ghosts") become holy.

Posted: **Tue May 23, 2017 11:46 pm**

Hagoth wrote: ↑Wed May 17, 2017 9:08 am I believe that the universe was once a thin cloud of hydrogen and now it contains stars, galaxies, planets, bacteria, toads and Red Ryder.

Love it!

Posted: **Tue May 23, 2017 11:51 pm**

alas wrote: ↑Wed May 17, 2017 9:14 am And the word for Holy Ghost in ancient Hebrew is feminine and if you get into the ancient history of what was believed back in the time of David and Solomon, you will find that they believed God, El, or Jahweh had a wife, a son (who was to be Savior) and daughter. (Daughter's role has been lost) Basically, if there is a Holy Ghost, it would be our Mother.

My belief is that God is a man and a woman, essentially a married couple. I think she is not well known because people keep trying to erase her. Margaret Barker has some really interesting things to say about the female God in the Old Testament. Anywhere you see wisdom mentioned in the OT, it is often a reference to her (I heard this idea first from Denver Snuffer, but it seems like MB may have also mentioned it). Also, Asher was probably named after Asherah (one of the names of the female God). Lots of cool tidbits from MB about how the OT was altered to remove the female God/consort to the male God.

Posted: **Wed May 24, 2017 12:02 am**

God? ... No.
Holy Ghost? ... No.
Jesus Christ? ... Yes (sort of). I actually believe that he was a real man who had an amazing ministry of love and acceptance while on this Earth. But I don't believe that he walked on water; raised the dead; restored sight to the blind; cured leprosy; or any of the other miracles that were attributed to him in the Bible. And I don't need to believe that he did those things to practice in my life - the love and acceptance - that he taught in his.

Posted: **Thu May 25, 2017 5:11 am**

Yep. But I get to pick the God I believe in, along with all other divine beings.

Posted: **Fri May 26, 2017 5:00 pm**

I currently have some family pressure to renew my recommend, which has been expired for quite a while now (though I am active with a calling that would probably lead most to believe that I have an active recommend). I've considered going ahead with the interview, but I'm afraid that I would get stuck on the first few questions.

One possible definition of faith is living as if something has some truth to it. And I could easily say yes in that context. But my instinct at this point (maybe out of desperation for a substantive discussion, even if misplaced in that context) would be to dig deeper and question the terms of the question. Though clarification would just make things worse, leaving less room for nuance.

I think the problem is that I don't want to commit to either a yes or a no. I've largely lost interest in making statements of belief or disbelief, preferring instead to just explore ideas. But that isn't what people are looking for most of the time, in a temple recommend interview or elsewhere.

Posted: **Sat May 27, 2017 10:32 am**

NOWmormon wrote: ↑Wed May 17, 2017 6:55 am Church members are asked 15 questions (the Q15) during temple recommend interviews with church leadership.
But since you are essentially anonymous on this site, how would you answer those same questions here?
--
Each day, for the rest of May, please share your honest response to each question, based on what you believe right now.
--
#1
Do you have faith in and a testimony of God the Eternal Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost?

I'm a little late to the party but here goes. I don't have faith in or a testimony of God the Eternal Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost because I don't believe they exist. I have faith in myself. I know I have within me the power to do just about anything I set my mind to. We under estimate our own power and when we discover just how powerful the human mind and spirit is it will blow you away!

Posted: **Tue May 30, 2017 9:09 pm**

I hope people continue adding their answers, even if these questions are a month old (or older). I really enjoy reading everyone's comments.

Posted: **Wed May 31, 2017 12:40 am**

The Holy Ghost that Mormons believe in? Nope. I don't believe in a magical power that gives absurd answers and the ability to judge another mans heart. I would be a millionaire if I was to be compensated for the mental terror and anguish based on decisions that church leaders made because "the spirit" told them. And no sorry Bishop you aren't a Jedi, not even in your dreams.

Posted: **Thu Jun 01, 2017 3:38 pm**

NOWmormon wrote: ↑Wed May 17, 2017 6:55 am Church members are asked 15 questions (the Q15) during temple recommend interviews with church leadership.
But since you are essentially anonymous on this site, how would you answer those same questions here?

I just want to thank NOWMormon for the Q15 thread. I've been trying to recall when the last time I sat through these questions and think it was 8 years ago when I needed to renew my recommend so I could go to the temple with my son just before he left on his mission. 9 years later I am hearing those same 15 questions only in a different setting and in a drastically different time for me ..... here on NOM as an ExMomon. That son left the church right after he got home from his mission along with another one of my sons and 4 daughters and me. Reliving the questions made me realize how far I have come and how little I have left in common with the Mormon church. I no longer view the temple a sacred ritual where I must be my worthiest to attend, no longer see any blessing coming from its attendance or any purpose in the church at all. So thank you NOWMor .... you took me back to a time I once lived and breathed and it made me all the more realize just how blessed I am for not being apart of this anymore.

Posted: **Thu Jun 01, 2017 4:53 pm**

SeeNoEvil wrote: ↑Thu Jun 01, 2017 3:38 pm
NOWmormon wrote: ↑Wed May 17, 2017 6:55 am Church members are asked 15 questions (the Q15) during temple recommend interviews with church leadership.
But since you are essentially anonymous on this site, how would you answer those same questions here?
I just want to thank NOWMormon for the Q15 thread. I've been trying to recall when the last time I sat through these questions and think it was 8 years ago when I needed to renew my recommend so I could go to the temple with my son just before he left on his mission. 9 years later I am hearing those same 15 questions only in a different setting and in a drastically different time for me ..... here on NOM as an ExMomon. That son left the church right after he got home from his mission along with another one of my sons and 4 daughters and me. Reliving the questions made me realize how far I have come and how little I have left in common with the Mormon church. I no longer view the temple a sacred ritual where I must be my worthiest to attend, no longer see any blessing coming from its attendance or any purpose in the church at all. So thank you NOWMor .... you took me back to a time I once lived and breathed and it made me all the more realize just how blessed I am for not being apart of this anymore.

Thank you.
I think it achieved it's purpose.
To learn the perspectives of different people in an anonymous setting, beyond the simple yes/no usually given in front of a "judge".

NOM

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