To the rescue!

[crossmyheart]

I attended a ward out of town today for a baby blessing. On a hallway bulletin board was the above title. Along with individual pictures of their ward missionaries and their testimonies of the great purpose of the rescue. Definitely a cringe moment for me and relief that I am not in that ward.

F&T was pretty basic until an older woman got up and spoke about the heartbreak she has gone through finding out that her best friend has left the church. She never mentioned a name but subsequent testimonies indicated everyone knew who she was talking about.

She went on about Satan's influence on her friend's family and how strong their testimonies were and of course a long soliloquy about the very elect vs anti-mormon lies... She said her friend told her that her Mormon goggles had come off and she finally saw the church for what it was. She closed bearing her testimony that she could not even fathom that JS could have made it all up.

Then it became a parade of the same - sorrow for the lost sheep and complete shock that anyone could lose belief.

I am not sharing this to mock. But reflection on the current state of affairs. They are good people. But those Mormon goggles are thick.

[Rob4Hope]

I've seen some moments like that happen in various wards. It DOES make you cringe. To me now its creepy....

The crazy part is the message these people are saying is DO NOT LOOK AT FACTS AND ASK QUESTIONS...Just believe the happy fuzzy feelings.

God can not be rational and at the same time lie about it. But that is, what I believe, the message of Mormonism is.

[Arcturus]

Interesting. Now that I think about it, it seems like the for the past 3 F&T meetings I've also noticed at least 1 person bringing up the pain they're experiencing because of a family member or friend who looked into anti-Mormon literature and has now left the church.

[MoPag]

What's most awkward about those testimonies, (for me at least) is I can remember being that person, so sad and crushed that a friend left the church. And it makes me remember how draining it was to a TBM. Just completely draining.

[asa]

Interesting. Now that I think about it, it seems like the for the past 3 F&T meetings I've also noticed at least 1 person bringing up the pain they're experiencing because of a family member or friend who looked into anti-Mormon literature and has now left the church.

This is interesting. The very same thing happened in my ward last Sunday

[Not Buying It]

Will the Church maybe reach a point where enough members leave that it has to soften the rhetoric against those who leave the Church? Nope, that would be the humane thing to do. Instead, they will try and frighten those who remain into staying, causing more grief. But how much needless pain and heartache could be avoided if the Church's message became "some choose to leave the Church, and that's OK, we don't need to mourn or obsess about getting them back, just love them no matter what religious choices they make, that is the important thing. Nothing else really matters". But Heaven forbid the Brethren make it sound like any choice other than staying in the Church is legitimate or acceptable.

[IT_Veteran]

Will the Church maybe reach a point where enough members leave that it has to soften the rhetoric against those who leave the Church? Nope, that would be the humane thing to do. Instead, they will try and frighten those who remain into staying, causing more grief. But how much needless pain and heartache could be avoided if the Church's message became "some choose to leave the Church, and that's OK, we don't need to mourn or obsess about getting them back, just love them no matter what religious choices they make, that is the important thing. Nothing else really matters". But Heaven forbid the Brethren make it sound like any choice other than staying in the Church is legitimate or acceptable.

I hope they don't go the Scientology route and demand people break off all contact with us apostates.

[Reuben]

Will the Church maybe reach a point where enough members leave that it has to soften the rhetoric against those who leave the Church? Nope, that would be the humane thing to do. Instead, they will try and frighten those who remain into staying, causing more grief. But how much needless pain and heartache could be avoided if the Church's message became "some choose to leave the Church, and that's OK, we don't need to mourn or obsess about getting them back, just love them no matter what religious choices they make, that is the important thing. Nothing else really matters". But Heaven forbid the Brethren make it sound like any choice other than staying in the Church is legitimate or acceptable.

Defectors always have to be dealt with more harshly than outsiders, and traitors always have to be dealt with more harshly than enemies. Raising the cost of crossing the boundary is an effective way to maintain group cohesion.

IMO, the only way the church will ever change this is if it moves the boundary or stops caring about it so much. Either would be a huge change, requiring a lot of pressure. So a lot more people will have to leave first.

In the meantime, we'll hear more disingenuous platitudes about how there's room for us in the church, with "in the back of the bus" unsaid.