My Impression of "Ex-Mormons"

I don't recommend this exercise. It left me feeling kind of dirty. Even though I pride myself in trying to analyze things at a distance, I think most people can't help being somewhat influenced by what they read - some more than others. That is why sometimes avoiding news and mass media can make such an absolutely startling positive experience in your life - avoiding all that negativity does make a big difference.

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Obviously there's exceptions, and the forums and internet sites geared towards this-sort-of-thing are obviously biased, but I'll give my overall impression, without any intent to debate it:

Very bitter, angry, cynical, and depressed. It reminds me of dis-affected youth who are bitter at their parents because they believe everything they've been taught is a fraud, but instead of finding something else or moving on, they positively stew in it - as if it is their new purpose.

My guess is that the sort-of-people who fall into this trap are very impressionable, and somewhat gullible. I think they had too much esteem for their (sheltered?) perspective. They seem positively stunned that other Mormons might be human and have failings, or occasionally be hypocritical about something, or that a Bishop or other leader might error.

To me it's sort of strange, and I feel some pity. I think they do not realize that the whole world is like that, but generally much worse. For the most part, Mormons do a better job of being better people, but of course, like everyone, they fail and sin, are far from perfect, etc.

I think these people will become increasingly bitter as they realize the rest of the world is, for a large part, worse than what they abandoned for its perceived flaws. The reasoning seems somewhat secondary, as a lot of the arguments against the Book of Mormon etc. have arguments on both sides (e.g. FairMormon does a great job) and a lot of the anti-Mormon sites are actually very poorly done, they sort of look like "tin-foil-hat" sites where you find conspiracy theories, etc.

That last part is why I think these people may be, for the most part, too impressionable. They seem stunned to find that some people might disagree with what they believed before and are so swayed they depart. It's unfortunate they weren't better exposed or educated.

There also seems to be a connection to abandoning it in order to accept mainstream or liberal values, like on marriage, abortion, and the rest. They now want to attack the church from the outside instead of actually just abandoning it, walking away, or leaving it alone. It is a very destructive and negative attitude.

That said, in the end, (after, admittedly, a lot of questions, doubts, etc.) all the anti-Mormon stuff has strongly biased me more in favor of Mormonism and the CJCLDS.

Is "Abortion" Child Sacrifice?

The assertion is "controversial" but entirely serious. I also don't think it's in the least bit wacky, but something we should consider.

Let's analyze some definitions:

Abortion means to stop a process. In this context it means to "abort" a human life. The term is already politically imbued, the very term used to define what's-going-on is slanting the debate. It's assuming that what's being aborted isn't fully human, but is in process to becoming such.

Pro-Choice tries to take it one step further back. It doesn't even want people to think about the act of "abortion" (which, as we just mentioned, is tilting the debate in favor of such an action), but simply means "in favor of 'abortion'".

The thing is, these rather vomitrocious terms are extremely misleading. They're defining the entire debate on assumptions that go unquestioned - that is exactly why they're used and promoted by the media. No matter which "side" you're on, you're playing by an anti-Christian, liberal worldview.

The same terms could, quite realistic, be used to justify murdering almost any non-adult human. That is, the fetus is in a process of becoming a baby, the baby a child, the child an adolescent, the adolescent an adult... at anytime this process could be "aborted" before full adulthood is achieved. Of course, it's only legal to do so at this time before the human has left the womb - but this is entirely arbitrary. There is no reason, from a leftist viewpoint, that abortion couldn't occur at anytime.

Killing the unborn is also incorrect. Killing is often used to refer to justified death, such as in wartime, or self-defense, or towards a violent animal.

We are literally talking about murder. That is, murdering a human. By definition, murder applies to one who is innocent. I think every Christian must agree with this point. The media only escapes the argument by redefining terms, and playing a little dance to justify what has always been regarded as murder.

My real question though, is are we talking about sacrifice? Those horrible practices that, everyone agrees, only vicious backwards people used to practice... is that what society as a whole is doing, right now?

Well, historically people tended to sacrifice their children in the hopes of receiving some sort of this-worldly gain. To appease vengeful Gods, to stop the drought, etc. So are people today murdering their children for a this-worldly gain, because someone in authority (historically a priestly-like pretender) is telling them to?

Yes, people today are murdering their children, because people in authority are telling them to, to receive specific this worldly benefits - lower costs, more free time to pursue hedonistic activities, or career (again more money), or maybe to stop global warming (remember how those really stupid people thought they could stop drought? I'm sure they had a good "reason" too...)

So yes, indeed - people today are committing large scale child sacrifice. And I say, based it is absolutely abhorrent to God. I'm pretty sure child sacrifice was forbidden somewhere in the Bible, as if people need to be told explicitly that it is wrong - which apparently they do.

Guesswork: Joseph Smith's Translations Are "Dream Like"

Disclaimer: I'm not a Mormon.

I think that a possible explanation for much of Joseph Smith's translations are "dream like."

Based on my previous conclusions, I must accept as fact that Mormonism is somehow true (essentially, or at least mostly). That is, Joseph Smith's translations, revelations, and the products thereof are some how more real and more true than what most people accept as true (myself, most modern non-mormons).

However, a lot of startling elements or difficulties present themselves to the non-Mormon even when looking at the official accounts. Such as the instruments used to translate the plates, the direct word-for-word copying of official KJV passages, the fact that the translation is into King James english, the translation of Matthew, etc.

It seems evident that Joseph Smith's translation wasn't the same as what one usually thinks of as a scholarly translation. Even by Smith's own account, it was strictly by the power of God.

So it appears to me that his work and translations often have a dream-like quality, in that appear to be presenting a unique (or sacred) message, but communicated via Smith's personal experiences, knowledge, understanding of language. That is, in one sense, obvious that any translator will be conveying some degree of themselves into the work - but for Smith it seems more than that. I wonder if it wasn't like a sacred dream, where the imagery used is from Smith's own mind, but to convey a specific (divinely inspired?) message. It would explain to some degree why he used exact word-for-word KJV passages, apparently mixed up "biblically sounding" wording with 19th century anachronisms, etc.

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Trying to use the historical accounts to figure out just what happened is difficult. There appears to be a lot of slander, politics, and so much he-said she-said. Certainly, the same issues we face today! Given the obviously problematic nature of reporting today (even with photography, video recordings, etc.) one is automatically making a faith-based choice on what and who to believe. It is a far from perfect comparison, but it seems clear enough that if Christ was born in our time, the media be producing a lot of slander and evidence against His claims - even any miracle would be twisted, slandered, etc. so that I doubt anyone would believe that anything had even occurred, even if many had personal experience of the miracles. Perhaps I'm being too cynical?

Why isn't everyone Mormon?

Restating my previous post another way (from the mainstream, mass media repeated viewpoint):

Mormons don't want to be deceived by reality, because they mistakingly think it's wonderful and fundamentally enjoy life - but they're stupid and kinda bad because they disagree with us.

Non-Mormons want to be deceived, distracted, entertained, and primarily seek short-term pleasures because they know the truth about reality is really meaningless and everything that seems good is false, and hopefully stupid religious people wake up soon and realize it.

Now, it seems the logical think for a non-religious nihilistic/atheist person to do would be to join anyway in order to participate in the obviously superior benefits to individual and group.

So why don't they, en mass? Well obviously - because they can't. First, they've convinced themselves (have their heads so far up their backsides) that what is obviously good is bad. Secondly, they can't participate in the benefits unless they honestly believe it is true. It's not like a consumer product where one can just buy the options one wants, it must either be genuinely lived or not at all.

Non-Mormon Comparison

An interesting comparison. If you conclude Mormonism is false (which I don't agree with, though I'm not Mormon), one must say:

Mormons are deceived about religion and reality, though they think they have the truth, and it's wholly to their personal and group benefit.

Non-Mormon atheists (mass media people) aren't deceived about religion and reality, they don't think anything can really be true, and it's wholly to their personal and group detriment.

It's actually a bit more complicated than than. Mormons believe they understand reality as it really is, and make no attempt to purposely deceive themselves. Non-Mormon atheists claim they know the truth, but at the same time purposely and constantly deceive and distract themselves through an array of entertainment products (because the non-Mormon "truth" is extremely demotivating, and comfort/pleasure is the primary motivation they cling onto as individuals).

The Importance of Fertility Rate

I suppose it should be kind of obvious, shouldn't it?

From a demographic standpoint, if a group has sub-replacement fertility, it's literally dying off. A group is either growing or dying, at potential variances around a "static" point that is never quite a real state of being.

As a whole though, and repeated daily, mainstream society has decided that there are too many people. As a whole, society has also shifted it's focal point away from family. Everything that is not reproductive is touted as a good: abortion, contraception, delayed marriage, same-sex "marriage (which, obviously, can't be reproductive).

The whole trend, for anyone who listens, is demographic suicide. Interestingly, the only people who do listen are those same people who are inundated by first-world mass media daily: mostly European and Asian-descended nations.

These same groups of people tend to have higher IQs, which is only controversial in the same sense that "it's okay to murder children in the womb" is controversial - it's only such because the mass media has decided it should be so.

That is, the only people committing demographic suicide are above average intelligence, above average education, and above average responsibility - they tend to plan for the future more (e.g. bothering to use contraception consistently). Now, there is work on "solutions" for those who are less-responsible - such as abortion. There is also work on long-term or somewhat permanent contraceptions (maybe it can be a sort of default medical procedure given around the time of puberty, like a vaccine) which would solve the discrepancy.

Yet, this is only a solution insofar that one accepts demographic suicide, as a whole, for everyone, is a good thing!

That is, more specifically, the solution to the discrepancy is for the more intelligent groups, effectively committing slow suicide, will also force the less intelligent groups to commit slow suicide. Because the less intelligent groups, much to the dismay of the more intelligent, wouldn't willingly commit suicide ("voluntarily limit fertility rates") - one can't really call it suicide can they? Maybe "soft genocide" or "long-term, painless genocide" would be more appropriate terms. It's sort of akin to the modern death penalty, where instead of public hangings, we've made it a private, painless process.

Religion, in general, appears to be an anti-dote to this "solution" (read: poison) and, as such, generally coopted or hated by the mainstream media and society it engenders. Christianity is an example of this, which has slowly accepted practices like abortion despite historical opposition. Even Catholics, which officially oppose contraception and abortion, is currently committing voluntary society.

There are some minority groups, like the Amish, who don't participate in the slow mass suicide and child sacrifice trend. That is because they fully isolate themselves from mainstream society, both socially and technologically.

Interestingly though, there is one group, that is highly intelligent, highly educated, wealthy, and fully integrated into modern society and technology. That group stands almost completely alone in being fully integrated into first-world society, yet completely opposing these overwhelmingly evil trends: that is, the Mormons.

Mormonism as True

Disclaimer: I'm not a Mormon, and my analysis here is strictly from the apparent real-world benefits that Mormonism provides to its believers. I think Mormons would believe these are the blessings of God, for obeying his word and will.

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Based on my previous "conclusion", I feel compelled to personally believe that Mormonism (or the Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter Day Saints) conforms to reality. My argument is strictly "top down" and ignores any "bottom up" approach and opinions on the historicity of the churches claims.

To elaborate: followers and believers of Mormonism have a quantitatively superior adaption to the challenges of modern life. That is especially evident to the relative behavior of other modern-adapted groups. So no matter how much one wants to attack the historicity Joseph Smith's translations and revelations, the political beliefs, or any other claim of Mormonism - somehow Mormonism is more real, more true than what most people believe (myself, most modern non-mormons).

This is a bold claim, but the evidence supporting this conclusion is overwhelming. It is, indeed, so strong, that given only 8 generations Mormons would be the largest ethnically European group in the world.

Obviously this sort of thing is extremely problematic to extrapolate into the future, but given current trends - in 8 generations:

For this simple calculation we will ignore converts, apostasy, and demographic mixing. We'll also take the US population and its trend as a while (ignoring the relative Mormon element).

The US will be majority hispanic
Europe (almost all countries) will be majority Muslim

The European-descended population of the US is currently the largest such grouping in the world. It currently reported at 197 million as of 2012, with a birth rate of 1.76. That is, as each generation passes it is negatively compounding by approximately 16%. In 8 generations there would be about 48 million whites in America.

The European-descend population of "Mormonism" is believed to be approximately 13.2 million, with a birthrate of 2.77. That means it is compounding by approximately 32% per generation. That means in 8 generations there would be about 121 million whites Mormons.

It is becoming an increasingly popular liberal view that the "death" or demographic shrinking of whites is a good thing. While I don't want to address why suicide, or encouraging suicidal behavior, is bad here - from a strictly evolutionary perspective, Mormonism is vastly superior to whatever most Americans believe.

It's so superior, that simply given current demographic trends, someday the only European-descended people left in America would be Mormons. What's interesting, is Mormonism has absolutely no doctrine explicit or otherwise in direct support of this specific effect. This trend is also in the face of widespread societal criticism of Mormonism - everywhere you look society is anti-Mormon (but also, anti-family, hence society-wide demographic suicide tendencies).

From a non-Mormon Christian perspective, and given the Old Testament definition of being blessed by God, one feels absolutely compelled to believe that Mormonism is indeed somehow true, that Mormons are indeed obeying the word of God, and that indeed they are blessed by God (apparently, far more than any other large religious denomination - most of which are committing demographic suicide faster than the widespread societal trends!)

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(Please message or contact with any suggested corrections)