Why Mormons Leave

[Viking]

Ha! I was trying to draw you out. Ding ding ding!

For some reason, this thread reminds me of being a smart ass teenager who, when we'd sing "Shall the youth of zion falter in defending truth and right..." and when the response came "NO!", I would sing "YES!"

Comedy gold

[Jeff Lebowski]

I think we have the coolest apostates here. All we need is someone like Waterman and a mix of MoSto folks like Brooks and Dehlin and we will be awesome (great job!).

Alan Waterman?

[NorthwestUteFan]

EDIT: I'm far less optimistic than NWUF that things are much different these days.

Do you hear the same kind of crazy, speculative stuff at church we used to laugh about 'back in the day'? I can't remember the last time I heard somebody talk about 'walking back to Missouri for the Second Coming' or 'Joseph Smith was the Holy Ghost', for instance.

The culture of the church is a product of the current set of members. Most of the members I see now seem to hold more closely to the more mainstream Christian views the church has been teaching for the past 4+ decades as it distanced itself from its speculative past.

...Waterman...

Didn't he say that Rush was a 'one-hit wonder'? Do you really want him here?

[ERCougar]

Do you hear the same kind of crazy, speculative stuff at church we used to laugh about 'back in the day'? I can't remember the last time I heard somebody talk about 'walking back to Missouri for the Second Coming' or 'Joseph Smith was the Holy Ghost', for instance.

The culture of the church is a product of the current set of members. Most of the members I see now seem to hold more closely to the more mainstream Christian views the church has been teaching for the past 4+ decades as it distanced itself from its speculative past.

Well, yes and no. I still hear some crazy stuff at church, but that may be just rural Utah. The part that hasn't changed much is the black and white, us against the world, you're either all in or all out mentality. I think kids and teens are more susceptible to this than your average adult convert, who is much better at nuancing things. The crazy ideas are an issue, and probably more what DDD was getting at, but your average adult convert never really swallows these in the first place--it's the born and bred member who does.

[NorthwestUteFan]

Well, yes and no. I still hear some crazy stuff at church, but that may be just rural Utah. The part that hasn't changed much is the black and white, us against the world, you're either all in or all out mentality. I think kids and teens are more susceptible to this than your average adult convert, who is much better at nuancing things. The crazy ideas are an issue, and probably more what DDD was getting at, but your average adult convert never really swallows these in the first place--it's the born and bred member who does.

Good point. I forgot about the insular 'Us vs. Them' mindset, and it can be prevalent. This mindset leads its adherents to claim that anything critical of the church, its leaders, or its members in any way is 'anti-Mormon' or 'bigoted'.

Its correlary is the thought that because church members were persecuted in NY/Kirtland/Missouri/Nauvoo, that current church members are likewise 'persecuted'. Past persecution is wholly unrelated to present 'persecution', by purpose and by extent.

[Uncle Ted]

Less Americans, 30 and under, believe in God...

The younger generation is abandoning God in droves.

A new survey by the Pew Research Center finds that belief in the existence of God has dropped 15 points in the last five years among Americans 30 and under.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/06/belief-in-god-plummets-millenials.php

[SeattleUte]

We are entering a post Christian age.

[taekwondave]

We are entering a post Christian age.

I gotta say, I hope so.

[taekwondave]

I gotta say, I hope so.

I feel I should preface this.

I think the world would do very, very well to study and ponder the teachings of Jesus. It is the teachings about him that I hope find the door someday.

[lambdacoug]

We are entering a post Christian age.

Most people I work with, ie. 25-40 year old software engineers, definitely reflect this trend.

[Moliere]

I'll say that my own anecdotal experience is that the same amount of people believe in god, but most are less devout. Of course, I live in the South.

[Non Sequitur]

I'm not sure if I believe in God, but if he does exist I think he's pretty much irrelevant.

[The Rambam]

We are entering a post Christian age.

Agree. And as the singularity approaches in the next 50 years, adherence to religion will plummet even faster. Who needs God if there is no death?

I'm not sure if I believe in God, but if he does exist I think he's pretty much irrelevant.

Honest observation confirms, that if God exists, he does not place a priority on his children having a correct idea of his nature or even existence. You can't blame 4000 years of prophets for failure on this scale. Obviously God doesn't care if his children know him.

I will say this much... if you have a healthy, teenage, male libido, then the Mormon church has a very good chance of messing you up. The more you have bought it, hook line and sinker, the greater the potential to mess you up.

I offer myself up as exhibit A on this point.

[SportUTE]

Honest observation confirms, that if God exists, he does not place a priority on his children having a correct idea of his nature or even existence. You can't blame 4000 years of prophets for failure on this scale. Obviously God doesn't care if his children know him.

This is 90%+ of what I grapple with, to the point of thinking it's absurd that membership is your ticket to the CK. Is it really so important for people to become members so that they can attend meetings and more meetings? Why does God care about us going to meetings with people in our geographical boundary so much? Is the CK an eternal round of meetings? Or maybe the meeting thing is the enduring to the end thing

[Non Sequitur]

This is 90%+ of what I grapple with, to the point of thinking it's absurd that membership is your ticket to the CK. Is it really so important for people to become members so that they can attend meetings and more meetings? Why does God care about us going to meetings with people in our geographical boundary so much? Is the CK an eternal round of meetings? Or maybe the meeting thing is the enduring to the end thing

I remember attending an institute class where the instructor said that after the millennium, the Church as an organization would no longer exist, it wouldn't be necessary...the family structure would replace it. That sounded right to me, but it bothered a lot of people there. I guess, correlation dies hard.