(July 29, 2021 at 11:46 am)Ten Wrote: I watched a clip from Mormon Stories this morning and became angry again over how this cult lied to me. I know, nobody else is likely to care or be interested, but I just wanted to talk about this a little bit.
This was very similar to my experience; upon hearing about things that were contrary to what I was taught growing up in the church, I immediately went to the one source I had been taught to trust: the church website. And there I found authorized and official essays the church put out "correcting" past revelations and admitting to things I had been taught were anti-Mormon propaganda(aka lies outsiders tell in order to draw us away from the truth).
It's hard to really describe the amount of trust and certainty I had in my religious leaders. It's not like a local parish or preacher might receive. I was taught that the prophet and his apostles received revelation from God to lead his one true church. I was taught that the prophet was the only one who talks directly to God. That is what made that church true. That was what made it different from a Catholic church or a Baptist church or a Presbyterian church. This church was the only one that got the full truth and had authority to lead from God.
And then these essays that the church put out in 2012 and 2013, they want to claim that my expectations of truth in leadership are too high. That my expectations for being led by God's mouthpiece directly is ignoring the fact that these men are not infallible. As if my expectations for a guy telling me what God says somehow equates to him needing to be perfect. No. But the things he says as the representative of God and the gospel better be fuckin' right and not need corrections. Otherwise, what is the point? The church is only special if it has that direct communication. Otherwise, you're no different than some well-meaning preacher of some small local chapel who tries his best for his flock based on a good feeling in his chest.
That's what still grinds my gears about that. The trying to have their cake and eat it too about church revelations and authority. It's either direct and special or it's just you praying and getting a good feeling, "God says I'm the leader, you guys. He chose me."
Imam, Pope, Buddhist Monk, Rabbi, Swami, any human of any religion in the world, claiming they have a patent on human morality, is someone you should run from.
There is no such thing as "revealed" or "prophecy" or "oracle" or even "psychic". There are just human beings making unfounded claims pretending to be superior.
I have said it many times, if any one religion were the cure all for humanity, then why is it every nation on the face of the planet, both friend and foe, have both hospitals and prisons? Why is it Iraq and Russia and China and Australia and America have traffic lights?
Because our socializing, our species behaviors, both good and bad, are not being handed down to us from above. There is no divine authority, or God or spirit world manipulating humans from the beyond. There are only our species superstitions giving humans a false sense of security. If we are to deal effectively with our world's problems in a more civil manor it would be wise for more humans to put our personal beliefs on the back burner in regards to religion.
