The Mormon Church: Modern Day Mandated Servitude and Bondage

[LivingNumbers6.626]

It has appeared to me through some additional arguments with family members that there is no way to please the Mormon perspective of who I am. I had long sought to seek compromise but it is hugely apparent that none is possible while concerning those who refuse to know better.

I had decided to with hold my church resignation letter to avoid further controversy within the family (they notify family members and issue a "second chance" letter when a resignation has been submitted), but now the point is moot.

They expect me to say silent. They require that I sensor my ideas and convictions in some desperate hope that my atheistic philosophy is some bad dream that will go away, but it will not.

I am usually one to seek unity before I seek to deepen the divide between the secular and the religious, but some things must first be destroyed. Some things require collapse before one can construct anew. Some times a forest fire is necessary for the reproduction of pine trees and the destruction of parasitic bark beetles.

I propose to you that the Mormon faith needs deconstruction. I propose to you that the Mormon faith requires a collapse, a monumental schism at least. I propose to you that the fire of reason and rational thought must invade the Mormon parasitic territory and the territory of many other cousin fundamentalist religions.

Christopher Hitchens brought a brilliant fire. One of class and civility. He may not have convinced enough people but he put the atheistic ideas on the map during his life. Richard Dawkins, has done the same. Neil deGrasse Tyson does his way through science promotion, and a damn good job of it. We had Sagan, another great science promoter. If we can't burn religion out, we can sure drown it out with science.

Tomorrow I submit my resignation letter, and with it a fervor and excitement strengthened for the secular community and the requirement that it grows and strengthens exponentially. We may have a bad public image, but with enough time, that can be cured. I, we, all secularists must be so fucking awesome that it creates the utmost cognitive dissonance imaginable for those thinking that atheism equates immorality and incivility.

I'm not too keen of the Zerg on Starcraft, but dare I say, I'm ready for the swarm.

The swarm of science and reason.

[rexbeccarox]

I'm not usually for the destruction of a group's beliefs, but the Mormon church has done so much to stifle civil liberties (a la Prop 8), I'm all for it. Fuck 'em up, Q! I'd say it's not really possible to do it on your own, but one rain drop begins to fill a bucket.

[Minimalist]

I propose to you that the fire of reason and rational thought must invade the Mormon parasitic territory and the territory of many other cousin fundamentalist religions.

A commendable goal but you do understand you are up against a bunch of nitwits who believe the word of an 1830's con artist. That is powerful stupid. Nuclear-powered stupid. Stupid of an order of magnitude which is hard to comprehend.

The jesus story wasn't absurd enough for those assholes. They had to take it to an entirely different level.

Good luck.

[StealthySkeptic]

My favorite part of Mormon belief is this:

[Clueless Morgan]

If we can't burn religion out, we can sure drown it out with science.

To the best of my knowledge, many Mormons are under the delusion that science supports their nonsense, and where science conflicts with it they'll merely sweep it under the rug of "How can we puny humans comprehend the ways of God?" and go on believing their bullshit anyway.

Tomorrow I submit my resignation letter, and with it a fervor and excitement strengthened for the secular community and the requirement that it grows and strengthens exponentially.

May your way forward in life be free of dogma.

[LivingNumbers6.626]

If we can't burn religion out, we can sure drown it out with science.

To the best of my knowledge, many Mormons are under the delusion that science supports their nonsense, and where science conflicts with it they'll merely sweep it under the rug of "How can we puny humans comprehend the ways of God?" and go on believing their bullshit anyway.

Tomorrow I submit my resignation letter, and with it a fervor and excitement strengthened for the secular community and the requirement that it grows and strengthens exponentially.

May your way forward in life be free of dogma.

You're correct. The best and worse parts of the Mormon faith is their emphasis on college education. Many of them are well educated which is a good start for reason, but many of them become arrogant because of it. The do, like you said, taint science with their religion. At least here in the states. Other centers of mass conversion (South America and Africa) may be different since formal education us often poor or non-existent. It's easy to manipulate the innocent.

[Dystopia]

I propose to you that the Mormon faith needs deconstruction. I propose to you that the Mormon faith requires a collapse, a monumental schism at least. I propose to you that the fire of reason and rational thought must invade the Mormon parasitic territory and the territory of many other cousin fundamentalist religions.

Good, now apply this to other faiths and we got a brilliant solution

[Thumpalumpacus]

Good luck.

[Clueless Morgan]

The best and worse parts of the Mormon faith is their emphasis on college education.

Don't they highly encourage their kids to attend BYU? All that is is Mormonism overlaid with the facade of institutional/scholarly legitimacy.

Many of them are well educated which is a good start for reason, but many of them become arrogant because of it.

What's the saying? The smarter you are the better equipped you'll be at rationalizing your beliefs?

That strikes me as being especially true for Mormons. Yes, they're educated. Yes, they're intelligent. But education and intelligence mean nothing if you don't recognize your own confirmation biases and takes steps to eliminate those biases.

[vodkafan]

Good luck Quantum1, keep us posted.