I feel sorry for children of Mormon parents

They indoctrinate them into a bizarre lifestyle choice. They don't let them think for themselves. They teach them these indoctrinations are "normal."

Then they forcibly send them off to recruit others into their Mormon Lifestyle. Then make them submit to a lifetime of paying 15% of their income to further their agenda!

WON'T SOMEBODY PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN?

Wash, rinse, repeat.

the Mormons. Many evangelical churches/parents do the exact same thing.

as people who struggled with it later in life and who finally rejected it.

Most of them were deeply religious people who went on to other churches.

I know few active Mormons, probably because they tend to be clannish and distrustful of "gentiles."

We have alot of physically, sexually and emotionally abused children in the world that we need to take care of.

I was taught that we should love gays, but that being gay was a 'sickness'. I even heard the Mormon leaders say as much on tv many years ago. You really are indoctrinated quite heavily if you are raised a Mormon, and you are not to read anything that is in contrast to the teachings of the Mormon church. I left that church and had my name removed when I was 16. I remember the day I walked out of that church vowing never to return. I was so brainwashed that I could not even fathom not having another belief system to hold onto, so I became a born again fundie. That only lasted a few years. It was very liberating escaping from the incredibly strong hold that years of being brainwashed through fear had on my mind.

When I was in the Mormon church, you had to have a blood test before you could get married in their temple to ensure you did not have any 'negro' blood in you. Can you fucking imagine that? I was not a racist, but I supported racist and homophobic policies by virtue of belonging to this religion, and am very ashamed of that.

What a heart wrenching story.

I'm so glad you got out.

given all the "mark of cain" and "loathsome dark skin" nonsense.

they built a temple in Brazil and realized that most Brazilians were multiracial. So, in 1978 they allowed mormon men of all races to the priesthood.

I don't know about Gladys Knight. She's a great singer, though.

Women are still not allowed in the priesthood.

this was a very long time ago. The mother of several children tried to get my mother to convert. My mother was a staunch Catholic and didn't know what to think. My father (close to being an atheist) did not want these people anywhere near our family.

My father decided he would take them out for an evening out on the town in San Francisco. He took them to a strip joint on Broadway where Carol Dodo was performing and Carol apparently waved a big feather in the Mormon father's face along with her huge tits and they were absolutely shocked I'll tell you - shocked!

After this "event", they never approached my mother nor father again about becoming Mormons. :rofl:

Thanks for the laugh Dad. I know you must be listening even though you are long gone.
;)

:kick:

Carol Doda is 71 years old now. I wonder what her knockers look like now.

I was there watching as they took down her neon sign w/her blinking nips:



It was a sad day.

still a looker, and quite a nice lady.

It's on Union St close to where I onced worked. We shared a Victorian w/the original Victoria's
Secret.

I loved that sign.

full of Mormons. I have to say they were all nice people, but they were ceaseless in their attempts to convert me. They managed to convert a girl I knew - the daughter of a federal judge, whose parents were most unhappy with her choice. They wouldn't leave me alone the whole time I lived there! No was not an answer they were prepared to take from me. The whole story of Joseph Smith is so strange that I cannot believe a religion of hundreds of millions of people is going strong today. Very bizzare beliefs.

Moonies, evangelicals, Mormons....Muslims...

I have to say Jews and Catholics are not as annoying about the converting thing. I grew up Catholic and it's not like they made us go out for two years and try to convert people like the Mormons! I guess with the Moonies they're out looking for souls for Eternal Father every freaking day....sick...

some of it in pretty cruel ways

I'm just talking about when you get off the subway it's never a Catholic or Jew in your face trying to put some stupid flyer in your hand. Well, Jews for Jesus do but they're basically evangelical fundies.

Or you're walking to your car after Hollywood Bowl or something and these assholes out there with the bullhorn, REPENT REPENT! Ugh....I hate that.

... then they were NOT nice people.

Most everyone thinks their way of living is the right way to live, or is striving to achieve the right way to live and we teach our kids about that. That IS indoctrination, and it's a parent's job.

Choice over demand.

If you consider THAT indoctrination (and I DON'T)
then you are correct.

but they were all within the bounds of our modern American lifestyle. They still taught me some things are socially acceptable and some aren't - stealing is wrong, cheating on the husband is wrong, hitting is wrong, service to others is good, taking care of what is given to me or what I own is good, laziness is bad, working hard is good...........

IMHO this is just as much indoctrination as parents in a fundie muslim country teaching their daughters to accept a burka. We are taught to survive in the world we live in. I'm not saying that's always a bad thing - but IMHO it IS indoctrination.

Your examples are universal.

The theology of the LDS church is no more bizarre than any other mainstream religion.

All childhood indoctrination is bad and anyone could make that argument for any religion using your first line.

It's Mormons who force sexual orientation on their children -- it's Mormon's who indoctrinate them to a bizarre lifestyle and then force them to go recruit others.

Also, if they want to "protect traditional marriage" why don't they START in their own back yard and protect the bartered child brides and "lost boys" in the FLDS?

With all the diverse groups of people ginning up hysterical hatred against gay Americans--specifically around the California elections but also pertaining to anti-gay bigotry in general--I wonder why it is that so many DUers want to focus their ire on Mormons in particular. The only thing that makes them different from other haters is their religion. So how is this not the same kind of bigotry that liberals are denouncing?

I just don't see how we'll defeat bigotry by further reinforcing a culture of bigotry.

Going after the Mormons for the same reason they went after me. Because they are an easy target, and the simple light of day makes them unpalatable to most Americans. They started a fight they are in no way ready to complete.
And while you think you know what's what, opposition to an orgainzed group of political thugs who travel the nation attacking my family's rights is not bigotry. It is simple self defense. There is a huge difference, and if you can not see that, well, that is just what it is.
I mean, when Jews denounce Nazis are they being bigots? Would you take that position?

If a church persecutes us, we will retaliate in kind.

They indoctrinate them into a bizarre lifestyle choice. They never allow their children to know the beauty of god. Horrible. Just horrible.

:eyes:

as opposed to some blood thirsty religion with a history of murder and intolerance.

I know they brag about it all the time, haven't seen it. I've seen emotional rants, though, plenty of those.

If you teach them to think rationally, how will they avoid the punishment & forever Gitmo that happens when God's children don't worship him properly?

needing serious therapy.

The RWer God is like the ultimate mean alcoholic dad.

I'll be taking mine to a Unitarian CHurch, so they can decide for themselves what they want to believe. Imagine that?

You are obviously mistaken.

I feel sorry for the children of atheist parents. Poor lads.

:eyes:

Also, gay parents most times have straight kids (just cuz straight people are the majority) but MORMONS dictate their children's sexual preference and many times push them to marry early.

And if the kids are gay they put them through these awful "gender confusion" camps to "fix" them.

I saw a play on it called "Confessions Of A Mormon Boy" about how he was sent to these get-rid-of-the-gay seminars and forced into a loveless early marriage. It is really interesting and travels around if anybody wants to see it.

They force their children to not believe in God and if any of their children do, they put them in concentration camps until they refuse to believe any longer. It's horrible.

:eyes:

Hateful places full of rational thinking. Atheists should be ashamed of themselves for foisting education on young impressionable minds.

Are you saying that religious people don't introduce their children to religion?

I (an atheist) tell my daughters Bible stories all the time, and I tell them they're free to choose to believe whatever makes sense to them. Do you think that level of anti dogma is common in the upbringing of most kids? If it is, then what a staggering coincidence that most people just happen to choose the same faiths as their parents.

Obviously it's the Mormons who push their beliefs down EVERYBODY's throat, not just their own kids!

people.

It's unbelievable what they put this guy through. He ended up getting ex-communicated and moved from UT to NYC right before 9/11. After 9/11 he became a prostitute and meth addict before finally learning to respect and love himself as a gay ex-Mormon, after a lifetime of being taught it was impossible. Really good play! You'll laugh you'll cry! I saw it here in L.A. and will never forget it.

http://www.mormonboy.com/

"they raise their kids to be friends with homoSEXuals, don't teach them about JAYzuz, and let them listen to the devils music - oh won't someone think of the children..."

that is their right under the Constitution of the United States. Do you propose scrapping part of the First Amendment to "save" the children.

That they do what they falsely accuse gays of doing.

If religions have more rights than individuals, we have a problem.

If they want to "protect traditional marriage" why not start in their own back yard with the Fundie LDS and their bartered child brides and discarded "Lost Boys." The people who are living like Brigham Young and Joseph Smith lived. Start there, fix that.

They are indoctrinated with religious views I absolutely don't agree with.

But their families are close and loving, and the church has tons of activities for children and teens. It's very very family friendly. It's no wonder so many kids who grow up in that church stay with it. It's a "feel good" environment for the people in it, EXCEPT, of course, for that percentage of people who grow up in the church but are gay.

It's sad that their views on various people outside the church (not just the GLBT community because they have issues with other groups of people as well) are so hateful. And yes, those views are simply hateful. I don't get why people are making excuses for what they teach people. If not for all that, they would be a great group of people. Yeah, I think their religious beliefs are kind of wacky (golden tablets and all that), but I don't care about that. Why should I care if other people have beliefs in things I think are silly, so long as they are generally good to humankind. The problem with them is that in some areas they are NOT AT ALL good to humankind, and are really hurtful and hateful.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_lds.htm

Quotations:
"Being gay in ... culture is beyond hell … I wanted to be cured so badly. The family is the center of Mormonism -- it is the sacred, potent unit. … It is a great failure that family can only be the family almost by the Ozzie and Harriet definition, and anything outside that is not family at all." Trevor Southey, artist
"The only marriage sanctioned by God is of a man to a woman. In the case of a gay person, they really have no hope. … And to live life without hope on such a core issue I think is a very difficult thing." Marlin Jensen, official LDS historian.
"Homosexuality Is Sin: Next to the crime of murder comes the sin of sexual impurity." Excerpt from a 2002 Mormon pamphlet.
"We do not intend to admit to our campus any homosexuals. If any of you have this tendency and have not completely abandoned it, may I suggest that you leave the university immediately after this assembly.... We do not want others on this campus to be contaminated by your presence." Ernest Wilkinson, president of Brigham Young University, in a 1965 lecture to the BYU student body, titled: "Make Honor your Standard."

http://www.mormoncurtain.com/topic_homosexuality.html

Mormonism does not tolerate gays and lesbians. Any Mormon member that confesses homosexuality is automatically forced to appear in front of Church Courts. These Courts then decide whether the homosexual transgressions merit either excommunication or dis-fellowshipping. Mormons who have practiced homosexual intercourse with the same sex are automatically excommunicated.

The leaders of the Mormon Church teach that a man is a God-Embryo and therefore cannot be born gay. Mormon leaders teach that homosexuals choose their lifestyles. They teach that this choice came about from sinful parents, masturbation, or willful disobedience of the commandments of God. All blame for the sin of homosexuality is placed on the person causing depression, hopelessness and often - suicide.

Mormon Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley stated on Larry King Live (December 2004), "We know they have a problem . We want to help them solve that problem. ...... The fact is, they have a problem."

During the 1970's the practice of electro-shock therapy was used at the LDS Church owned Brigham Young University. There, homosexuals were electrocuted in an attempt to stop homosexual tendencies.

There are no homosexual Mormons who are in "good standing" with the LDS Church. Homosexuals that are excommunicated are no longer able to participate in any Mormon Church function, including praying, teaching or holding any office. The Mormon priesthood is taken away and all "blessings", rights and Temple privileges are taken away. Excommunicated members are further ostracized in Mormon Sacrament Meetings where they are forbidden to take the Sacramental offerings - or even speak vocally.

They don't believe gay people even EXIST! But yet they're here and have always been here, yet, they believe all kinds of disproved invisible nonsense about the angel Maroni or whatever.....that they believe but they don't "believe" in gay people! Wassup with that.....

There's something creepy about this notion that "we're so loving and supportive to anybody willing to 100% conform and never question any of these beliefs."

I really think most Mormons do NOT believe all the "magical" stuff.....they just don't want to get shunned from their communities.

So god has to be heterosexual? Why couldn't god be bisexual, since he/she is supposed to love everyone?

(I'm an atheist, but just saying...)