"No offense, but why is it that so many ex-mormons turned public critics experienced their epiphany leaving the church through experiences involving sexual sin?"
I posted the following comment on Mormon Coffee in response to the above comment made immediately following a comment I had posted. (Was this directed at me? At least one other on the blog thought so).
Praise the Lord that He chooses to give sinners an epiphany "while they are yet sinners" (Romans 5:8).
However, I agree with you that far too many outspoken critics of the LDS church live their lives inconsistent with God's commandments. We are all sinners (Romans 3:10), but many of these critics openly declare their lack of faith in anything after leaving the church.
I am sad that they choose to blame God for having been LDS and they replace the church with another set of false teachings or with a lifestyle counter to God's Word. I think they are worse off because of it (Luke 11:24-26).
That is why I try to seek out former LDS members who have come to Christ by His grace. They are examples to me not because they are perfect but because they have entered into the Lord's rest (Hebrews 4:10-11).
Utah trip May 2010
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Here are pictures of my and Veronica's visit to see Jamie and her husband
and their newborn, Alia. Paul and his wife Casandra and their son Erik were
there...
2 years ago
It may or may not be true that Mormons have a greater propensity toward sexual sin due to spiritual submission to the demons that plagued their founder. I don't know. It's a theory, but LDS and non-LDS alike deal with sexual and other sins due to our sin natures. However, the rules and ordinances of the LDS religion will never set a person free from the bondage of sin which is why many LDS members, unhelped by the LDS gospel, are so thankful when they finally find freedom in Christ.
ReplyDeleteIt's easy for self-satisfied religious people to look down their noses at someone who has perhaps sinned in a different area than they have. But they need to pull the log out of their own eye and recognize that their pride is equally (if not more) offensive to God. They should certainly not judge someone who has been justified by the grace of God, whose sin has been covered in the blood of the Lamb.
The arrogant Pharisee in Luke 18 said, "God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are..." The sinner beat upon his breast and cried, "God be merciful to me a sinner." Jesus said the sinner was justified before God, not the arrogant, self-assured Pharisee.
I'm so thankful for the glorious grace of God, offered abundantly for all of us sinners, setting us free from sin that we might become servants of righteousness (Romans 6:18). To God be the glory, great things He has done!
It is true that almost all individuals who are once very active in the LDS church (endowed, tithing paying, etc) and leave and become outspoken critics of the church actually leave after sexual sin. This is true almost without exception. This may seem weird, but it makes a lot of sense.
ReplyDeleteThink about it. After cheating on a wife and children, a person naturally feels guilt. One way of dealing with that guilt, other than humility and repentence, is to try to discredit the perceived source of that guilt. For many who do not choose repentence, that perceived source is the church. So these individuals go to great lengths to convince themselves and others that the church is false. They want the church to be false- they NEED the church to be false. Within the last 2 weeks, I heard an associate who had been excommunicated for adultery say "I wish the church were not true... I wish I could convince myself the church were not true."
If a person can convince themselves that the church is false, that helps to rid oneself of the guilt. What is deceitful is that these folks routinely claim to leave on "intellectual" grounds, never mentioning the adultery. And they and their "experiences" are given great weight by evangelicals.
There is a great conflict of interest in these folks. They are the most biased in their attitudes and statements toward the church among all who criticize it and its leaders because of this conflict. This is something very unrecognized or ignored by evangelicals. It truly seems that they would rather sweep this fact under the rug- anything to win the argument.
This truth is easily confirmed by simple research on the big name folks who have left under such claims. It is a striking truth that is amazingly consistent.
In saying this, I do not claim to be any better than these people. We are all sinners and need Christ's atonement. But if people want to understand some context for the claims made by these people, it is important to see this.
By the way, this is not every taught or discussed in the LDS church as some people claim- I have never heard to spoken of. This is based on a lot of personal experience and observation. And I am not saying that all people who leave the church are sexual sinners- I am saying those who are once very active and then become very strident, outspoken critics.
"It is true that almost all individuals who are once very active in the LDS church (endowed, tithing paying, etc) and leave and become outspoken critics of the church actually leave after sexual sin. This is true almost without exception."
ReplyDeleteIs DJB serious? How can he even make a claim like this based on only a few examples of "big name folks". I think I speak for a large number of Fo-Mo's when I say that these claims are ridiculous.
Think about it, what better way to keep practicing Mormons from really listening to the legitimate claims of those that left, then to convince them that they are under the control of Satan and only left due to sin.
There are too many LDS who think along these same lines for it not to be taught or implied in their teachings. I did not want to waste too much time on this but I did a quick search and found a few examples from lds.org where this idea is propagated.
Bishop Glenn L. Pace, “Follow the Prophet,” Ensign, May 1989, 25
“It seems that history continues to teach us: You can leave the Church, but you can’t leave it alone. The basic reason for this is simple. Once someone has received a witness of the Spirit and accepted it, he leaves neutral ground. One loses his testimony only by listening to the promptings of the evil one, and Satan’s goal is not complete when a person leaves the Church, but when he comes out in open rebellion against it.”
“Chapter 12: Preventing Personal Apostasy,” Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young, 79
“Men begin to apostatize by taking to themselves strength, by hearkening to the whisperings of the enemy who leads them astray little by little, until they gather to themselves that which they call the wisdom of man; then they begin to depart from God, and their minds become confused (DBY, 84).
“What have the Latter-day Saints got to apostatize from? Everything that there is good, pure, holy, God-like, exalting, ennobling, extending the ideas, the capacities of the intelligent beings that our Heavenly Father has brought forth upon this earth. What will they receive in exchange? I can comprehend it in a very few words. These would be the words that I should use: death, hell and the grave. That is what they will get in exchange.”
I’m confident that this is only a small sample of what could be found with more time. According to these high ranking Mormons, If someone leaves the church, it is their fault because they let Satan control them. Not once have I ever seen the LDS church take any responsibility for the true reasons most leave. Problems with history, doctrine and culture are more the cause then sin with those I have come into contact with. The sad thing is that this misunderstanding will never go away until the leaders of the LDS church put these kinds of teachings to rest and I don’t see that happening any time soon considering what Tommy Monson had to say earlier this year at the April conference.
“Change for the better can come to all. Over the years we have issued appeals to the less active, the offended, the critical, the transgressor—to come back. “Come back and feast at the table of the Lord, and taste again the sweet and satisfying fruits of fellowship with the Saints.”2
…In this spirit, we again issue that heartfelt invitation: Come back. We reach out to you in the pure love of Christ and express our desire to assist you and to welcome you into full fellowship. To those who are wounded in spirit or who are struggling and fearful, we say, Let us lift you and cheer you and calm your fears.”
So, he wants us back but only if we are less active, offended or if we sinned. I’m glad my problem is with history and doctrine so I don’t have to feel like he is talking to me. Although I am slightly offended that he continues to ignore those of us that have found the truth about Mormonism, because we are not going to go away.
Sorry for being so long winded.
Soy yo,
ReplyDeleteI say this from many of my own experiences with people. I am not parroting anything I have ever heard in the church, although that is always the response when I bring this up. In fact, that is my frustration- that the anti-mormon community glosses over this fact.
Please- take a little time and do even a little basic research on the "intellectuals" who have left, or any who are strident critics after once being highly active. Almost all have been involved in adultery and more recently the trend is homosexuality. Criticize my claim all you want, but until you look at the facts, you will fall in line with all the others who too readily accept the opinions of these un-credible witnesses with the same conflict of interest.
DJB, Sounds like you paint a very broad brush. You say you have "facts" but I don't see any links to studies or other credible sources upholding your statement. I would like to see where you get your information from. If you don’t want to share it here then feel free to go to my profile and email me.
ReplyDeleteI for one do not rely on "anti-mormons" as you like to call them, for my information regarding Mormonism. I have done my own research and use primary sources. I let Mormonism contradict itself.
This is actually very typical of Mormon defenders. They go after a person’s character through ad hominem attacks rather then address the direct claims that person might make.