I’m perplexed. Jeff Lindsay, of the Mormanity blog, apparently thinks that everyone should live their lives according to the unofficial teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In other words, if it ain’t pretty, HIDE IT or lie about it.

The reason he speaks of this, is because he is attacking, without naming, Simon Southerton, who has received a media blitz lately because he has been called into a Church “Court of Love,” to address his membership in the Church. Apparently, this membership is in danger because when Simon was separated from his wife, he had a relationship with another woman. And he now has the GALL to be honest about it. Simon, whatever are you thinking? Of course, the truth is Simon’s membership status is in jeopardy because he wrote a book that is not pro-Book of Mormon. But given the recent fiascos like the Grant Palmer affair, leaders want to make it look like they are “loving” Simon out of the Church ‘cuz he was bumping nasties with someone other than his wife.

Jeff’s headline on his blog of Friday, July 22, read:
Tip for Anti-Mormons on Maintaining Credibility:
Do No Evil, or at Least Admit to No Evil

Um, that’s kind of an oxyMormon, er, oxymoron, isn’t it? Maintain your credibility by LYING???

Of course, we all know Jeff is guilty of a little “spinning here.” You can go read his entire blog on this matter, but I found this interesting.

Given that, I just don’t understand why one up-and-coming anti-Mormon would tell the world that he’s being excommunicated for adultery, and even admit that adultery took place. Why, why, why? Seriously, this kind of thing rattles other devout anti-Mormons and makes it difficult to keep the debate focused on the real issues. And I just don’t understand why someone who rejects the Church would wait for Church disciplinary action to be taken, allowing an issue like adultery to even enter into the debate. If you reject the Church and want to depart, you only have to write a letter asking for your name to be removed. Even if local leaders know there were moral transgressions involved, they are required (as I understand the current rules) to accept your request and remove your name from the records, if that’s what you really want. So, if for some reason you are planning on a career as an anti-Mormon apostate, please don’t do stupid stuff, or at least don’t admit to doing stupid stuff, and just get your name off the records before any stupid stuff you’ve been doing might become an issue.

The comments about lying aside, you are sadly MISTAKEN, Jeff, about it being easy to have your name taken off. Why I myself had my name removed only to show up again, TWICE, on the local records. Thus, you have me, a Mormon, chastizing you, a fellow Mormon, for your stance on Simon’s dilemma. I tried to be an ex-Mormon. I really did. For some reason, they are reluctant to let me go. So much so, that they have CLONED me and given me an imaginary son.

So, as a fellow Mormon, I have to ask, WHY are you encouraging Simon to lie? Surely this is against all the tenets of ANY religion professing to follow the gospel of Jesus Christ?

This is perplexing stuff, Jeff.

As for the rest of you readers, you can see my response to Jeff’s entire post, here: I am reprinting it, as there is a good possibility it will be deleted, in the Mormon Church spirit of “hide and cover up what you can’t explain.”

My response:

Jeff, Jeff, Jeff….

The REASON ex-Mormons cannot leave the Mormon Church alone is because the Mormon Church will not leave US alone.

It’s really very simple. Consider this:

You decide, based on teachings, tenets, and beliefs, that you can no longer reconcile membership in a religion, so you leave.

Then the calls start. The doorbell rings. The bishop comes over. The visiting teachers love bomb you. Neighbors give you strange looks in the grocery store. Family members confront you daily.

“Well, why ARE you leaving?” they ask.

You are honest, and tell them. They come back with answers about why you should not leave, and why your answers are faulty.

So you find MORE answers. After all, you did not reach this point just because someone said something NASTY to you at Church the week before. Or because the bishop’s nose hair was offensive to you. No, you left because you didn’t like the racist teachings of Brigham Young, or the fact that the Church is trying to hide the fact he “taught” those racist teachings, or even better, that the official biography of Brigham Young only mentions one wife. What happened to honesty?

Oh yeah, I remember. “Some things that are true are not very useful.” Boyd K. Packer.

Back to the “truth.” When you tell your concerned Mormon friends and family about the lack of truth in the Church, they try to rebut that, and can’t, so it generally ends up with a “You should pray about it.”

Because faced with the truth, that is the only answer they can have, and the only way THEY can reconcile what they believe. If you feel a burning of the bosom, it must be true.

Ex-Mormons don’t embrace that burning bosom anymore. And Ex-Mormons cannot leave the LDS Church alone because it will not leave THEM alone.

End of story.

As for Simon, why shouldn’t he be honest about his life? He doesn’t live under the Mormon mantra of some truths not being useful, because he has come to the conclusion that Mormonism is NOT true.

Instead of giving him credit for being honest, you are bringing out the adultery claims to drag him down, even stating that he should not “admit to evil.” As if Simon himself is required to live by LDS tenets when he has rejected those tenets.

Should he be excommunicated? Yes. He has said that himself. He is no longer living his life according to the tenets of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and therefore, should no longer be a member.

What Simon takes issue with, and where the Church has made yet another fatal mistake, is that this is all coming about AFTER his book came out and garnered great publicity. And instead of being honest, and admitting that the BOOK is the reason he is being exed, the bishop prosecuting him is trying to make it about adultery. If the “adultery” were the issue, it would have been addressed at the time the ADULTERY took place, and not now that his book is lighting up the media fires.

It’s just an excuse, and you know it as well as I do. Make Simon look bad, or “evil” as you say, and it will discredit his book. After all, he has an “agenda.” He’s evil.

I realize that YOU are trying to focus on Simon’s human fallibility, and not the book, so you are talking about the same issue as the Church is. I’m sure they appreciate your spin, but they don’t really need it. They are spin masters extraordinaire. Gordon B. Hinckley spins with the best. In fact, I cannot even set eyes on him without needing a good dose of dramamine, he makes me so dizzy.

Your heading on this post is interesting, really, in that you are actually ENCOURAGING “Anti-Mormons” to lie. That would certainly suit your purpose, but why would they? They are not governed by that “protect the Church at all costs” mentality anymore.

Most ex-Mormons have learned to be brutally honest. If you are not, you will be hounded to death for time and all eternity.

On another note, why is it you believe that your church can send out thousands of missionaries to tell people that Mormonism is the only true church, but no one is allowed to disagree?

If you are willing to STEP UP and say something is true, surely you should have to defend it?

Or would that make too much sense?

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