Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Not all who wander are lost

Scott posted about the 10 steps to apostasy a few days ago on his blog. Well, apostasy from the LDS religion at least. I remember I used to be terrified that I would someday apostatize. You see, I lived my life in the Mormon paradigm. The true paradigm. The only way to be happy paradigm. The trouble is, I was miserable. Mormonism thrives on the belief that you will be happy if you follow their prescribed set of rules. Well, a quick read of any moho's blog will indicate pretty well the type of misery, loneliness, and anxiety that Mormonism fills gay people with. But when you believe that that is the only way to be happy, you stick with it. Oh, and you believe all the rest of it as well, but I am pretty convinced that fear of the unknown is what keeps not just gay people, but many people in Mormonism.

So when I see things like the 10 steps to apostasy, I just laugh. Oh, and I thank someone (not sure who atheists typically thank, but in this case I will thank Max) that I am no longer bound by such superstitious and self-destructive thoughts. But I can't forget that easily the fear and paranoia that was instilled in me at such a young age. Mormons sure hate gay people, but I am all but certain that they hate apostates more. I mean, these are people who had the "light" and left it all because they wanted the easy route. Or they lost faith. Or they never had any. Or they are wicked people. You see, nobody can leave Mormonism because they realize it is false, because Mormonism is the only true church. It's genius. Convince people not to think on their own and you will pretty much trap them for life as they are unable to fathom that it's all a lie.

Anyway, I am not going to go on and on forever about this, I mostly just wanted to re-create the 10 steps to apostasy from a different view point. I know Mormons will just see this as evidence of my apostasy, but oh well. I know where they are at. I was there for many years of my life. I refused to look at Mormonism objectively, and I was certain that people who left the religion were miserable and unhappy misers. Plus, they always left the church, but couldn't leave it alone (Note to readers: I will leave Mormonism alone as soon as they leave my legal rights alone).

Anyway, if I had created the 10 steps to apostasy, I would have made 12 of them because I would feel better about having completed a 12-step program, but alas, there are only 10. Maybe I will take up drinking and then go to AA meetings so that I can complete the 12-step program.

Here are the 10 steps to overcoming Mormonism(or any set of superstitious beliefs for that matter):
1. Find a cleave point.
2. Elevate that point to your brain, and analyze it objectively and rationally.
3. Seek out other objective thinkers and discuss the cleave point.
4. Search for evidence about the cleave point to validate/invalidate it.
5. Leverage that cleave point as a wedge between you and superstition/mythology.
6. Start serving in valuable opportunities in your community.
7. Publicly denounce superstitions and myths.
8. Publicly denounce false teachers and leaders.
9. Get the hell out of the church.
10. Let truth and happiness fill your life. Build honest relationships with friends and family. Expand your network beyond self-righteous hypocrites.

Oh, and one other interesting point. I am pretty sure that Mormons get people to join their religion by using the 10 steps to apostasy. Well, that and manipulation, propaganda lies, the 3 pillars of the "true Church."

5 comments:

Trevor said...

So, it seems that most mohos I've talked with that left the church did so after prayerful consideration. They feel like they are pursuing the path that God would have them take. I'm just curious if that was the case with you? Am I the only moho that just walked away without prayerful consideration? I've never really liked church so it just wasn't as big of a deal, I guess. Does that mean that I am that much more lost than everyone else? I suppose it doesn't really matter. I'm just curious.

D-Train said...

I did not really pray about leaving the LDS Church because I exited the Mormon paradigm pretty quickly and entered what I like to call reality (others call it atheism). But really, I don't think it really matters how one exits the LDS Church, every one will do it on their own timeline and in their own way. If someone needs some sort of "spiritual" confirmation in order leave Mormonism, more power to them.

For me it was more of just a realization that I had wanted to believe Mormonism was true for so long that I had convinced myself it was true. Once I was willing to look at Mormonism (and religion in general) more objectively, I just put it aside and decided to move on with my life. It was like I was born again. :P And that's how it happened.

John said...

Trevor, I'm with you. It was surprisingly easy for me to leave the church. There really wasn't any prayerful consideration involved. One day I just decided I'd had enough. And once I finally got out of Utah and was at a point where I was open with everyone and no longer had to go through the motions of being a member, I pretty much just stopped thinking about it and started focusing on the rest of my life. It's amazing how much more time and energy you have when it's not wasted worrying about stuff that doesn't matter outside of the "paradigm."

Sean said...

Excellent thoughts.

A Gay Mormon Boy said...

I just stumbled upon your blog and must admit I find it really intriguing.

I have seen the worst of "misery, loneliness, and anxiety" in the MoHo community. Self-hatred to the point of friends contemplating suicide is the issue that tears me apart the most because the issues are ignored by the supposedly enlightened.