Well, not really. I don’t go to church or social occasions, so there’s no social support. I don’t receive money from them, so no financial support either (my parents pay the bills). But should I be stranded or stuck in the snow, without fail someone will help me. And in a city that is 70-80% LDS, chances are that that someone is LDS. And the streets are pretty safe at night, too. So I guess you could say that I get a lot of indirect and “on-call” support from them.
A structure? What, my parents’ house? I suppose I feel safer inside it than on the street, of course. And the agoraphobia does keep me inside most of the time. But I know that no structure is truly “safe” without its inhabitants keeping God’s commandments.
(And BTW, Mormons don’t worship other gods, just the Godhead (Elohim, Christ and the Holy Ghost).)
Okay; I guess it’s not fair to keep everyone else in the dark. Here’s the story about “Winter Mormons.”
Back in the prospecting days, budding prospectors sometimes would make it into Salt Lake City too late in the season. The mountain passes would be snowed under and they’d have to wait until the next thaw to go prospecting. You have to remember that this was in the days before Federal and State welfare came into existence. There was, however, a welfare plan operating by the LDS church. A member of the church, if he was in need (and this continues to this day–in the mid 1980s, the General Conference was slanted heavily against the governmental disaster known as welfare when compared to the LDS church’s plan), would go to the local Bishop (equivalent of other church’s Pastor or Rector) and get both a work assignment and a chit for the Bishop’s Storehouse. If he had no place to stay, he’d also get a bunk/room assignment with one of the Ward (congregation) families. Of course, to be a member of the Ward, he’d have to join the LDS church. When the winter was over, the snows would’ve thawed and then you’d not see the likes of that guy again until the next winter. Thus “Winter Mormon.” The term is now usually ascribed to folks you never see at church unless they need something.
Monty: Oh, it’s something totally different than I thought it was. If you are implying that I’m a “Winter Mormon,” just let me tell you one thing: I would be at church every single Sunday of the year, offering my musical talents as a pianist/organist or whatever calling they put me in, if I didn’t have an emotional breakdown every time I go near any type of crowd. Please don’t judge me, thank you.
Snarkberry: That’s not at all what I meant. What I meant was your posting reminded me of a winter mormon. That’s because you described so well how the Church, being real live caring people, jump in and help folks whenever they’re in need.
Sorry if I didn’t make that clear.
Another of my favourite types is the “mythical mormon.” The one who actually does every single thing a Mormon’s supposed to do.
Oh, okay. Sorry to jump to conclusions so quickly–as you may or may not have noticed, I often misinterpret what people are actually trying to say in their posts. One of the perils of internet communication–you can’t see facial expressions, body language, etc. and you have to go by people’s words alone.
Phil: I think even you would have to admit that your heart changed when you decided to forsake God. I mean, if you used to say, “I love you God,” and now you don’t even think He exists, I’d say that’s a significant change of heart. BUT, it’s cool that your wife doesn’t want to talk to me. I just wanted her to know that I wasn’t trying to “re-save” her.
Monty: I notice you didn’t post anything regarding my “lies.” That’s ok. I’ll assume the fact that you didn’t mention it, meant that you saw my point. And about those web-sites; I trust that they are factual. For Pete’s sake, you have to trust these things sometimes, and go on faith that your brethren will not lie to you. I DO check that the Bible references are correct, since I actually have a Bible. And if I HAD a BOM, you can be sure that I’d check in there too. But since I don’t have a BOM, I have to trust them, and have some faith.
Bill: When I said, “Sometimes you don’t know up from down,” I meant you, and in YOU Mormons. I didn’t think it mattered, but after reading your very open, and personal posts, I WISH I had made myself clearer.
I’ve more to say to you Bill, but I think I’ll do it via E-mail, since this thread has gotten too personal. Do me a favor and E-mail me first, because I remember you saying that your address changed.
Adam, you’re forgetting one other thing. There’s an old saying about “the blind leading the blind–both shall fall into the ditch.” Maybe your brethren won’t lie to you, but consider the possibility that they don’t know what they’re talking about, as well.
I’ve given you a link to get a free BOM, so I trust you can get one quite easily, at no cost or obligation to yourself.
This message is for Adam–
Look kid, I worry about you spending so much time on this bulletin board. You are very young. You need to be out interacting with people and learning about life first hand. This bulletin board is fun–but the relationships you have with people are not fully dimensional. YOu can’t see their body language, look at their eyes, see their surroundings, etc. You need to be involved with people on a face to face basis. Please, please stop spending so much time on this board.
I think you’re in college now, right? You have the opportunity to explore things that you will never have again. If you chose to spend your time interacting with people on bulletin boards you’ll not be able to do this. It is obvious that you’re a bright kid–probably one who has a little trouble relating to others one-on-one. The answer to that is practice, practice, practice. Join some clubs, get a part-time job, go to a larger, non-religious college where you can interact with a variety of people. Ask girls out–lots of different girls. Sure, some will say no, but some will say yes. Live in a dorm, don’t live at home. Stay at the dorm on the weekends and don’t go home! Go play cards with the guy down the hall. Join the gym and work out daily. Join the chess club. Take classes in literature, policy, economics–small classes where people discuss interesting indeas. JOin the debate team. Read some books on body language, communication (Deborah Tanner), psychology. DO ANYTHING except waste your youth looking at a computer screen.
Look at your motives for being on this board–are you avoiding people because you don’t feel comfortable with them? ARe you looking for approval you didn’t get from some authority figure? Are you trying to make people like you because you have an incredible desire to be liked by everyone?
Examine yourself and then look at the other people who post. Why are they on the board? A lot of them are in places where they just don’t interact with people who stimulate their intellect. If you use your head–fully engage yourself in college life–and take the time and effort to find the right career–you won’t be in that situation when you are older. Find that job that makes you use your brain. Find a woman who makes you think. Find friends who think and who make you think. Find them in the physical world–not in cyberspace.
I only speak for myself here–but if I had friends who were intellectually challenging, a spouse who was the same, a job that grabbed my heart and soul I would check this site maybe once a week at most.
Go to it, kid–find a real life!
Adam, I can’t speak for others, but I’ll tell you why I’m on this board so much: it’s because I hAVE NO LIFE. I would strongly encourage you to heed Smilingjaws’s advice in the above post. I regret not having dated very much when I was your age (I’m 33 now). I have a lot of regrets, among them and probably the biggest one is that I didn’t get a good education when I had the chance to do so.
Now I hang out on the internet, usually ALL DAY, doing nothing but chit-chat. Don’t end up like me. As Smilingjaws so well put it, get a real life! You won’t regret it.
Funny how any contradictions in the books you believe in are just “misinterpretation,” but contradictions in books you don’t like are blatant examples of why they are false. A person might be tempted to find a bit of irony in those claims and even make fun of having such silly positions…
Hmmm. Maybe Phil is one of those folks who realizes that people think with their brains and their hearts just pump a lot of blood around. Not that this is an unimportant function, mind you, but I doubt the blood flow changed when Phil dropped religion.
David, I thought of a great analogy that explains it: It’s like the difference between breaking up with your girlfriend, and breaking up with an imaginary girlfriend.
Why thank you, Smilingjaws. I try to be, but often fail because I am easily angered. From your post to Adam, I think you’re pretty kind yourself, to give him such good advice.
Smiling Jaws: You assume WAY too much about me. Most of your post is wrong about me. Anyway, one thing is true, and that’s that I do spend too much time on here. So, thanks for the advice.
