I also have an affinity for mormons and haven't met one I don't like.

All of the ones I've met also are v good looking.

I'd be into it if their core beliefs weren't so bat shit and they didn't have such clear roles around gender.

I think the religion encourages education but that it doesn't encourage their members to be questioning and curious. I find a lot of the people to just not be very intellectual. Especially women. Also, if you join the church and have a gay child, it can be tough.

Anonymous wrote:I have known many Mormons over the years and the two sets that seem racist to me are the ones from Utah and Idaho, and the converts who are white.
Otherwise, I have no complaints about their behavior. It is probably best to stop calling it a cult since all the founding fathers are dead now.
I suspect that if they get big outside of Utah, people will lose patience with them because of the clannish behavior in business and the professional world. I know someone who works at a hospital in Las Vegas who says that unless you are LDS, you aren't moving up in that administration.

+1 this is what I have noticed with Mormons. When they are in the minority (eg DC area), I think they “assimilate” and are totally lovely people who aren’t clannish. But also having lived in areas like Utah and AZ where they are found in large numbers especially in the professional community, I have much different feelings on the matter. Never again.

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Anonymous wrote:This is how they suck you in OP. By being superficially nice. it's a cult. Read "Under the Banner of Heaven".

as i get older i'm not sure i understand the difference between being nice and being superficially nice.

DP. Are they being nice to achieve a particular goal, or are they being nice because that's simply their nature and the way they treat everyone? Will they be nice to you even if you join and then leave their church, or will you see a different side upon leaving?

Oh sure it's great. As long as you don't have doubts, aren't gay or are brown skinned.

Many Polynesians are Mormon and they are brown skinned.

+1 There are millions of brown skinned Mormons. What an absolutely ignorant and ridiculous comment.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is how they suck you in OP. By being superficially nice. it's a cult. Read "Under the Banner of Heaven".

as i get older i'm not sure i understand the difference between being nice and being superficially nice.

DP. Are they being nice to achieve a particular goal, or are they being nice because that's simply their nature and the way they treat everyone? Will they be nice to you even if you join and then leave their church, or will you see a different side upon leaving?

Oh sure it's great. As long as you don't have doubts, aren't gay or are brown skinned.

Many Polynesians are Mormon and they are brown skinned.

I have known many Mormons over the years and the two sets that seem racist to me are the ones from Utah and Idaho, and the converts who are white.
Otherwise, I have no complaints about their behavior. It is probably best to stop calling it a cult since all the founding fathers are dead now.
I suspect that if they get big outside of Utah, people will lose patience with them because of the clannish behavior in business and the professional world. I know someone who works at a hospital in Las Vegas who says that unless you are LDS, you aren't moving up in that administration.

As a Mormon, it is always interesting to me to see the people who insist that we will drop you if you don’t convert/leave.

On the one hand, I have absolutely been casually friendly with people who were not LDS but were expressing interest in joining. If they came to church gatherings and things like that I might make a special effort to make them feel welcome because they are new to our community, and if they stopped coming I wouldn’t seek them out. But is that really different from someone who stopped coming to e.g., a rec sports league or book club? If we weren’t social outside of that activity, why would we start that after you opted out of the dhared activity?

On the other hand, one of my best friends and her husband just left the LDS church after many years of doubt and I was genuinely thrilled for them. I am so happy that they found the courage to follow their own truth and am really glad that their new church has been welcoming and fulfilling.

I know a young man who joined the church. He is not white. He hd an interesting upbringing by a very left wing, sort of crazy, disorganized, highly educated mother. She had several boyfriends while he was growing up and her two kids had two different fathers. They lived in a very lower middle class life in a messy house. Always short of money. She was never able to find a husband. He hated that life and vowed never to raise his kids that way.
Eventually he was drawn to the organization of the church, and its discipline.
Everyone has their own needs and for this young man, this was the thing that took care of his.

I was raised Mormon but I am no longer part of the church. I left at 16. I never got much kick back for it. I had a few visitor teachers come by as a young adult but not much else. I left because as a female I found things within the church very unequal towards women. I would find activities and talks aimed for women to just become mothers and to support their husbands. At 16 I had no desire to be a mom and all the boys were idiots and I wouldn't want any of them for DH in the future. I also wanted to have a career and was very driven to succeed.

My parents are still with the church and still enjoy the community and the family focus. Family is truly at the foundation of the religion. I don't have any dislike of the religion other than the male focus, but most religions are like that unfortunately.

There is a good reason that Utah has the highest rate of antidepressant consumption in the country. Yes, Mormons are superficially very nice but if you think that’s genuine (at least to non Mormons) I’d encourage you to live in Utah for a bit. Their religion also diefies wealth and the consumption of material goods.

Anonymous wrote:They are super nice and friendly until they find out they are not going to convert you, them you are dropped like a hot potato.

This. I went for a period of depression after the experience. It is hard to trust nowadays, people usually have an agenda.

I’m another atheist who loves Mormons. Their theology is bizarre and until recently their church was really racist, but damned if they aren’t the nicest people.

A couple of my friends grew up Mormon. They aren't practicing but they both--coincidently or not--are the nicest women I've met. They are even-keeled, healthy, relaxed, great personalities, family focused (but not overly).

They are super nice and friendly until they find out they are not going to convert you, them you are dropped like a hot potato.

I have met several in this area and they are all
Nice. I am always intrigued with how they keep their young people active in the faith. I don’t like how they call their religion Christian and that it’s the fastest growing Christian religion.