Good news, everyone! I just read about this and I’m so excited I nearly spat out my spicy tuna roll:
South Park Creators’ Mormon Musical Set for Off-Broadway
Free tickets might inspire me to shower the musical with lots of PR on this blog, hint hint…
That’s not why I’m doing another post on Mormonism, though. It’s no secret that in the past year, I’ve read Under the Banner of Heaven and started watching Big Love, so this all-American religion, and particularly its fundamentalists, have piqued my interest like analogies pique my interest.
This Jew has only met a handful of Mormons in my life. Most of what I knew about them before this past year, and certainly my introduction to Mormonism, comes from the Great Brain books, which I loved. They were very funny memoirs of non-Mormon kids in Victorian Utah, featuring a greedy child prodigy up to no good. I never knew anything about “plural marriage” from these books (they were, after all, books for kids), but learned that Mormons don’t drink alcohol or caffeine and had a unique relationship with Native Americans. I thought maybe you ex-Mormons out there would want to know how other people learn about Mormonism.
Back to the point, here is another personal story of an ex-Mormon. Joshua Allen wrote about leaving Mormonism on the Facebook group Ex-Mormon Atheists and Agnostics:
“I sent my letter in at the end of January, and I got “the Dodge letter” this week. It’s pretty annoying being expected to jump through hoops that I know I don’t have to jump through. It’s like one last pathetic attempt to prove that they still have power over you. It’s ultra stupid.
I am still awaiting a visit from the local goons and anticipating my final release letter…I wrote about my experience SO FAR, here:
http://theicidalmaniac.wordpress.com/2009/02/18/what-kind-of-religion-wont-let-you-quit/
If you are in this situation or thinking about sending the letter, read that link. It’s more funny than annoying, what they do, so the blog post makes for lighthearted reading.
Buon Apetito!”
His link is worth reading in full. Does a resignation process simply take your name off the list of proselytizers, just like removing your name from telemarketing lists?
I get the impression that despite his bluntness and effort, Joshua is still not free.
February 5th, 2010 - 10:15 am
Religion sure likes to get its meathooks in the young doesn’t it?
February 6th, 2010 - 11:36 pm
Say, I like what you’re doing here, Sarah. It’s so funny how the Mormon’s in Utah think that they are the center of the universe, when so many people are like you have been; they view Mormonism as the obscure revivalist anomaly that it is, and most of what they know comes from TV shows and stories by non-Mo’s. And that’s really fair enough, to be honest. There is a lot of untrue crap out there about the Morg (this is the term we Ex-Mo’s use for the Mormon Organization, and the allusion to the Star Trek “you will be assimilated” Borg race IS intended) but that stuff is usually perpetrated by rival Christian groups. Christians REALLY have a problem with the LDS church. But yeah, if anyone is curious about what Mormons really believe without spin or propaganda, they should check out one of the many, many ex-Mormon support forums that are out there (www.postmormon.org is a good one).
Oh, and thanks for linking to my blog!
February 8th, 2010 - 9:06 am
The “Mormon Musical” idea is a hoot. I’d love to see it!
I did read the former Mormon’s summary of his correspondence, if one is ever so polite to actually call it that. It is a strange world that some people live in where they don’t even feel a need to -acknowledge- the presence of an alternative viewpoint. Like alternative views don’t matter?
February 10th, 2010 - 9:42 am
I myself am an exmormon. You can find tons of “leaving the church” stories at postmormon.org. This site is a support community for exmormons, because once you’re out of mormonism you’re pretty much shunned by the mormon community(which for most mormons is everyone they know)
February 10th, 2010 - 10:02 am
@Happyashellexmo,
Good name:) Thanks for the site; I’ll be sure to check it out.
Isn’t it a good thing nowadays that being shunned isn’t the death sentence it would have been in the ancient Middle East? For FLDS, on the other hand, it might be similar… stupid desert.
@Joshua– thanks for the inspiring, funny, maddening, and very telling article. Center of the universe– well, that’s how many religions see themselves, but more so if you’ve scarcely met anyone outside of your religion. John Kraukauer pointed out that there are more Mormons int he world than Jews. Sounds obvious, but I’d never realized it before, and now I’m scared. I love the term “Morg,” as in “We are Morg.” Plus, it’s the place you see dead people. I’ll try to check out what is non-Morg BS about LDS. Aren’t Mormons Xians? Albeit “special” Xians?
@Chris- Almost by definition, religions don’t accept any other view point to be as good/truthful as their own. This isn’t to say that religious folks don’t live and let live– many of them are very cool, but most would prolly say something like, “If you want to be X, that’s great, by my religion, Y, is the right one, and that’s why I’m in it.” Otherwise they’d all be interchangeable.
February 28th, 2010 - 11:54 am
Whats up Sarah, thanks for stopping by KTSA. I don’t have a blogroll, that I manage, I display mojoey’s atheist blogroll (http://mojoey.blogspot.com/2006/09/join-mojoeys-atheist-blogroll.html) Send him a message and he’ll put you on it, then you will be on thousands of blogs. BTW I spell Kriss with two “S’s”. You can also get on the Out Campaign’s blogroll. Good luck to you, check back latter. Out.
Kriss, with two S’s