Why I'm Not LDS

Why I’m Not LDS

By Casey Johnson

I’ve often been asked the ridiculous question, “Why aren’t you Mormon?”  Well, rather than just saying, “I don’t believe it,” here is a more detailed list of reasons I’m not and will never be LDS.

Joseph Smith

First, Joseph Smith was not a prophet.  He was a con man.  In fact, he admitted to this while on trial.  He convinced people that he could find treasure and lost property using seer stones.  He later used, you guessed it, a pair of divine stones to help translate the Book of Mormon into English. 

Smith’s story of his first encounter with God has changed several times.  At one point, it was just God.  Then it was both God and Jesus.  Also, the first time he told anyone the story was about 15 years after it supposedly happened.  In that time, he even once applied to join the Methodist Church, despite being told (supposedly) by God that no church on earth was true.

Now, it is taught that Smith was charged with putting the Book into his own words.  But it has previously been taught that Smith was shown the words and letters one at a time.  When his scribe had written the information down, he read it back.  If it was correct, Smith was shown another set of words.  What resulted was the perfect word of a perfect God.  That perfect word has since seen over 3,000 changes.  Many changes were grammatical, because God sucks at commas and stuff.  But some changes altered the meaning of phrases.  The most common was to insert the words “the son of” in front of the word “God,” in order to further the teaching that Jesus and God are two separate beings.  (I honestly don’t care about what you believe about the Godhead.  But will somebody please show me a consistent God?)  Also, the Book of Mormon contains 1 French word.  This is explained as Smith choosing the best word to convey the situation.  But since he was told word-for-word what to write, that would mean that God told him to put a French word in the English translation of a book supposedly written in Old Egyptian.  Finally, the Book of Mormon has several passages that were plagiarized from the King James version of The Bible (including mistranslations).

Smith gave a friend his only copy of the first pages of the Book of Mormon.  The friend then lost those pages.  Smith was unable to reproduce them.  He reproduced the story, as told by someone else (Nephi), but it was not exactly the same.  He said that God would not allow him to have those pages back, as he had been irresponsible.  I think what really happened was this: “Shit.  I can’t remember exactly what I wrote!  I mean, I remember the gist of the story, but I can’t reproduce it word-for-word!”

Smith’s religion has seen other changes, as well.  The most notable is their view on race.  See, in the early days of the church, God told Smith and others that blacks should not be allowed to hold their priesthood.  However, in 1978, God changed his mind.  He seems less and less perfect to me.

There were several people who were allowed to see the plates from which Smith translated the Book of Mormon.  However, one of these witnesses (Martin Harris) later admitted that he never physically saw the plates, but rather saw them in an entranced state. 

Smith prophesied that Christ would return in 1891.  Nope.  It’s been argued that this wasn’t a prophecy.  Later, Smith claimed that God told him that he would live to 85 and see the face of the Son of God.  Well, he certainly didn’t make it to 85.  I suppose he may have seen the face of the Son of God after he died, though. 

There are numerous other false prophecies, but you have Google, so you can search them yourself.

Now, I have to mention one more thing.  The first time I ever saw a picture of Joseph Smith, at a time when I was on the fence about the LDS Church, I had an immediate feeling of distrust.  You know that feeling you get when you see a slimy used car salesman?  (For all the good used car salesmen, I’m not talking about you.  I’m talking about the guys that give you a bad name.)  Anyway, it was like that.  I’ve felt that way every time since.

The Book of Abraham

Okay, I’ll keep this long story short.  Someone found some ancient Egyptian text and brought it to Joseph Smith to translate.  He translated what he called The Book of Abraham, which was Abraham’s account of his time in Egypt.  Years later, Egyptologists translated the same text and determined that it was the incredibly common Book of the Dead, and the Smith’s translation was NOT EVEN CLOSE.  The Church still teaches that Smith’s translation was correct.

More False Prophecy

Blacks will get the priesthood in the “far distant future” and “on some other world.” –Joseph Smith, Jr.  The ban on blacks receiving the priesthood was lifted in 1978 right here on Earth.

By 1882, Mormon Missionaries will be as much thought of as kings on their thrones. -Brigham Young.  Still waiting for that one.

Brigham Young will become President of the US. –Heber Kimball.  Nope.

The Civil War will not end slavery. –Brigham Young.  Wrong.

I am always right. –Brigham Young

Adam is God.  –Brigham Young.  Yeah, I’m not buying that.

You can google any of these to get the full details.

Bullshit

To go to heaven, you have to be a polygamist. –Brigham Young

When a member of the church is given a calling, they don’t have a ton of choice.  If they don’t accept, they are disappointing God himself.  But when one of them does something stupid or illegal, they are called “volunteers” by the church.  Now, those callings come to the bishops from God.  So why have there been times that God has put a child molester in charge of the kids at church? 

Arbitrary Rules and No Free Agency

Don’t go see R Rated movies, says the church.  My problem with this?  Movie ratings are completely arbitrary.  They’re decided by a group of people who may or may not be qualified to make such decisions.  Members are encouraged not to judge for themselves if a movie is something they should see.

Don’t drink hot drinks.  Why?  Well, nobody can give a consistent reason.  It says that you shouldn’t in the Word of Wisdom.  At one point this included hot chocolate, but that’s okay now for some reason.  Also, why is iced tea frowned upon?  It’s not hot.

Don’t use alcohol, tobacco, etc.  Why?  Because Joseph Smith’s wife was tired of cleaning up after the disgusting men and complained to Joseph.  He prayed about it, and TA DA!  New rule!  In fact, it started as a joke.

Speaking of the Word of Wisdom, it was originally a commandment.  But then, due to the popularity of the things banned, it was changed to a general suggestion, which Joseph Smith consistently neglected.  Now it is a commandment again.  Except for certain parts of it, such as eating meat except for in times of famine.  If you break (certain parts of) the Word of Wisdom, you can’t go to the temple.  (But seriously, why would you want to?  The rituals are the creepiest damn thing I’ve ever heard of or seen in my life.  I even have one friend that is a former member who told me that after he went through the first time, he had nightmares about it for weeks.)

The Church is big on free agency, but its members really have none.  They follow rules blindly, and if they don’t, they are disappointing God himself!

Prejudice

The LDS Church has a well-documented history of racism and sexism.  I don’t need to say any more about this.  But I will.  (I said a little above.  Some of this repeats that.)

Blacks were not allowed to hold the priesthood until 1978, when God changed his perfect mind about them.  Additionally, certain passages in the Book of Mormon have been changed so that they no longer appear to be talking about skin color. 

Not to mention the numerous quotes from so-called prophets that are clearly racist, including those that state that if people of color (whether black, Native American, Polynesian, Asian, etc.) convert they will become white (either on earth or in Heaven). 

Non-Profit?

The LDS Church is a non-profit organization.  Well, apart from its ranches and malls. 

Politics

A church really shouldn’t be telling its members how to vote.  If you ask almost any Mormon, they’ll tell you that the church doesn’t.  But I’ve had members tell me that they had their bishops tell them who to vote for, and they did this during sacrament meeting. 

Additionally, the LDS Church’s opposition to Proposition 8 was really inappropriate.  In addition to encouraging people how to vote, they donated money to fund the campaign. How exactly is the LDS Church still tax exempt?

What’s funny is that the LDS Church’s teachings about free agency and such totally fit with the Democratic Party.  And in fact, for a long time, members generally voted Democrat.  But in the ‘70s, a member wrote an article saying that Mormons should vote Republican, and everyone decided to do what he said.  (I sincerely wish I could find again my source for this information.)

Tithing

People pay the church 10% of their earnings.  Poor people even do.  They receive extra blessings for it.  So the members are being told that they can buy the grace of God.  Bullshit.  And how is that money spent?  Look at the GD temples!  Ridiculously lavish.

Lying about Numbers

The Church claims to have 14 million members.  But a huge portion of those members wouldn’t count themselves as members.  The Church loves inflating their numbers, therefore, it is quite difficult to get your name removed from their membership.  Missionaries will even tell you that in certain areas, you know that your converts will likely never attend church again.  It’s all about putting that tally mark on the wall.

Anti-Family

The Church claims to support the family above all else.  Well, all else except for themselves.  I have heard numerous stories of people who were encouraged by church officials to divorce their spouses if they would not join the church.  I have a non-LDS friend who is going through this very thing now. 

Dude, 8-year-olds

At 8 years old, members are forced (“encouraged”) to make a lifetime commitment to the LDS Church.  That’s fucked up, and there’s no other way to say it.  What 8-year-old can even begin to comprehend what they are committing to?  Have they ever had a chance to consider any other choices?  Or are they just being forced…er…I mean “encouraged” by their parents?

This kind of behavior continues through to adulthood.  Members are basically never given a chance to consider anything else.  It’s birth, baptism, priesthood, mission, Marriage. 

Evidence

If you read the Bible, there are cities, societies, battles.  And you can find physical evidence of these.  You can go to the cities.  Archaeologists have found weaponry, written language, coins, etc., from those times.

The Book of Mormon talks about people in the Americas that had these things.  Yet, no evidence has been found that match.  No coins.  No written language.  No weaponry or other evidence of battles that supposedly took place.  Nothing.  Not a Goddamn thing. 

There is, however, evidence to refute the BoM stories.  There is genetic evidence, which I won’t go into because I’m assuming anyone reading this already knows about it.  There is even a list of animals and plants that were mentioned in the BoM that were not in the Americas at the time.

Alone in a Godless Universe

Any religion, including the LDS Church, will tell you that if you want to know about God, you should pray. 

Well, I’ve prayed.  And prayed.  And prayed.  And prayed.  And prayed.  More than any who know me realize. 

What answer did I receive?  Silence. 

People have told me that sometimes you don’t get the answer you want.  What if the question was, “Are you there?”  With a genuine yearning I asked that question in various forms.  Nothing.  No warm, fuzzy feeling.  No voice inside my head.  Nothing.