Further Light and Knowledge

This spring my wife and children and I resigned from the LDS church when we were certain the church is not true. I was in law school at BYU when they helped me progress on my journey out by the information they required we read.

Life without the morg is peaceful and happy. My children are quick learners.

Nathan

Welcome! I am a BYU Law grad myself. I'd love to hear more of your story.

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"Let go of what you know and honor what exists."--David Bazan

http://www.equalitysblog.typepad.com

Oh no, not another lawyer!!

j/k - I'm a law grad myself... Welcome!!

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Gospel in Action

Every Wrong Move

o my dear god in court. another lawyer. when is oats gonna leave the church? thats the lawyer i want to see leave.

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ya just had to know, didnt ya?

I was very tired last night when I wrote the brief intro and it gives a false impression.

I was a 1L in law school at BYU (never graduated). My wife had 'a revelation' while watching the Joseph Smith movie at the DC temple the spring before I started school. Her revelation went like this; "I cannot believe in a church which needs to rely on this type of blatant propaganda to get converts." At the time I was pretty much TBM. I prayed for her and continued to read the BoM etc. Propaganda in the church became increasingly apparent.

As school was getting started, I read an outline comparing military intelligence control tactics with church information control but did not know of any corroborating data. Before long, I had plenty of information control data. At school we read articles on integrity by Maxwell, and Lying by Oaks. In light of what we experienced at the temple, these articles helped to solidify my growing distrust of TSCC.

Then we studied J. Reuben Clark. I was introduced to D. Michael Quinn and while checking out his books from the library, picked up "An Insiders View of Mormon Origins" by Grant Palmer and "In Sacred Loneliness" by Todd Compton. At that time I was hearing daily reports of carnage in the Iraq war and I was struck by the extreme caricatures of war, of perfectly righteous and diabolically evil people portrayed in the BoM.

By the end of the first semester, I was certain that I could not retain my integrity and continue to teach the young men in church. Furthermore, I no longer even believed in a god. Within 2 weeks of submitting our resignations to the church in late January, I re-evaluated my timing in going to law school and determined that I would have more time with my family (I have 4 boys, oldest 10) if I resumed my career as an engineer. I withdrew from school at BYU after just one semester. I had fun at law school and may go again later, but almost certainly not to BYU and not until even later in life.

Well, I can testify that you made the right call with respect to "time with your family." And I can also attest that BYU is no place for an unbeliever. I had a great time there but cannot imagine trying to do it as a heretic, a nevermo, or an exmo. Welcome to the board. It's amazing how some people (like your wife) just have this A-ha! moment, an epiphany of sorts. It's always interesting to me the things that trigger that. My experience was very different but I know others for whom a switch just sort of went on and that was that.

_________________
"Let go of what you know and honor what exists."--David Bazan

http://www.equalitysblog.typepad.com

Welcome, Nathan, and congratulations on having your entire family out with you. Our story was fairly similar in that when the switch finally flipped for us, it did so pretty quickly. We've been out just over a year now.

Welcome to the board!

Good to meet you, welcome

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http://thestrangetheweirdthewonderful.blogspot.com/

Welcome, Nathan. Thanks for sharing your story. I love it when the wife wakes up first--it happened that way for us too.

Nice to meet you. Let's hear it for the wife who had the chutzpah to stand her ground even when her "salvation" was on the line. Let freedom ring!!!

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It's just a ride, it's just a ride
no need to run, no need to hide
It may feel so real inside
but don't forget it's just a ride

Hi Nathan, you have a smart wife! I hope that both of you will be having a good time on FLAK.

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Love before loyalty, people before the organization, and principle before the tribe.
Main Street Plaza

You guys (FLAK) rock! It is sweet to be surrounded by folks who consider that women can lead and "get it" before men. My wife is not only very smart, but very aware of and sensitive to truth. I am a lucky man. She is my best friend. (Not to be too sappy.)

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It is sometimes easier to reject strong evidence than to admit we’ve been wrong. - Carl Sagan

and a great story. Looks like you're planning to leave the world a better place for your being here. Excited to get to know you Nathan

_________________
It's just a ride, it's just a ride
no need to run, no need to hide
It may feel so real inside
but don't forget it's just a ride

Wow. Sounds interesting. Could you elaborate on your wife's DC temple experience. As far as I knew, JS never made an appearance in the temple movie, but it's been a while since I've been..

They show that Joseph Smith film that they made a couple of years ago in all the visitor centres. I assume that's what is meant by 'at the temple'.

You know the one, the film where much is made of little carved animals as presents as an attempt to show how normal the family of JS were. Nothing could really be further from the truth what with their crazy dreaming, mystic tendencies.

Welcome to FLAK!