Mormonism Schism: TRUTH DEFINED

Thursday, January 6, 2011

TRUTH DEFINED

When I think of the word “truth,” it reminds me of a great line from the movie “A Few Good Men” as spoken by Jack Nicholson’s character. When put on the witness stand and told (by Tom Cruise’s character) that he wants the truth, he exclaimed, “You can’t handle the truth.” To me, that is a profound statement – and when examined in a broader sense, it seems that many people can’t handle the actual truth, preferring to live in fantasy worlds, created to protect their own version of truth and reality.

Of course, part of my fascination with "the truth" these days has to do with my discovery of so many lies perpetuated by the Mormon Church over the years. For a religious organization that professes to highly value truth, honesty and integrity, it amazes me how fast and loose they play with actual truth. The fact is that the Mormon Church not only lies about its history, teachings and doctrine, but it also lies through the omission of facts, distorting the total picture to suit their purposes. After discovering this, I decided that I could not continue to associate myself with such an organization - one that professes to believe in Christ, calling itself a Christian religion, and yet lying and covering up certain things on a constant basis to protect its image.

I guess some people are not bothered by lies and deception. After all, some active members of the Mormon Church have told me that they know "the real truth" behind the history of the Mormon Church, including its obvious problems, and also the many contradictions within its doctrine. To me, discovering the lies and deception was a deal-breaker. To me, that is not Christianity, but rather insanity. Perhaps the inability to overlook lies in order to continue to believe in a religion is a character flaw of mine? No, expecting that a religious organization will tell me the truth is a fundamental principle. Otherwise, how can they profess to value the very principles they are very obviously mocking through deceit?

“The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing but the Truth, so help me God." This is the oath made in court before a witness is due to testify or give evidence, and it is usually sworn on a Bible with the right arm raised to a square. Very ominous stuff. The idea is that, once the witness has taken this oath, they must tell the truth or be charged with perjury (and there is also, of course, the underlying threat that the person will be struck down by the wrath of God if he/she does not speak “the truth”). Looking at the phrase, a question was raised in my mind as to why the wording of the phrase is so long. One would think that by saying "the truth," the additional of "the whole truth" and "nothing but the truth" is essentially redundant. But in fact, after doing a little research, I've realized that there are probably several reasons for including the additional verbiage.

For one, the repetitive wording is most likely for emphasis, to convey the importance of the matter. Rather than simply saying “I swear to tell the truth,” the witness has to say that they will tell “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” – and in that way, the repetition adds more weight and credence to the oath in the eyes of those testifying.

Also, in actuality, the phrases “the truth,” “the whole truth” and “nothing but the truth” refer to different aspects of the truth, which means that they are not redundant and not just for show or emphasis. Clearly, "the truth" is very simply the correct information as far as a person is aware. However, "the whole truth" is different to this because although “the correct information” is still being elicited, adding the word "whole" means that nothing must be omitted.

Finally, "nothing but the truth" refers to opinion based on truth (which may not be well-informed enough) and assumption based on truth (which may not be correct). Assuming that something happened based on limited information is not fact. Hearsay falls into this category – and although someone may tell a person that something happened, since that person did not see it happen, they cannot state it as fact. Regardless of whether the assumption is accurate or not, it is simply not fact.

Yes, I want THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH, AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH, no matter what the consequences may be. To me, anything less than absolute truth is an insult to my intelligence. As I've heard said, "Don't sugarcoat it... give it to me straight." Bottom line -- don't hedge, bob and weave... don't do a soft-shoe for me... just tell me the truth.

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MY EXIT FROM MORMONISM

As a preface to my thoughts about Mormonism (and my exit from my lifelong religion), I would like to share the following quote:

"Well, it's either true or false. If it's false, we're engaged in a great fraud. If it's true, it's the most important thing in the world. Now, that's the whole picture. It is either right or wrong, true or false, fraudulent or true."

President Gordon B. Hinckley,
Interview, "The Mormons,"
PBS Documentary, April 2007

In essence, after researching the roots of Mormonism, which obviously form its foundation, as well as examining its doctrine in depth, I have concluded that it is a great fraud. Having been born and raised in the Mormon Church, and remaining LDS until my early 50's, facing that realization was very difficult and was not done lightly.

SOME BACKGROUND:
In the Summer of 2001, I went on a Mormon Church History Tour. Before going, I decided to do some research so I would know more about what occurred at the key places when we visited them. But that was the beginning of the end for me as I discovered more and more of the sordid history of the Mormon Church. Soon, I began to realize that Joseph Smith made the whole thing up and that the Mormon Church is built on an enormous stack of lies. Sadly, I also began to realize that I had allowed the Mormon Church to pull the wool over my eyes for a very long time. But even with that realization, it took me quite a while longer to finally break away because of how intricately my life was tied up in Mormonism and how long I had been blinded by the lies Mormonism perpetuates (which, of course, is what they are counting on).

But finally, I did break away - and I have now been Mormonism Free since 2004. What I have realized during the ensuing years is that my intellectual curiosity was squelched by Mormonism. Being told to "have faith" and "just believe" was very detrimental to my psyche, particularly since so much made little sense. Trying to rationalize through everything had a negative effect on me as well, making me very confused and uncomfortable. Since that time, I have discovered that these types of feelings are called "cognitive dissonance" (a feeling of discomfort when simultaneously holding two or more conflicting ideas, beliefs, values or emotional reactions). Cognitive dissonance is discussed in greater length in a book I have written which is now available on Kindle. Since leaving Mormonism behind, I have grown so much and have discovered who I really am - and that is a tremendous gift.

As mentioned above, a book I have written is now available on Kindle. My book (entitled "Closing the Door on Mormonism: The AHA!! Moments that Triggered my Awakening") chronicles my very long journey through and away from Mormonism and discussed many of the issues that had plagued me for many years. It also contains some poems that I have written about my views concerning various aspects of Mormonism as well as discussions relative to the issues that led to my decision to eventually disassociate myself from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

In sharing my opinions and the information I have uncovered, it is my hope that I can in some small way help others by offering some insights into issues that many Mormons undoubtedly face in determining whether or not their faith has been misplaced.

For those of you who are thinking, "Oh, those Ex-Mormons - they can leave the church but they just can't seem to leave it alone," I offer this quote:

"Some of you are probably thinking, 'Why don't you just leave them (the Mormons) alone?' So I ask you, if you saw a thirsty man drinking water from a well you knew to be poisoned, would you let him continue to drink or would you guide him to a safe well?" ~Christopher Miller

While I'm sure that active Mormons (TBMs) and the Mormon Church itself would be much happier if people who have left the church kept their opinions to themselves, I cannot do that. If I can help one person to see the lies that are laced throughout Mormonism, then I will feel that my efforts have not been in vain.

As you will note, I have written many LDS Hymn Parodies (to date, 111 and counting), all of which are posted on my other blog - http://exmormonhymnbook.blogspot.com/
On that blog, you will also find an alphabetical listing of all the hymn parodies I have written.

Favorite Quotes

"The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off." ~Gloria Steinem
"To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men.” ~Abraham Lincoln
"Some things that are true are not very useful." Boyd K. Packer
"I have a hard time with historians, because historians idolize the truth." ~Boyd K. Packer
"It's impossible to reach good conclusions with bad information... We're all entitled to our own opinions, but none of us can afford to be wrong in our facts." ~Mort Crim
"...just remember, it's not a lie if you believe it." ~George Costanza (Seinfeld)