ANOTHER "ANONYMOUS" COMMENT...

This "Anonymous" comment was left on my blog this morning in response to one of my LDS hymn parodies -- "In the Mormon Church"...

     "It is interesting to me that when a Mormon leaves the church he/she cannot do so quietly. So often there is slander, whining, disgruntled words, kicking and screaming. Why? It has been my experience that when people who at one time accepted the fulness of the gospel choose to leave it all behind there is only room for hate left in their hearts. After reading your poem all I can feel is your hatred and contempt and that is the opposite of Christ's teachings and Mormon teachings. It is so sad to see your journey took you to this dark place. May you find your way to light and happiness some day."

What is interesting to me is that this person posted these comments with an "Anonymous" persona.  If this person has such strong feelings about this subject, then why not include their name and email address so we could communicate directly?  I guess it's easy to berate a person's motives and expound on such subjects anonymously.  But since this person chose to post his/her comments anonymously, I'll leave my comments here and hope they return to this so-called "dark place."

Dear Anonymous:

So let's see.  According to you, anyone who speaks negatively about the Mormon Church is doing so because they are resorting to "slander, whining, disgruntled words, kicking and screaming."  Is telling the truth slander?  Is explaining why you are against something whining?  Is the act of expressing a person's opinion about a subject termed as disgruntled words?  And kicking and screaming - that is the act of a child, not an adult who in realizing that the church in which they were born and raised is a fraudulent organization decides to no longer associate themself with it and try to educate others of the obvious lies and deceit as well as the realities of its doctrines and tenets.

I realize that you, as an obvious devout Mormon, and the religion organization to which you belong, would like it much better if I had left the church "quietly."  But that is not what is best for me.  I spent 52 years inside Mormonism, and when I began to discover the truth behind its history (which was prior to, during and after going on a Mormon Church History Tour in July 2001), I was flabbergasted and almost despondent.  Initially, I tried to convince myself that I just didn't understand it all - that perhaps if I studied more, it would become more clear.  So for the next two years, I spent a lot of time researching, studying, and questioning what I had discovered before I realized that what I had felt initially was right, that the Mormon Church is a fraudulent religious organization built on an enormous stack of lies - and I finally decided that I could no longer associate myself with a religious organization that plays so fast and loose with the truth.  At first after leaving, I was very quiet about what I had discovered - but over time, I began to realize that by remaining quiet, I was helping to perpetuate the lies and deceit by not speaking out against it.  My decision to actively speak out against the Mormon Church was not made lightly - and it does not equate with only having "only room for hate left in my heart," but rather recognizing the need to try to help others to see the reality behind the Mormon Curtain.

Anonymous, I'm very glad that you could feel my hatred and contempt for Mormonism by reading my poem.  The fact is that I do hate Mormonism and all it attempts to do to people - but I do not hate Mormons because there are many very good people who are trapped inside its walls, including many of my family members.  I am not "Anti-Mormon" but rather "Anti-Mormonism."  And although I am speaking out against the Mormon Church, that doesn't mean that I only have room for hate left in my heart.  Leaving Mormonism behind and being able to speak out against it has relieved me of years of feeling confused and frustrated by so many doctrines and beliefs that make absolutely no sense, and a portrayal of its history that is filled with lies and is completely white-washed.  The place of light and happiness of which you speak is not inside the Mormon Church but outside of it - where a person can use their intellectual curiosity to do actual independent research, make their own decisions about its truthfulness or lack thereof, and choose their own direction.  That is not allowed inside Mormonism, but only outside of its belief system.

If anything is the opposite of Christ's teachings, it is lying, deceiving, shading the truth, and attempting to get people to believe in a religious organization for its own purposes and financial gain.  And as far as not being able to leave the church alone, let me relate 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

Since it is my belief that Mormonism is extremely poisonous to its members and potential investigators, I am sharing my thoughts and beliefs with whomever wishes to read them.  And I am not doing so anonymously...

LIMERICK ala MORMONISM

I was looking through some old papers and came across an unfinished poem - actually, my attempt at a limerick with an Ex-Mormon twist.

So I finished it today, and here is the end product:

LIMERICK ala MORMONISM

There once was a prophet named Joe,
Who had an enormous ego,
He made up a church,
But if you research,
The flaws in it will start to show.

A ladies’ man was Brother Joe,
And he did not like hearing No.
Professing God’s will,
His needs he’d fulfill.
His tactics were sordid and low.

A sexual predator loose
As women and girls he’d seduce.
His wandering eye
He’d try to deny,
But simply, there was no excuse.

With sex as his ultimate aim,
Polygamy became his game.
Though Emma refused,
And was not amused,
Soon 33 wives he would claim.

And now Mormonism proclaims
Through media and its campaigns
That it is mainstream,
A marketing scheme,
So clear to a person with brains.

And so with their current slogan,
The billboards say “I’m a Mormon.”
Commercials to see
Each night on TV,
As Pandora’s Box they open.

With history shaded with lies,
And doctrine it hides and denies,
It doesn’t make sense
To mount a defense
When obvious truth they disguise.

And then there's the City Creek Mall,
Now open for business to all.
No homes for the poor,
But shopping galore?
What happened to the proud will fall?

But profits gigantic they seek,
From this brand new mall, City Creek.
With condos high-end,
The money they spend
Will add to the Mormon Mystique.

Professing that they are Christian
Takes more than a passing mention
Of Jesus’ name,
It's not what they claim
There behind the Mormon curtain.

© Diane Tingen, 04/06/2012

CITY CREEK CENTER in Downtown Salt Lake City, Utah

DOWNTOWN SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH
GRAND OPENING - MARCH 22, 2012

So City Creek Center is now open for business!!  Directly across the street from Temple Square, this very elaborate mall spans three square blocks in downtown Salt Lake City (approx. 23 acres).

Granted, it is very beautiful - and it adds a touch of elegance to the city.  High-end stores, shops and trendy boutiques (like Macy's, Nordstroms, Tiffany's, Michael Kors, Brooks Brothers, Ann Taylor, Hugo Boss, BeBe, BCBG Maxazria, Porsche Designs, and on and on).  Restaurants.  Retractable roof in the atrium area.  Performing Arts Center.  Theatres.  Luxury condos.  Sports and Fitness Center.  Office buildings.  Banks.  Grocery store.  And on and on...

The fact is, the Mormon Church built this Mall via one of its "real estate arms," City Creek Reserve Inc. (which I find very interesting).  According to varying reports, it cost somewhere between $1.5 billion and $5 billion dollars, depending from what source you obtain the figure.  But regardless of whether it cost $1.5 billion or $5 billion, that's a whole lot of money to spend on a mall no matter how you look at it - especially when the church could have spent it on helping the poor that they profess to care about.  From what I have read, from 1985 to 2011, the LDS church spent $1.212 billion on humanitarian aid.  That means that this mall cost much more than what the church spent on humanitarian aid in 26 years.  To me, that's mind-boggling.

Even the condos they built that included in the City Creek complex are "high-end," and not affordable by average people by any means, let alone poor people. The message this gives is very contrary to what the Mormon Church supposedly stands for -- anti-materialism, garishness, alcohol use (since restaurants there are serving alcohol), etc.  It certainly gives the aura of affluence, especially since only affluent people will be able to shop there - or live there. Not the average Mormon for sure. Someone who lives in SLC posted something a couple of days ago on Facebook about having walked through it and feeling like they were on Rodeo Drive.

Just look at this website -- http://www.downtownrising.com/ -- which, by the way, is being sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (in other words, "paid for").

And so, in honor of the opening of City Creek Center, here is a reprisal of an LDS hymn parody that I wrote in June 2011.

THEY, THE BUILDERS OF THE CENTER
Sung to the tune of They, the Builders of the Nation, #36

They, the builders of the Center,
Spent $5 billion as of now.
Lots of stores to do your shopping,
Nordstrom, Macy's, take a bow.
Building new exclusive condos,
Costs are rising as we speak,
Rising upward, ever upward,
This expensive City Creek.

Though they say no tithing monies
Have been used to build the Mall,
They must think we're really stupid,
Idiots, for that to fall.
They're transforming Salt Lake City,
Modern and extremely chic,
Doesn't fit the "Mormon image,"
This expensive City Creek.

Mormons Inc. is even truer
Than it ever was before.
Its net worth was $30 billion
In the 90's, now much more.
But they try to keep it quiet,
Do not ask and they won't speak
Of their many "wise investments,"
As they're building City Creek.

Such religious implications,
Christian charity they boast.
Pay your tithing, fill the coffers,
Profit is what matters most.
Helping people, so they'll tell you,
Aid the poor whose lives are bleak.
But the poor won't live in condos
At expensive City Creek.

Follow us or you will suffer,
So the Mormons tell us all.
No Celestial glory given
To the heathens who will fall.
But on Sundays, stores will open,
On the Lord's day, every week.
What examples are these Mormons
In their Mall called City Creek.

Word of Wisdom, so important,
Coffee, tea and alcohol
Are considered evil items,
Said to be a huge downfall.
But at City Creek they're selling
All of that, just take a peek,
Word of Wisdom out the window
Everywhere in City Creek.

Grand hypocrisy inflated
What the Mormons daily tout.
God's commandments must be followed
As they preach, and scream, and shout.
But don't point out contradictions
In their teachings, what they speak.
And be sure to never mention
That outrageous City Creek.

© Diane Tingen, 6/14/2011

www.shopcitycreekcenter.com