CAST DECEPTION AND LIES ASIDE - LDS Hymn Parody #109

The hardest part of my journey away from Mormonism was going from discovering the truth to wallowing in denial for a very long time until I finally faced the truth and realized that I had to extricate myself from its grasp.  From the moment I began to seriously doubt, after discovering so much about the sordid history of the Mormon Church and how its founder ("good ole Joe") had duped so many people, I developed cognitive dissonance to the max.  Looking back, it astounds me that I remained TBM for so long.  After all, if anyone uses any amount of critical thinking, then they can't help but question what the Mormon Church teaches as fact.  But that is an enormous conundrum.  How do they get relatively intelligent people to swallow it all?  People who use critical thinking in other areas of their lives but do not apply it to the teachings of Mormonism at all?  It boggles my mind.

Sadly, I think there are a lot of people still active within Mormonism who are caught in the middle, between a rock and a hard place, still trying to wrap their minds around the fact that Mormonism is built on a huge stack of lies.  That is not an easy premise to accept, particularly if they have been "in it" for many years or perhaps even their entire lives (like me, who finally left when I was 54 years old after being raised in the Mormon Church from infancy).  

Of course, it doesn't help the situation when the Mormon Mantra is echoing loudly in your mind - the mantra that if you are experiencing doubts, then it's you, not the Mormon Church.  That mantra is drummed into the consciousness of every single member so much that they have learned to accept many things as gospel truth that are so far off the actual spectrum of truth that it's frightening.

Despite all that, though, I got away - and I have never been happier.  I am walking my own path, free from the constraints of a religion that plays so fast and loose with the truth that it bears no resemblance to any measure of fact.  It is in that vein that I wrote the below LDS hymn parody (my 109th).  Cast deception and lies aside.  Not an easy thing to do, but it's rewards are immeasurable.

CAST DECEPTION AND LIES ASIDE

Sung to the tune of Cast Thy Burden upon the Lord ‑ #110

Cast deception and lies aside,

And live more authentic.
Why cling to a church overflowing with lies?
Only truth is worthwhile.
The truth will set you free
To live the way you want.
Let none be made ashamed
That walk their own path.

© Diane Tingen
11/8/2014