Mormonism Schism: THE LEAVING - ExMormon Song Parody (Tom Petty Classic)

Friday, April 10, 2015

THE LEAVING - ExMormon Song Parody (Tom Petty Classic)

Here's another ExMormon-themed song parody set to a Tom Petty song. Yes, the leaving really was the hardest part. From the point when I started my research (prior to going on a Mormon Church History Tour in the Summer of 2001) to the time when I realized that Mormonism is a total and complete fraud was a relatively short period of time. But actually leaving? That took much longer. After all, I was born and raised Mormon, and spent 52 years as an active member. So leaving was not an easy thing to do. I hung on and hung on, thinking that maybe I was misunderstanding. During that time, I held on firmly to the Mormon Mantra that I wasn't righteous enough to understand the intricacies of it all, that the ways of God are mysterious, and on and on, ad nauseum, blah, blah, blah...

My experience then was very similar to when I went to the Temple for the first time at 22 years old (the day before I got married in the Temple). The Temple was so different than what I had imagined - full of symbolism, weird gestures, and strange hand signals, all of which was very disturbing at first glance (and second glance... and third glance... well, you get the picture). But I bought into the Mormon Mantra then as well, tried to accept it on faith, and believed that if hung in there, read the scriptures, studied, prayed, and regularly attended my church meetings that eventually I would understand it all. Never happened then - and it didn't happen later or during my AHA! moments when I finally realized that Mormonism was made up from the get-go (and began kicking myself for buying into it for so long).

So here's my latest song parody, which I'm posting with a huge thank you to Tom Petty for providing me with such great music as my inspiration.

THE LEAVING (was the Hardest Part)

Sung to the tune of The Waiting by Tom Petty

So happy, makes me feel like heaven right now,
And it feels like something from a dream.
Yeah, I've never known nothing quite like this,
And it feels so good since I finally got away,
It really doesn’t matter what the Mormons say,
But then no one coulda ever told me ‘bout this,
I said yeah yeah (yeah yeah)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah…

[Chorus]:
The leaving was the hardest part,
Every day I saw one more card,
I took it on faith, I took it to the heart,
The leaving was the hardest part.

Well yeah, I wish I’d found the lies a long time ago,
Too long I just went with the flow.
But then I saw I was out of touch,
I buried my head in the sand too much,
It took me a while to finally disavow
The Mormon ways and live like I wanna live now,
I said, yeah yeah (yeah yeah)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah…

[Chorus]:
The leaving was the hardest part,
Every day I went one more yard,
I took it on faith, I took it to the heart,
The leaving was the hardest part.

[Bridge:]
Oh, why did I just believe it before I saw the lies?
Why did I just believe it before I saw the lies?
After I realized, it took me quite a while
Before I walked away,
I stayed for much too long.

[Chorus]:

The leaving was the hardest part,
Every day I went one more yard,
I took it on faith, I took it to the heart,
The leaving was the hardest part.
Yeah, the leaving was the hardest part.

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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)