With the unbelievable news of the FLDS, which are fundamentalist Mormons, the main stream Mormons are screaming, “We are not involved!” and “they are nothing like LDS.” But the sad sad truth is the FLDS took its original teachings from Joseph Smith. Smith, a gold digger, pedophile, and an occult leader did indeed create a cult. To this day many people follow his teachings from his belief in men on the moon that live to be 1,000 years old, to God being from the plant Kolob, to men becoming Gods on their own planet, to yes, even Smith thinking he did more for man than esus Christ. So is Mormonsim a cult? You decide. I have gathered quite a bit of information throughout the internet, research, and books.
HOW THEY DO THIS
Their leader/s may claim a special, exclusive ministry, revelation or position of authority given by God.
They believe they are the only true church and take a critical stance regarding the Christian church while at the same time praising and exalting their own group, leader/s and work.
They use intimidation or psychological manipulation to keep members loyal to their ranks. This could be in the form of threats of dire calamity sent by God if they leave; certain death at Armageddon; being shunned by their family and friends etc. This is a vital part of the mind control process.
Members will be expected to give substantial financial support to the group. This could be compulsory tithing (which is checked); signing over all their property on entering the group; coercive methods of instilling guilt on those who have not contributed; selling magazines, flowers or other goods for the group as part of their "ministry".
At the same time bible-based cults may ridicule churches that take up free-will offerings by passing collection plates and/or sell literature and tapes. They usually brag that they don't do this. This gives outsiders the intimation that they are not interested in money.
There will be great emphasis on loyalty to the group and its teachings. The lives of members will be totally absorbed into the group's activities. They will have little or no time to think for themselves because of physical and emotional exhaustion. This is also a vital part of the mind control process.
There will be total control over almost all aspects of the private lives of members. This control can be direct through communal living, or constant and repetitious teaching on "how to be a true Christian" or "being obedient to leadership". Members will look to their leaders for guidance in everything they do.
Bible-based cults may proclaim they have no clergy/laity distinction and no paid ministry class - that they are all equal.
Any dissent or questioning of the group's teachings is discouraged. Criticism in any form is seen as rebellion. There will be an emphasis on authority, unquestioning obedience and submission. This is vigilantly maintained.
Members are required to demonstrate their loyalty to the group in some way. This could be in the form of "dobbing" on fellow members (including family) under the guise of looking out for their "spiritual welfare".
They may be required to deliberately lie (heavenly deception) or give up their lives by refusing some form of medical treatment.
Attempts to leave or reveal embarrassing facts about the group may be met with threats. Some may have taken oaths of loyalty that involve their lives or have signed a "covenant" and feel threatened by this.
Refugees of the group are usually faced with confrontations by other members with coercion to get them to return to the group.
Cult: Characteristics of the Mormon Church
1. Teaching that the doctrine of the Mormon Church is reality, the doctrine is to be accepted, not understood.
2. Reality is black and white, good and evil, spiritual world versus physical word. As an example, the Mormon Church cult is the only true church on the face of the earth.
3. Mormon Church members are taught to feel part of an elite corps. Following and accepting church doctrine insures members eternal life and a delightful life in heaven.
4. The Mormon Church promotes a sense of community with love and friendship, with special flattery and attention to new members
5. Mormon Church members are manipulated through fear and guilt, fear that if they don’t practice church doctrine faithfully, that they will fail to reach the highest levels of heaven, fear that if they don’t wear their garments, that they will not be protected by God.
6. Mormon Church members are taught that any problems that they may have are due to their own inadequacies. If they are having marital, financial or other difficult problems, it is because they are not following church doctrine, or are not praying enough. Guilt, fear and shame are present in the minds of Mormons, if they are not loyal, and fail to follow the church doctrine.
7. Unlike non-cult organizations, Mormon Church members find it difficult to leave, when they find out that church teachings are false, or otherwise become disenchanted with the church. Terrible things may happen to them, and their family if they leave. Those who do leave, often lose their family, friends and other social contacts within the Mormon community.
But wait......
Do you belong to an organisation that .- has lots of meetings?
- keeps you so busy you don't have time to think?
- has an infallible leader?
- expects purity?
- has rigid principles?
- expects confessions?
- speaks a cliché-ridden language?
- is at odds with the world?
- has simple answers to most of life's questions?
- makes you feel secure?
- makes you feel more special than non-members?
- frowns on expressions of doubts?
- claims absolute truth?
- expects significant financial contributions?
- is reluctant to allow you to leave?
- controls information about its own history?
- always says you are free to choose?
SOME ABUSES OF RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS:-
ABUSE OF INDIVIDUALITY
They adopt a "groupness" mentality. They are not permitted to think for themselves apart from the group and only accept what they are told.
ABUSE OF INTIMACY
Relationships with friends, relatives, spouses, children, parents etc are broken or seriously hampered.
ABUSE OF FINANCES
Pressure to give all you can to the group. In non-communal groups, members usually live at the lower socio-economic strata, not because of a lower income level, but because they are always giving money to the group for some reason.
"US VERSUS THEM" MENTALITY
Isolation from the community in general. Anyone and everything outside the group is seen as "of the devil" or "unenlightened" etc. Their enemies now include former friends; the Christian church; governments; education systems; the media - the world in general. Those who are involved with these in any way see such involvement as a "means to an end".
ABUSE OF TIME AND ENERGY
The group controls and uses almost all the members time and energy in group activities. They are usually in a constant state of mental and physical exhaustion.
ABUSE OF FREE WILL
They must unquestioning submit to the groups teachings and directions and their own free will is broken. Their "will" actually becomes the groups "will" without their realizing it. This is done either by coercive methods including low protein diets and lack of sleep, or over a period of time through intimidation. Both methods make heavy use of "guilt".
RESULTS OF THIS ABUSE
PERSONALITY CHANGES
Relatives will say they no longer recognize the person.
From a warm, loving personality will come heaped abuse, rejection and feelings of hate. The cult member sees himself as "righteous" in comparison and this comes across in their attitude toward all outsiders.
LOSS OF IDENTITY
They cannot see themselves as individuals apart from the group. Some even change their name as a rejection of their former life.
PARANOID - WE ARE BEING PERSECUTED
Any time you say anything negative about the group, whether justified or no, it is regarded as "persecution". Any criticism of the individual is also seen as persecution only because they are the "true Christian" or "enlightened" one - not because they, as an individual, have done the wrong thing. However, at the same time they will feel free to criticise whatever you believe, say and do because they are "the only ones who are right".
SOCIAL DISORIENTATION
They lose their ability to socialize outside the group. This can go so far as to not being able to structure their time or make simple decisions for themselves when they leave.
Their world-view alters and they perceive the world through their leaders eyes. They become very naive about life in general.
SEVERE GUILT COMPLEXES
They are made to feel guilty of everything they did before entering the group and are to strive to be "good" and "worthy" for "eternal life". Misdemeanors are made into "mountains" so that members are in a constant state of guilt for infringing even the most minor rules. Guilt comes because they aren't doing enough; entertaining doubts or questions; even thinking rationally for oneself.
This guilt is piled upon pile with new rules constantly being laid down about what is sinful and what is not. Illness may be seen as lack of faith - more guilt. Emotional illness may be seen as proof of sin in your life - more guilt.
Signs of Cults
1. claim contact with heaven or the cosmos
2. claim God has chosen a leader as His divinely chosen representative
3. give royal or divine status to the leader
4. insist their society mirrors the divine structure of heaven
5. claim to be God’s chosen people
6. build temples to practice sacred ordinances
7. produce sacred literature
8. proclaim a bigger and better canopy than Christianity’s”
Summary of Mormon Teaching
Sometimes you just find a great article about true Mormonism and a wonderful summary of its teachings. This is a great one by Paul J. Bucknell....enjoy
Mormonism teaches that trillions of planets scattered throughout the cosmos are ruled by countless gods who once were human like us. They say that long ago, on one of these planets, to an unidentified god and one of his goddess wives, a spirit child named Elohim was conceived. This spirit child was later born to human parents who gave him a physical body. Through obedience to Mormon teaching, death, and resurrection, he proved himself worthy and was elevated to godhood as his father before him. Mormons believe that Elohim is their Heavenly Father and that he lives with his many wives on a planet near a mysterious star called Kolob.
There the god of Mormonism and his wives, through endless Celestial sex, produced billions of spirit children.(2) To decide their destiny, the head of the Mormon gods called a great heavenly council meeting. Both of Elohim’s eldest sons were there, Lucifer and his brother Jesus."
"A plan was presented to build planet Earth where the spirit children would be sent to take on mortal bodies and learn good from evil. Lucifer stood and made his bid for becoming savior of this new world. Wanting the glory for himself, he planned to force everyone to become gods. Opposing the idea, the Mormon Jesus suggested giving man his freedom of choice as on other planets.
The vote that followed approved the proposal of the Mormon Jesus who would become savior of the planet Earth. Enraged, Lucifer cunningly convinced one-third of the spirits destined for earth to fight with him and revolt. Thus Lucifer became the devil and his followers the demons. Sent to this world, they would forever be denied bodies of flesh and bone. Those who remained neutral in the battle were cursed to be born with black skin. This is the Mormon explanation for the Negro race.(3) (read more on blog how Mormons feel about blacks)
The spirits that fought most valiantly against Lucifer would be born into Mormon families on planet Earth. These would be the lighter-skinned people, or ‘white and delightsome,’ as the Book of Mormon describes them."
"Early Mormon prophets taught that Elohim and one of his goddess wives came to the earth as Adam and Eve to start the human race. Thousands of years later, Elohim in human form once again journeyed to earth from the star base Kolob, this time to have physical relations with the Virgin Mary in order to provide Jesus with a physical body.(4) Mormon Apostle Orson Hyde taught that after Jesus Christ grew to manhood, he took at least three wives– Mary, Martha, and Mary Magdalene. Through these wives the Mormon Jesus supposedly fathered a number of children before he was crucified. Mormon founder Joseph Smith is supposedly one of his descendants."(5)
According to the Book of Mormon, after his resurrection Jesus came to the Americas to preach to the Indians, who the Mormons believe are really Israelites. Thus the Jesus of Mormonism established his church in the Americas as he had in Palestine. By the year 421 A.D., the dark-skinned Israelites, known as the Lamanites, had destroyed all of the white-skinned Nephites in a number of great battles.
The Nephites’ records were supposedly written on golden plates buried by Moroni, the last living Nephite, in the Hill Cummorah. 1400 years later a young treasure-seeker named Joseph Smith, who was known for his tall tales, claimed to have uncovered the same gold plates near his home in upstate New York. He is now honored by Mormons as a prophet because he claimed to have had visions from the spirit world in which he was commanded to organize the Mormon Church because all Christian creeds were an abomination. It was Joseph Smith who originated most of these peculiar doctrines which millions today believe to be true."
"By maintaining a rigid code of financial and moral requirements, and through performing secret temple rituals for themselves and the dead, the Latter-day Saints hope to prove their worthiness and thus become gods. The Mormons teach that everyone must stand at the final judgment before Joseph Smith, the Mormon Jesus, and Elohim.(6)
Those Mormons who were sealed in the eternal marriage ceremony expect to become polygamous gods in the Celestial Kingdom, rule over other planets, and spawn new families throughout eternity. The Mormons thank God for Joseph Smith, who claimed that he had done more for us than any other man, including Jesus Christ. The Mormons claim that he died as a martyr and shed his blood for us so that we too may become Gods."
Footnotes:
1) From the film The God Makers Text quoted from 'What You Need to Know About Mormons' by Ed Decker, Harvest Pub, 1990, pp.48 -61.
2) "God is an exalted man who once lived on an earth and underwent experiences of mortality.... His marriage partner is our mother in heaven. We are their spirit children, born to them in the bonds of Celestial marriage." [ACCM, p.129-130]. "Have all the people born in this world first been conceived as spirit children–been fathered by Elohim? Of course." pp. 50-51
3) "The Lord forgave them any preexistence punishment in 1978, and now they too can hold the priesthood– which actually was the real punishment, not the skin color. And now blacks can marry in the temple." p. 53
4) "We do believe in the virgin birth.... Mary was certainly a virgin before she was overshadowed by Heavenly Father." pp. 54-55
5) "None of that is currently taught by any authority in the Church. ... Joseph Smith, through personal revelation, told several of the early leaders that they were descendants of Jesus. The rest comes from old speeches in the Journal of Discourses which we don’t accept as doctrinal today." Decker, p. 55.
6) "Joseph Smith holds the keys to this dispensation– he is its head and will be throughout all eternity. Of course he will be at the judgment bar, but I can assure you that he is there as your friend to plead your case if need be. But nobody will go to the Celestial Kingdom without his express approval." p. 60 {Come unto Christ, The Melchizedek Priesthood Personal Study Guide (Salt Lake City: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 1983-1986) pp. 139-145.
Mormonism teaches that trillions of planets scattered throughout the cosmos are ruled by countless gods who once were human like us. They say that long ago, on one of these planets, to an unidentified god and one of his goddess wives, a spirit child named Elohim was conceived. This spirit child was later born to human parents who gave him a physical body. Through obedience to Mormon teaching, death, and resurrection, he proved himself worthy and was elevated to godhood as his father before him. Mormons believe that Elohim is their Heavenly Father and that he lives with his many wives on a planet near a mysterious star called Kolob.
There the god of Mormonism and his wives, through endless Celestial sex, produced billions of spirit children.(2) To decide their destiny, the head of the Mormon gods called a great heavenly council meeting. Both of Elohim’s eldest sons were there, Lucifer and his brother Jesus."
"A plan was presented to build planet Earth where the spirit children would be sent to take on mortal bodies and learn good from evil. Lucifer stood and made his bid for becoming savior of this new world. Wanting the glory for himself, he planned to force everyone to become gods. Opposing the idea, the Mormon Jesus suggested giving man his freedom of choice as on other planets.
The vote that followed approved the proposal of the Mormon Jesus who would become savior of the planet Earth. Enraged, Lucifer cunningly convinced one-third of the spirits destined for earth to fight with him and revolt. Thus Lucifer became the devil and his followers the demons. Sent to this world, they would forever be denied bodies of flesh and bone. Those who remained neutral in the battle were cursed to be born with black skin. This is the Mormon explanation for the Negro race.(3) (read more on blog how Mormons feel about blacks)
The spirits that fought most valiantly against Lucifer would be born into Mormon families on planet Earth. These would be the lighter-skinned people, or ‘white and delightsome,’ as the Book of Mormon describes them."
"Early Mormon prophets taught that Elohim and one of his goddess wives came to the earth as Adam and Eve to start the human race. Thousands of years later, Elohim in human form once again journeyed to earth from the star base Kolob, this time to have physical relations with the Virgin Mary in order to provide Jesus with a physical body.(4) Mormon Apostle Orson Hyde taught that after Jesus Christ grew to manhood, he took at least three wives– Mary, Martha, and Mary Magdalene. Through these wives the Mormon Jesus supposedly fathered a number of children before he was crucified. Mormon founder Joseph Smith is supposedly one of his descendants."(5)
According to the Book of Mormon, after his resurrection Jesus came to the Americas to preach to the Indians, who the Mormons believe are really Israelites. Thus the Jesus of Mormonism established his church in the Americas as he had in Palestine. By the year 421 A.D., the dark-skinned Israelites, known as the Lamanites, had destroyed all of the white-skinned Nephites in a number of great battles.
The Nephites’ records were supposedly written on golden plates buried by Moroni, the last living Nephite, in the Hill Cummorah. 1400 years later a young treasure-seeker named Joseph Smith, who was known for his tall tales, claimed to have uncovered the same gold plates near his home in upstate New York. He is now honored by Mormons as a prophet because he claimed to have had visions from the spirit world in which he was commanded to organize the Mormon Church because all Christian creeds were an abomination. It was Joseph Smith who originated most of these peculiar doctrines which millions today believe to be true."
"By maintaining a rigid code of financial and moral requirements, and through performing secret temple rituals for themselves and the dead, the Latter-day Saints hope to prove their worthiness and thus become gods. The Mormons teach that everyone must stand at the final judgment before Joseph Smith, the Mormon Jesus, and Elohim.(6)
Those Mormons who were sealed in the eternal marriage ceremony expect to become polygamous gods in the Celestial Kingdom, rule over other planets, and spawn new families throughout eternity. The Mormons thank God for Joseph Smith, who claimed that he had done more for us than any other man, including Jesus Christ. The Mormons claim that he died as a martyr and shed his blood for us so that we too may become Gods."
Footnotes:
1) From the film The God Makers Text quoted from 'What You Need to Know About Mormons' by Ed Decker, Harvest Pub, 1990, pp.48 -61.
2) "God is an exalted man who once lived on an earth and underwent experiences of mortality.... His marriage partner is our mother in heaven. We are their spirit children, born to them in the bonds of Celestial marriage." [ACCM, p.129-130]. "Have all the people born in this world first been conceived as spirit children–been fathered by Elohim? Of course." pp. 50-51
3) "The Lord forgave them any preexistence punishment in 1978, and now they too can hold the priesthood– which actually was the real punishment, not the skin color. And now blacks can marry in the temple." p. 53
4) "We do believe in the virgin birth.... Mary was certainly a virgin before she was overshadowed by Heavenly Father." pp. 54-55
5) "None of that is currently taught by any authority in the Church. ... Joseph Smith, through personal revelation, told several of the early leaders that they were descendants of Jesus. The rest comes from old speeches in the Journal of Discourses which we don’t accept as doctrinal today." Decker, p. 55.
6) "Joseph Smith holds the keys to this dispensation– he is its head and will be throughout all eternity. Of course he will be at the judgment bar, but I can assure you that he is there as your friend to plead your case if need be. But nobody will go to the Celestial Kingdom without his express approval." p. 60 {Come unto Christ, The Melchizedek Priesthood Personal Study Guide (Salt Lake City: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 1983-1986) pp. 139-145.
Reflecting on Momronhood
When my parents joined the Mormon church they were so excited about the church they rushed to my grandparent’s house and asked them if they would take the lessons to learn how to become good little Mormons. My grandmother protested. “Don’t ever ask us again.” She would shout. “I want nothing to do with that religion, it’s the devils work.” My grandmother was already afraid of God and she did not want to be introduced to a religion that believed in a much more demanding God, especially a God from a different planet. My mother continued to ask her mother to please consider it, but my grandmother protested and asked my mother to respect her wishes. Funny, my mother never did respect her wishes. When my grandparents died, my mother rushed to the church and had them baptized as a Mormons-against their dying wishes.
Mormons took the records of dead people and then would baptize the dead and put them on the church roster. They do this often against a dead persons will. Well I can tell ya my grandparents had no desire to be Mormons, but their own daughter did it anyhow. Mormons I suspect like to yell, “Look how many Mormons we have.” Only problem was, many of them were already dead when they were declared Mormon.
I thought it was wrong. How could you take a dead person and then baptize them? The Mormons baptized the Jews who died in the concentration camps and then baptized Hitler to boot. I call this adding a little salt to the Jewish wound. I would ask my fellow Mormons if they could legally do that. They told me it was Gods Law and that when the end of the world came, only Mormons would survive. They explained that those who died, would rise from the grave and walk, therefore, they had to baptize everyone to be Mormons, even the dead. If Mormons did not track down and baptize the dead, then they would suffer the consequences along with the dead person. That was a spooky thought for me, thinking that my grandmother would rise from her grave, skin falling off of her and walk around. She’d probably go right up to my mother and smack her for baptizing her in the first damned place!
I knew that I did not want to be a Mormon. I was only nine and knew what I did and did not want. I felt doomed having to live a life waiting for the second coming of Christ and then have to hang out in some cemetery so I could walk with the rest of the dead Mormons. I would have dreams that involved dead people chasing after us, just like Night of the Living Dead, only it was Night of The Living Mormons.
Please someone wake me up! I would tell my mother that I was having bad dreams that dead Mormons were stalking us and that it made me feel crazy in my head. She refused to listen. “You’re too young to know what God wants from you, and you’re too young to know what crazy is.” I never felt I was too young to know what crazy was, after all, I was raised by a crazy family. I knew exactly what crazy was.
Because the Mormons thought they were the only true church and had to be exclusive. The all night poker parties my parents used to have were replaced by canning and baking bread. Most of the friends we had were being exchanged for Mormons. Nearly everything we did as children was being traded in for activities that the Mormons provided. I would begin to miss my old friends, and my old life. The brain washing had begun.
Three months after my parents started going to church and taking the Mormon lessons, we were baptized. I did not want to be baptized, but my parents not only demanded it, they used guilt. Each time I said I don’t want to be baptized, a herd of Mormons would appear at the door telling me that my parents and God had a plan for me, and if I was to make it to heaven, and see my parents, I would need to be baptized or pay the consequences in the after life. “You can be baptized now, or baptized when you’re dead,” I rushed into the bathroom at the church, put on the silly grown, plugged my nose and was submerged in a fountain that looked like a large bathtub. I was a Mormon and was baptized by guilt.
Now speaking of being dunked....my parents forced me to go to the Mormon temple and be baptized for the dead when I was fifteen. For weeks, I would have nightmares about this event. I told my parents that the temple gave me the creeps and that I did not feel right being baptized for dead people against their will. I told them that since I was nine years old that whole baptizing dead people scared the crap out of me and I would rather not do it.
My mother would run to the Bishop and scream,” What do I do wrong, how did I fail as a mother?” The Bishop would remind me that I was a big disappointment to my family. I still refused to go. Finally, my mother would get one of her many illnesses and tell me, “It’s your fault I am sick, if you would only go get baptized for the dead.” I would argue stating, “No it’s not my fault you are sick because you’re not sick. You never are sick, you just make it up. You’re a @%$&*%@ hypochondriac just like your mother!”
That got me a month restriction and a trip to the temple as my punishment. They packed us like sardines on a big Greyhound bus and shipped a large group of teens to the Temple. I walked in the temple and a chill ran down my spine. I thought at first I could run away and escape, but the temple was filled with all these people dressed in weird costumes and I felt paralyzed in fear. I thought if there really were aliens out there like from Kolob or something and they would swoop down and save me. But the aliens never showed up, and none of my hero’s appeared in my daydreams either. There was no turning back and I was forced to participate in this ritual.
After I was dunked fifteen times the ritual was completed and I was responsible of baptizing fifteen dead people against their will. What if they were to rise from the dead and kick my ass? I felt like I had received the worse punishment ever. I would dream nightly of these fifteen people yelling at me. They would start to chase me, and I barely could escape. Thank goodness their skin was falling off because it slowed them down from capturing me and torturing me.
To this day my mother reminds me that if I die before she does, she will have me baptized and I will be saved once again. She also reminds me even though I had myself excommunicated, I will be left on the church records and since Mormon God can read, I will be directed to one of their magical kingdoms.... oh what fun!
Mormons took the records of dead people and then would baptize the dead and put them on the church roster. They do this often against a dead persons will. Well I can tell ya my grandparents had no desire to be Mormons, but their own daughter did it anyhow. Mormons I suspect like to yell, “Look how many Mormons we have.” Only problem was, many of them were already dead when they were declared Mormon.
I thought it was wrong. How could you take a dead person and then baptize them? The Mormons baptized the Jews who died in the concentration camps and then baptized Hitler to boot. I call this adding a little salt to the Jewish wound. I would ask my fellow Mormons if they could legally do that. They told me it was Gods Law and that when the end of the world came, only Mormons would survive. They explained that those who died, would rise from the grave and walk, therefore, they had to baptize everyone to be Mormons, even the dead. If Mormons did not track down and baptize the dead, then they would suffer the consequences along with the dead person. That was a spooky thought for me, thinking that my grandmother would rise from her grave, skin falling off of her and walk around. She’d probably go right up to my mother and smack her for baptizing her in the first damned place!
I knew that I did not want to be a Mormon. I was only nine and knew what I did and did not want. I felt doomed having to live a life waiting for the second coming of Christ and then have to hang out in some cemetery so I could walk with the rest of the dead Mormons. I would have dreams that involved dead people chasing after us, just like Night of the Living Dead, only it was Night of The Living Mormons.
Please someone wake me up! I would tell my mother that I was having bad dreams that dead Mormons were stalking us and that it made me feel crazy in my head. She refused to listen. “You’re too young to know what God wants from you, and you’re too young to know what crazy is.” I never felt I was too young to know what crazy was, after all, I was raised by a crazy family. I knew exactly what crazy was.
Because the Mormons thought they were the only true church and had to be exclusive. The all night poker parties my parents used to have were replaced by canning and baking bread. Most of the friends we had were being exchanged for Mormons. Nearly everything we did as children was being traded in for activities that the Mormons provided. I would begin to miss my old friends, and my old life. The brain washing had begun.
Three months after my parents started going to church and taking the Mormon lessons, we were baptized. I did not want to be baptized, but my parents not only demanded it, they used guilt. Each time I said I don’t want to be baptized, a herd of Mormons would appear at the door telling me that my parents and God had a plan for me, and if I was to make it to heaven, and see my parents, I would need to be baptized or pay the consequences in the after life. “You can be baptized now, or baptized when you’re dead,” I rushed into the bathroom at the church, put on the silly grown, plugged my nose and was submerged in a fountain that looked like a large bathtub. I was a Mormon and was baptized by guilt.
Now speaking of being dunked....my parents forced me to go to the Mormon temple and be baptized for the dead when I was fifteen. For weeks, I would have nightmares about this event. I told my parents that the temple gave me the creeps and that I did not feel right being baptized for dead people against their will. I told them that since I was nine years old that whole baptizing dead people scared the crap out of me and I would rather not do it.
My mother would run to the Bishop and scream,” What do I do wrong, how did I fail as a mother?” The Bishop would remind me that I was a big disappointment to my family. I still refused to go. Finally, my mother would get one of her many illnesses and tell me, “It’s your fault I am sick, if you would only go get baptized for the dead.” I would argue stating, “No it’s not my fault you are sick because you’re not sick. You never are sick, you just make it up. You’re a @%$&*%@ hypochondriac just like your mother!”
That got me a month restriction and a trip to the temple as my punishment. They packed us like sardines on a big Greyhound bus and shipped a large group of teens to the Temple. I walked in the temple and a chill ran down my spine. I thought at first I could run away and escape, but the temple was filled with all these people dressed in weird costumes and I felt paralyzed in fear. I thought if there really were aliens out there like from Kolob or something and they would swoop down and save me. But the aliens never showed up, and none of my hero’s appeared in my daydreams either. There was no turning back and I was forced to participate in this ritual.
After I was dunked fifteen times the ritual was completed and I was responsible of baptizing fifteen dead people against their will. What if they were to rise from the dead and kick my ass? I felt like I had received the worse punishment ever. I would dream nightly of these fifteen people yelling at me. They would start to chase me, and I barely could escape. Thank goodness their skin was falling off because it slowed them down from capturing me and torturing me.
To this day my mother reminds me that if I die before she does, she will have me baptized and I will be saved once again. She also reminds me even though I had myself excommunicated, I will be left on the church records and since Mormon God can read, I will be directed to one of their magical kingdoms.... oh what fun!
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