Clarification
Sorry Kyle, I wasn’t meaning you were trying to convert me, I was speaking in general of the nature of the Christian churches to proselytize and try to get as many people as possible to believe the way they do.
Now I’ve spoken with people who have tried to say that they didn’t feel a belief was right, and that it should be changed because it wasn’t being taken the way He meant it. They were basically told “I am the pastor/priest, I went to school for this, I know what I’m doing, I know what I am talking about.” They were treated like annoying children, and basically told not to question what they were taught. The worst offender of that one is the LDS church because simply questioning something can get you into a lot of hot water.
I remember when I was still trying to do the “right thing” and be a good Mormon. I was getting ready to get my patriarchal blessing. I had to be interviewed by the bishop before I could make the appointment with the stake Patriarch. During the interview, I was asked if I held any beliefs that were against the church’s teachings and if I associated with anyone who held beliefs that were against the church’s teachings. I looked straight at him, looked him dead in the eye and said “no.” I lied. I was already studying Wicca. My best friend at that time, Nichole, was also studying Wicca. We had cast spells. We read Tarot cards. And he looked at me, bowed his head for a moment, was silent, and then lifted his head and looked at me again. Then he said “Heavenly Father tells me that you are telling the truth. I will make your appointment and let you know when it is.” And he did. At that point I decided that either the books were right and that all Deity really IS one, and that each faith worships the face & name that they feel comfortable worshipping, or the Mormons really were crazy. Of course, with some of what the Mormons believed in, the latter was highly possible. But I believe in the former myself.
April 25th, 2008 at 7:32 am
I’m not going to pretend that I understand the Morman way. It all seems a bit, well, crazy as you put it, to me, but it’s funny how Mormons tend to be the nicest people you’re ever going to come across. Could be that you lied very well and the bishop wasn’t actually talking to Heavenly Father just then? Who knows…?
Ok, here’s one of my stories. I went to a Samhain ritual in NY a few years ago, and during the ritual we did a spiral dance. I have a balance disorder and I get vertigo very easily, and all that circling, etc., triggered it and down I went. After it was over, the… well, she’s given herself all sorts of names/titles, but I’ll just call her the Samhain event organizer, yelled at me in front of everyone because we had just captured the energy and when I fell and we had to stop, it went away and never came back. It wasn’t so much that I care what an elderly woman in a spandex Halloween costume thinks about me, it’s just always unpleasant to be talked down to in front of a crowd, especially when the world is still spinning around you. If I gave any thought to what she said, which I don’t, I would be horribly offended that this energy from the Goddess and God would be denied to people with disabilities.
April 30th, 2008 at 2:38 am
I remember one time when I was still Mormon, I had an interview for something… I don’t even remember what it was anymore, honestly, and I was asked “Are you morally clean?”
It probably shows how involved I was in the church that I didn’t realize until later that “morally clean” was jargon for “chaste.” I took it to mean, “a good person overall,” so I said to him, “I try to be.” And I felt funny when he replied with something like “Well, the devil’s temptations are all over the place.”