I Bear My Testimony......

Today my mother started talking to me. She said to me, "You know those chapters of Isaiah that are quoted in the Book of Mormon." I said, "Yeah."

She said, "You know how they are different when you compare them in the Bible."

I said, "Yeah." (Tension started to build.)

She said, "How do you think they're different?"

I said, "Joseph Smith probably changed them."

She said, "Really? He wasn't very educated."

I said, "Even though he wasn't very educated, he was linguistically gifted."

She said, "I know that he could never have changed those chapters on his own."

So, basically, my own mother testified to me that she doesn't think old Joe did it on his own. My own mother is against me now! Ack! Ack! Ack!

Then later today she said, "You can ask me any question you like. I know the answer."

That one freaked me out, too.

I felt creeped out by the whole Joseph Smith/Isaiah exchange.

Meanwhile, I'm thinking, "How much schooling do you need to change Isaiah chapters? Not much. All you have to do is have enough education to be literate."

Joseph Smith does not fool me. Anybody, and I mean anybody could change those chapters. I see it as a not-too-brilliant feat. All he had to do was change them in a few places so that Mormons, of both today, and yesteryear, will become convinced, before they've checked it all out objectively, that Joseph Smith was speaking for God, that it was an incredible revelation!!!!

I do not want to have anymore creepy conversations with my mother. She is an idiot to think she can change my mind by testifying or offering advice. And, guess what, I NEVER ask her for advice on anything, unless it purely technical, like, how to use a sewing machine, or how to fix a CD player. She's a good mechanic and seamstress, and a horrible reasoner.

Basically, whenever a Mormon is having a dispute with some non-member or anti-Mormon, they are supposed to bear their testimony to that person. This is the equivalent, in mainstream Christianity, of testifying. It is very, very creepy. And I freak out whenever anyone of any other religion pulls this trick, too. I have never liked hearing people bear their testimonies or testify. The fact is that once a month, in our sacrament meetings, LDS people are encouraged to get up on the stand and speak their testimonies into the microphone.

I now see this ritual as a brainwashing technique. Go up and say it. Listen to others say it. Now you really do think that God lives AND that the LDS Church is the one true church on Earth.

There are other things about the Church that are brainwashy, too. But I don't think I need to go into it, do I?

At this point, I have decided that I can, indeed, write my resignation letter. I am listening to all the wrong voices if I think I don't have material of my own for my letter. I am just kind of scared.

After all, I have authored this blog, which is already long. It will be more nerve-wracking, but I just can't stand to quit working on it. It might start to really take shape a few weeks from now. I am giving myself as much time as it takes to write a letter that has real bite. Because I plan to bow out of the LDS Church in style.