Sunday, November 2, 2008

Mormons and Prop. 8

So everyone seems to have heard that the crazy mo's have decided to butt their big noses in on the whole California Gay Marriage proposition 8 issue. Well as a bisexual male I feel that I should have the right to marry a man if I so choose. I'm not surprised that the LDS church has used their power over their members and their vast wealth to wage a campaign to ban gay marriage. Really why should they give a fuck?? Are they afraid their leadership hierarchy made of men will suddenly collapse because they will all run to california to get married?? I have a feeling the the LGBT community will not be calling trying to set up times to have their marriages performed in LDS temples! So what exactly is it that bothers them so bad?? How does giving the right for someone else to enjoy the bond of marriage affect them?? IT DOESN'T!! When I have proposed this question to several Mormons the response I get over and over again is "the bible says marriage is between a man and a woman" blah blah blah. This is the lamest possible response I have heard. Not only have I mentioned before that the bible is the biggest waste of paper and is only good for rolling your own cigarettes but secondly I don't see the mormons practicing all of the rest of the ancient traditions in the bible such as stonings, crucifixion, etc etc. So why is it that they seem to pick out the parts that they like....and ignore the parts that they don't like...I'll tell you why, because they have been taught over and over again to simply be led as sheep, to not ask questions, to not think for themselves.


The mormon church has definitely overstepped their bounds into the political arena, hopefully all of the negative press they have received will help more and more people take the steps to leave this religion based on bigotry, hate, and fear and start thinking for themselves and leading more fulfilled lives.


Below is a template of the letter I used for my own resignation from the church. Hopefully it will inspire people to take the first step and stand of for themselves and remove their names and distance themselves from such a deceitful controlling organization.





____________________________________________________________________

Date

Enter Adress information here

Dear (bishop, stake president etc),

I was born (enter date here) in(enter location). I was raised as a Mormon since birth, and baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (“the Mormon Church”), in the (Ward name), when I was 8 years old. My membership records are currently under your administration, in the (enter ward and stake information).

At this time, I officially resign from the Mormon Church. I wish to no longer be a member of the Mormon Church, and I require that my name be voluntarily removed from all church membership records, to reflect this fact.

In this voluntary removal process, I demand you and the Mormon Church to adhere to the following seven guidelines. The Mormon Church shall:

1. NOT impugn my character, slander my good name, nor disseminate any form of speculation, misinformation, or personal comments regarding me, to anyone.

2. NOT hold a church court, execute a disciplinary action, excommunicate me, or otherwise harass me, nor make any attempts thereto, since I have done nothing to warrant such an action. Nor shall the Mormon Church send any representative to attempt to persuade me not to remove my name from membership roles.

3. REMOVE my name from all membership records, cancel my baptism, revoke all ordinations to church “authority”, and remove all promise of “blessings” for obedience to such.

4. PROVIDE me with specific, written confirmation when this task is officially complete. This letter of confirmation will reflect that my resignation from the Mormon Church was not due to any pressure from or determination by Mormon Church authorities, but rather per my own request.

5. EXERCISE due diligence in carrying out this procedure. I hereby notify you that you have 90 days, (no later than enter date here) to provide written confirmation of my voluntary removal from the Mormon Church. Delays beyond this may result in my engaging legal counsel to pursue other options.

6. NOT contact any member of my family to notify them of my decision to remove my name from church membership roles. Any contact with any member of my family the Mormon Church in this regard would cause irreparable damage to my relationship with my parents.

7. NOT use my name in baptismal or other ordinances for the dead.

If you care to know my reasons for leaving the Mormon Church, I will say only that I do not believe in the doctrines, the authority or teachings of the Mormon Church. I feel it is important to disassociate myself from an organization that I find to be completely at odds with my personal beliefs.

I ask that you respect this resignation as an exercise of my religious rights as a United States citizen and in accordance with the Mormon Church’s own 11th Article of Faith. Thank You.

Sincerely,

7 comments:

Em said...

Thank you. I'm using your template. They've ignored my requests for removal for years, and Prop 8 makes me livid. (hugs)

Fighting to separate church and state,

Em

Anonymous said...

I am from Utah and a former Mormon. Prop 8 made me more than irate! I sent them my resignation letter after they did this! I know I did the right thing.

Cora said...

I have sent a similar letter, dated November 14, 2008. I received a response, dated December 18, 2008. The are referring to the letter as an " ecclesiastical matter that must be handled by local priesthood leaders before being processed by Church employees."

The last statement in my letter was "After today, the only contact I want from the church is a single letter of confirmation to let me know that I am no longer listed as a member of the church."

So now what? Any suggestion as to my next step? I do not want to be harassed and I still want to maintain contact with members within the Church. These member have never proselytized my husband or myself.

Diablito said...

Cora,

First off..where did you send your letter? They should take it off regardless. I know with mine they gave me the run around and as soon as I mentioned my pursuit of legal measures they removed it within days.

Rich

Anonymous said...

This is funny to read. I am NOT mormon nor do I need to be. Its so damn typical of the "ex-mormons" to go over board like you have. Just walk away and be done if thats what you wish. Your acting like you have been so picked on, well take that up with your parents for raising you in their religion and let the rest of the world do as they may.

No one is helpless in this world its the 21st fucking century so let people live like you would like to be done for you and yours. The laws of you think that are doing you wrong as far as Prop.8 have been in place for longer than your has has been around, so stop taking is so personal. Or go back in time and take it up with your ancestors.

Clearly your gay or want to be. So be that or get over it. I have many friends that served missions as you did and decided it was not for them, great, or that they were gay, great but your causing yourself to get worked up and spread an evil word just as you claim the lds religion does. So again, maybe you are mormon, you sure do like to "spread" anything you believe. So why are they so wrong again in doing it? Just a though.

In previous posts. You had a wonderful girl friend and friends. What they bailed when you made your choices? Or did you shit on them thinking you were being alienated? Usually its our own insecurity's that push us away from people we love. Not the other way around. So if you want this wold to be a "better more fair" place don't you think that this fucked up blog site should get lost? Get a life.

R.B. said...

I love it when idiots leave me comments. They prove truly entertaining. Even better...check out the ignorance on some of ksl's comments. Oh boy!

Anonymous said...

so because someone leaves a comment that you dont like they are idiots? So much for the freedom for them as well right? Its just thoughts, out loud just like yours. Though I dont belive you were ever called an idiot. I guess you harbor so much hate in life that you have this need to put everyone down. That sucks because you seem very educated, experienced and clearly know what you want. So why not just go for it, or do it and stop trying to make everyone else feel like idiots, or worthless just because they too have beliefs.

Had i stoked your ego or asked how you did all the things you did to get your name off the records and away from the church, great huh? Well, for you I would say kuddos for following your path. But why this? Out of curiosity. Why try to hurt so many. Missery loves company? And I have seen KSL. Same predictable shit different site. So in other words, your just the same. Nothing unique or different. God this state needs to get a life.