THE EVIDENCE IS THERE - LDS Hymn Parody #113

Here is another LDS Hymn Parody - my 113th.  I'm not sure how many more I'm going to able to write since I've done so many of the familiar ones already.  But I'm going to keep going until I run out of steam. After all, they're just asking for it...

This hymn parody is entitled THE EVIDENCE IS THERE - and it truly is.  Mountains of evidence against the Mormon Church being true.  Facts galore supporting my hypothesis that Mormonism is completely bogus. Again, I'm sure I sound like a broken record, but so be it.  I have cited the evidence over and over in this blog - and it is available in many sources.  Google is a good start. Accepting anything that you're told to believe without doing your own research is not wise. Critical thinking is tantamount to forming a person's own opinions and basing them on actual facts, not blind faith and a admonition to "just believe."  Really, THE EVIDENCE IS THERE - if Mormons would pay attention to it rather than simply buying the party line.

The original hymn (An Angel from on High) was written by Parley P. Pratt (1807-1857) who was, in my opinion, one of the biggest sleazes in the early days of the Mormon Church as well as one of the biggest perpetrators of the lies that encompass Mormonism.  He was also one of the men who participated in both Polygamy and Polyandry.  In fact, he was murdered in 1857 by Hector McLean, the estranged husband of his 12th wife (Eleanor McLean) (estranged meaning they weren't divorced, so it was a polyandrous marriage). 

There is a lot of information about Parley P. Pratt on the internet.  Some people call him a religious martyr, and Brigham Young apparently thought of him in that category along with Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith, both of whom died in Carthage Jail.  But in my opinion, calling him a religious martyr is ridiculous.  Having been murdered by the estranged husband of a woman he had married and had helped to keep her children from their father does not make him a martyr.  In fact, Hector McLean pressed criminal charges against Parley P. Pratt, saying that he had aided Eleanor in the kidnapping of his children. The result of the subsequent trial (in Arkansas) was an acquittal due to lack of evidence. Shortly after his release, Pratt was shot and stabbed by Hector (on May 13, 1957) on a farm northeast of Van Buren, Arkansas.  Some writings, though, say that Hector was aided in the killing by at least two other men.  They have been otherwise characterized as "a small Arkansas band antagonistic toward Pratt's teachings," which in my opinion is a total fabrication designed by the Mormon faction.

From what I've read, Pratt's death may have also played a part in events that lead up to the Mountain Meadows Massacre a few months later.  There were a number of people in the party who were from Arkansas, and it was rumored that some present had participated in Pratt's murder.  Apparently, in this way members of the Mormon Church rationalized out the horrendous circumstances of the Mountain Meadows Massacre.

Interestingly, Parley P. Pratt was the great-great-grandfather of Mitt Romney, and the great-great-great grandfather of Jon Huntsman.  As mentioned above, Pratt practiced plural marriage and had 12 wives, 30 children, and 266 grandchildren.  In 2011, Pratt's living descendants were estimated to number between 30,000 and 50,000.

So much for background.  Here's my 113th LDS Hymn Parody.  My advice to TBMs is that the evidence really is there, so at least look at it - and consider it.  Really, a little bit of critical thinking goes a long way...

THE EVIDENCE IS THERE

Sung to the tune of An Angel from on High - #13

The evidence is there,
The facts are clear to see,
And no amount of prayer
Can change its history.
No, Mormonism is not true,
It was made up by Joseph Smith.
No, Mormonism is not true,
It was made up by Joseph Smith.

When I began to doubt
And question what they say,
I had to check it out,
And all the details weigh.
So as I researched carefully,
The lies were very clear to me.
So as I researched carefully,
The lies were very clear to me.

The lies are laced throughout,
Deception to the core.
There really is no doubt,
That’s why I closed the door.
They say have faith and just believe,
But all the while they do deceive.
They say have faith and just believe,
But all the while they do deceive.

No matter what they say,
It is a stack of lies.
And so I walked away,
With truth no compromise.
On Mormonism closed the door,
Deception I cannot ignore.
On Mormonism closed the door,
Deception I cannot ignore.

© Diane Tingen, 5/6/2015

COUNTERFEIT, A TOTAL SCAM - LDS Hymn Parody #111

Today is Easter Sunday - and it is also the Mormon Church's 185th Semi-Annual General Conference in Salt Lake City.  In the Christian World, Easter is a very sacred day - but in the Mormon World, it is apparently a day to condemn and attack.  So far, there have been numerous different Conference speeches that have mentioned "real families" consisting of a marriage of only one man and one woman.  Apparently, L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve stressed the importance of opposing homosexuality, and also said, "We want our voice to be heard against all of the counterfeit and alternative lifestyles that try to replace the family organization that God Himself established."

Wow.  Counterfeit?  Obviously a case of the pot calling the kettle black.  The Mormon Church was founded by a man who, during his tenure as President and Prophet of that bogus organization, married at least 33 women, including 11 teenage girls and 10 women who were already married to living husbands - and he constantly lied about it.  Of course, after that man's death, another man took over his legacy and upped him considerably, marrying 55 women. Just how "Counterfeit" can you get?  After researching the sordid history of the Mormon Church and examining its "doctrines," it is clear to me that Mormonism is not only counterfeit, but also a scam, a fraud, and a totally bogus religious organization.

The dictionary defines "counterfeit" as:  "an imitation intended to be passed off fraudulently or deceptively as genuine; forgery."  In my opinion, that is exactly what Joseph Smith did when he founded Mormonism - created a bogus organization which he passed off fraudulently and deceptive as genuine. 

The Mormon Church never ceases to amaze me.  "Judge not, lest ye be judged" obviously means nothing to them.  "Live and let live" is also a lost concept.  The Mormon Church's hardline stance against gay and lesbians has caused massive damage to the psyches of so many gay Mormons, to the point of many committing suicide.  And yet they continue to berate and attempt to demean those individuals.  Not Christ-like at all.

And so, here is my 111th LDS hymn parody, set to the Easter-themed hymn, "He is Risen."

COUNTERFEIT, A TOTAL SCAM

Sung to the tune of He is Risen -#199

Mormonism, Mormonism,
Feel the love in all they say.
They condemn and spout their venom
At "apostates" every day.
Yet they say in solemn voice,
Praise the Lord, let us rejoice.

Christ-like love is touted loudly,
Loving everyone alike.
Yet their words are very empty
As they criticize and strike.
Such self-righteous hypocrites,
Calling others counterfeits.

Mormonism, Mormonism,
Counterfeit, a total scam.
Its true nature, hard to fathom,
But they just don’t give a damn.
As they talk on Easter Day,
It’s not love that they display.

© Diane Tingen, 4/5/2015

ONE MORE STRAIN OF CRAZE - LDS Hymn Parody #108

"One more strain of craze."  Of course, this is a take-off on "one more strain of praise," from the LDS hymn "Sing We Now at Parting" - and is also a take-off on the book by Neal Maxwell entitled "One More Strain of Praise."

Having been an active Mormon for 52 years, I know the "craze" well.  I lived with it for all that time until I began to (finally) do some independent research and discovered the realities behind the Mormon Curtain.  And that was it for me...

As someone said on the discussion board on PostMormon.org:
"Like the members are just fish in a large school that's following the leader without any thought or concern.  They refuse to ask reasonable questions and without stopping to think and consider facts, and they discard their personal responsibility of being totally honest with themselves and instead, they just go with it... So many of them would, if ask to do so, toss on their best Sunday clothing, drive to the Stake Center, stand in line and then gulp down the styrofoam cup filled with purple Kool-Aid because... they know God would never allow their leaders to lead them astray."

Oh yes, not using any type of critical thinking whatsoever but rather just going along with whatever you are told.  That is just what Mormons do.

Then there are the judgmental Mormons assuming things that they know nothing about. Not listening to anything critical about the Mormon Church but rather closing their minds to any negative information whatsoever, calling it "Anti-Mormon Propaganda."  Mormons telling you that you're giving up eternal life by turning away from the Mormon Church (and in some cases, such as my father, telling people that they will go to Hell if they don't join the Mormon Church).

But this past week, while perusing the discussion board on PostMormon.org, I came across a post that takes the cake as far as "craze" goes.  The title of his post was "...another strain of craze..." (and from what he relayed, that is an apt title).

In his post, this man talked about what happened after he announced to his TBM wife and Bishop that he no longer believes the Mormon Church is true.  After that revelation, he has been followed to see what he is doing (even so far as Las Vegas), and has been accused of wanting to commit sin, having an affair or having unrepented sin, etc., etc., blah, blah, blah.  This is a man who converted in his 20's after meeting and falling in love with his Mormon girlfriend (to whom he has now been married for 30 years and with whom he has several children - good little TBMs all).  He has held numerous callings over the years, including Young Men President, Seminary Teacher, Bishopric Counsel (2 different times), 10 years on the High Council, and most recently Bishop of a Young Singles Adult Ward.

It was during his time as Bishop of the YSA Ward that his journey toward the actual truth about Mormonism began.  He said that the YSAs would come to him with their doubts and share their concerns with him - and in turn, he would ask them to substantiate what they were saying with fact, which they would do.  In doing so, he began to find out the truth about much of the sordid history of the Mormon Church including the "translation" of the Book of Mormon (the old hat and stone story), and the truth about Polygamy and Polyandry (the fact that Joseph Smith married 11 women who were already married to living husbands).  Of course, I can relate to this completely because I didn't find out about this until I began my independent research before, during and after going on a Mormon Church History tour in the Summer of 2001.  Quite a shock to discover that the Founder and first Prophet of the Mormon Church was basically just a sexual predator, particularly since he also married 10 teenage girls, one as young as 14 years old.  I truly believe that if Joseph Smith had not been killed in 1844 that he would have gone on to marry many more teenage girls and women, and may have ended up with as many as Warren Jeffs now has (72, I believe).  After all, he was only 38 years old at the time of his death.  If he had lived, he would have had plenty of time to accumulate many more wives.  Looking at Brigham Young, the other main Mormon polygamist, history shows that he had 55 wives at the time of his death at 76 years old (which included several teenage girls and some other women who were married to living husbands as well).

Naturally, Mormons have to blame something or someone else if people leave.  The fact that Mormonism is a total sham can't be the reason people are turning away from the Mormon Church.  No, that's not it.  And of course, the fact that the Mormon Church basically tells people to stay away from "apostates" adds to the furor (apparently because it might rub off).  In particular, Mormons have a hard time accepting the fact that someone they love is turning away from "The One True Church," and won't be part of their family unit in the Celestial Kingdom.

And so goes the "craze."  My heart goes out to the man I spoke of above.  It can't be easy to be dealing with all that is being thrown at him.  But then, leaving the Mormon Church isn't easy.  But it is worth it.

ONE MORE STRAIN OF CRAZE
Sung to the tune of Sing We Now at Parting - #156

Sing we now of Mormons,

One more strain of craze.
Of their strong delusions,
Each self-righteous phrase.
Always so judgmental,
Faulting those who leave,
Saying they are sinners
Since they don’t believe.

Mormons will not listen
To the evidence.
Labeling it as “Anti”
Is their one defense.
But if they would research,
Look at all the facts,
They would see the problems,
Not just lame attacks.

It is clear that Joseph
Weaved a stack of lies,
Made up Mormonism,
Truth it all decries.
Clearly just a shyster,
Charlatan and fraud,
Touting Mormonism
As the Word of God.

Just look at the history
Of the Mormon Church,
Independent study,
Actual research.
Do not bend and twist it,
Do not “just believe,”
Think about it clearly,
Do not be naïve.

© Diane Tingen

8/2/2014

A LITTLE MORE ON THE CRAZE...

AND SO THE CRAZE GOES ON... AND ON... AND ON...

COME, ALL THOSE WHO SEE THE LIES - LDS Hymn Parody #92

Looking back at those very dark days when I was earnestly questioning the Mormon Church, I remember struggling with so many things. Having been born and raised Mormon, my life was completely submerged in Mormonism - so I knew that if I decided to walk away, I was giving up much more than just my religion. I was giving up the only way of life I had ever known. Of course, that's what the Mormon Church counts on, and that's the way they keep a lot of members. In the end, though, I decided that was a small price to pay for living an authentic life - but in the midst of it all, I was in a great deal of turmoil.

I really wish that I had turned to the Ex-Mormon community earlier in my disaffection. But I did not go on any Ex-Mormon or Post-Mormon websites until I had already left the Church. In fact, the first time I went on www.exmormon.org was after Thanksgiving dinner in 2008 when my brother told me that he wanted to show me the genealogy he had uploaded onto the Mormon Church genealogy website - www.familysearch.org. After looking at our family genealogy on www.familysearch.org, I decided to look at Joseph Smith's pedigree chart - and that is when I first discovered that Joseph Smith had married women who were already married to living husbands. When I first made this discovery, I was completely dumbfounded since I had been a member of the Mormon Church for over 52 years before I finally disassociated myself from my life-long religion - and not once had I heard of this even taking place. Naturally, I had heard of Polygamy (although I never really knew the real truth behind that practice until I began my research prior to going on the Mormon Church History Tour in the Summer of 2001). But Polyandry? I was floored!!

When I got home from that Thanksgiving dinner, I decided to do some more research about this - and that's when I found out that this practice is called Polyandry. On Google, I saw links to some articles about Polyandry, and followed a few of them. One of the links lead me to www.exmormon.org and an article by Bob McCue about this. After reading this article, I decided to go on the discussion board, and that was the first time that I even exchanged messages with any Ex-Mormons. It was an enlightening experience because whereas I had struggled for a few years with thinking that I was misunderstanding things, that I must just not be righteous enough to understand it all, etc., etc., ad nauseum, I began to realize that many others shared my views of the lies that are obviously laced throughout Mormonism. What a eye-opener that was!!

Of course, the fact that I didn't go onto www.exmormon.org until then is a testament to the brainwashing I had received my entire life. Even in the aftermath of my discovery of the deception that is encompassed in Mormonism, subconsciously I had continued to follow the admonition not to talk to "those angry apostates." Truly, brainwashing dies hard.

So if I had one thing to do over again in my journey away from Mormonism, it would have been to garner strength from those who were also questioning as well as those who had already made the leap to leave. That would have provided so much reassurance and would have made me not feel so alone in my quest for truth as well as my decision to close the door and walk away. That is what is so valuable about websites like www.exmormon.org. Later on, I discovered www.postmormon.org as well, and I gained a lot of strength from discussions on that website as well. In fact, after talking with a lot of people on there, I ended up going to the 2010 Ex-Mormon Conference in SLC and met many of those people in person, which was a wonderful experience. After that, I ended up joining several Ex-Mormon groups on Facebook, and have made more friends there. During all of this, I have discovered that there is a very large community of Former Mormons out there, providing support not only to those who have already left but also to those who are in the process of questioning and re-examining their views about Mormonism.

And so, here is my 92nd LDS Hymn Parody, dedicated to all the Former Mormons out there...

COME, ALL THOSE WHO SEE THE LIES

Sung to the tune of Come, Ye Thankful People - #94

Come, all those who see the lies,
Those who finally recognize
Mormonism is not true,
Pure deception through and through.
Yes, we’ve seen the truth at last,
And though we were once downcast,
The conclusions we have drawn
Lead us to a brighter dawn.

Lies are laced throughout it all,
Truth is written on the wall.
We reject the Mormon Church
Through the facts and our research.
We’re so grateful that we saw
Each defect and every flaw.
It is just a stack of lies,
Evidence they can’t disguise.

© Diane Tingen, 4/3/2013

JOSEPH, JOSEPH, WHAT A SCOUNDREL - LDS Hymn Parody #86

Some of these LDS Hymn Parodies just seem to write themselves, and my most current one is a prime example of that.  Joseph, Joseph, What a Scoundrel - truer words have never been written.

 

But then, it's like the meme says that is posted on my other blog - (http:/exmormonhymnbook.blogspot.com) -

"LDS Hymn Parodies - Because they're just asking for it."

As anyone who follows my LDS Hymn Parodies knows, Joseph Smith is the subject of many of them - and rightly so, since he's the man who made the whole thing up, out of thin air.  In studying history, it is very clear that Joseph was a scoundrel and a shyster.  He was a charlatan, a treasure seeker, always out for a quick buck.  According to history, he was also very charismatic, and it was because of that charisma that he was able to convince a lot of people that he was a Prophet and Seer.  Indeed, Joseph found his goldmine in creating Mormonism - and in doing so, he gained power and control over a lot of people.  Because of that power, he was even able to create and practice Polygamy and Polyandry, coercing many young girls and women to become one of his 33 wives.
And so, here is my 86th LDS Hymn Parody, dedicated to "Brother Joseph."

JOSEPH, JOSEPH, WHAT A SCOUNDREL

Sung to the tune of Israel, Israel, God is Calling - #7

Joseph, Joseph, what a scoundrel,
He created such a fraud.
Mormonism was his angle,
Touted as the Word of God.
Pure deception, pure deception,
Just a hoax, a false façade.
Pure deception, pure deception,
Just a hoax, a false façade.

Joseph, Joseph, what a shyster,
Not a Prophet and a Seer.
He was clearly an imposter,
Not a tiny bit sincere.
Do some research, do some research,
All the facts are crystal clear.
Do some research, do some research,
All the facts are crystal clear.

Joseph, Mormons still revere you,
Worship you, their Prophet dear.
Faced with truth, they loudly argue,
Close their ears so they can’t hear.
Mormonism, Mormonism,
False religion, very clear.
Mormonism, Mormonism,
False religion, very clear.

Joseph, Joseph, very callous,
Made it up, no truth at all.
Mormonism, clearly bogus,
Really was the height of gall.
So deceptive, so deceptive,
Truth is written on the wall.
So deceptive, so deceptive,
Truth is written on the wall.

© Diane Tingen, 02/22/2013