ExMormon Hymn Book: Schism

Showing posts with label Schism. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

WHEN I WAS QUESTIONING - LDS Hymn Parody #74

Looking back on the days when I was questioning whether what the Mormon Church teaches is true, I remember many moments when my gut feelings were that it is not. But I continued to struggle with my conflicted feelings, wondering if I was misunderstanding the history and doctrine. After all, I had been conditioned my entire life to just go along. So in essence, my feelings of possible inadequacy were placed inside my psyche by Mormonism over the years. They wanted me to think that it was all me. They wanted me to think that I simply didn't have enough faith or wasn't "righteous enough" to fully comprehend the meaning behind it all. Of course, that's how the Mormon Church traps people. They work hard to make people think that if they try harder, pray more, read their scriptures more, attend church more, etc., etc., ad nauseum, then they will understand it all and it will all make sense.

But alas, that didn't work for me. I continued to feel conflicted until I began to research it independently, and after a while, I realized that it is actually a fraud. It wasn't me or my lack of faith that created the questioning inside me - it was the sordid history, doctrine and tenets of the Mormon Church. The Mormons choose to believe that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God in spite of the facts and evidence against that assertion. They choose to believe that Joseph Smith "restored the everlasting gospel to the earth" although the facts and evidence demonstrate otherwise. To me, when the facts and evidence are against something that a person continues to insist is true, they are not demonstrating faith, but rather denial. And as far as I'm concerned, TBMs (true believing Mormons) are steeped in denial, big time.

Realizing that I had been lied to my entire life was a very painful revelation, but it is one for which I am very grateful - and I am very thankful that I will not be spending the rest of my entire life devoted to a religion that is obviously false.

My latest LDS hymn parody is set to the music for "Where Can I Turn for Peace?" This used to be one of my favorite LDS hymns. As I wrote this hymn parody, I kept thinking about the inner peace I found when I turned away from Mormonism. No longer am I questioning. My conflicted feelings have been replaced with a firm belief that Joseph Smith made the whole thing up - and others have spent many years perpetuating his lies for their own purposes. I just wish TBMs would look at their religion with open minds, researching and examining its history and doctrine on their own, independent from the choke-hold that the Mormon Church imposes on its members. Then, just maybe, they would come to the same conclusion as I did.

So here is my 74th Hymn Parody...

WHEN I WAS QUESTIONING
Sung to the tune of Where Can I Turn for Peace? #129

When I was questioning, looking for answers
To all the queries racing through my mind.
When with a wounded heart, seeing the errors,
I finally recognized, no truth I’d find.

The Mormon Church is filled with such deception,
When I examined it, I saw the lies.
Through sordid history to its false doctrine,
It is so clear to me, there’s no disguise.

I know that Joseph Smith was not a Prophet,
He simply made it up, that was his scheme.
He was a charlatan, there was no limit
To what he’d say or do, shyster supreme.

Why did I just believe in Mormonism
When it’s so obvious that it is a fraud?
Opened my mind and then, there was a schism,
I knew without a doubt, not Word of God.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

THE PROPHET IS SPEAKING - LDS Hymn Parody #61

Recently, I was looking at http://www.mormon.org/ - and came across the following comments made by various Mormons about their Prophet:

Brett Jones said, "The current Prophet and President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is Thomas S. Monson. He has been called of God to fill this sacred calling as the Lords mouth piece and serves faithfully and diligently to serve all of Gods children, just as God would have him do."

Mark said, "God through out the ages has spoken to His children through living prophets. We have a prophet today, named Thomas S. Monson. He is a prophet just like Moses, Abraham or Peter."

Dylan said, "God calls a prophet in every dispensation, they lead and guide and speak of god. They receive revelation through God to teach and run the church. They are the same and have the same athority the the prophets do in the Bible and Book of Mormon. The prophet today is Thomas S.Monson and he has two counselors to help him. Henry B. Eyring and Dieter F.Uctdorf and there are 12 men or Apostles as well."

...and many, many more. Of course, one of the most famous quotes about the Mormon Prophet is, "When the Prophet speaks, the debate is over." Obviously this quote is designed to not only shut people up, but to squelch their desire to research and question anything that goes on in the Mormon Church. A sad commentary...

Of course, when I was devout Mormon, I "just believed" that what the Prophet said was actually from God. But now that I've come to the realization that the Mormon Church is laced with many lies, I have changed my opinion in that regard.

And actually, since doing the research that made me come to the conclusion that I had been duped my entire life, I have also realized that the reason the Mormon Church puts so much emphasis on what the "current Prophet" says is that they don't want people relying (or even reading) what previous Prophet have said. I mean, look at the Journal of Discourses. That volume of books has some very scary quotes from previous Prophets - and the Mormon Church wants to downplay all that as much as possible.

My newest LDS Hymn Parody (below) speaks not only about what the Prophet says but also what the Mormon Machine is up to these days. The billboards and TV commercials are an example of their frantic campaign to try to bolster their numbers in response to the fact that they are losing members right and left due to people beginning to see the lies laced throughout Mormonism and the way in which the Mormon Church plays so fast and loose with the truth. And we can thank the Internet for that -- YAY, GOOGLE!!!

And so, here is my latest LDS Hymn Parody (#61... and counting!!)...

THE PROPHET IS SPEAKING

Sung to the tune of The Day Dawn is Breaking, #52

The Prophet is speaking, and his words are reeking
Of obvious lies from the Mormon machine.
It’s clear from my research that it’s not the true church,
Without any doubt, the deception is seen.

(Chorus)
It’s not the truth, it’s filled with lies,
The cover-up is no surprise.
Although they say to just believe,
It’s very clear the lies they weave.

They tell all the members to be their defenders,
To stand up for truth and to just turn away
From evil apostates and anyone who states
That the Mormon Church honesty does betray.

(Chorus)
It’s not the truth, it’s filled with lies,
The cover-up is no surprise.
Although they say to just believe,
It’s very clear the lies they weave.

I see all the billboards and so many discords
Begin to sound off as my brain starts to ache.
The money they’re spending seems to be unending
As tithing they’re using, the poor they forsake.

(Chorus)
It’s not the truth, it’s filled with lies,
The cover-up is no surprise.
Although they say to just believe,
It’s very clear the lies they weave.

And so Mormonism has met a big schism,
As people are Googling and seeing the lies.
With TV commercials on so many channels,
They’re seeking new members but cannot disguise…

(Chorus)
It’s not the truth, it’s filled with lies,
The cover-up is no surprise.
Although they say to just believe,
It’s very clear the lies they weave.

When I first began writing LDS Hymn Parodies, I first began by posting them on my other blog (http://mormonismschism.blogspot.com/), and then decided it would be a good idea for them to have their own dedicated place (with special pages in alphabetical order and all), so this blog was created for that purpose.

Having been born and raised in the Mormon Church, I spent my entire life singing hymns, not only in church meetings but also in various Ward and Stake Choirs (and even in the Southern California Mormon Choir). Ward Choir Director was also my calling for awhile. Since I also play the piano (and learned from a Mormon piano teacher), I also learned to play the hymns, and was Pianist in Primary, Sunday School, and Relief Society. Naturally, playing the piano led to learning to play the organ, and then being Ward Organist for a long time.

So it's no wonder that I have so many LDS hymns stuck in my brain. It amazes me just how many hymns I can still sing from memory. Of course, since I've been out of Mormonism now for over 8 years, it irritates me that I know the words to so many Mormon-themed hymns. So one day, I started making up alternative words - and found it very amusing and extremely cathartic. The first hymn I parodied was "I Stand All Amazed," and since then I haven't been able to stop. So I'm gonna just keep going until I can't think of anymore. But since I apparently have the gift for blasphemy (as my daughter recently told me), that probably won't happen anytime soon.

I hope you enjoy my "spin" on some old familiar LDS Hymn favorites. But if you don't, you're probably a TBM and not an ExMormon like me. Oh, well...

MY EXIT FROM MORMONISM

As a preface to my thoughts about Mormonism (and my exit from my lifelong religion), I would like to share the following quote:

"Well, it's either true or false. If it's false, we're engaged in a great fraud. If it's true, it's the most important thing in the world. Now, that's the
whole picture. It is either right or wrong, true or false, fraudulent or true."

President Gordon B. Hinckley,
Interview, "The Mormons,"
PBS Documentary, April 2007

In essence, after researching the roots of Mormonism, which obviously form its foundation, as well as examining its doctrine in depth, I have concluded that it is a great fraud. Having been born and raised in the Mormon Church, and remaining LDS until my early 50's, facing that realization was very difficult and was not done lightly.

SOME BACKGROUND:
In the Summer of 2001, I went on a Mormon Church History Tour. Before going, I decided to do some research so I would know more about what occurred at the key places when we visited them. But that was the beginning of the end for me as I discovered more and more of the sordid history of the Mormon Church. Soon, I began to realize that Joseph Smith made the whole thing up and that the Mormon Church is built on an enormous stack of lies. Sadly, I also began to realize that I had allowed the Mormon Church to pull the wool over my eyes for a very long time. But even with that realization, it took me quite a while longer to finally break away because of how intricately my life was tied up in Mormonism and how long I had been blinded by the lies Mormonism perpetuates (which, of course, is what they are counting on).

But finally, I did break away - and I have now been Mormonism Free for over 8 years. What I have realized during the ensuing years is that my intellectual curiosity was squelched by Mormonism. Being told to "just believe" and "have faith" was very detrimental to my psyche, particularly since so much made little sense. Trying to rationalize through everything had a negative effect on me as well, making me very confused and uncomfortable. Since that time, I have discovered that these types of feelings are called "cognitive dissonance" (a feeling of discomfort when simultaneously holding two or more conflicting ideas, beliefs, values or emotional reactions). Cognitive dissonance is discussed in greater length in a book I have written, which is coming soon to Amazon.com and Kindle. Since leaving Mormonism behind, I have grown so much and have discovered who I really am - and that is a tremendous gift.

As noted above, a book I have written is coming soon to Amazon.com and Kindle. That book (entitled "Finding My Own Voice: The AHA!! Moments of a Former Mormon Woman") chronicles my very long journey through and away from Mormonism and discussed many of the issues that had plagued me for many years. Also, on my other blog - www.mormonismschism.blogspot.com - you will find some poems I have written about my views concerning various aspects of Mormonism as well as discussions relative to the issues that led to my decision to eventually disassociate myself from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

In sharing my opinions and the information I have uncovered, it is my hope that I can in some small way help others by offering some insights into issues that many Mormons undoubtedly face in determining whether or not their faith has been misplaced.

For those of you who are thinking, "Oh, those Ex-Mormons... they can leave the church but they can't leave it alone," I offer this quote:

"Some of you are probably thinking, "Why don't you just leave them (the Mormons) alone?" So I ask you, if you saw a thirsty man drinking water from a well you knew to be poisoned, would you let him continue to drink or would you guide him to a safe well? ~Christopher Miller

While I'm sure that active Mormons (TBMs) and the Mormon Church itself would be much happier if people who have left the church kept their opinions to themselves, I cannot do that. If I can help one person to see the lies that are laced throughout Mormonism, then I will feel that my efforts have not been in vain.