I started this blog about three years after I stopped attending church. I wanted a way to keep track of all the things about the church and its doctrine that I found to be untrue, discovered to be contradictory, or just grew to dislike. I realized that when people would ask me why I wasn't a Mormon anymore, I'd fumble for an answer and usually fall back on "it's a really long story."
I had my reasons, and my reasons are indeed a long story. But I have so many jumbled criticisms of the church bouncing around in my brain that I felt that in order to give someone a few brief reasons for leaving I might need to organize my thoughts a little better. I considered writing them all down but I kept finding more things to write about. So I figured I'd keep track of them in a blog format for as long as I kept having them.
I originally named this "Challenging Mormonism," which, admittedly, was pretty bland. So I later opted for Against the Greater Light. Not only does this have a more dramatic flair to it, but it evokes a kind of weird dichotomy between faithful Mormons and ex-Mormons. I lifted the phrase from Doctrine and Covenants section 82, which states that "he who sins against the greater light shall receive the greater condemnation." The problem here is...who has the greater light?
The phrase "against the greater light" refers both to how my Mormon family and friends consider my current lifestyle and to the direction I consider my previous lifestyle to have been heading. I was burrowing further and further into the bleak abyss of Mormonism. When I finally left the church, I considered myself to have actually turned toward the light, even though my family considers me to have turned away from it. Both Mormons and ex-Mormons think they know what the Greater Light is, but their definitions of it are almost exact opposites.
This blog (and the surrounding community of ex-Mormon blogs) has become a rewarding way of coping with the fallout from leaving the church, as well as a way to reassure myself that this most difficult decision was actually right.
So, please, poke around. Browse. Stay as long as you like. See how much of our stories line up. See how much evidence there is to dissolve the church's credibility. Discussion, whether you agree or disagree with what I have to say, is always welcome.
Hello, Alex
ReplyDeleteMy name is John Draper. You don't know me from Adam. What led me to you is I'm a first-time novelist who is furiously marketing his first book, A Danger to God Himself. As such, I'm continually scouring the internet looking for blogs who might be willing to review my book.
My book is about a Mormon missionary who goes insane on his mission. I'd like to send you a free copy, paperback or Kindle.
Let me tell you the story behind my story:
Writing this novel cost me my religion. I’m not bitter or anything. Actually, it was liberating.
I started the book eight years ago as an Evangelical who wanted to skewer Mormonism. The book took me eight years to write. I probably read 25 books on Mormonism (and read everything on Mormonthink at least twice) and 25 books on schizophrenia. What’s more, I started attending a local ward undercover.
Long story short, I saw that devout Latter-day Saints had the same religion I had, really. Basically, we both loved God and Christ and we wanted to serve God and live more like Christ. I had to admit, the only difference between us was the words we used to describe our experience.
Further, I came to realize that the only reason I believed what I believed was that someone had told me to believe it.
I was just like so many Latter-day Saints and Evangelicals—if not all.
Bottom line, I became an agnostic.
The novel is narrated in the first person by Kenny, the missionary companion who watches his companion, Jared, succumb to schizophrenia. At first, Kenny and others assume that the voices Jared is hearing and the visions he’s seeing are from Heavenly Father.
But as Jared gets sicker and sicker, Kenny has to rethink his whole view of God and how God does or doesn’t interact with the world. Kenny’s journey became my journey: theist to, at best, deist.
So . . . I’d like to send you a free copy of my novel. I’m hoping you’ll write a book review—good, bad, or indifferent. Or maybe you’d like to interview me. Or maybe I could do a guest post.
If nothing else, you get a free book out of this.
Obviously, I want to sell more books, but I really think this book would be of interest to your subscribers. I think they will be able to see themselves in Kenny.
I know the book's not for everyone. My mother, for example, loved it but complained it contained too much vulgarity. I'm not sure how much vulgarity is too much, but the book does contain 91 F Bombs. (I counted.)
Let me know if you would like to talk more.
Thanks for your time
-john
Hoju1959@gmail.com
Sounds like you have some interesting personal stories and an interesting fictional story! I'm happy to help out a fellow writer. I'll shoot you an email.
DeleteHello, Alex
ReplyDeleteMy name is John Draper. You don't know me from Adam. What led me to you is I'm a first-time novelist who is furiously marketing his first book, A Danger to God Himself. As such, I'm continually scouring the internet looking for blogs who might be willing to review my book.
My book is about a Mormon missionary who goes insane on his mission. I'd like to send you a free copy, paperback or Kindle.
Let me tell you the story behind my story:
Writing this novel cost me my religion. I’m not bitter or anything. Actually, it was liberating.
I started the book eight years ago as an Evangelical who wanted to skewer Mormonism. The book took me eight years to write. I probably read 25 books on Mormonism (and read everything on Mormonthink at least twice) and 25 books on schizophrenia. What’s more, I started attending a local ward undercover.
Long story short, I saw that devout Latter-day Saints had the same religion I had, really. Basically, we both loved God and Christ and we wanted to serve God and live more like Christ. I had to admit, the only difference between us was the words we used to describe our experience.
Further, I came to realize that the only reason I believed what I believed was that someone had told me to believe it.
I was just like so many Latter-day Saints and Evangelicals—if not all.
Bottom line, I became an agnostic.
The novel is narrated in the first person by Kenny, the missionary companion who watches his companion, Jared, succumb to schizophrenia. At first, Kenny and others assume that the voices Jared is hearing and the visions he’s seeing are from Heavenly Father.
But as Jared gets sicker and sicker, Kenny has to rethink his whole view of God and how God does or doesn’t interact with the world. Kenny’s journey became my journey: theist to, at best, deist.
So . . . I’d like to send you a free copy of my novel. I’m hoping you’ll write a book review—good, bad, or indifferent. Or maybe you’d like to interview me. Or maybe I could do a guest post.
If nothing else, you get a free book out of this.
Obviously, I want to sell more books, but I really think this book would be of interest to your subscribers. I think they will be able to see themselves in Kenny.
I know the book's not for everyone. My mother, for example, loved it but complained it contained too much vulgarity. I'm not sure how much vulgarity is too much, but the book does contain 91 F Bombs. (I counted.)
Let me know if you would like to talk more.
Thanks for your time
-john
Hoju1959@gmail.com
Stupid.
ReplyDeleteYou're always welcome to be more specific if you'd like.
Delete