I don’t suffer from ['ex']-mormonism, I enjoy every minute of it.

Christ’s words about doing your alms in secret were directed at individuals, not organizations. Honestly, it doesn’t bug me one bit if the Red Cross wants to toot its own horn in an attempt to drum up funding for more extensive aid programs. Neither does it bother me if the Church wishes to show to the world what Christ’s Gospel is all about and how people are applying it in their lives.

Cr@ig’s Reply: See Bro. Anderson, I knew that we could come to some sort of agreement in the end…

Ok totally taken out of context… but I couldn’t resist.

What ever happened to Christ’s charge that you do charity in secret? . . . Why does the Mormon Church have to promote itself each and every time it spends alittle bit of money in a humanitarian efforts with a media blitz?

Perhaps the LDS Church does make too much of its humanitarian efforts. On the other hand, remember that Jesus also said,

14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5:14–16)

Apparently one must walk the line between doing alms in public to receive the glory of men and doing good works in public for the glory of our Father in heaven. I suppose it is one’s intent that makes the difference.

Yeah I love this quote…as I think it gets to the cruxed of the matter. Mormonism in my opinion is a religion built on a fictional history and fictional scriptures. It makes promises based on this that it can not keep. It literally sells a “snake oil” to its members that can not provide the promised cure.

As well intentioned as Mormonism may claim to be…the mere fact that it is built on a foundation of fiction makes it a false hope.

Oh and one more bone…What ever happened to Christ’s charge that you do charity in secret? Why does the Mormon Church have to promote itself each and every time it spends alittle bit of money in a humanitarian efforts with a media blitz?

Is the self promotion an attempt to shore up it’s core along the Wasatch front? Honest question.

What Elder Packer was saying in his 1988 talk was his own opinion and not official Church Doctrine. He says so in the disclaimer at the begging. So you can’t hang his ideas on the Church. But even at that, Elder Packer was talking about faith and that we should not give up on faith just because some theory or another challenges it. Now I understand the faithless mock and ridicule those of us who have the faith you lack. It goes with the territory. But if you are going to quote someone please do your homework. I wasted a whole thirty seconds reading your post only to discover you got it all wrong.

But I think your Apolstle, Boyde K. Packer, said it even better than you when he said.

“When confronted by evidence in the rocks below, rely on the witness of the heavens above”

In other words…when confronted with verifiable physical evidence that conflicts any Mormon claims, Mormon’s should ignore it, stick their fingers in their ears, and yell naw, naw, naw, naw…I can’t hear you.

Don’t believe in verifiable, observable, testable, discernable, visible, recognizable evidence. Instead ignore conflicting evidence and place your faith in your human emotions and feelings that are subject to being manipulated, managed and controled.

To say that “feelings are reasonable evidence” that you can always rely on your human emotions and feelings as a valid means to confirm truth is just plan scary….yet SOOO Mormon.

I believe that this is the Mormon blind spot. It is what keeps members from examining the claims of the Mormon church and also is the tool by which its leader maintain control.

I understand why the Mormon Church would want its members to place their faith in something so unstable as their own human emotions and feelings becasue the church knows that feeling can be manipulated.

The church has actually trademarked its ability to manipulate human feelings. This is NO joke.

The church through its own subsidiary,Bonneville Communications , boldly flaunts its ability to manipulate the human heart, stating its unique strength is their …”ability to touch the hearts and minds of audiences, evoking first feeling, then thought and, finally, action.

On the Bonniville website they call this uniquely powerful brand of creative advertising HeartSell® — strategic emotional advertising that stimulates a response.”

Anyone who doubts the Mormon churches ability to evoke emotions may ask the question … Why do missionaries hand out tissues to audience members viewing the church produced “Joseph Smith Movie” BEFORE the movie is viewed?

The movie demonstates the churches ability to manipulate tears, feelings and emotions… AKA “The Spirit” through it’s less than honest portrayal of Joseph Smith’s life.

Bonniville proudly proclaims that for over 30 years [their] creative professionals have designed public service and direct response messages for national nonprofit organizations such as the Huntsman Cancer Institute, Boy Scouts of American, National Hospice Foundation, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and The Salvation Army.

So to suggest that your human emotions are as reliable as varifiable, observable information is just a scary proposition.

Yup…don’t trust the observable, verifiable or testable…claims…trust your human emotions. Just make sure that the church isn’t using its trademarked special human feelings manipulation technique “HeartSell®” on you.

I apologize. I’m embarrassed by my post concerning your serious question of what, in my opinion, a God-Made church would look like. Sometimes the evil ex-Mormon in me comes out and I take on a satirical flippant persona…so for that I am truly sorry.

So regarding your question…I really do not know how to honestly answer your question. I’d like to believe that there is a god…but sadly I no longer have any belief that one exists. So any answer I may offer would be tainted through that prism. Leaving Mormonism robbed me of that belief. I had placed so much faith and belief in Mormonism that when I came to the conclusion that it was a religion built on a man-made fraud…I lost all belief in the claims of men unless those claims were supported with reasonable evidence. I discount any conclusion that is based on my emotions. I no longer trust my emotions to be trustworthy since they failed me so much in my Mormon experience. To me, Mormonism (through my eyes) can now be easily seen as the fraud I believe it to be. I believe this is only possible once you remove the emotional connection. I fought for years to maintain faith and belief…overlooking or accommodating difficult problems I saw in the church’s doctrines or the apologetic answers offered to dismiss these difficulties. It was my emotional connection (spirit) that made me overlook, accommodate or discount these difficult issues.

So bottom line, I do not know what a god-made church would look like…I just do not think that it would look like Mormonism.