As you may or may not know, I used to be a Mormon. I was born a member and left in my early adulthood. I imagine the Mormon church reacted very similarly to how Gus Portokalos did when his daughter asked to go to college in the movie Big Fat Greek Wedding and he cried out, "Why you want to leave me!?!?" Ok, not really. But in all seriousness, people ask me all the time why I left the Mormon church. Whether Mormon or Christian, Agnostic or Atheist, the reason behind a person's disassociation with a religion is intriguing. In my book I mainly focus on #7 of this list and provide more detail and context as to why I feel the way I do. This blog though is not meant to be as detailed. Should the need arise, I will go into detail on any of the reasons provided below. But for now, all you get is short, sweet, and to the point. So, here you go!
1. There are no pastors
If you go to a Mormon church service you might be surprised to see people from the congregation going up to the pulpit and preaching. This is because Mormons do not believe in having paid clergy on staff. Instead, members of the church are regularly called to give 'talks' on a Sunday morning service (a.k.a.- sacrament meeting). While little children are not asked to give talks, everyone in their teens or above may be asked to speak on any number of topics for that days sermon. But this is not a platform for personal opinions. Resources, such as previous talks, articles, and commentary by the LDS Prophets and Apostles on the subject are provided and are available for anyone as a guide on what you should say. This way members don't feel like they have to reinvent the wheel. While I think giving members an opportunity to serve as volunteers, the position of teaching the church body should be held by those who are more educated in theological studies, hermeneutics, historical contexts, preaching, and mentoring...like a pastor.
2. Their faith is based on a feeling
If belief is the only basis for your faith you're gonna have a bad time. I have had several conversations with Mormons and that have ended with them saying, "God told me Mormonism was true and there is nothing you or anyone else can say to change my mind!" I also conducted a survey when I was writing my book a while back in which I asked adult men and women LDS members if they had received a "burning busom" (D&C 9:8-9). They all said yes. I then asked on a scale from 1-10 how much their faith depended on that feeling. They all responded with an 8 or higher, with most of them circling '10'. I find this to be very interesting and very dangerous.
If the primary reason to believe something is because you felt good about it, then I suggest you go study some more. God gave us a brain and He expects us to use it (1 Thes. 5:21). I have faith that the Bible is the word of God. And while I have followed James 1:5 and asked God if the Bible is true I also know that there are archaeological, geographical, and historical evidences that validate my faith. Faith is the filler of gaps between truths, not the other way around. The smaller the truths, the shakier the faith.
Mormonism is a works based religion. They believe that in order to get to heaven you need to do certain things (Articles of Faith #3 and #4). You must be baptized, be married in the temple, pay tithe to the church, follow the word of wisdom...the list goes on. Religion is when a church gives its members hoops to jump through and in exchange they tell you you'll get to heaven. Luckily, God is relational. Jesus already satisfied God's wrath for you on the cross. All you have to do is have a relationship with Him. He did all the work because He knew we couldn't. That's grace, baby!
4. They believe Book of Mormon is better than the Bible
2 Nephi reports that God says we are fools if we say "A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible, and there cannot be any more Bible...ye need not suppose that [the Bible] contains all my words; neither need ye suppose that I have not caused more to be written." (2 Nephi 29:3, 10). I understand why Mormons would need to clarify why there is another scripture, but calling people a fool for questioning the validity of that book is kinda harsh. But it gets worse. In the introduction of the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith is quoted as saying, "...the Book of Mormon was most most correct of any book on earth...and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by it's precepts, than by any other book." To justify the writing of another testament is one thing, but stating that this new publication trumps the Bible is completely false! That's where I draw the line.
5. Joseph Smith's false prophecies
Making false prophecies automatically disqualifies you as being a God's mouthpiece (Deut. 18:20-22). You can't claim to speak for an all knowing God and then get it wrong. Here are a few: He said that Jesus would return before 1891 (History of the Church, Vol 2, pg. 182) which He didn't, that a temple would be built in Missouri within his own generation (D&C 84:2-5) but Mormons were driven out of Jackson County in 1833, that every nation of the world would be involved in the American Civil War (D&C 87:1-3) but history will tell you that every nation did not join the war, and he prophesied that David W. Patten would go on a mission (D&C 114:1) who ended up dying later that year thus never going on a mission in the following spring.
6. The lack of evidence to substantiate the Book of Mormon as a historical document
To date, there is no archaeological, geological, or historical evidence to support the claim that Jews came from Israel, settled in the Americas, and are the ancestors of the Native Americans. None. There are no evidences of the wars depicted in the text, nor the animals described, nor the plants and crops grown, nor the buildings or temples talked about. There is nothing. On the question of whether or not it is possible that the events described in the Book of Mormon taking place but leaving no traces behind, scientists responded with, "Absolutely not." (For more info, please read this or watch this).
7. The Mormon Jesus is not the Biblical Jesus
Mormons do not believe in the Holy Trinity (3-1) but believe that Jesus and God are two separate beings (lds.org). They believe Jesus was created (D&C 93:21). They believe that Jesus and Satan are brothers (Mormon Voices). These and other doctrines regarding salvation, history, His authority and divinity do not describe the Jesus of the Bible. Jesus is not a God, but the God. Emmanuel means "God with us." Jesus was not created for God is eternal. He is the great I AM. Jesus is not Satan's brother, but rather his creator. The bible says all things were made by Jesus (Col. 1:16). Clearly, we are not talking about the same Guy.
There you have it internet. As always, I'd love some feedback on this. So if you've got a question, a comment, a complaint, a story, a bone to pick, or just some time to spare, leave me a message. Have a great day.
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