Reason #185: Struggling with an Unknowable God
One of the greatest disservices that Mormon doctrine does to the minds of its adherents is the reduction of the concept of a three-in-one God down to compartmentalized beings. I have struggled with this now for the 38 years I have been a Christian. Here is one way that I portrayed my struggle. This is an excerpt from my novel, Latter-day Cipher, which attempts to portray the gut-wrenching challenges of leaving Mormonism if you truly love it. (The book is also available here on this site, autographed.) I’ve been accused of modalism because of this passage. Quite to the contrary, this does not reflect a full view of the Trinity that I hold (there will be more posts to follow) but it does give a way for a Mormon to begin to grasp the Trinity concept. In this...
Reason #166: Because of Letters Like This
I sometimes get letters like this. They do indeed cause me to pause and re-evaluate my reasons for writing what I do, and reasons why I won’t return to the LDS Church, in spite of the joyful experiences I had there. Here’s the letter, and my reply. Mrs. Scott, I received your book Latter-Day Cipher from a very important person in my life for my eighteenth birthday this week. The person who gave it to me was unaware that she was giving me anti-mormon literature. Because the title included the words “latter-day” and she saw that you were a graduate of BYU, she assumed that I would appreciate the book. However, after reading the back, I made the decision to not read the book. Though I commend your writing abilities, I do not understand why you...
Reason #162: The Mental Gymnastics of Anticipating Polygamy
As a young Mormon woman I believed that I should prepare myself for plural marriage (the mainstream LDS church does not practice earthly polygamy of course but does command its practice after death.) I believed I might be able to enjoy the exclusive attentions of my husband while on earth but must be mentally ready for eternity as a plural wife. That produced a kind of dichotomy in my thinking. On the one hand I looked forward to the mysteries of sex and marriage, but saw these two things not as most women would consider them (the first inherently fading, and the second temporary.) Rather, I believed each would be prone to constant and eternal acceleration. As I’ve conversed with other ex-Mormon women who like me once fervently yearned for an eternity of...
Reason #126: A fictional account of losing faith in Mormonism
In the previous item on the “365 Reasons” blog I described the situation that caused me to lose faith in Mormonism. I have tried to describe this in a fictional account, too: my novel, Latter-day Cipher. In this passage, an LDS man who is a spokesman for the church is explaining how he will counter the criticisms of non-members in an upcoming press conference. But this man, Roger, does not know that his wife Eliza is beginning to have doubts about the LDS church: “But don’t worry – the Church has people – many of them—who are fulltime researchers, who spend every day working on explanations that Gentiles would understand. And of course money is no object. BYU has a Web site, and scores of individuals do too, that make it their...
Latter-day Cipher AND Mormon Mirage Giveaways
Easy way to get a free copy of my controversial novel about Mormonism: Go to Moody Fiction’s new blog, and make a comment. (You may need to refresh the page to make sure you’re commenting on my book.) They’re giving away ten copies tomorrow, Saturday, January 9. UPDATE: Zondervan is giving away 10 copies of The Mormon Mirage tomorrow too at the Moody Fiction blog! Go sign up!
