Here are a couple of reasons why I would not return to being a Mormon.
1) The whole Temple and Endowment process and the truth behind it is one of the factors why I would not return to being a Mormon. My maternal side of the family were Masons and Eastern Star Royalty for years. Then when one became a Mormon, several others joined. One of my aunts went with my brother to do the work for the dead of “dad”. It was what my aunt said afterward that hit the nail. “Yes, the whole system is based on Masonry.”
I had already begun the study of Masonry and Mormonism, having found the ordinances and rituals, clothes, etc to be just too much of a coincidence. Joseph Smith took what he knew, changed a few things so it would be more socially acceptable, and kept the secrecy of it.
The Bible says that we make choices in this life, not do what we want and then get a second chance before the “big” judgment takes place.
Jesus said, all that the Father has revealed to me, I have given to you. In other words, no secret societies, no secret handshakes, no secrets.
2) After I really started reading the Bible, which the Mormons say is not the whole nor correct truth, then praying for God to reveal the truth to me regarding the Trinity. The childish fable of Father and Mother God having babies, of which Jesus and Lucifer were just two, and therefore my brothers spiritually made no sense.
And the second part of that is that all Mormons are to have as many children as possible to get those little spirit children in heaven down to earth in their mortal bodies so they could have a chance to become Father Gods or moms if they were judged good enough in the end.
–Susan Storm Smith
For more information, see The Mormon Mirage 3rd Edition: A Former Member Looks at the Mormon Church Today (Zondervan, 2009). Also available as an audiobook and as an expanded-text E-book for Nook, Kindle and other reading devices.
