I’m angrier than a blogger with no post ideas over the fact that I didn’t do this a long time ago, but, as Jesus Christ Himself said, “it is finished.” I speak specifically of my membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, colloquially referred to as the “Mormon” church. Last week, I signed the paperwork necessary to remove my records from the rolls of the church.
Today, much sooner than I expected, I received confirmation that my request was honored. It was officially processed first thing in the morning Utah time. After the jump, you can see proof that it is so. It is a screenshot of me testing the system.
Last week, I deleted my church account, which gave me access to the ward (local congregation) directory, online scriptures, my membership records, as well as other resources. So, I tested the system this morning, forgetting that Utah is two hours behind us. I attempted to do a password change. That’s a quick and dirty way to see the status of your membership, if you know what you’re doing.
The database recognized my membership number in Utah’s early morning hours, but just a couple of hours later, I, with great joy, experienced the results you see below. Click on the image to get a real good look at it. I’ve intentionally obscured the last four digits because it’s possible for someone with the appropriate access can do me harm.
Since the system no longer recognizes my number, my records were officially moved to the “confidential records” department, where my records will reside forever.
You see, you’re never really removed from the records of the Mormon church. All they do is add a code to your membership number and move you to a confidential status, which means my records were removed from my now former ward and can only be accessed by certain people in the headquarters building who hold the proper authority.
I was a member of the church for many moons now. Now, I’m no longer a member, which means all of my so-called “blessings” no longer exist. I no longer hold the priesthood. Not that it meant anything anyway.
I no longer am “sealed” to my wife, meaning that the church says we are no longer bound together for time and all eternity, a principle that’s false, I’m not so sorry to say.
In the next life, the church teaches, my wife and I will never see each other and if we do, we’ll pass one another as strangers. This is good.
I don’t want to be with my wife in life, so why would I want to be with her for eternity?
I was warned by my now former bishop that if I submit this resignation, and I have, then “that’s it,” meaning that I can never come back ever again, even if I wanted to. This suits me just fine.
But his words raise questions. In in the past, a member who resigned could, after a one-year waiting period, start the process —
and it is a process— of coming back. If my former bishop is correct, then the church’s forgiveness policy of “seventy times seven (
Matthew 18:21-35)” no longer exists.
To make sure that my understanding of what is apparently new policy, I’ve reached out via email to the church’s media relations department seeking a comment. As of the time this article was published, there was no response to my request.
Two years ago, I was baptized into the Catholic church, and I’ve been active in that church while respecting my wife’s wishes that I stay on the records even if I stop coming to the LDS church. Now that the marriage is effectively over, I no longer have to respect anything. So now I can start going to Sunday Mass like I want rather than Saturday Mass.
I wish no ill will upon the church or its people. There is a saying within the church that many people leave the church but they can’t leave it alone. After this article, I will be leaving the church alone. I won’t be returning, because the Catholic belief system matches my beliefs almost perfectly.
I don’t want to start slamming the church here, but even so, I’ll just briefly state the LDS beliefs that I no longer share:
I do not believe that God and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith in Palmyra, New York. After all, if that really did happen then that means that Jesus has already made His second coming and obviously, He has not returned.
I do not believe that God and Jesus Christ are two separate entities. I believe in the trinity.
I do not believe that the Garden of Eden was in present-day Missouri.
I do not believe that men will get their own planets.
I do not believe that God resides on a planet known as Kolob.
I do not believe that the
Book of Mormon is the true word of God. I do not believe that Joseph Smith, who had little to no education, translated from
golden plates. No credible evidence has emerged, just the word of unreliable people. Where are the plates now? Oh, an angel conveniently took them up to Heaven. Yeah, right.
I do believe that Smith, in many cases, copied the bible word for word. And there’s proof to back that up.
I could go on and on, but instead, I will refer you to the
CES Letter, a project which lays out the problems many people, including myself, have with the church’s belief system.
To make it clear, I wish the church and its people nothing but the best. This was simply like a marriage that didn’t work out. It’s no one’s fault; it just is.
