On numerous occasions on this website, I have discussed my conversion from Mormonism to Catholicism. That took place in 2022. Prior to that, I’d been a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since 1987. Quite a few people have asked me a simple question: why did I do it?
First of all, it’s imperative that I stress that I wish their religion no ill will. There are certain people whom I certainly wish a lot of ill will: Dan Bolke, Dave Bernacki and Bruce McLaughlin to name just a few. And for that matter, the people of the Albany 2nd Ward (parish) as a whole. But that’s another article for another day.
Up until 2021, I was resigned to the fact that I might be stuck in the Mormon faith for the rest of my life. After all, my wife is Mormon and, just to keep her happy, I went to one of the church’s temples to be “sealed,” which is a fancy term for being married for not just time but all of eternity.
To be honest, I always had problems believing that that would really happen, but because I did love my wife, I took one for the team and knelt at the altar to do something that I knew was complete bullshit. If it were true, I wouldn’t have done it, because being with her for time is bad enough, but eternity? Pardon the pun, but hell, no!
During the pandemic, I had a lot of time to think about thinks and plenty of time to do research. I always was intrigued by the Catholic Church and the pandemic gave me an opportunity to truly research it before actually going to a Mass. I researched using several reputable websites and by reading the book Catholicism for Dummies.
After researching, I went to Mass for the first time in 2021. My first Mass was a weekday one and I decided to go to a Sunday Mass, not knowing that a Saturday Vigil Mass was an option. Once I found out that it was, I was able to go to Mass on Saturday and to the Mormon church on Sunday, just to keep my wife happy.
While attending the Catholic Church, I still served the ward as its librarian, keeping the library organized among other duties. As time went on, I started wearing a crucifix. At first, I wore it to the Mormon church strictly because I liked what it represents. But after I got baptized and confirmed during Easter Vigil of 2022, I wore it as a gentle way to give the Mormons the finger. Watching people’s faces as they saw it gave me pure satisfaction!
In May of 2024, I formally resigned from the Mormon church and devoted 100% of my religious time to the Catholic Church. After being baptized, I slowly became more active, serving in various capacities. So far, I am currently an usher, but I have also been a sacristan, a lector and an altar server. If you want to know more about those positions, Google is your friend.
I am happy with where I am religiously. By the time that I first entered the parish right around the corner from me, I knew what the Catholics believe and their beliefs aligned with mine, a lot more than Mormonism ever did. Some of the problems that I always had and do have with their church’s teachings include, but are not limited to:
- They claim that God and Jesus Christ appeared to false prophet Joseph Smith. If that truly happened, then that means that Christ returned to Earth and therefore, according to them, the Second Coming already happened.
- They claim that their temples are where sacred works are done, including eternal marriages and work done by living members in behalf of deceased members.
- They claim that polygamy was a command from God. They claimed that it stopped when God said to do so in 1890, when in reality, the federal government would not let Utah become a state unless they put a stop to it. That’s what they don’t want you to know.
- They claim that men can be sealed to more than one woman in their temples, meaning that to this day, polygamy continues, if only in their temples.
- They claim that black men could not hold the priesthood, meaning that they couldn’t go to the temple and be sealed to their wives. Amazingly, in 1978, God supposedly revealed to the “prophet” that it was time to let worthy black men hold the priesthood. The reality is that the church and its Brigham Young University were under investigation by federal authorities in regards to tax exempt statuses needing to be revoked because of the church’s racial inequality. Furthermore, the church wanted to build a temple in Brazil. That would require priesthood holders. But because Brazilians share DNA with Africans, they needed to make it possible for Brazilian men to hold the priesthood. That would mean more tithing income. So that revelation? God had nothing to do with it, just like how God has nothing to do with Mormonism.
- They claim that Jesus Christ is our literal brother. Any reasonable person knows that that simply isn’t possible!
- They claim that worthy men, along with their eternal wives, will become gods over their own planets.
- They claim that God lives on a planet near a star called Kolob.
- They claim that God and Jesus created Earth near Kolob. When everything was ready, God moved Earth to its present location. Laughable.
- The church’s second “prophet,” Brigham Young, once taught that Adam was God.
- They claim that Joseph Smith was a true prophet, despite his criminal record and reputation for lying. They claim that each prophet since then has been called by God, when in reality the next president of the church, or the next “prophet,” is chosen by seniority as outlined in the church’s corporate filings.
I could go on and on, but there is a great resource out there that discusses all of the above beliefs as well as many more. I highly recommend that you read the CES Letter. Looking back on it, I am ashamed of the fact that I ever associated myself with the Mormon faith. When I joined, I was just a stupid nine-year-old kid. I am now a grown man who knows better. Prior to Mormonism, I was raised in the Seventh-day Adventist faith, but I was never actually baptized.
Being in the SDA church and going to an SDA private school was forced upon me and when the opportunity presented itself, I broke away. At that point, I would have chosen Satan over the SDA church.
Now the Catholic Church? It is the most intellectual religion on the planet, likely because it is the only church that Jesus Christ founded, way back in 33 AD. Every other religion? Founded by men with no assistance from God. God has nothing to do with any other church but the Catholic Church. People who observe those religions likely mean well, but they’re wasting their time due to their ignorance and arrogance. It’s just that simple.
Rather than me writing a novel here, you can check out some of the Catholic’s beliefs here. It’s important to note that many Christian faiths borrow beliefs from the Catholic Church. That means that the Catholic Church taught things first, again proving that Jesus Christ founded only the Catholic faith.
Every day, I wear the crucifix as a public declaration of my faith. I am not ashamed of my Catholicisity. I truly believe that the Hail Mary prayer is true and I affirm that I acknowledge every one of the Saints, all of whom performed miracles to reach that level of respect. I recognize the pope as the only religious leader on the planet who truly is led by God.
Everyone else, in my opinion, is led by greed, dishonesty and arrogance and as such, they should not be believed and should not be respected in any way whatsoever.
Yes, the Catholic Church is the only true religion. Yes, Catholics are Christians. Yes, the Catholic Church has had its moments of crisis, but it has always been guided by the hand of God. I am proud to call myself a Catholic. I did not join because it’s “cool,” nor did I join because it’s the planet’s most popular religion. I joined because I believe everything that we are taught.
Unlike the Mormon church, we do not have wacky beliefs and we do not teach false doctrine, something that the Mormon church does on a daily basis. We believe that marriage is until death. The whole notion of eternal marriage sounds cute on its surface, but such marriages will still end at death.
Yes, I made a mistake by joining the Mormon faith, but I rectified that by coming home to the planet’s only true religion.