It's 3am and I'm still awake. William went to bed almost two hours ago but I just can't sleep. I have folded all the laundry, showered, and scrubbed the bathtub. I've been feeling sort of "blah" these past few days. I'm exhausted all the time, I work out but don't feel any better, and I am always hungry. I do know that I am NOT preggo again so it's not that.
I just read an article from a former member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (mormon). She expressed her poor experiences with the church and made some pretty gross generalizations about Mormon doctrine. I know that all this is coming up because of Mitt Romney. But you know what? I'm pretty freakin' sick of everybody hating on Mormons. Are we bad people? Do we do bad things? No. I'm sorry if you don't like that we send out missionaries. I'm sorry if our doctrine makes you feel uncomfortable. It probably does that since no one is perfect and we all need to change. Why can't a Mormon be president? Because we're a cult? What's your definition of a cult? When I think of a cult, I think of the KKK or something with people who do bad things in secret or practice weird things like human sacrifice. We don't do that. The Oxford English Dictionary says a cult is "A particular form or system of religious worship; esp. in reference to its external rites and ceremonies." So, that'd be pretty much every religion then, right? A later definition adds that a cult is "A relatively small group of people having religious beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange or sinister." First: the LDS Church has (as of 2010) over 14 million members. That is not relatively small by any means. Second: this definition states that practices of a religion must be regarded by OTHERS as strange or sinister to be a cult. So if I decide that infant sprinkling is weird, does that automatically make Catholicism a cult? No. Groups of people who worship little green men are weird, and are, in my opinion, cults. But who decides? No one in particular.
I just wish that people would stop make judgments about Mitt Romney and about Mormonism simply because they don't wish to take time and really learn about it. I'm sick of people telling me my religion is bad and that I'm a bad person because I don't do things that other people do. I was hurt when people "un-friended" me on Facebook because I supported Prop 8. My beliefs were different and they cast me out. I have gay friends who I want to be happy and successful.
I like who I am. I don't ask you to change, I don't ask you to hide your religious beliefs because I don't understand them, I don't judge you based solely on your beliefs. Please don't do it to me. Get to know me, have discussions with me, and make your judgments on that. Not from anti-Mormon literature.
I will re-read this when I am fully awake and I'll probably delete it. Thank you for letting me vent.
3 comments:
I think you should leave the post as is unless you feel like you absolutely need to edit. Yet, I like the point that you made that we all should learn about a religion or anything else for that matter BEFORE we judge and spread our opinion. Thank you for standing up for what you believe!
Don't delete this post! I feel that way all the time. Most of my friends from high school don't approve of what I believe, though they like me just fine. But every once in a while they'll post something on Facebook that really hurts my feelings. I'm not a bad person because I believe differently than they do, and I doubt it's meant to be an attack on me personally, but they like to make it seem like everyone who does not think the exact same way they do is racist, sexist, a bigot, whatever. It hurts! I totally agree with you, and don't think you need to change your post at all.
Well done, Denise! And a better use of can't sleep time than my usual, which is Plants vs. Zombies these days. Love you!
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