Monday, March 07, 2005

The Reciprocal Mormon

I don't know if I'm the only one who feels this way, but I think I've always been a reciprocal Mormon. When I am surrounded by Mormons, my testimony is inversely proportional to the testimonies of those around me. Whether I was at church or in the MTC, every one seemed to get on my nerves and believe really outrageous things, like caffeinated Coke and PG-13 movies were wiles of the devil. The closest I came to getting in a fight in the MTC was when a missionary in my district swore that Joseph Smith said there were people living on the moon, only in another dimension so we couldn't see them. I felt rebellious and not part of the group because I couldn't be nearly as cocksure as they all were. I am continually feeling doubts that the shiny happy people couldn't possibly understand.
However, when I am the only Mormon in a group, I feel like I need to defend the church from people who don't know anything about it, or worse, people who think they know all about it because they read a newspaper article or Under the Banner of Heaven.
My wife (a non-member) and I have attended the local Episcopal church a couple of times, but the whole time I'm there, I find myself constantly noting the differences from Mormon practices. I don't feel comfortable crossing myself or taking communion because I still like the Mormon way better, even though I haven't been to church in six years.
Am I cursed to always feel the opposite of those around me?

3 comments:

NFlanders said...

Thanks for the link, m. I've been wanting to track that down for a long time. I think what made me so mad in the MTC was that I was struggling with my testimony and this True-Believer was making it harder for me with his Space Doctrine.

NFlanders said...

I have heard the Cain thing, but didn't know if it was Mormon folklore or not. It's hard to keep track. Was SWK quoting an early church leader's account of the story?
I have to say, reading patriarchal blessings about missions to the moon is unsettling.

NFlanders said...

Thanks for the link, m. It was hilarious.
My favorite quote: "If he were caught and someone believed he had found the Cain of the bible then he could conclude Cain couldn’t be killed. I believe every effort would then be taken to kill him, in every way possible."
WTF? Truly some bizarre stuff. His theory about Cain having children (little big-feet?) is also amusing. Who is Cain reproducing with?
I like how quickly people jump from a single Cain sighting to Bigfoot must be true and here is all the evidence to prove it.