Yesterday I received confirmation that I have been removed from the records of the Mormon Church. I was baptized in when I was eight years old, on my birthday, as I remember it. I am told that it was my choice. I habe a daughter who turns nine today, and despite the fact that I think she is way smarter at nine than I was at eight, choosing a life long commitment to a belief system that will hold her accountable for sins against a God she is supposed to also decide is real, and will excise a tax on her income for the rest of her life at the peril of her Eternal Soul, all seems a bit much to put upon her. I know I was not ready to make such a commitment at that naive age. And now, 38 years gone on, and a lot learned, both in the Church, and out, I am more than confident that joining the Mormon Church, or any religion, for that matter, is a serious mistake. Although I have not attended a meeting at a ward house in about 18 years, just being labelled as ‘inactive’ was not enough. I was tracked down and asked for by name when I lived in a foreign country! Since when does a belief system require hunting me? A belief system is something that I must subscribe to. Well, I do not.
On the evening of the Fourth of July of this year, the last thing I did for the day was to submit a letter of resignation through an attorney to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That letter was revived and my name removed by the 7th. Ten days after sending it in, I received my confirmation that it was done.
How do I feel? I am as ambivalent about it as I was about any reason or reservation I could dream up when I sent in the request to remove my name from the Church. At the end of the day, a fraudulent organization could hold no ecclesiastical power over me. I cannot be forced to drink the Kool-aid.
This is the most important document I have ever had regarding religion, and especially the Mormon Church. It is the one that declares that I am free. It is the one that sticks a finger in the eye of those who profess it is divine truth because of its growth and membership. Maybe I am just a rat jumping off a sinking ship, but be sure of this; the ship is sinking.
Some day I may go ahead and write the reasons why I can be so sure that the Church, and religion in general are categorically false. But for now, I have some things to do first. For now, I plan to live free.
Goodbye Religion. You will never see me again in your halls and choirs. Your cloisters can encase the small minded, and your curtains can fleece the fools. But I will never bow my head to you again.