The End

Dear Readers,

I have a bit of good news bad news depending on your perspective. This will be my last Sacrilegious Sabbath article. It’s not that I’ve run out of things to criticize. I could likely go on indefinitely, or at least as long as religions continue to cause harm. I’ve given it plenty of consideration and it’s is a good time to wrap things up.

44 articles and 34 videos in one year has been a sizable accomplishment for me and I’m proud of my work. I’d like to reflect on this past year and summarize the most critical issues. Behind each article was hours of research, most of which extended behind the scenes of what I finally published. As a result I learned a lot about theology, atheism, science, and truth. Even though I spent the the first 29 years of my life as a Mormon, there was still so much I didn’t know about my own religion. It’s not that I wasn’t paying attention in church, leaders intentionally avoid troubling topics. How terrible and deceitful. Basic historical facts are hidden or white washed from active, committed members. And missionaries continue to preach only the good snippets and recruit new member without fully informed consent. Imagine a Terms of Service contract. We always scroll past pages and pages of legal jargon and then select I Agree without reading all the fine print. However, unlike a new phone service provider, people are committing their lives. It’s a big deal. Many lifetime members and new converts don’t know about Joseph Smith’s criminal record or child brides. Failed prophecies and false doctrines throughout Church history are covered up and excused. The founder failed to correctly translate the Book of Abraham from the papyri and anachronisms disprove the claimed historical authenticity of the Book of Mormon. Perhaps the translations were incorrect because he was just looking at a plain ol’ rock in a hat to imagine the creative narratives. However, when it comes to the temple endowment, Joseph wasn’t even creative enough to not plagiarize the Freemasons’ fraternity rituals. And even the sacred story of the First Vision went through a few significant revisions before the final fiction was published. However, if the Church was honest about all their teachings it would likely reduce their membership and tithing contributions.

This year was also an interesting learning experience of personal reflection and change. I’m very different than I was before writing all these articles. I feel so much more like my true self with no restraints on individuality. No longer do I feel obligated to follow dogmatic and nonsensical commandments enforced by authoritarianism. I don’t feel a shred of guilt for being a “sinner” according to other people’s opinions. My personal morality is founded on not causing harm to any sentient beings by opposing their informed consent. I no longer subconsciously judge others of different sexual orientations or people who drink coffee. My mind has been opened and I’m free to study and think as I wish. I better understand science and skepticism. Truth withstands scrutiny and if any “Anti-Mormon” material wasn’t true, it would crumble under verification - and some of it does, but other information stands as historical fact. I feel incredibly liberated and… I’m happy. Believe it or not, I’m much happier than I ever was in the Church. The Mormon Church claims that true joy is only experienced within the religion, however consider this, if anyone who left the Church became less happy, wouldn’t they go back in hopes of regaining that previous happiness? Yes, very likely, but very few ever return because they are happier without the religion. The only reason I would go back is if enough new and verifiable evidence came about to prove the truth of the religion AND also disprove or correct the mistakes of the past. Until that happens, I’ll refrain from belief.

I also no longer fear death or judgment in a supposed afterlife. If God is a just judge, I will receive a suitable consequence for my finite crimes or good deeds. An infinite punishment or infinite reward of Heaven based on this short life is not justice. If by chance God is an unfair and tyrannical judge, then I would exhaust my efforts to follow every petty rule with exactness. Unfortunately, there’s no way to verify which religion has revealed the correct rules. I’ll just try my best to be a moral person, but also relax and not worry about impossible perfection and mess up sometimes. A big part of my happiness in atheism is to not stress about subjective standards enforced by leaders claiming authority. Nobody can be perfect and also nobody should worry about trying to be perfect.

Being publicly blasphemous has had other interesting results. I’ve certainly offended a number of my friends and family; some have even blocked or unfollowed my Facebook posts. To those who were hurt, I’d like to quote Ralph Waldo Emerson who said, “Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I’m persecuted whenever I’m contradicted.” My issue is with religion not the religious. I’ve tried to make that very clear in each of my posts and I hope you all understand that I love you regardless of beliefs. Ricky Gervais explained it better when he said, “Suggesting I hate people with religion because I hate religion is like suggesting I hate people with cancer because I hate cancer.” No one chooses to have cancer and most people don’t choose their belief. Fortunately, only extreme religions also result in death. My experience has also brought about a number of new friends and renewed relationships. Shout out to my new pals, you know who you are. Turns out ex-Mormons and Atheists are in very good company. There’s a LOT of people leaving the Church, and it’s not because we’re lazy or want to sin but rather we searched for the truth at all costs. And we all came to similar conclusions, the Mormon Church is not true. It can be difficult to accept, but the truth is not always warm and fuzzy.

To those who are still members, I would like to present the following thought. Would you live a different life if you left the church? Some ex-Mormons honestly don’t change much. They might continue to abstain from alcohol and tobacco for health reasons or not get a tattoo simply because of preference. And there are plenty who still believe in some kind of God. However, some things always change like paying tithing, spending hours a week in church, wearing standardized underwear, or committing your entire life to a religious organisation. One of the biggest changes for me has been abandoning the idea of an eternal afterlife. At first it was difficult to let go of the concept of floating around in paradise with all my friends and family forever. However, as I’ve studied theology I’m relieved to believe life comes to an end. Heaven might be nice for a few hundred years, but will eventually become redundant after several millennia or more. And then, If the bar of awesomeness is raised to the next level then the clock is only reset and we’re met with another few millennia of redundancy only cured by infinite progression eventually driving one into psychotic madness. I think being dead will be much like it was before I was born - I won’t exist. With this new mindset, my whole life view has shifted. I live as if death is the end. None of my life is dedicated to preparing for what supposedly come after the final chapter. This enlightening transition for me has been a huge motivation in scrutinizing religion. My hope is that I could encourage others to challenge their personal beliefs and find new meaning in life and escape damaging theology. I strongly agree with Lawrence Krauss when he said “It’s amazing to discover that you’re wrong. In fact, it’s liberating. It’s not a threat. It opens your mind.” I admit that I was wrong to believe in Mormonism, but I don’t feel embarrassed to say it now.

Some argue that religion is still good for people even if it's not true. The scriptures teach “Ye shall know them by their fruits.” And there certainly are some good fruits of religion. However, there are many charitable and kind Hindus, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Muslims, Scientologists, Jews - but that doesn’t mean their religion is also true. There also happens to be many charitable and kind Atheists too. Turns out, all the good aspects of religion can be experienced without believing in an unverifiable supernatural deity. It’s actually better to donate money to reputable non-profit organization considering they don’t buy acres of real estates and build elaborate mansions for dedicating hours of ritual services to the dead, people who don’t exist anymore. It would be far better to spend that time serving actual living people in need. I’m sure that’s what Jesus would prefer. To simply believe in the unseen is rather benign. It’s a whole different issue when people commit their whole lives to a particular religion. My sincere request to the religious is to read and study the fine print of your religion. Consider all the Terms of Service before selecting I Agree. If you’re going to pledge devotion to a religion, you should at least know the complete version of the belief.

If you happened to read every one of my articles, thank you. It really makes me feel supported and loved. It was difficult to open up like I did and share very personal ideas. And it was a fair amount of work too. There were some bits I regret not being more gentle about, but overall it’s been a great experience and I’m very glad I did it. If anyone ever has a questions or opinion about theology, please feel free to ask. I’ll eagerly discuss anything in a respectable and non-confrontational manner. I’ve learned that arguments are ineffective at reaching understanding. I won't be dedicating so much of my time to studying theology as I have been, but I’ll still be searching and studying more truth. On occasion I’ll still pray to see if a deity exists, just in case. If my prayer is ever answered I’ll be sure and let everyone know. Until that happens, I’ll withhold my worship in the unknowable. I’ll be scientifically skeptical.