Finding Forgiveness in the Strangest of Places

I spent the last couple weeks completely absorbed in the HBO series, Big Love. The historical accuracy and portrayal of Joseph's church (both the original [currently known as FLDS] and the altered, modern-day [LDS] as well as some other splinter groups) was impressive. The show really moved me. It actually helped me get to a place i've been yearning to get to for the past few months, one of forgiveness and healing.

While i can't say i feel anything other than pity and empathy for the LDS people for being falsely led, it's a step up from the anger and blame i felt for so many months. I knew intellectually that it wasn't their fault they've been misled by a man with outrageous claims, but i had yet to reach an emotional place of letting it all go.

Big Love helped me do that. Healing can be found in the most interesting of places. Cheers to that.

Cheers to 2012!

A Bishop's Resignation Letter - So Well Said

http://stevebloor.wordpress.com/2011/12/18/letter-to-ward-members-re-resignation-as-their-bishop/

This letter really touched me. He handled finding out the truth a whoooole lot better than i did.

Hating the Sin but Not the Sinner / Hating the Mormon Church but Not the Members

I don't like carrying around negative emotions like hate and anger. And yet, i'm struggling to find a way to not hate the Mormon church. It's not likely that i'll ever like that church, but i don't want to hate it.  And i certainly don't want to hate it's members who are following and believing it because it's what they've been programmed from birth to do. "Follow the prophet, follow the prophet, follow the prophet, he knows the way!" It's not really their fault that their church destroys lives and families, so when a member of church engages in an argument with me about homosexuality and throws out that insulting and disgusting line: "I don't hate the sinner, just the sin," i need to remember to just hate the church and not the members. Right? Wait....

Another Gay Mormon ( LDS ) Suicide Attempt

A dear and much-loved friend of mine is lying in a hospital right now after swallowing two bottles of pills.

She is lesbian. She is not allowed at her parents' home because she's lesbian. Her father is a stake president in the mormon church. How embarrassing it must be for him to have an "abomination" in the family.

The rest of the family is invited to the parents' home for xmas, but not my friend. She decided to volunteer at a homeless shelter on xmas day instead, but as the days passed and xmas got closer, her will broke. I can imagine her pain as she thought of all her family (whom she loves and tries so hard to communicate with) spending the holiday together as she was excluded for being who she is.

Every child, no matter the age, wants, needs, and deserves unconditional love from their parents.

People with LGBT children/family: Go ahead and tell your child they can CHOOSE to not be gay. Shun them...that might fix 'em! Or maybe those bottles of pills will.

I'm trying to forgive Joseph and his long line of cronies for the lies, i really am. Things like this make it hard.

I think smoking in public should be banned, because it's proven to be bad for people. I feel the same about most religion.