Bye & Stuff

Thanks for listening.

I'm done writing about me.

I don't care to listen to myself write about me anymore, so I ain't gonna.

Off to one of my myriad other blogs.

Bye!

Membership Is Absolutely Not an Option & I Quit

Well... I've had arguably the weirdest couple weeks of my life, leading to some serious introspection.

I have thus far spent virtually no time really considering the idea and implications of resigning officially from the church. I've just wanted to stop having it effect me entirely, and I thought that just changing my information so I could no longer be contacted was enough. However, I now see that knowing there's some ward somewhere random that is searching in vain for an address behind a burger joint actually means there's a name... MY name and a number... (What most members of the church are frequently reduced to--1 member of what must be the true church because it keeps growing) implying at least some small bit of support, camaraderie, and tacit approval of a church culture that literally kills people who are different via somehow making the majority of them feel worthless and like a potential option for them is to cut short this one brief spark of life they've been allotted.

I have listened to the pained words of the recent divorcée told she's doing it wrong by giving up on her husband, the man who cannot have children of his own who feels that something is wrong with him that God wouldn't keep his promise from his patriarchal blessing, the man who thought his inability to cope with the social anxiety that brought him home from his mission just one week in meant suicide was the answer, and the woman without an active husband who feels consistently held to a lower class status.
These are devastating experiences, all recounted by people I've known and loved so dearly for the majority of my life. The pain the church culture of rejecting different inflicts causes tears to fall down my face as I write this. It's also the story of nearly every LGBT Mormon I've met... including myself, many of you my great friends, and ample others that they at one time or another think suicide is a viable option. I cannot believe how many active members of the church have told me in private conversations that they know and recognize this monster, and yet it lives on. I know the world has lost countless men and women to this cultural oppression... all of whom deserved better.

I cannot even slightly imply any longer that I might be party to such a group.

Once and for all, this repressive organization will no longer have my membership to count, nor will it find my name among those supporting it in even a minuscule way.

I'm done.