Easter and Celebration

[Mad Jax]

I never really encountered too many Mormons who get offended at the "not christian" label in the way you say, so my experience never led me down the path to observe what you have. It's an interesting perspective. As for myself, I never cared what anyone thought of me because I believed god knew the truth and his opinion was the only one that mattered.

But looking back... there is truth to the fact that the LDS church is extremely image conscious. And belonging to it, there was pressure to be image conscious. Personally I never had anybody appear to think there was anything wrong with me because my tattoos were visible or I shaved my head, but it wasn't part of the "missionary image" and this thread brought a lot of that memory back. It makes me see the very real possibility that the "non-observance" is part of the image the church wishes to convey.

Thinking about it, I never understood why being a different kind of "normal person" would ever be an image the church would want to stifle. Why wouldn't ordinary everyday people of all stripes be something the church would want to demonstrate their members to be? Sorry if the question is a bit of a hijack.

[document]

As for myself, I never cared what anyone thought of me because I believed god knew the truth and his opinion was the only one that mattered.

As a member, this never bothered me either. I think I see it more now that Facebook is a thing than ever before.

Why wouldn't ordinary everyday people of all stripes be something the church would want to demonstrate their members to be?

I've noticed in recent years that people with tattoos are often shown in Mormon videos. It is a way to show diversity and a "come as you are" attitude. But, from those that I know with tattoos who are Mormon say that the PR videos coming from the church do not reflect reality. As one dear friend put it, "I'm glad I know the church is true, because the members sure make it hard to be".

So, I think the church tries to put forward that image, but the reality on the ground is the opposite. Conformity is the still the name of the game. It is my hope that the culture becomes more accepting, and hopefully the PR will drive the membership towards a culture-shift.

Sorry if the question is a bit of a hijack.

I don't care. I think we've been off the subject for a while. This is interesting.

[Mad Jax]

So, I think the church tries to put forward that image, but the reality on the ground is the opposite. Conformity is the still the name of the game.

Very insightful way of seeing it, I think that hits the nail on the head. I've noticed the attitude more from younger people than older, probably because even if they were inclined to be confrontational about "non-conformance" they would have learned a lesson about it at some point. But there are some blue haired hard heads who live in a bubble.

I try to look at the church the way I would want to be perceived, and that is not to assume anything about the individual members within. They have what they perceive to be valid reasons for continuing to believe, and I hope they see me as having a valid reason for being an atheist. Sometimes it's discouraging though, but I try to remember that the more vocal are not necessarily representative of the whole.

[StarbucksMom]

A few years ago, after I had lost belief in Mormonism, our family attended LDS church on Easter. This was back when I was trying to attend 3 meetings. I don't remember much of sacrament meeting, but it wasn't awful. The 3rd meeting was a special 5th Sunday combined one. I honestly thought it might be good since it was--you know--Easter. But no. I kid you not--what I'm about to tell you actually happened. It's not just based on real events--these were real events.

We walk in, and a bishopric member gets up to tell us how fortunate we are to have some super special guests today. I peek past the bpric guy and it's a 70 + year old couple. They get up and tell us--no joke-- that they have been called as stake missionaries to stop porn addiction. They then go on and on about how they are running an addiction group, how if you are struggling you can talk to your bp--and get a referral to attend, and talked about statistics and blah blah blah. I tuned it out after a few minutes. After that I just sat there, infuriated that I was wasting my Easter in a separate classroom from my kids, and not for anything remotely inspiring or Easter related. I just searched recipes on my phone. (For the record, I believe pornography can be a problem and is hurtful to many married women.)

I told my TBM husband after that, that we would NEVER attend 3 hours of church on special family holidays again-including the Sunday closest to Christmas, Easter, and Mothers and Fathers days. And we haven't. On Mother's day, I pick a spot and our family takes a day trip and does a hike and picnic.

[moksha]

Just for the historical record, John Hamer has put forth some unusual scholarship regarding the origin of the Good Friday remembrance at that scholastic podcast place, Infants on Thrones:

http://infantsonthrones.com/ask-and-infant-good-friday/