NOM in 2017?

[Enoch Witty]

New Order Mormons are those who no longer believe some (or much) of the dogma or doctrines of the LDS Church, but who want to maintain membership for cultural, social, or even spiritual reasons. New Order Mormons recognize both good and bad in the Church, and have determined that the Church does not have to be perfect in order to remain useful. New Order Mormons seek the middle way to be Mormon

This fits me. I don't think Mormonism is evil. I think Mormonism = every other religion you can find. I personally don't feel like fighting it for the same reasons I don't feel like going out to prove that Seventh Day Adventists are wrong. I don't mind being referred to as a Mormon, but I will often tell people I'm a non-believer. I do no longer attend church as of a few weeks ago, primarily because I think it is a waste of time and I would rather be doing other things. That, and it makes me crazy .

Congrats on no more church attendance! You'd think your two cited reasons would be more than enough to call this a good decision, but we know how TBMs would react to this logic.

[Enoch Witty]

I like the term New Order Mormon. It sounds cool! I wish NOM 2 would put the subtitle, "A New Hope," back up on this website.

Shouldn't 2.0 be "The NOMpire Strikes Back"?

[Silver Girl]

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Lifelong Christian, Former Convert, Now Resigned, Still Believes in God and Christ

The OP presents a good question - I joined the original NOM site exactly two years ago (Feb of 2015), because I was in the "Terrified of what I am learning" stage. I thought maybe there was indeed a middle way, and that I could find enough truth and merit in the church to stay with it. I was also still conditioned enough to think that I couldn't leave the church - I am not sure why I felt that way, but I do remember thinking I could not resign, and wondering what "people would say."

Since that time, I've realized that (for me, at least) nothing about the church is true or has integrity. It is not even a real church - I grew up in other churches and I know whereof I speak. Also since that time, the huge volume of lies I learned about almost rocked my lifelong faith in a higher being. My faith is very important to me, and so is my integrity, so I turned in my TR, and I resigned.

So - NOM is now "an online site and group of friends" for me; it is no longer a way to stay active in the church, or even stay a member. I think NOM can fill that goal for some people, since everyone find their own comfort zone. For me, the church would have to have been a real church, and I now feel it is not a church and has never been one.

[ulmite]

I'm walking the path down the middle way, pursuing spirituality within the context of Mormonism.
I think much of this board is coping with not estranging TBM's who are close to them. I've been lucky enough to have parents who have already transitioned, and no other mormons are super close to me. (I'm far far away from Utah.) I think the current form of this board fills three purposes :
A- giving people a landing space to calmly sift through the mess correlation has swept under the rug, with encouragement from other people
B- giving those same people a few months later a place to vent a bit on the sometimes stifling LDS culture
C- giving ex/post-mos with TBM spouses/family a place to exchange moral support when crises occur, and also vent, and also have a group of friends.
I'd tentatively associate a number of posts to each category :
A- 0-10
B- 10-100
C- 100+
Of course, going through a faith crisis when you're a teenager is less world-shattering than as say a married 40-year old, so the mental sifting out required is highly personal.
The minute number of posts on the Staying Faithful thread speaks volumes about how few people choose to stay involved spiritually.
I'm considering going fully inactive on this board. I found it very useful over the past two years (was lurking on NOM.org and tried to join right before it crashed). I can't say for sure, but I think NOM2 is somewhat more bitter than NOM1, perhaps because long-time posters are more deeply affected by the subject of mormonism, and they make up a lot of the post volume here.
One positive thing to close this post : since my faith transition, I have become much more open about my religion. I no longer have to defend it when I tell people about it. I can tell people I'm busy Sunday mornings, and give them the reason (Church attendance) without fearing having to explain my kinda weird religion. I can invite non-members to Church-related social events and I feel confident enough to answer any of their questions. Essentially, unlike the apologist, I do not have to defend mormonism. I need only defend my spirituality, which I am now comfortable with.

[Hagoth]

Ulmite reminded my definition NOM that I had forgotten about: a soft landing spot for Mormons in transition and a launchpad for the next phase of their journey.

[Its_Complicated]

I love all these responses and perspectives on this thread!

Out of the online communities I am a part of, this community is one where I feel most at home. We have many good perspectives here, a beginning of a real community of like minded people. There is also some real thinkers, open minded folks and those who allow for the journey though this complicated life we have. We aren't always anti, we don't always agree, there are TBMs among us and those of us who are middle wayers. That diversity unites us and is doing real ministry to those who seek us out. That is awesome and I appreciate all the posts and all the reads.

NOM is special, it was at 1.0 , now 2.0 where we have even more possibilities of helping those who need it. Thank you, even if you do not believe anymore, you are making a difference for someone! Let's keep helping and being there for folks!