Being an active Mormon doesn't usually include being frank about Mormonism. What you like or don't like about your Church. Since the assumption is that the whole thing is God's one and only true Church, guided by a prophet who receives revelation from God, very few people criticize the Church in the open. Obviously, I am no exception. What I offer is one person's view and opinion. Not an 'Insider's' view. The Mopologists (Mormon apologists) had a field day with Grant Palmer for claiming to offer that. It is simply my view. You may find it illuminating and you may hate it. You may have any number of reactions depending on who you are, what you believe, and whether you like your mattress or not. It is here for you to read if you so choose.
So what kind of Mormon am I? My ancestors joined the Mormon Church as far back as the mid' 1830s. Several of them were in the infamous Martin handcart company that got caught in extreme winter conditions, costing the lives of many who sought to join the saints in Deseret (Utah plus). I served a mission in California, married a wonderful woman in the temple, and graduated from BYU. Over the course of my time in Provo, I became increasingly weary of Happy Valley, its wards, and the school that dominates both landscape and culture: BYU. I also started to question the whys and wherefores of the Mormon faith. I remain an active member to this day, but I won't kid you. I am nowhere close to happy with the LDS Church.
So what I am doing here is telling you how I see it, regardless of outside influences. I doubt many will agree with everything I have to say, whether they be anti-Mormon, TBM (true blue or true believing Mormon), liberal Mormon, ex-Mormon, or what have you. Some of this is a riff on things that I have read on one of the big Mormon discussion boards like ZLMB or FAIR. My intention is not to pick on individual participants from these boards. It's true that I often disagree with them. My aim instead is to have a place where what I say will not be moderated. I rarely said anything that the average person would find offensive, but I regularly found my posts edited by moderators at FAIR. You should see the moderating on FAIR. The rationale behind it, if you can call it that, escapes interpretation. Anyway, if I do this thing right, and represent my views as they actually are, nobody should be perfectly happy. That's just the way I want it.
