Well. When my parents were first married my dad got a 'vision' that he needed to go and be a part of this polygamist group, because it was more of the traditional kind of Mormonism (the U.S. forced the Mormons to give up polygamy or they wouldn't make Utah a state), and so when I was about a year old we moved to a small town in central Utah where there was a polygamist group. We were there for seven years, and I remember it being an amazing childhood. I didn't seem to care or recognize that it was some cracked-out cult, I just had fun with my family and friends and toys, just being a kid. My dad "married" another girl (yes, girl; she was 17 at the time) so that was different to have two "moms" in the house, even though I knew Amandah (my dad's second wife) wasn't my mom in any way. After we left the cult I always referred to Amandah as my older sister, because she literally could have been.
When the millenium was approaching our leader got a sign or vision or whatever that that's when Jesus was gonna come, in 2000. We bought lots of expensive food and flowers, basically having this whole feast and shit for when Jesus came. But of course he didn't come, so all our effort was wasted. That was kind of the final blow to my parents' belief. They'd had doubts before that, and it was slowly going downhill, but I think the Jesus thing was the final straw. We'd visited Disneyland, and we watched world traveling shows on PBS (specifically Globe Trekker ♥ ); I remember my dad saying once that around then, that's when he started to realize there was a whole world out there, and that it was so much more important than our little cult.
So we left the cult in summer 2000, I think, and just got away from religion. I think back then I still thought there was a God, because I remember praying in my bed one night when I was desperate about something. I don't remember what it was about, but it was kinda like "if you're really there, please help me with this". As I started to open my horizons and learn about science and stuff, it just naturally lead to atheism. I was a pretty hardcore atheist until about a year ago, when I realized that I didn't really want to label myself that way and get put in that group. Not that I don't like atheists, it's just that that term has such a negative connotation these days. One day there was a story on the news about some scandal with the 10 Commandments in a government building, that kind of crap, and there was an atheist guy and he had a sign that said all this stuff like, "There is no God; there are no fairies; there are no unicorns" etc etc. And it was just so off-putting to me. I didn't want to be associated with a group that went around saying they know there is no God, because they don't know. It's just as bad as any Bible thumper going around saying they know there is a God. We don't know anything. That's when I kinda went back to agnosticism. I still don't think there's any kind of God, I just know I can't prove it.
It's actually not that hard to be agnostic/atheist in Utah, unless you let it get to you. We used to hate it, but then you realize that this is where you are and you have to deal with it. There are a lot of open-minded people here; they're just not the majority. That's the stereotype I don't like. Sure, it's not wrong to assume that Utah is full of Mormons, just like it wouldn't be wrong to assume that Mexico is full of Catholics. But it is wrong to assume that everyone in Utah is a Mormon, because that's not true. I just try to ignore the local news and just live my own life. It's hard to ignore the presence of Mormonism when you live right behind a church, but...it's not that bad. What's cool is that sometimes it's actually really easy to tell who's a Mormon and who's not, so that narrows down who you'll associate with. ;) No, I'm not particularly outspoken about it outside my immediate family, because all my extended family is still Mormon. We bitch about how stupid Mormonism (and other religion) is sometimes, but I'm not like militaristic about it or anything.
Wow, sorry for the rant. But you had a question so I answered it! XD
When the millenium was approaching our leader got a sign or vision or whatever that that's when Jesus was gonna come, in 2000. We bought lots of expensive food and flowers, basically having this whole feast and shit for when Jesus came. But of course he didn't come, so all our effort was wasted. That was kind of the final blow to my parents' belief. They'd had doubts before that, and it was slowly going downhill, but I think the Jesus thing was the final straw. We'd visited Disneyland, and we watched world traveling shows on PBS (specifically Globe Trekker ♥ ); I remember my dad saying once that around then, that's when he started to realize there was a whole world out there, and that it was so much more important than our little cult.
So we left the cult in summer 2000, I think, and just got away from religion. I think back then I still thought there was a God, because I remember praying in my bed one night when I was desperate about something. I don't remember what it was about, but it was kinda like "if you're really there, please help me with this". As I started to open my horizons and learn about science and stuff, it just naturally lead to atheism. I was a pretty hardcore atheist until about a year ago, when I realized that I didn't really want to label myself that way and get put in that group. Not that I don't like atheists, it's just that that term has such a negative connotation these days. One day there was a story on the news about some scandal with the 10 Commandments in a government building, that kind of crap, and there was an atheist guy and he had a sign that said all this stuff like, "There is no God; there are no fairies; there are no unicorns" etc etc. And it was just so off-putting to me. I didn't want to be associated with a group that went around saying they know there is no God, because they don't know. It's just as bad as any Bible thumper going around saying they know there is a God. We don't know anything. That's when I kinda went back to agnosticism. I still don't think there's any kind of God, I just know I can't prove it.
It's actually not that hard to be agnostic/atheist in Utah, unless you let it get to you. We used to hate it, but then you realize that this is where you are and you have to deal with it. There are a lot of open-minded people here; they're just not the majority. That's the stereotype I don't like. Sure, it's not wrong to assume that Utah is full of Mormons, just like it wouldn't be wrong to assume that Mexico is full of Catholics. But it is wrong to assume that everyone in Utah is a Mormon, because that's not true. I just try to ignore the local news and just live my own life. It's hard to ignore the presence of Mormonism when you live right behind a church, but...it's not that bad. What's cool is that sometimes it's actually really easy to tell who's a Mormon and who's not, so that narrows down who you'll associate with. ;) No, I'm not particularly outspoken about it outside my immediate family, because all my extended family is still Mormon. We bitch about how stupid Mormonism (and other religion) is sometimes, but I'm not like militaristic about it or anything.
Wow, sorry for the rant. But you had a question so I answered it! XD
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