Want out of the LDS Religion?

Fill in the blanks and send the following email to: dodgegw@ldschurch.org



My name is ____________. My birth date is __________. I was baptized and confirmed on __________________. I hereby resign my membership from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I hereby terminate my consent to be treated as a member of said church and I withdraw my consent to submit to the church's beliefs and ecclesiastical disciplinary procedures. You must now treat me as a nonmember in all your dealings with me. From this day forward, I expect that my name will be removed from all church records, and that I will not be contacted by any church representatives for any reason, except via email verification of the receipt of this resignation.

Saw this post today on a discussion board

It was in relation to a Muslim center being built near ground zero in NYC.

"I, like many others, are repulsed by the mindless tea party crowd! As we've witnessed so many times in the past/present, politics/religion are an unhealthy alliance that breeds extremists who are volatile, dangerous people! Reason is thrown to the wind, rights are selectively marginalized, freedoms are denied/ Government is villainized! In our world, conservative republican, right-wing fringe paranoia is reinforced by mindless, vindictive, hateful rhetoric/bigotry! Their message is loud/clear! These divisive purveyors of hate care about themselves/ their agenda exclusively... the rest be damned! Rebuttal to this disgusting mindset is required, must be convincing, to the point/capable of clearly exposing a low-life agenda so all can plainly see who they are/what they are about! These fanatics cannot be allowed to spew hate without consequence! Rational people, muslim community, State/Local Governments are trying to undo the damage that has been done! We'll have to see how it all works out! "
victim

One video I saw was a person I know talking to Fundie Christians at the site. They wanted to have mosques banned all over the US. What about our rights and freedoms in America? That goes against the constitution and bill of rights. The fundies are their own flavor of the Taliban. Just a Christian one.

Saw a neat quote that really says it all about apologists.

AngelicFerret:

Evidence only counts if it confirms your beliefs.

Apologists have everything to lose when it comes to belief about their beliefs. They will count evidence only if it confirms their beliefs but will deny it is it does not.

Great quote that I read today...

"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped int the flag and carrying a cross." -- Sinclair Lewis 1835

I believe it. When we look at the Christian Right and what they want to do, it is nothing short of fascism.

http://www.veteranstoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Fascist-Palin-and-Tea-Party.jpg

Gonna get a broken heart fixed

My cardiologist agreed to do bypass surgery on me in December. We're waiting to the end of the semester so I can teach my class with hopefully no interruption. Having daily angina but can manage it at this point. Trying to exercise more and lose some weight to get ready for the procedure. It is a minimally invasive arterial bypass. My circumflex is completely blocked. So hopefully by Christmas I get a new lease on life.

religion really is a problem.

Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it, you’d have good people doing good things and evil people doing bad things, but for good people to do bad things, it takes religion.” ~ Steven Weinberg

Apologetics

Religious apologists are some very interesting people. It is amazing to me what hoops they jump through and how they convolute things to help "prove" their beliefs.

Here is one of their techniques...

Proof by verbosity - a rhetorical technique that tries to persuade by overwhelming those considering an argument with such a volume of material that the argument sounds plausible, superficially appears to be well-researched, and it is so laborious to untangle and check supporting facts that the argument might be allowed to slide by unchallenged.


They also like to use the proof by resorting to smarter people...

"I am smarter and far more well-read than you are. Leave these troublesome matters to your spiritual and intellectual superiors. Go back to reading your faith promoting material and 'strengthening your testimony'- there is nothing to see here."