Hi all,

I've been lurking here for a few months now, just going through the archives and finding comfort in the stories of those of you who are successfully out of the Morg, especially those who have brought their families out with them.

I'm an Exmo dad who is still married to his high school sweetheart. We have a 3.75 year old son who is the sweetest boy on this planet, and have a baby girl "bun" in the oven.

I'm 31 years old, and have been in and out of the Morg since I was a teenager. I skipped out on as much seminary as possible because it was such an early-morning drag, preferring to go hang out at the school library instead. I left home at 18 rather than stay with my parents, who I knew would pressure me to go on a mission. My dad was an uber-Mormon, and it was hell on Earth for somebody who didn't believe.

Fast forward several years, and I'm dating the girl I dated in high school, forcing my poor brain to re-believe everything about TSCC that I had every reason to believe was false. What can I say...I was carrying a torch for this girl for years, and my Mormon-brainwashed mind still thought I couldn't find happiness with a girl outside the church. We got married, I went back to church and "repented" of my "sins" (I seriously thought I was screwed up at the time), and we eventually got sealed in the Oakland, CA temple.

When we found out that she was pregnant, I started going a little crazy in the head. Here I was, a dad-to-be, and I realized that if I wasn't absolutely sure about the church being true, I had no business raising a kid to be Mormon. This coincided with me going to Navy Officer Candidate School for three months, so I had little time to even think about the church. I came back with my new Navy-issued brainwashing installed, and with the church-issued brainwashing uninstalled. I guess I ran out of give-a-crap with regard to trying to force my brain to conform with the box that was the church.

Now, after a few arguments with my wife where I explained to her how difficult it was to try to pretend to be a Mormon when my intellect knew how false it was, we've come to a detente. She goes to church with our son, I stay home and do what I want, and she tries to raise our son as a Mormon while I try to teach him to think for himself.

My favorite technique for teaching him critical thinking skills is to teach him sleight of hand so he can understand that "magic" is really just trickery. I think it's pretty effective. I also read to him at night, from a set of children's encyclopedias from the 1960s that show how things work, where things come from, and so on.

Now, I know the haters will scream at me for not laying down the law and telling my wife to leave our son at home on Sundays. I can only say that I love them both and that I think it is only a matter of time before they will both stay home on Sundays. Until then, I try not to drive her away with demands that she would think unreasonable. It's what works for me, at this time.

Anyway, I'm glad to stop lurking and start being a part of this board. No way I'll post as much as Insanad, since I've still got a full-time job and such, but I'm here.

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MoDaddyP
ExMo Dad with a wife and kid(s) still on the inside...planning their jailbreak as we speak.

Welcome MoDaddyP,
You are very considerate to begin to try and build a very secure safety net for when the LDS bottom falls out from underneath your unsuspecting wife and the rest of the family. Once the fraud of Mormonism finally comes to a rest, eventually exposing the need for something much better, to fill the needs for a happy and healthy home.

I'm inspired, I hope you are too.

_________________
God of Poly-Folly Folly

{ If you believe in things that you don't understand, then you suffer ~ Stevie Wonder }
.................. www.­tudou.­com/­programs/­view/­7Q0q-­Vv8sHQ/
.............. http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/7Q0q-Vv8sHQ/
.................. www.tudou.com/programs/view/7Q0q-Vv8sHQ/


God of Poly-Folly Folly

Hi, MoDaddyP. Welcome.

I'm so grateful that I was the only Mormon in my family. It used to be a source of sorrow for me, sitting in church without a family. But I turned out to be the lucky one.

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"A mind stretched by a new idea can never go back to its original dimensions." - Oliver Wendell Holmes

Hello and welcome Dad,

Such a warm and sincere introduction that has a catchment plan installed as well...being there to catch her softly when she falls...keep us up to date with your safety net efforts and results...

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"When authority masquerades as a power, a simple question will unmask it."

"Just because you think, feel, or believe something is true, doesn't make it true!"

"The doubt of your faith, is not God testing you, but truth trying to emerge and free you."

Welcome ExModad. I look forward to your posts.



http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt ... s%3Disch:1

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Tim 4:3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine..they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

Welcome! Believe me, we can all relate to your story. Don't think that how you are handling the situation is wrong. You have to do what is necessary to keep your family together, and only you understands the circumstances and day to day issues you face. Your family is the most important thing. Make sure your wife understands that. However you move forward, maintain that base and work from there. I would certainly urge your wife to be involved here if possible. I always believed that any true religion should be able to prove itself true against any opposing evidence. If Mormonism doesn't stand up to the facts spoken against it, then how can it be true? Glad to have you here. Use this as a resource and a place to seek encouragement.

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"We establish no religion in this country, we command no worship, we mandate no belief, nor will we ever. Church and state are, and must remain separate."
Ronald Reagan

Hi Exmo dad,

I am a never-Mo, yet I care a great deal about people both inside and outside of the Mormon faith.

I have read an author's site (Jim Whitefield) where he has found that if a couple studies together, and finds the truth at the same time, it is much better than one of them confronting the other with the truth out of the blue.

Richard Packham is an example of a man who studied alone and then brought what he had found to his wife; that destroyed his marrage. I heard him share that in a podcast.

I think it is great that you are still maried to your sweetheart; I wish the best for you.

I really enjoyed reading your heartfelt intro and hope you do well here.

Rich Kelsey

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"Asking God if a story is true, with the only acceptable answer being, 'Yes,' may not be a sound method to finding God’s guidance in the matter." — Rich Kelsey
http://richkelsey.org/joseph_smith's_first_vision.htm

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~Neither Sinner nor Saint, I am simply Myself~
~Je regrette rien~

"Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup"

Another suggestion...get a copy of Brodies'No ManKnows My History' and leave it out in some conspicuous place...its just well footnoted, documented Church history...might develop some curosity or questions for her to consider...changes like we talk about here, have to start from within...she has to do it for herself, nobody else can do it for her...

_________________
"When authority masquerades as a power, a simple question will unmask it."

"Just because you think, feel, or believe something is true, doesn't make it true!"

"The doubt of your faith, is not God testing you, but truth trying to emerge and free you."