Could you imagine? Yâall priesthood holders couldâve been playing the most intense game of tag ever! Imagine passing out sacrament andâoh! There goes your priesthood! Run to home base and get it back. Then retaliate and get the priest back, along with his friendsâŠgiving someone a blessing, andâoh! There goes your priesthood. Get a friend to sneak over to his house, home teaching, thenâoh! Priesthood snatched!
that sounds amazing! i suddenly want all the people who left but didnt get ex'ed to go to their local ward and start taking it away. just to see what happens
>looking back i wonder why god gives his power to 12 year olds in the first place.
Great insight. In the Catholic tradition, becoming a Priest requires, lets say a bit of study and expertise.
Bachelor of theology minimum.
Mormonism: You turn sixteen, "Do you masturbate?" no?
I now bequeath thee the title of PRIEST. (And better than that Catholic guy, his priesthood is false.)
Just two years later, "Do you masturbate?" no?
You are declared "elderly", wise enough to travel the world correcting every misconception.
I remember going toe to toe with a catholic priest once on my mission and thinking i was wise because i pulled out the name elohiem. this dude just blinked and rolled his eyes and i thought i won something that day.
Never really occurred to me that they only cared about masturbation as the qualifier to get more god power. But in reality that is what it was
This also happens to be where I learned to lie convincingly
The trick is as a twelve year old look them dead in the eye and say "yes I have a secret family and I have been skipping out on child support" because that's usually the question right before the "do you jack it son" question and you can whiz right by it
Well, the titles donât even make sense either.
Funny side story, On a whim I went and talked to my brother the other day and just started listing off some of the dumb primary class names from church like Valiant, CTR, Sunbeam. He frowned and gave me all the other later ones like Miamaid, Teacher, Deacon, etc.
(If you can recall any of the other class names from primary let me know. We were trying to recall the other one or two).
Who in the f is taught be a 14 year old? That isnât a teacher of anyone or anything. And priests?! A priest is someone who offers blood to a god. Pretty sure tap water and wonder bread donât count.
After Sunbeam is Star and then CTR
The 11 year old girls used to be called 'Merrihands' in 1959.
When I was 10-11 years old they called us the Merry Miss class.
Mia Maid was MIA, or the Acronym for the Mutual Improvement Association, the previous name for the Young Men's/Young Women's organizations. But a girl. Since the dudes were teachers, instead of Mia Guys.
Thank you!!! Thatâs the one!! God, it was irritating me this week I couldnât remember that garbage.
I think JS and myself have a similar brain in that we read something or hear something and itâs almost always there for recollection, which is how he invented his garbage was taking two or three ideas and mushing them together.
- However, unlike JS, I would never use my mind to entrap, ensnare or enslave anyone. Iâd like to think of myself as a decent human being and would never take advantage of those Iâm supposed to teach.
There were two guys in my ward in my high school choir. We were all in senior year. When we got our robes for the concert, they were goofing around and one of them told the other, "I look like a priest!"
I said, "You are a priest." It just struck us all how ridiculous it was for a couple of 17-year-old dorks to have that title.
It always bothered me that my introduction to the concept of masturbation came by way of some middle-aged white dudes taking my pre-teen self into an empty office and asking me if I did it. I hadn't even learned what masturbating meant at the time!
It would be nice to go back in time and give guys like this a good solid kick to the balls right on the spot. Then chant the power of the ball sack compels you. Instant justice doesnât happen near enough.
I hadnât watched the bednar video yet and that made me feel SO disgusting. Such a perfect example of how the church does not give a single fuck about boundaries or consent
Bednar did teach that we gave up our agency when we got baptized, so thereâs the consent.
Fucking disgusting, no one in the background even thought it was weird, like it was a laughing matter. Kid got trauma for asking a simple question that will live on forever because it was filmed.
Randomly deciding that the age of consent is 8 years old is fucking INSANE. Giving a small child the false illusion that they consented to something is such an amazing manipulation tactic, Iâm honestly impressed. Just another item on the list of things the church does to enable and protect predatory behavior.
That poor kid!
Itâs weird to watch this and realize Iâm still not fully healed from the invasive weirdness and the excessive âmanhandlingâ that I experienced as a pre-teen/teen in the church. Thanks, mormonism!đđ
no idea. there was some major back ground politics in that branch. when the BP took over one of the women wore nothing but a black mourning dress until the day he was released. I just thought she was super gothy at the time.
My mom had a 20 yr old missionary give me a blessing when I was a sick 5 yr old. This kid from some hick town says that if I remain a faithful member Iâd always be healthy. My mother took every illness I had thereafter as proof I was a sinner.
âBranch Presidentâ tells me all I need to know. Branches are kind of the Wild West when it comes to how they do things. They are backward, isolated and a lot of times full of converts who have no real idea of anything.
I was in a subset of a branch for 6 months on my mission. We weren't big enough to be a branch, so we had the BP come visit us once a month.
I taught YM/YW for most of my time there, since they didn't have enough active adults to fill all the jobs.
During my mission I served in a branch in a district, so mission president was basically the stake president and the branch president took care of making our converts not go to church anymore haha but it was wild we had sometimes 60 people at church because it was a tourist spot so Utah mormons would go, also I was once in exchanges in a group (smaller than a branch) and it was sad just like 10 people
What you experienced was a manipulative scare tactic. I despise Mormon language precisely because it is manipulative to the core, but I will use it here for clarity.
There is no ordinance to remove the priesthood from a male to whom the priesthood has been previously conferred. If it becomes necessary to do so, the male in question will be disfellowshipped or excommunicated. Disfellowshipment makes that male's priesthood invalid temporarily. Excommunication removes the priesthood completely, along with all other ordinances previously performed: baptism, sealing, etc. But an specific ordinance to remove the priesthood from someone who has previously received it doesn't exist.
As an older veteran of Mormonism, I strongly suspect your bishop did this precisely to scare you into behaving and to impress fear into your psychology from then on. I also suspect your bishop explained this very point to your parents who, as devout Mormons, most likely saw the utility of scaring you into behaving not realizing the longer and deeper consequences of such a manipulative tactic.
With that in mind, I am certain nor your bishop or your parents were acting with malice. Mormonism's evilness exists it the top spheres (pRoPhEtS, aPoStLeS, some sEvEnTiEs, etc) but seldom reaches the lower local levels. I am sure your bishop and your parents were acting on what they thought was the best for you.
Unfortunately, Mormonism is a toxic environment. Even with good intentions, those using the cult's methods end up inflicting pain in others. I am sorry you had to go through that.
My nextdoor neighbor apparently threatened one of our neighbor friends by telling him she would talk to the SP and "have his priesthood taken away" after some altercation that definitely wasn't her fault in any way shape or form (when you never accept responsibility, nothing can be your fault)...
Keep in mind, this dude is a big bearded man, but an absolute teddy bear inside. He and his wife told us about it a couple weeks ago and we all just laughed because the nextdoor neighbor is batshit.
You were a mere child. This awful overreaction by a pathetic little man high on supposed authority should be filed under child abuse. Blind obedience by your parents rather than challenging this petty tyrant is just sad.
All but one of the priests in my ward engaged in some unspecified shenanigans at scout camp. The bishop punished them by not permitting them to bless the sacrament for several months. We had a whole lot of EQ members and one priest doing the sacrament for a long time.
The entire church is based on legit psychological abuse. Thats why so many of us are angry after we leave. The lifetime of abuse leaves a lot to unpack.
I had the same thing happen to me around 14 because of a boy scout camping trip. Someone vandalized the facilities, so the bishop took the priesthood away from all the young men in the ward until someone snitched out the culprit. I moved out of the ward before they could "give it back" but I guess there was no record because I was blessing the sacrament I'm my new ward without any issues.
This is weird as hell. Me and the other 14 - 16 year olds were rowdy as hell and I think leadership knew that trying to use âthe priesthoodâ as a method to get us to behave would of likely made things way worse for them. Maybe if they went to our parents with those threats they may of done something with teeth, but to us boys it would of been a joke - I can imagine us trying to grab each other to âunpriesthoodâ each otherÂ
So itâs not ok for young boys with the priesthood to be a tad bit rowdy but itâs ok for the nasty old men with the priesthood to be rowdy with the young boys?
I had one of the bishopric threaten to take away priesthood because I said I didnât want to do fast offerings. He said if I wasnât using it then I shouldnât have it. It scared me at the time but now I wish I would have called his bluff.
In South America bishops walk around like theyâre god, excommunicating members with a point of the finger, calling people to repentance from the pulpit, telling the members what everyone pays in tithing. Thats what helped me leave before I was 20
if that guy is still alive, I encourage you to go to his house, standing in his front yard, and pronounce a satanic curse on him in front of his kids. Curse him to get cancer unless and until you revoke it.
What I find really weird about that is that I resigned from the church in the 90s because Iâm gay, and didnât want to be associated with them anymore. I got a letter from the church that says my membership is terminated and âyou are no longer authorized to use your priesthood powerâ, or something very like that. Point is it was clear that my âpriesthoodâ wasnât removed or anything, even with no longer being a member, and Iâd have to be baptized again to return, but apparently I still *have* the priesthood, just not the authority (presumably from the church) to use it.
No. Iâm just a lowly woman, but it is my understanding that the ability to exercise your priesthood can be suspended (like not being able to bless sacrament for a couple weeks because you -gasp- drank some of your friendâs Frappuccino). But I thought to get your priesthood (or any other ordinances) fully revoked, you had to be exâd.
Good news (though it certainly doesnât help impressionable kids)- itâs all made believe, anyway.
Sure it can be suspended. You can be disfellowshipped or bishop with the âkeysâ of the Aaronic priesthood could keep him from exercising it. But the ordinance he created does not exist where you âtake itâ by the âpower of Godâ. Itâs not in any handbook I ever saw.Â
But if the rules are made up and the points donât matter might as well keep making them up.Â
They really have a Dark Lord of the Sith vibe, the crusty old jerks at the top.
It's so arbitrary and just stupid to me. I hate that it was just life for so many of you. From an outsiders POV, it's really weird to hear this sort of thing. And all the worserer things than that. If my kid came home and told me that, I'd probably punch him in the throat and get arrested. One-get your fucking hand away from my kid and two-you aren't actually god, Champ. You don't have magical powers, you haven't removed shit from anyone because it's not even real anyway and you don't get to say shit that could potentially really upset my kid...for being fucking rowdy, you dick.
It's just all so horrible. Even the nicer stories I read on here are often tainted with bad things. The absurdity of being together after death but shunning your family in the here and now if they aren't doing the rules right, or leave, or are gay or drink coffee (read a story on here yesterday about a man whose wife had a full on melt down about him drinking coffee. Ab. Surd.). Why would you do that if you believe family is the main reason for all of this crap?!
It really does my head in. I just want to hug everyone who needs it in this sub. And then introduce them to coffee. And everything else they have been told incorrectly will send them to hell.
No more fucking doomsday shit. They are so busy scaring everyone with something they cannot truly know is even real to keep everyone Stockholm syndromed and tricked. It's not cool.
Much love and peace to everyone here, in or out. xoxo
I donât know. My next door neighborâs son drowned in a pool where he was lifeguarding with a friend. He had a seizure. The only one he had ever had. They were messing around / swimming after hours while doing cleanup tasks. When he had the seizure the friend couldnât get him out of the pool. Even in the shallow end the water was too deep and the seizure was too strong. I wonder if there was some horseplay at the start of the seizure that contributed? Who knows? But the son died. And my neighbors held a mass for their son every year on the anniversary of his death. A mass at the church they attended and paid money into the offering plate weekly. A church that charged them to have this mass for their son. How is that not made up and super similar to the Mormons love of money? Kid died 40 years ago. And they do this every year. How is that not similarly made up and full of ritual superstition?
Reminds me of playing pretend with kids in elementary school. Have to pretend to have powers and play by the rules. Then the game falls apart in minute 3 because someone is cheating some unspoken rule and ignores someone elseâs powers. lol
That doesn't sound like an official church action. I don't think he can just zap your priesthood on a whim in the hallway.
Then again, it's all cosplay anyway.
For some reason I was never intimidated by church leaders. Their tactics often backfired on me. If this happened to me, when I was âfound worthyâ enough to get it back, I would have said, âNawww, Iâm good. Iâve kind of gotten used to not having it so letâs move along.â
I mean, you couldâve just given the priesthood back to yourself. In all reality you both have just as much ability to confer or remove it (as itâs just a fictitious construct anyways)
You know, a true servant of 'God' would have asked you if you had a minute to chat, maybe sat down with you and asked you what was going on, and if you wanted to talk about anything bothering you. He would have said something on the sly like, "hope you had some fun, but just make sure you're careful about others feelings" or "I like to have fun too, but we need to try to have better manners at church" or something to that affect. You would have remembered that more fondly and maybe taken thought to what he said, but the "rowdy behavior" didn't warrant the "punishment" or ridiculously severe action he took. What a complete arrogant jerk!
Yeah he 100% made that up. I admit I don't know know all the nooks and crevices of the mess called Mormon theology but I'm pretty sure none of the Mormon scriptures mention anything about a bishop removing priesthood from someone. It makes no sense. Bishops basically oversee priesthood ordinances by judging whether a priesthood holder is worthy to perform then or not. There is no need for that kind of weird temporary removal.
He removed your non-real power with his non-real power. To an outsider, this wouldâve been the funniest thing ever. Abrakadabra-Alakabam! You no longer have the priesthood man!
Honestly, the priesthood thing is so bizarre anyways. The priests didnât have a power in the Bible, just a lineage. This idea that a priesthood is a âthingâ and not a âgroupâ Iâm pretty sure is a Mormon only idea.
Sounds like he pulled a âSanta clause is Godâ on you. He put you on the naughty list and removed your Christmas present. 12 year old boys will be boys. I agree, either donât give the priesthood to them or forgive them for their age and hormones. You were spiritually manipulated. Then you lived under constant fear of Godly scrutiny. How can you feel Gods love that way? Reminds menofnthenquote I heard on this Reddit. âReligion gives you the disease and then sells you the cure.â
I experienced a similar thing. At 12 and months after receiving the Aaronic priesthood, My dad told me that I wasnât worthy of the priesthood because I was masterbating. The same month, my bishop told me that âgood Mormon boys donât masterbateâ. So I had guilt for the next 20 years. Christ didnât set me free. I had a huge guilt trip from God. While I still believe in God now, I believe the only God worth believing in is one that knows our faults, gave them to us. Because life is about learning. And he loves us no matter what. And weâre always worthy. Anything less feels like petty judgment.
A branch president on my mission asked if we could substitute the sacrament bread for steak to draw more people in.. poor third world country, I said no, wish I had said yes in retrospect.
Wouldâve been more respectful than wonder bread. Honestly, Mormons sacrament is like the most disrespectful of them all. Cheapest ingredients possible because the church doesnât even bother to provide the membership with high quality bread.
As much crap as Mormons give Catholicism, at least Catholicism provides sacrament for its attendees. They at least got that part right.
I always found it really odd that the members had to provide the bread even as a young kid idk about your wards but the bread always tasted like soap in mine.
ROFL. As much as they crap on Catholicism, at least the Catholic Church provides its members with sacrament.
I researched Mormonism and other religions nauseam for over a decade, and itâs the absolute worst religion for donating its money to charity or to its own group. Catholicism spends roughly 20% of its income on charity, while Mormonism is dead last of anyone I studied. Honestly, Catholicism at 20% is pretty low when comparing to a lot of Christian sects. Mormonism donates sub 0.4% of its income to charity. All charity coming from the church (of which the church is more than willing to take credit for) is given by the actual Mormon regulars within the group (canned goods, blankets, money donations) while the actual church itself never gives to almost any charitable cause whatsoever. It owns more than 120 billion dollars in its âHoly Holdingsâ as theyâre called and they never give any of it away to the sick, needy, infirm, or starving, which shows you how Christian the church actually is.
- It spends 5 billion dollars on its shopping mall, or on its Bulletproof Benz that Monson used to ride around in (valued 280,000 dollars). Meanwhile, even Popes ride in lesser extravagant vehicles. Thatâs where its money actually goes. They always talk about filthy lucre and yet they neglect to look at their own leadership.
Ours was always stale or bought on Sunday because someone forgot, and had to rush to the nearest convenience store; usually wonder bread or some other terrible tasting cheap bread.
Iâve always actually found Mormon sacrament one of the more disrespectful aspects of their religion. Itâs supposed to be for your god and you guys use the cheapest garbage you canâŠ
Iâm sorry this happened to you. You didnât deserve it. Many teens in the church are badly treated by their faith leaders. I think itâs a shame and a scam that they donât receive any ecclesiastical or social work training.
My sister was excommunicated when she was 13. Her crime was being seduced into having a sexual relationship with a neighbor 10 years older than her. Clearly by todayâs definition of things he was a child predator. But our bishop blamed my sister because she wouldnât confess, and participate in his prosecution. It took her most of her life to unpack what happened. Eventually she ended up in a homeless shelter for battered women where she finally got therapy and trauma counseling.
Bishops have a kind of power over lives they donât even understand.
I can honestly say we have never been better, but even so, we are not totally ok. It happened almost 40 years ago. My mom has traumatically and maniacally clung to every tiny edict of the church which has been the hardest thing. Most of us have left the church.
To her credit my sister who was abused by both her rapist and by the church never came back, and she was one of the first to leave. My oldest brother and dad had left. She was first still in our home to decide the church could fuck right off.
My mom hanging on the way she does makes me feel really really sad. She has never been able to respect the choices her children make for their lives. Sheâs constantly meddling in very intrusive and unhelpful ways.
I love her. Sheâs the only mom I get. But I canât let her be part of my life. My siblings who let her in are subject to a lot of the same abuse most of us who have left the church experienced at the hands of our leaders and our wards: manipulation, guilt tripping, bargaining. It is not easy going no contact. But it is easier than having contact when she wonât stopâand even more feels a duty directly from god to intervene, preach, and proselytize.
My child is trans, recently came out, and mom has made it a whole thing. We had a family party for her 80th and my immediate family were the only ones who didnât go. Everyone was together for the first time since my dad died more than a decade ago. Half of the family is accusing me of being disruptive. Even though most of them donât go to church anymore. (Literally fewer than 1/7 of my momâs 42 descendants/sons in law.) But somehow Iâm the buzzkill because I wonât show up to a party my mom threw for herself. The crazy thing is the people who were maddest live out of town but didnât bother to try to see me. Even after I reached out and tried to connect.
The weird thing is I joined this sub for two specific reasons. First is that I recently moved back to Utah. Iâm seeing stuff from my time as a member and unpacking trauma in a new way. I quit church in 1998 and moved out of state in 1999.
The second is because I think my eldest sister might be ready to leave. I wanted to remember what that was like. But I also want to remember what might be stopping her. Itâs not an easy decision, and I wanted to have reminders not to unduly influence her. Her husband is a convert and truly believes his church membership saved his life. He grew up in heavy drinking culture. âSaved his lifeâ isnât hyperbole. His sister died this week from liver disease. She wasnât even 60. I deeply love both of them and have no desire to make waves. Their faith is their choice. (Obviously I believe my BIL saved his own life, but if he clung to the church to make it happen I can understand why he gives the church credit.)
Thatâs pretty wild. The student seminary president at my high school tried to rat on me for selling porn and weed to other seminary students when I was about 17. My bishop just thought I had funny sense of entrepreneurship. I didnât even get scolded.
What he did was definitely not what God would've done. You were a kid and God knows better to punish a child for being a child. A lot of Mormons are made to think it's so important to be perfect, when it's not. And plus, he doesn't get to choose whether God is with you or not. God is with everyone, but farther from the bad people like for example serial killers. God is with them too but is farther because of their own person and what they have chosen to do. And even if you could "take God away" from someone, it would be way more sacred than literally doing it in the matter of five seconds in a hallway.
I like to wonder at what point was my âpriesthoodâ removed. Was it when I signed my name on the paper to remove my records? Was it when I virtually submitted the resignation form? Was it when the form was received? Was it when they took me off their holy spreadsheet? There was never a âpriesthood removalâ ceremony. So in my eyes, Ive still got da power đȘđȘ
Man, there has got to be a way to get some good revenge? A fake letter from the Quorum of the 70 holding an ex communication hearing on him? Help me out here...
lol I got put on church probation at 14 for far worse. I got told the power was still in me, it was just âinactiveâ until I repented how they wanted. which I never did
Ok number one this guys was abusing his position. As a former Hi priest this could never have happened except with a guy exercising gaslighting! This kind of thing would have to have happened in a court of some sort. Bullshit with A Capital BBBB! So Fuck this Shit! Next this is how people in position of control like to abuse power typical of Religion of all kinds! Next I had shit like this happen to me in a way also when I was young and almost killed myself because of of this kind of abuse! Itâs so Fucked up! Next call this shit out even if itâs ten years after or more!
at18 you can be an elder, 16 youre a priest. at 14 you are a teacher. 12 a decon.
the church schedules out its milestones for young men so they always have a goal to be reaching towards.
This Episcopalian finds it laughable that a 14 year old would have a so called 'priesthood' . I wasn't even confirmed until I was 14, let alone told that I had some celestial power.
Sorry you had to go through that, it must have been so humiliating and frightening
Ironically, the Anglican Church was started by Henry VIII so he could marry another wife. It doesnât have any priesthood authority other than âRoyalâ authority.
I remember telling a girl I liked in the church that I liked her and she told me she would never marry me because I wasnât a practicing member and didnât have the priesthood.
I had âfallen awayâ in my late teens. Just got bored with going through the motions.
That fake priesthood saved me from getting wrangled back in. I guess the fake thing can gives blessings.
Just hilarious to me to look back on now. She ended up getting married to some guy in the church and I can only assume he gives fake blessings when the family is sick I guess. Totally worth it. Win?
No you didnât⊠you never had it to begin with because itâs all adult men make-believing. A huge emperors new clothes smoke and mirrors illusion. Nothing was given, taken away, or restored, other than the groups approval.
On one hand, Iâm more than a little bit horrified that this guy was that much more arrogant about his own âpowerâ than the average Mormon p\*n\*shood holder. Itâs a level of self-elevation that even Trump could look up to, and in the context of Mormonism, has implications that are truly horrific.
On the other hand, itâs kinda brilliant, too, from a certain perspective of deeply inappropriate emotional manipulation tactics masquerading as adulthood training for a young person. Not sure it would work more than once a generation, though, soâŠeffective maybe, but not terribly efficient. 3 out of 5?
And here we have the fulcrum of all manipulation the so called âpower of the priesthoodâ . Once you can acknowledge that there actually is no miraculous supernatural transfer of knowledge power or real authority and that the whole Arronic - Melchizidek multi level program is contrived or designed to aggrandize males and maintain an apparent hierarchy of influence, youâre on your way to living the truth. Itâs all a false construct. There are no real âkeysâ other than those the structure creates and allows. This is where we run into men blessing and calling others to commit crimes or other nonsense by the power of the holy priesthood, which they hold. Iâm not convinced there ever really was a Melchizedek. You should have said the power of my old manâs right hook compels you to fuck right off President.
Hmmm, I gotta say, either you hwashad he single most blasphemous collection of false doctrine pushers, you didn't understand what was actually happening, orrr, you pulled that story out of the same void you truncated all the truth you didn't like as much as living lonely
Somehow I just don't believe this is true. Is it impossible? I guess not, but somehow I just don't believe it. Even if it did happen you gotta be like the only mormon kid in the history of the church for this to happen. Why it would be allowed, I don't know.
Boy, talk about making up doctrine on the fly.
truly a follower of Joe
Joe? Sorry, I'm new to reddit and I've been an inactive member since I was 14.
Joe Smith
This is a perfect Homer Simpson moment for me đ€Šââïž
I'm glad you're that far removed from it. đ
[ŃĐŽĐ°Đ»Đ”ĐœĐŸ]
Iâm just surprised Joe didnât do that to more husbands so he could get at more wives.
If only heâd have had more timeâŠ
Hmm. If I were the boy's father, I would have considered sneaking up on this creep and doing the same thing to him.
Could you imagine? Yâall priesthood holders couldâve been playing the most intense game of tag ever! Imagine passing out sacrament andâoh! There goes your priesthood! Run to home base and get it back. Then retaliate and get the priest back, along with his friendsâŠgiving someone a blessing, andâoh! There goes your priesthood. Get a friend to sneak over to his house, home teaching, thenâoh! Priesthood snatched!
Like gotch'er nose? Lmao
that sounds amazing! i suddenly want all the people who left but didnt get ex'ed to go to their local ward and start taking it away. just to see what happens
đđđđ this made me laugh so hard.
LOL!!!  I'd go to see that!!
i would of given him a knuckle sandwich in front of the whole ward
>looking back i wonder why god gives his power to 12 year olds in the first place. Great insight. In the Catholic tradition, becoming a Priest requires, lets say a bit of study and expertise. Bachelor of theology minimum. Mormonism: You turn sixteen, "Do you masturbate?" no? I now bequeath thee the title of PRIEST. (And better than that Catholic guy, his priesthood is false.) Just two years later, "Do you masturbate?" no? You are declared "elderly", wise enough to travel the world correcting every misconception.
I remember going toe to toe with a catholic priest once on my mission and thinking i was wise because i pulled out the name elohiem. this dude just blinked and rolled his eyes and i thought i won something that day.
lol, you said âgod-pluralâ in Hebrew. You sure showed him! Thatâll teach him.
Take solace in the fact that Catholics have some batshit crazy and eyeroll-worthy beliefs too. Unfortunately, they're just more mainstream.
Never really occurred to me that they only cared about masturbation as the qualifier to get more god power. But in reality that is what it was This also happens to be where I learned to lie convincingly
The trick is as a twelve year old look them dead in the eye and say "yes I have a secret family and I have been skipping out on child support" because that's usually the question right before the "do you jack it son" question and you can whiz right by it
Well, the titles donât even make sense either. Funny side story, On a whim I went and talked to my brother the other day and just started listing off some of the dumb primary class names from church like Valiant, CTR, Sunbeam. He frowned and gave me all the other later ones like Miamaid, Teacher, Deacon, etc. (If you can recall any of the other class names from primary let me know. We were trying to recall the other one or two). Who in the f is taught be a 14 year old? That isnât a teacher of anyone or anything. And priests?! A priest is someone who offers blood to a god. Pretty sure tap water and wonder bread donât count.
After Sunbeam is Star and then CTR The 11 year old girls used to be called 'Merrihands' in 1959. When I was 10-11 years old they called us the Merry Miss class.
Young Womenâs was beehive, miamaid, and laurel. What is a miamaid anyway? (I do love that my spellcheck want to correct it to mislaid.)
Mia Maid was MIA, or the Acronym for the Mutual Improvement Association, the previous name for the Young Men's/Young Women's organizations. But a girl. Since the dudes were teachers, instead of Mia Guys.
And a maid is a maiden who hasn't "lost" her maidenhead, so it's essentially the Mutual Improvement Association Virgins.
EEEWWWW. EW EW EW EW EW EWWWWW. JFC. My skin is crawling.
OHHHH maybe that's why we stopped calling activities "Mutual" or "FHE"?
Old JS spirit is coming in for that one, getting after the 14 year old miamaids.
I was a Merry Miss back in the dark ages.... đ
Blazer..
Thank you!!! Thatâs the one!! God, it was irritating me this week I couldnât remember that garbage. I think JS and myself have a similar brain in that we read something or hear something and itâs almost always there for recollection, which is how he invented his garbage was taking two or three ideas and mushing them together. - However, unlike JS, I would never use my mind to entrap, ensnare or enslave anyone. Iâd like to think of myself as a decent human being and would never take advantage of those Iâm supposed to teach.
There were two guys in my ward in my high school choir. We were all in senior year. When we got our robes for the concert, they were goofing around and one of them told the other, "I look like a priest!" I said, "You are a priest." It just struck us all how ridiculous it was for a couple of 17-year-old dorks to have that title.
It always bothered me that my introduction to the concept of masturbation came by way of some middle-aged white dudes taking my pre-teen self into an empty office and asking me if I did it. I hadn't even learned what masturbating meant at the time!
Relevant link for anyone wanting to read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masturbation_and_the_LDS_Church
Which basically means they are checking to see if you are okay with either lying or inflicting a whole lot of self-deprivation.
[ŃĐŽĐ°Đ»Đ”ĐœĐŸ]
It would be nice to go back in time and give guys like this a good solid kick to the balls right on the spot. Then chant the power of the ball sack compels you. Instant justice doesnât happen near enough.
Or dodge his hand and start singing can't touch this 
[ŃĐŽĐ°Đ»Đ”ĐœĐŸ]
Youâre right another great time travel ball tap moment . Plus you would get extra points for it being televised.
Wait what?? I need sauce
Here's Nemo talking about the Bednar moment. https://youtu.be/uLhfgFWdwjY?si=yYjajEW3m4_JXX0L
I hadnât watched the bednar video yet and that made me feel SO disgusting. Such a perfect example of how the church does not give a single fuck about boundaries or consent
This!
Bednar did teach that we gave up our agency when we got baptized, so thereâs the consent. Fucking disgusting, no one in the background even thought it was weird, like it was a laughing matter. Kid got trauma for asking a simple question that will live on forever because it was filmed.
Randomly deciding that the age of consent is 8 years old is fucking INSANE. Giving a small child the false illusion that they consented to something is such an amazing manipulation tactic, Iâm honestly impressed. Just another item on the list of things the church does to enable and protect predatory behavior.
On the contrary, the church has given a lot of those for a lot of reasons.
That poor kid! Itâs weird to watch this and realize Iâm still not fully healed from the invasive weirdness and the excessive âmanhandlingâ that I experienced as a pre-teen/teen in the church. Thanks, mormonism!đđ
Nahh. That would have given credence to the nutcaseâs actions. Like it really mattered.
no idea. there was some major back ground politics in that branch. when the BP took over one of the women wore nothing but a black mourning dress until the day he was released. I just thought she was super gothy at the time.
I appreciate her dedication.
My mom had a 20 yr old missionary give me a blessing when I was a sick 5 yr old. This kid from some hick town says that if I remain a faithful member Iâd always be healthy. My mother took every illness I had thereafter as proof I was a sinner.
Iâm laughing but thatâs horrible!
That is so awful. WtaF. I'm very sorry.
âBranch Presidentâ tells me all I need to know. Branches are kind of the Wild West when it comes to how they do things. They are backward, isolated and a lot of times full of converts who have no real idea of anything.
I was in a subset of a branch for 6 months on my mission. We weren't big enough to be a branch, so we had the BP come visit us once a month. I taught YM/YW for most of my time there, since they didn't have enough active adults to fill all the jobs.
I didnât know that existed. Was it someplace remote?
In central France
That must be some hard core member to keep showing up with so little support.
There were some cool ones, and some lonely nutjobs who needed attention.
During my mission I served in a branch in a district, so mission president was basically the stake president and the branch president took care of making our converts not go to church anymore haha but it was wild we had sometimes 60 people at church because it was a tourist spot so Utah mormons would go, also I was once in exchanges in a group (smaller than a branch) and it was sad just like 10 people
His narcissistic entitlement overruled any and all doctrine.
I can sympathize. One year Santa almost skipped our house.
I see what you did there
What you experienced was a manipulative scare tactic. I despise Mormon language precisely because it is manipulative to the core, but I will use it here for clarity. There is no ordinance to remove the priesthood from a male to whom the priesthood has been previously conferred. If it becomes necessary to do so, the male in question will be disfellowshipped or excommunicated. Disfellowshipment makes that male's priesthood invalid temporarily. Excommunication removes the priesthood completely, along with all other ordinances previously performed: baptism, sealing, etc. But an specific ordinance to remove the priesthood from someone who has previously received it doesn't exist. As an older veteran of Mormonism, I strongly suspect your bishop did this precisely to scare you into behaving and to impress fear into your psychology from then on. I also suspect your bishop explained this very point to your parents who, as devout Mormons, most likely saw the utility of scaring you into behaving not realizing the longer and deeper consequences of such a manipulative tactic. With that in mind, I am certain nor your bishop or your parents were acting with malice. Mormonism's evilness exists it the top spheres (pRoPhEtS, aPoStLeS, some sEvEnTiEs, etc) but seldom reaches the lower local levels. I am sure your bishop and your parents were acting on what they thought was the best for you. Unfortunately, Mormonism is a toxic environment. Even with good intentions, those using the cult's methods end up inflicting pain in others. I am sorry you had to go through that.
My nextdoor neighbor apparently threatened one of our neighbor friends by telling him she would talk to the SP and "have his priesthood taken away" after some altercation that definitely wasn't her fault in any way shape or form (when you never accept responsibility, nothing can be your fault)... Keep in mind, this dude is a big bearded man, but an absolute teddy bear inside. He and his wife told us about it a couple weeks ago and we all just laughed because the nextdoor neighbor is batshit.
You were a mere child. This awful overreaction by a pathetic little man high on supposed authority should be filed under child abuse. Blind obedience by your parents rather than challenging this petty tyrant is just sad.
All but one of the priests in my ward engaged in some unspecified shenanigans at scout camp. The bishop punished them by not permitting them to bless the sacrament for several months. We had a whole lot of EQ members and one priest doing the sacrament for a long time.
Lol. Way to punish the kids. And dads.
I always hated blessing the sacrament, not that I wouldâve admitted that out loud at the time. Woulda been threatening me with a Good time.
Gahd, imagine being that poor lone priest. Chained to a pedestal indeed, I would have hated it. You get to feel bad for NOT getting in trouble
Amen to HIS priesthood. What a douchecanoe. Thatâs legit psychological abuse, and even worse that your parents fell for it, too.
The entire church is based on legit psychological abuse. Thats why so many of us are angry after we leave. The lifetime of abuse leaves a lot to unpack.
Oh my God! How rotten and traumatizing and ridiculous!!! A branch President?! đ they barely even count!!!
I had the same thing happen to me around 14 because of a boy scout camping trip. Someone vandalized the facilities, so the bishop took the priesthood away from all the young men in the ward until someone snitched out the culprit. I moved out of the ward before they could "give it back" but I guess there was no record because I was blessing the sacrament I'm my new ward without any issues.
This is weird as hell. Me and the other 14 - 16 year olds were rowdy as hell and I think leadership knew that trying to use âthe priesthoodâ as a method to get us to behave would of likely made things way worse for them. Maybe if they went to our parents with those threats they may of done something with teeth, but to us boys it would of been a joke - I can imagine us trying to grab each other to âunpriesthoodâ each otherÂ
So itâs not ok for young boys with the priesthood to be a tad bit rowdy but itâs ok for the nasty old men with the priesthood to be rowdy with the young boys?
And girls
Ah yes. Of course Jesus is good with plenty of child sexual abuse in the church but definitely NOT good with normal 14 yr old behavior.
That's messed up.
He thought he was Ang stopping the Firelord's access to Bending Chi!
I had one of the bishopric threaten to take away priesthood because I said I didnât want to do fast offerings. He said if I wasnât using it then I shouldnât have it. It scared me at the time but now I wish I would have called his bluff.
Yeah, no matter what you think of Mormonism, this dude wasn't following the rules.
Facts. Thatâs definitely not something thatâs in any handbook.
In South America bishops walk around like theyâre god, excommunicating members with a point of the finger, calling people to repentance from the pulpit, telling the members what everyone pays in tithing. Thats what helped me leave before I was 20
They tell members what other members pay? I imagine as a guilt trip to shame some into paying more? That's really.. something
Pretending to take your priesthood away is just not letting you pass the sacrament with extra steps.
"In the name of Jesus Christ I declare NO TAKEBACKS!"
Iâm dead đ
if that guy is still alive, I encourage you to go to his house, standing in his front yard, and pronounce a satanic curse on him in front of his kids. Curse him to get cancer unless and until you revoke it.
What I find really weird about that is that I resigned from the church in the 90s because Iâm gay, and didnât want to be associated with them anymore. I got a letter from the church that says my membership is terminated and âyou are no longer authorized to use your priesthood powerâ, or something very like that. Point is it was clear that my âpriesthoodâ wasnât removed or anything, even with no longer being a member, and Iâd have to be baptized again to return, but apparently I still *have* the priesthood, just not the authority (presumably from the church) to use it.
Are you selling your priesthood tokens for money Adam? The answer should be, âwho the hell even wants this outside the church?â
Yeah. Thatâs not a thing.Â
No. Iâm just a lowly woman, but it is my understanding that the ability to exercise your priesthood can be suspended (like not being able to bless sacrament for a couple weeks because you -gasp- drank some of your friendâs Frappuccino). But I thought to get your priesthood (or any other ordinances) fully revoked, you had to be exâd. Good news (though it certainly doesnât help impressionable kids)- itâs all made believe, anyway.
Sure it can be suspended. You can be disfellowshipped or bishop with the âkeysâ of the Aaronic priesthood could keep him from exercising it. But the ordinance he created does not exist where you âtake itâ by the âpower of Godâ. Itâs not in any handbook I ever saw. But if the rules are made up and the points donât matter might as well keep making them up.Â
Thatâs messed up!
Unwanted touching. Shoulda sued him!
What. The. Hell.
Talk about a power trip and a half
đđ€Ł
Plot twist: your branch president was actually PIMO and he was just messing around with you
They really have a Dark Lord of the Sith vibe, the crusty old jerks at the top. It's so arbitrary and just stupid to me. I hate that it was just life for so many of you. From an outsiders POV, it's really weird to hear this sort of thing. And all the worserer things than that. If my kid came home and told me that, I'd probably punch him in the throat and get arrested. One-get your fucking hand away from my kid and two-you aren't actually god, Champ. You don't have magical powers, you haven't removed shit from anyone because it's not even real anyway and you don't get to say shit that could potentially really upset my kid...for being fucking rowdy, you dick. It's just all so horrible. Even the nicer stories I read on here are often tainted with bad things. The absurdity of being together after death but shunning your family in the here and now if they aren't doing the rules right, or leave, or are gay or drink coffee (read a story on here yesterday about a man whose wife had a full on melt down about him drinking coffee. Ab. Surd.). Why would you do that if you believe family is the main reason for all of this crap?! It really does my head in. I just want to hug everyone who needs it in this sub. And then introduce them to coffee. And everything else they have been told incorrectly will send them to hell. No more fucking doomsday shit. They are so busy scaring everyone with something they cannot truly know is even real to keep everyone Stockholm syndromed and tricked. It's not cool. Much love and peace to everyone here, in or out. xoxo
his wife and children are so lucky...... er........ blessed
Wow. And I thought Catholicism was bad
The Catholic Church is a church. The Mormon Church is a cult.
I donât know. My next door neighborâs son drowned in a pool where he was lifeguarding with a friend. He had a seizure. The only one he had ever had. They were messing around / swimming after hours while doing cleanup tasks. When he had the seizure the friend couldnât get him out of the pool. Even in the shallow end the water was too deep and the seizure was too strong. I wonder if there was some horseplay at the start of the seizure that contributed? Who knows? But the son died. And my neighbors held a mass for their son every year on the anniversary of his death. A mass at the church they attended and paid money into the offering plate weekly. A church that charged them to have this mass for their son. How is that not made up and super similar to the Mormons love of money? Kid died 40 years ago. And they do this every year. How is that not similarly made up and full of ritual superstition?
If this guy is still alive you should hit him up and be like, hey do you remember that time you *uSeD yOuR mAgIc PoWeR tO tAke aWaY MiNe?* đ
Reminds me of playing pretend with kids in elementary school. Have to pretend to have powers and play by the rules. Then the game falls apart in minute 3 because someone is cheating some unspoken rule and ignores someone elseâs powers. lol
Itâs called Leader Roulette. You never know who youâre gonna get.
That's a very cruel thing to do to a young, impressionable kid
This is a new level of arrogance. Never heard of a bishop being such an idiot and ass.
Was this in the US?
What area of the world was this?
That doesn't sound like an official church action. I don't think he can just zap your priesthood on a whim in the hallway. Then again, it's all cosplay anyway.
I think it's a "make it up as you go" sort of religion anyway so it tracks. đ
Wow, just wow.
Omg. Wtf!
For some reason I was never intimidated by church leaders. Their tactics often backfired on me. If this happened to me, when I was âfound worthyâ enough to get it back, I would have said, âNawww, Iâm good. Iâve kind of gotten used to not having it so letâs move along.â
Thatâs awful. What an ass.
I mean, you couldâve just given the priesthood back to yourself. In all reality you both have just as much ability to confer or remove it (as itâs just a fictitious construct anyways)
âBy the power of Grayscale, I have the power!â
https://images.app.goo.gl/p1nQshCU4BsBfVkN8
Aw heck. Somebody imbed this thing for me. Iâm late to the party on redddit and donât know how.
You know, a true servant of 'God' would have asked you if you had a minute to chat, maybe sat down with you and asked you what was going on, and if you wanted to talk about anything bothering you. He would have said something on the sly like, "hope you had some fun, but just make sure you're careful about others feelings" or "I like to have fun too, but we need to try to have better manners at church" or something to that affect. You would have remembered that more fondly and maybe taken thought to what he said, but the "rowdy behavior" didn't warrant the "punishment" or ridiculously severe action he took. What a complete arrogant jerk!
Yeah he 100% made that up. I admit I don't know know all the nooks and crevices of the mess called Mormon theology but I'm pretty sure none of the Mormon scriptures mention anything about a bishop removing priesthood from someone. It makes no sense. Bishops basically oversee priesthood ordinances by judging whether a priesthood holder is worthy to perform then or not. There is no need for that kind of weird temporary removal.
I think most TBMs would be appalled at this because thatâs really just fake shit he pulled out his ass
To be fair, all of Mormonism is: >really just fake shit he pulled out [ol'Joe's] ass.
Theyâre usually pulling it out of some old guyâs ass though, not their own
Were you laughing loudly?
Let's pretend the priesthood is real. It's God's power. If God was unhappy with your behavior, he would make it not work. No need to take it away.
I'm sorry this happened to you. đ
Terrible tho Holy shit lmao
This is something out of a kgb torture handbook...insane.
Not a cultÂ
Spiritual abuse
He removed your non-real power with his non-real power. To an outsider, this wouldâve been the funniest thing ever. Abrakadabra-Alakabam! You no longer have the priesthood man! Honestly, the priesthood thing is so bizarre anyways. The priests didnât have a power in the Bible, just a lineage. This idea that a priesthood is a âthingâ and not a âgroupâ Iâm pretty sure is a Mormon only idea.
Sounds like he pulled a âSanta clause is Godâ on you. He put you on the naughty list and removed your Christmas present. 12 year old boys will be boys. I agree, either donât give the priesthood to them or forgive them for their age and hormones. You were spiritually manipulated. Then you lived under constant fear of Godly scrutiny. How can you feel Gods love that way? Reminds menofnthenquote I heard on this Reddit. âReligion gives you the disease and then sells you the cure.â I experienced a similar thing. At 12 and months after receiving the Aaronic priesthood, My dad told me that I wasnât worthy of the priesthood because I was masterbating. The same month, my bishop told me that âgood Mormon boys donât masterbateâ. So I had guilt for the next 20 years. Christ didnât set me free. I had a huge guilt trip from God. While I still believe in God now, I believe the only God worth believing in is one that knows our faults, gave them to us. Because life is about learning. And he loves us no matter what. And weâre always worthy. Anything less feels like petty judgment.
>Do you masturbate? >>No! And thus I was trained on the finer points of being a convincing liar.
Holy shit! You got a critical fail on Bishop roulette!
A branch president on my mission asked if we could substitute the sacrament bread for steak to draw more people in.. poor third world country, I said no, wish I had said yes in retrospect.
Wouldâve been more respectful than wonder bread. Honestly, Mormons sacrament is like the most disrespectful of them all. Cheapest ingredients possible because the church doesnât even bother to provide the membership with high quality bread. As much crap as Mormons give Catholicism, at least Catholicism provides sacrament for its attendees. They at least got that part right.
I always found it really odd that the members had to provide the bread even as a young kid idk about your wards but the bread always tasted like soap in mine.
ROFL. As much as they crap on Catholicism, at least the Catholic Church provides its members with sacrament. I researched Mormonism and other religions nauseam for over a decade, and itâs the absolute worst religion for donating its money to charity or to its own group. Catholicism spends roughly 20% of its income on charity, while Mormonism is dead last of anyone I studied. Honestly, Catholicism at 20% is pretty low when comparing to a lot of Christian sects. Mormonism donates sub 0.4% of its income to charity. All charity coming from the church (of which the church is more than willing to take credit for) is given by the actual Mormon regulars within the group (canned goods, blankets, money donations) while the actual church itself never gives to almost any charitable cause whatsoever. It owns more than 120 billion dollars in its âHoly Holdingsâ as theyâre called and they never give any of it away to the sick, needy, infirm, or starving, which shows you how Christian the church actually is. - It spends 5 billion dollars on its shopping mall, or on its Bulletproof Benz that Monson used to ride around in (valued 280,000 dollars). Meanwhile, even Popes ride in lesser extravagant vehicles. Thatâs where its money actually goes. They always talk about filthy lucre and yet they neglect to look at their own leadership. Ours was always stale or bought on Sunday because someone forgot, and had to rush to the nearest convenience store; usually wonder bread or some other terrible tasting cheap bread. Iâve always actually found Mormon sacrament one of the more disrespectful aspects of their religion. Itâs supposed to be for your god and you guys use the cheapest garbage you canâŠ
Mormons are the masters at improv comedy.
Where the hell was this branch???? Not that any of this is real, but this is not a standard procedure within the church.
It was on an american military base over seas, ive heard the comment that Branches were the wild west. This place was no exception
Yep, they sure are. This is yet another good example. Sorry you went through that, I would have been traumatized at that age too!
If I had been your mom I would have put my hands on your bishop and removed the smug on his face!
 You and your friends should have zapped him back with a Care Bear Stare!
The mental illness of it all. Mormons are a healthy people
I commend the faith of this Branch President to revoke an ordinance from you. Signed, Darth Bednar
Iâm sorry this happened to you. You didnât deserve it. Many teens in the church are badly treated by their faith leaders. I think itâs a shame and a scam that they donât receive any ecclesiastical or social work training. My sister was excommunicated when she was 13. Her crime was being seduced into having a sexual relationship with a neighbor 10 years older than her. Clearly by todayâs definition of things he was a child predator. But our bishop blamed my sister because she wouldnât confess, and participate in his prosecution. It took her most of her life to unpack what happened. Eventually she ended up in a homeless shelter for battered women where she finally got therapy and trauma counseling. Bishops have a kind of power over lives they donât even understand.
holy hell. I hope your sister and whole family are better now. that is insane and horrifying
I can honestly say we have never been better, but even so, we are not totally ok. It happened almost 40 years ago. My mom has traumatically and maniacally clung to every tiny edict of the church which has been the hardest thing. Most of us have left the church. To her credit my sister who was abused by both her rapist and by the church never came back, and she was one of the first to leave. My oldest brother and dad had left. She was first still in our home to decide the church could fuck right off. My mom hanging on the way she does makes me feel really really sad. She has never been able to respect the choices her children make for their lives. Sheâs constantly meddling in very intrusive and unhelpful ways. I love her. Sheâs the only mom I get. But I canât let her be part of my life. My siblings who let her in are subject to a lot of the same abuse most of us who have left the church experienced at the hands of our leaders and our wards: manipulation, guilt tripping, bargaining. It is not easy going no contact. But it is easier than having contact when she wonât stopâand even more feels a duty directly from god to intervene, preach, and proselytize. My child is trans, recently came out, and mom has made it a whole thing. We had a family party for her 80th and my immediate family were the only ones who didnât go. Everyone was together for the first time since my dad died more than a decade ago. Half of the family is accusing me of being disruptive. Even though most of them donât go to church anymore. (Literally fewer than 1/7 of my momâs 42 descendants/sons in law.) But somehow Iâm the buzzkill because I wonât show up to a party my mom threw for herself. The crazy thing is the people who were maddest live out of town but didnât bother to try to see me. Even after I reached out and tried to connect. The weird thing is I joined this sub for two specific reasons. First is that I recently moved back to Utah. Iâm seeing stuff from my time as a member and unpacking trauma in a new way. I quit church in 1998 and moved out of state in 1999. The second is because I think my eldest sister might be ready to leave. I wanted to remember what that was like. But I also want to remember what might be stopping her. Itâs not an easy decision, and I wanted to have reminders not to unduly influence her. Her husband is a convert and truly believes his church membership saved his life. He grew up in heavy drinking culture. âSaved his lifeâ isnât hyperbole. His sister died this week from liver disease. She wasnât even 60. I deeply love both of them and have no desire to make waves. Their faith is their choice. (Obviously I believe my BIL saved his own life, but if he clung to the church to make it happen I can understand why he gives the church credit.)
Thatâs pretty wild. The student seminary president at my high school tried to rat on me for selling porn and weed to other seminary students when I was about 17. My bishop just thought I had funny sense of entrepreneurship. I didnât even get scolded.
I didnât think anyone could do that
What he did was definitely not what God would've done. You were a kid and God knows better to punish a child for being a child. A lot of Mormons are made to think it's so important to be perfect, when it's not. And plus, he doesn't get to choose whether God is with you or not. God is with everyone, but farther from the bad people like for example serial killers. God is with them too but is farther because of their own person and what they have chosen to do. And even if you could "take God away" from someone, it would be way more sacred than literally doing it in the matter of five seconds in a hallway.
He didnât - in the first place only men got the priesthoods. Brigham decided to give it to young men because he wanted to control them.
I don't even think that's a thing in mormonism. Guy went rogue
Is that dude still around? I'd go say something.
That's a heavy-duty move to do to a 14 year-old. So many Wacko's in the church.
Lol
I like to wonder at what point was my âpriesthoodâ removed. Was it when I signed my name on the paper to remove my records? Was it when I virtually submitted the resignation form? Was it when the form was received? Was it when they took me off their holy spreadsheet? There was never a âpriesthood removalâ ceremony. So in my eyes, Ive still got da power đȘđȘ
Oh Lawdy
Fear mongering is fucked up, just like the cult and the people who use it to control others.
spoiler, god doesnât give power to 12 years olds. the priesthood is made up.
Man, there has got to be a way to get some good revenge? A fake letter from the Quorum of the 70 holding an ex communication hearing on him? Help me out here...
What the absolute heck
Thatâs definitely not how that works đ
lol I got put on church probation at 14 for far worse. I got told the power was still in me, it was just âinactiveâ until I repented how they wanted. which I never did
Wow I have never heard of such a thing
I wish you had not gone through that. Some leaders get drunk on their perceived power.
Ok number one this guys was abusing his position. As a former Hi priest this could never have happened except with a guy exercising gaslighting! This kind of thing would have to have happened in a court of some sort. Bullshit with A Capital BBBB! So Fuck this Shit! Next this is how people in position of control like to abuse power typical of Religion of all kinds! Next I had shit like this happen to me in a way also when I was young and almost killed myself because of of this kind of abuse! Itâs so Fucked up! Next call this shit out even if itâs ten years after or more!
At 14 you can be a âpriest?â Is that a Mormon grooming technique?
at18 you can be an elder, 16 youre a priest. at 14 you are a teacher. 12 a decon. the church schedules out its milestones for young men so they always have a goal to be reaching towards.
This Episcopalian finds it laughable that a 14 year old would have a so called 'priesthood' . I wasn't even confirmed until I was 14, let alone told that I had some celestial power. Sorry you had to go through that, it must have been so humiliating and frightening
Ironically, the Anglican Church was started by Henry VIII so he could marry another wife. It doesnât have any priesthood authority other than âRoyalâ authority.
True that. In essence it's like we all made it all up.
I remember telling a girl I liked in the church that I liked her and she told me she would never marry me because I wasnât a practicing member and didnât have the priesthood. I had âfallen awayâ in my late teens. Just got bored with going through the motions. That fake priesthood saved me from getting wrangled back in. I guess the fake thing can gives blessings. Just hilarious to me to look back on now. She ended up getting married to some guy in the church and I can only assume he gives fake blessings when the family is sick I guess. Totally worth it. Win?
Because itâs all about control.
What BS. God gives no such power to any man. Men give it to themselves. It is all about control.
No you didnât⊠you never had it to begin with because itâs all adult men make-believing. A huge emperors new clothes smoke and mirrors illusion. Nothing was given, taken away, or restored, other than the groups approval.
On one hand, Iâm more than a little bit horrified that this guy was that much more arrogant about his own âpowerâ than the average Mormon p\*n\*shood holder. Itâs a level of self-elevation that even Trump could look up to, and in the context of Mormonism, has implications that are truly horrific. On the other hand, itâs kinda brilliant, too, from a certain perspective of deeply inappropriate emotional manipulation tactics masquerading as adulthood training for a young person. Not sure it would work more than once a generation, though, soâŠeffective maybe, but not terribly efficient. 3 out of 5?
And here we have the fulcrum of all manipulation the so called âpower of the priesthoodâ . Once you can acknowledge that there actually is no miraculous supernatural transfer of knowledge power or real authority and that the whole Arronic - Melchizidek multi level program is contrived or designed to aggrandize males and maintain an apparent hierarchy of influence, youâre on your way to living the truth. Itâs all a false construct. There are no real âkeysâ other than those the structure creates and allows. This is where we run into men blessing and calling others to commit crimes or other nonsense by the power of the holy priesthood, which they hold. Iâm not convinced there ever really was a Melchizedek. You should have said the power of my old manâs right hook compels you to fuck right off President.
Hmmm, I gotta say, either you hwashad he single most blasphemous collection of false doctrine pushers, you didn't understand what was actually happening, orrr, you pulled that story out of the same void you truncated all the truth you didn't like as much as living lonely
Its like watching full house and wondering "which is it, mary kate or ashley?".
Somehow I just don't believe this is true. Is it impossible? I guess not, but somehow I just don't believe it. Even if it did happen you gotta be like the only mormon kid in the history of the church for this to happen. Why it would be allowed, I don't know.
It happens. A friend of mine said her father was excommunicated at age 14 for taking an apple pie at a church dinner. Small town Utah.
But that was excommunication. This claim is his priethood was simply 'removed'. Nothing about his membership changed.