Resignation Letter as Bishop to Stake President
Letter to Ward members notifying them of my Resignation as their Bishop
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Steve Bloor's Blog 
love yah ex bishop i to have learned the truth its a big ponzi scheam
standing for and giving the truth is never easy when so much inertia is behind the lie. Sake and the Mormon Church IS a big Ponzi Scheme, attatched to religion. Itis created for your $$$.. As such, they all fall in on themselves.
To take a stand, especially in a personal and confidential role demanded as a bishop, required GREAT courage. Not only from your individual perspective and the horrifying experience of realization to the untold truth, but to have the fortitude to openly share this with your beloved spouse, esteemed SP, and members of your ward, (even though that was stopped by the ever powerful governing body with threats of excommunication, which actually may have been the very energy needed to move the masses on), is admirable and loving. My heart and extended, “WELCOME to the REAL WORLD”, goes out to you and your family. You are now on a journey that will initially be filled with seemingly terrifying pitfalls and uncertainties, but the truth really will set you free. Embrace this new beginning, TRUST your path is guided, and look forward; not hampered by the fleeting and fearful memories of the past, but with your eyes filled with love and anticipated continuation of miracles as they unfold in front of you each and every day. FINALLY getting the truth IS the greatest miracle of all.
just discovered it after 50 years.
Re Joseph Smith wives – Lets look at this in the context of history and not the present day
http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/polygamy-then-and-now
Hi Dave,
So are you trying to say that in times past God did not value gender equality, or that God considered paedophilia acceptable, or that polyandry was necessary then, but not now?
Does an unchangeable God change his laws about the most important & fundamental unit of society to reflect the changes in society which are mostly brought about by secular humanistic & human rights activists?
Does God tell his prophet to practice polygamy & polyandry in secrecy whilst telling his prophet to lie to the rest of the Church & world in newspaper articles & in the Doctrine & Covenants, saying categorically that God has only ordained the marriage of one man to one wife?
Does God tell His prophet to practice polygamy in secret even from that prophet’s wife, then later reveal D&C Section 132 that polygamy can only be accepted by God if the wife has agreed?
I’m confused by the mental gymnastics God requires of me in order to believe this.
But if you can accept this sort of God …..!
Best wishes,
Steve
So much respect for your frankness and courage, Steve. There is no ‘argument’ that will undo the tragedy of investment of a life of believing a lie. How cruel it will seem to those still ‘in thrall’ to threaten to awaken them from comfortable and comforting ‘sleep’.
You’re Blog is awesome!
Dear Steve,
I read your story with great interest. I had a few thoughts.
1 – I believe that God has always valued gender equality. However, we have not always valued gender equality. I don’t believe one can confidently assert that gender equality was an observed paradigm in the Holy Bible. Isn’t it possible that God has patiently waited on us to choose a better, more enlightened way?
2 – I believe it is true that God has always abhorred pedophilia. Christ condemned harming children in all ways. However, social mores have been constantly changing. The Lord’s mother was most probably only a young teenage woman. This does not, in my opinion, justify Joseph Smith’s appalling relationship with Helen Mar. But, it may not constitute pedophilia as you assert.
3 – I believe polyandry was a false practice that arose from Joseph Smith’s inability to reconcile all of his teachings and ideas regarding eternal marriage and the temporal nature of civil marriages. He made a huge mistake, which probably directly contributed to his murder.
4 – No, an unchanging God does not change His laws to accommodate constantly changing social mores. I think Thomas Aquinas reasoned this through most clearly. There has always been a distinction between God’s eternal law and man’s interpretation of God’s eternal law. If God were a dictator, there would be no distinction. But God honors our agency, even our agency to interpret His law, and consequently He honors the agency of prophets. We have the God-given agency to accept their teachings or not.
5 – There is no such thing as a little dishonesty. Joseph Smith reaped the whirlwind for his deceptions. Emma Smith and William Marks claimed that Joseph admitted the night before he was taken to Carthage that he had made terrible mistakes with respect to polygamy and destroyed the manuscript for Section 132 himself. Brigham Young, who was a practicing polygamist and did not want to delegitimize his plural marriages, rejected Emma’s and William’s claims and further established polygamy as a practice of the church. Brigham saw this as an extension of the House of Israel and the tribes that arose from the plural marriages of Jacob.
6 – Joseph Smith’s humanity is not widely accepted by practicing Mormons. For some inexplicable reason many in the LDS Church teach that Joseph must be infallible or he could not have been a prophet. Of course, this standard has never been applied to any other of God’s prophets in the holy scriptures. And, in all cases including Joseph’s, the fallibility of prophets does not invalidate the eternal truths they taught. It just requires more maturity in those that seek those truths.
Best,
Will
Hi Will,
I think my brother’s blog post answers your comments well.
Think of God as a design-your-own Mr Potato Head.
Best regards,
Steve
I loved this. So glad to know that there are others out there who have been through it all too. Thanks for the courage in writing and sharing.
Thank you for your kindly remarks.
I’m very new to writing, having a residual reluctance to put pen to paper (or finger to keypad) due to childhood dyslexia.
I’m so pleased to hear that my efforts have value to other people. I’m especially gratified when such accomplished writers as yourself make comment.
The issues I write about are mostly very vibrant in my mind, and I try to express my thoughts and feelings as thoroughly as I can, initially in an effort to help me understand my own mind since I left the Mormon way of thinking, and secondly I’m hopeful that someone else will find my thoughts useful too.
Since your comment I’ve checked out your blog posts and found them to very articulately express the issues faced by a transitioning ex-Mormon, whilst also providing a great deal of optimism and hope for a life outside the constrictures of the Mormon culture and belief system. I love the joy you express in discovering reality outside of superstition and tradition.
Thank you Liz.
Is it true you work for the Richard Dawkins Foundation?
Best regards,
Steve
You’re very welcome. Keep up the good work – I’m following you now! And thank you for your very kind compliments. It is so heartening to find fellow expatriates of the Matrix. Ha!
I did contribute for them for some time, but I’m actually beginning a new role for Atheist Alliance International’s News Team. More information to come soon. Stay posted! 🙂
Happy Holidays