This parable by Henry Lions explains the motivations of ex-Mormons, in spite of the Mormon Church leaders trying to disparage their actions by oft repeated phrases like “you have left the church, but you can’t leave the church alone.”
The Fake Doctor:
“A man goes to a private doctor who tells him he has a terminal illness. The doctor further tells the man that though the illness is incurable, he, the doctor, can treat the symptoms and keep the patient alive indefinitely, but it will cost. The price is to pay the doctor a monthly fee amounting to 10% of the patients’ income and to have a strict adherence to a diet and lifestyle plan prescribed by the doctor.
“Time goes by and the man marries and has children, the doctor then tells the man he has infected his family and that they too must now submit to the same course of treatment for life at the same cost.
“On his 40th birthday the man is in a car accident and while in hospital the staff demand to see his medication. A doctor in the hospital tells him the medication he’s been taking is actually only sugar tablets, and that he is perfectly healthy. The man will not believe the hospital doctor and demands that his private GP be sent for. The hospital staff then tell him no such doctor exists and that the man he is asking for is a convicted fraudster.
“Now, knowing that he has been the victim of a con, the man ceases paying the fraudulent GP and stops taking the medicine, as does his family. None of them die.
“When they confront the phoney Doctor, he tells them “it is a miracle and only goes to prove how effective his medicine has been.”
“The man and his wife decide to spend the rest of their lives discrediting the thieving doctor and freeing other people from his clutches. However, many fellow patients claim he has no right to do this as they insist they are happy to keep paying, and say they feel better for the pointless and expensive treatment. Plus they enjoy the company of each other and their fake doctor.
“So is it right to bring down the liar, or is it better to let people live in a happy dream?”
Steve Bloor's Blog 
It is an accurate and quite helpful analogy. I think it is certainly an uphill struggle for ‘medicated’ Mormons to comprehend our anger and our warnings to be anything other than our deluded obsession.
Sounds like my story.
It is interesting to me that you talk about a fake doctor in your post. I left a post earlier that apparently got disapproved; it was about my search for your credentials as a physician (specifically as podiatrist) and I couldn’t find any affiliation for you with the IOCP. Fake doctor indeed!
For the parable to have any real meaning, it must be demonstrated that the individual and his family have a better life after removing themselves from association with the individual who has been caring for them; that is, there is objective data showing they are healthier, that standardized psychological testing confirms they are happier, and that this all happened independent of any other factor but their dissociation with the previous provider.
But let’s quit talking “parables,” let’s say what we really mean. You and the others that honk on about the perceived problems with the Church say that you were “awakened” to this new light and knowledge that has freed you. From what, pray? You assert that I am in bondage and need to be delivered. To what, pray? In every post by apostates I’ve ever read, for all the “evidence” they proclaim, I have never yet seen the evidence that they are better off. Never. I have seen many assertions of happiness, but no proof. For all your assertions that now it is knowledge gained by scientific method that drives your life, why have I never seen any scientific proof offered of your better life now? The metrics are there; you need to show that your economic situation is better now than before, that your physiological state is better now than before, and that your psychological state is better now than before, again, independent of any other factor than you not being in the Church. That is science, and you, the “champion” of scientific thinking should be able to produce these results, right??? When can I expect your published, peer-reviewed study?
Don’t be daft Jason, just because I’m not an American Podiatrist doesn’t mean I’m not a podiatrist.
I’m British and live in the UK. We have podiatrists here too.
You didn’t read my other post apparently. Yes you have podiatrists in the UK. They are to be registered with the IOCP. You are not. The parable presents a hypothetical where the qualifications of one who set himself to be an authority were not checked. In the real world, I am having a hard time verifying your credentials as one who sets himself up as an authority. Isn’t this the kind of behavior you claim to encourage?
In any event, the fact that I cannot find you is entirely secondary to the point of the deconstruction of the “parable” presented. When Christ taught in parables, he presented hypothetical situations drawn from common experience that people could relate to. The twaddle that Mr. Lions has come up with and you are propagating has nothing of common experience about it and therefore no applicability whatever.
Jason,
You don’t have to like Henry Lions’ analogy.
Many people who feel lied to about the Mormon Plan of Salvation narrative can relate to it.
We were sold a lie and paid heavily for our naive gullibility.
It is very similar to the lie that is sold to all Christians called the Good News of the Gospel.
What people forget about the “Good News” is that it comes wrapped up in bad news that might not be true at all (i.e., that we are sinners and need an atonement to get right with god). To me, the good news is that we aren’t in any spiritual debt at all and have no need to be saved or reconciled.
My point in using Henry Lions’ ‘parable’ is that once the con is discovered we are keen to share our discovery with those we love to prevent them being conned too.
The IOCP you mention is only one of several UK professional organisations podiatrists can join.
Ironically, they used to allow anyone to register as a chiropodist/podiatrist with them with little or no training. They were disparaged by the State Registered profession, until the UK government tightened up the regulations by protecting the titles.
I trained and qualified as a State Registered Chiropodist/Podiatrist in the mid 1980s and became a musculoskeletal podiatrist through extensive post graduate training.
I wouldn’t worry about the applicability or otherwise of Mr Lions’ ‘twaddle’, whistle-blowers are not always universally appreciated.