1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light; (italics added)

1. The scriptures say that we're supposed to be a peculiar people.
2. Mormons are a bunch of odd ducks and everyone hates us because of it.
3. The church, therefore, is true.

• You guys are all bitter
• You sinned by doubting your bishop
• You lacked charity in your heart, that's why you were so shocked to learn about Mormonism's dirty laundry from non-mos
• You're too proud, and you're being deceived
• You have a hardened heart, I call you to repentance

It was 10 years ago next week, during Thanksgiving in the US, that I put up a first page and typed "Recovery from Mormonism". It was on an ISP in Chattanooga TN and was a personal web page before registering exmormon.org a few months later. The site was originally designed to last a year to pay forward those that had helped me recover from my Mormon experience. I never anticipated 10 years.

There have been and continue to be many volunteers who help behind the scenes to keep this running. It is because of them the site is still online. The Exmormon Foundation is an outgrowth of ex-Mormons' desires to help others out of the corporation.

I just had another interview with a newspaper doing an article on Mormonism. It is odd to me that such a small experiment changed my life. I am a quiet individual living in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains with a web site that has now become a collaborative effort which has reached thousands around the world. Who could of ever imagined?

Eric

" . . . We'll get the boys together and have the initiation tonight maybe."

"Have the which?"

"Have the initiation."

"What's that?"

"It's to swear to stand by one another, and never tell the gang's secrets, even if you're chopped all to flinders, and kill anybody and all his family that hurts one of the gang."

" . . . And all that swearing's got to be done at midnight, in the lonesomest, awfulest place you can find -- a ha'nted house is the best, but they're all ripped up now."

"Well, midnight's good, anyway, Tom."

"Yes, so it is. And you've got to swear on a coffin, and sign it with blood."

As a part-time business consultant, Nielsen had seen enough of the rank-based leadership to want to search for a different approach. "In trying to make organizations more successful and effective, one of the chief obstacles was the mentality of the leaders and the practice of leadership at the top," Nielsen says. That mentality, which he describes as a feeling of superiority, interrupts the flow of genuine communication. "I could see that those at the front line could identify the cause and solution to a problem," says Nielsen, "but they had no avenue to express that to their superiors or when they did, their leaders didn't take it seriously." [emphasis mine]

1. Changing accounts regarding the first vision.
2. Lack of reports in the local press about Joseph Smith prior to 1830 even though he claims that he was subjected to substantial pressure from the church communities around him. Religious news was readily reported in the local press meaning if there really had been a first vision it would have been reported prior to 1830.
3. Joseph Smith's association with folk magic (i.e. divining rods).
4. Joseph Smith's "money digging" and attempts to avoid legitimate employment.
5. Similarities between Joseph Smith's accounts of uncovering the gold plates and the writings of Solomon Spaulding.
6. Similarities between the Book of Mormon and "View of the Hebrews" and several other books of the period.
7. Portions of the Book of Mormon that quote the New Testament prior to the writing of the KJV of the New Testament.
8. Changes to the KJV by Joseph Smith that have not been supported by documents that have been subsequently uncovered (i.e. The Dead Sea Scrolls and biblical texts that are older than the sources utilized by the KJV translators).
9. The Kinderhook plates and Joseph Smith's "translation" of the fraudulent characters.
10. The changing locations of the supposed Hill Cumorah in spite of recorded statements from Joseph Smith and others to the contrary. (i.e. Zelph the white Lamanite and his participation in the last battle, and the ancient Manti supposedly being located in Randolph County, Missouri).
11. The Book of Abraham and the total lack of comparison to the papyrus.
12. Joseph Smith's "Egyptian Alphabet and Grammar" and proof of this alphabet being bogus.
13. Joseph Smith's prophecy concerning the Civil War was predated by discussion in the popular press stating the same thing.
14. Unfulfilled prophecy concerning building of temple in Independence (the date for that has long since passed).
15. Unfulfilled prophecy regarding Second Coming in reference to Joseph Smiths age (the time frame for that is long passed).
16. Lack of DNA evidence concerning the peoples in the Book of Mormon.
17. Book of Mormon denouncing polygamy and initially the Doctrine in Covenants. D & C changed to accommodate polygamy.
18. Joseph Smith concealing polygamous marriages from Emma. In some instances even performing a second ceremony so that Emma would not know that he had already been married to certain individuals.
19. Joseph Smith putting time pressure on women to marry him.
20. Joseph Smith through the vehicle of "revelation" threatening Emma with destruction if she did not accept polygamy.
21. Joseph Smith using the vehicle of "revelation" in the form of supposed blessings for accepting and cursing for rejecting proposals for polygamous marriages.
22. Joseph Smith marrying women that had husbands still living.
23. Joseph Smith sending individuals on missions that may have opposed plural marriages.
24. Brigham Young using manipulative tactics to obtain polygamous marriages.
25. Over 200 polygamous marriages being performed after 1890. One as late as 1907.
26. The churches denial of post manifesto polygamous marriages until it was revealed to the general public to a degree that they could not deny.
27. Joseph Smith denying that polygamy was being practiced until the 1840's.
28. FARMS and the church "spinning" evidence and the Book of Mormon account to fit the current evidence.
29. Gordon Hinckley and Dallin Oaks concealing evidence in the Hoffman case.
30. Dallin Oaks stating that it is acceptable to not tell the truth when it casts the church or its leaders in a bad light. What about the temple recommend interview question? "Are you honest in all of your dealings?"
31. Church history being presented in a one-sided fashion and many times in a totally dishonest fashion.
32. The church's censure of BYU faculty and other individuals who produce works that are truthful, albeit casting the church in a bad light (i.e. concerning church history, research concerning the Book of Mormon, etc.).
33. Gordon Hinckley lying to the press about the church's doctrinal stands on polygamy and the divine potential of human kind.
34. The temple endowments plagiarism from Masonic ceremonies, which by the way have been shown to have originated from other places and times than most members are led to believe (not the temple in Jerusalem).
35. The macabre penalties that were removed from the temple ceremony.
36. The changes to the Book of Mormon (i.e. "he was a going" hardly sounds like the work of an all knowing God).
37. Unfulfilled prophecy from Brigham Young concerning blacks and when they would receive the priesthood.
38. The teaching that when blacks and Lamanites repent they are supposed to become a white (changed recently to "fair") and delightsome people. I have lived around many church members who are either African-Americans or "Lamanites" and their skin color does not change even after many years in the faith. Their descendents skin does not change either. People living closer to the equator have darker skin than those closer to the poles, indicating an environmental cause for the pigmentation differences.
39. Reliance on circumstantial evidence in current members lives as "proof" the church is true.
40. When faced with the crushing evidence against the Book of Mormon, we are encouraged to read and pray about the Book of Mormon, both of which can and in billions of cases have caused faulty conclusions, i.e. Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam. If the answer is still in the negative then it is our fault and we need to pray again.
41. Treatment of members that is in line with the way that cults treat members. Building your own testimony by bearing your own testimony (this is brainwashing).
42. The teaching that if someone does not believe they need to read more. Again brainwashing. For instance, we don't need to keep rereading Boyle's gas laws to re-convince ourselves that they are true.
43. Manipulating, trying to induce guilt, trying to induce fear of loss of blessings, and trying to induce fear of being cursed within those who no longer believe (unethical and immoral). If these tactics were employed in a secular organization there would be serious legal action leveled, and you would lose in court.
44. The church's paranoia about the truth. The truth will stand for itself. If the truth is being suppressed and twisted then you are dealing with a fraudulent organization

1. Church owns building.
2. Church sets standards for tenants.
3. Church collects rent
4. 5 years from now we can go there to eat and will get wine and drink list.
5. Corporation of President must okay decision and over see this.
6. GBH is there in highest position his word is God!!!
7. GBH tells people to Stand for Something.
8. GBH talks of evils of alcohol and to obey the commandments.(This month's Ensign lesson.) That includes WOW
9. GBH has same scriptures I do. Fact maybe!!!!
10. Scriptures says aclohol not good for the body. This comes from God according to leading brethren.
11. I spent first 40 years of life explaining to people that alcohol is not good for them and goid says so. Fact
12. Now church is turning around and trying to say its okay to serve drinks.

• Where people are judged by the Shape and Color of their underwear.
• Where non-TBM Family member's are not invited to attend their own children's weddings.
• Where people are judged by the temperature of their caffeine.
• Where neighbors prohibit their children to play with non-Mormon next door neighbor children.
• Where the word "Translation" doesn't mean to translate from one language into another.
• Where the truth is a lie and verifiable facts are discarded.
• Where hot coffee is forbidden but hot chocolate is encouraged.
• Where post life polygamy is doctrine but real life polygamy is condemned.
• Where men who wear white shirts and a tie to church are righteous but men who wear colored shirts and a tie are disobedient.
• Where a prophet is not accountable to his own words.
• Where lying is rewarded...i.e.: in the attaining of temple recommends but those who are honest are called to repentance.
• Where unchangeable ordinances can be changed because of the results of a member survey.
• Where so called scripture, the words of God, can be changed to fit changing beliefs
• Where unfulfilled prophecies are ignored.
• Where the truth teller is the apostate and the liar is the righteous one.
• Where "Families are Forever" but not if you're married to a non-believer.
• Where the Glory of God is Intelligence...but intellectual thought is criticized.
• Where the Book of Mormon is the most correct book on earth...but its most testable basic claims are discounted, ignored and de-emphasized.
• Where God was once a man, but NOT if you are speaking to a Non LDS audience.
• Where the Book of Mormon must submit to every analysis and examination...to historical tests, to the test of archeological research, and also to higher criticism (BH Roberts)...unless someone actually takes the church up on this test.... then we must accept it only on faith.
• Where EQ Presidents that lie about monthly home teaching results are praised...but those that give honest appraisals of monthly results are reproved
• Where priesthood blessings with positive results are proof of priesthood power, but negative results are the will of God.

• Spend the rest of your life faking prayers and testimonies, listening to goofy talks about ghosts, locked up every Sunday like a death row inmate.
• Cut short that really fascinating movie because your TBM wife comes home and you can't let her catch you watching an R movie.
• Get your straight laced "proper" sex once a month, since anything other than missionary position is evil.
• Say goodbye to your co-workers and head for home as they go out for a celebratory drink, or go with them and look like a little kid holding your sprite and telling your stupid little story about how you don't drink. Enjoy the thinly veiled looks of feigned interest while they say in their heads, "I never would have guessed that he was such a sucker and a wack job."
• Grin and take the constant reminders that you're not good enough, righteous enough, faithful enough.
• Pay 10% of that money you worked your ass off for and hand it over to a mass marketing scam so they can suck in more suckers.
• Spend your precious time attending dull, useless meetings listening to people who like the sound of their own voice.
• Keep bugging those people, who care nothing for you and for whom you have no real interest, to let you come visit once a month. Try putting on your "gee I love you so much face" for 20 years.
• Sweat like a pig on those hot summer days dressing like a puritan to hide your holy underpants
• Get up every morning at 5:30 and drag your tired kids out of bed so they can get their daily dose of seminary indoctrination

--- The Cost of Being Mormon ---

Utah has been known for several years as the Prozac capital of the U.S. Utah also has the highest concentration of Mormons in the U.S (70%). Is there a connection? I think so, speaking from personal experience. And, others would agree. In a recent Salt Lake Tribune article entitled Got the blues? You're not alone in Utah (April 27, 2005) it was reported that:

• "Among the nation's 20 most depressed cities - as recently scored by Men's Health magazine - Salt Lake City came in 12th, with a D grade. Researchers at the magazine assigned grades based on information from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on antidepressant sales, suicide rates and the number of days residents reported feeling down."


• "There's a lot of pressure for males here to succeed due to large families and perceived expectations for members of the dominant religion, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."


• "Antidepressant use in Utah is higher than any other state, with 16 percent of the population taking them, according to Express Scripts, a company that compiles a yearly drug trend report."


• "Suicide is the eighth-leading cause of death for all Utahans. Nationally, it is the eleventh-leading cause of death. From 2000 to 2002, the suicide rate in Utah was 14 per 100,000 people, compared with 10.7 per 100,000 countrywide, according to the Utah Department of Health."

Why is this? I believe anyone seriously considering life as a Mormon needs to ask themselves this question. My children are in this position. I'm writing primarily for them. I want them to understand that there's a serious price to be paid for being Mormon. There's depression. And, there are other costs as well. I cover those I'm familiar with here.

Faults Hidden. Mormons tend to hide their faults. The emphasis is on looking good versus on being genuine and authentic. Very rarely do you hear heart felt expressions of what weaknesses people are struggling with in a Mormon meeting. Compare this to other spiritual programs or self help groups where people openly and honestly share their problems. This is the type of sharing that the New Testament talks about when it says to "confess your faults one to another." (James 5:16) In the Mormon church, though, the emphasis is instead almost entirely on "let your light so shine." (Matthew 5:16) This too is good advice, but not when taken to the extreme.

This emphasis on looking good over being authentic has several negative effects:

• First, it causes a person to feel shame, since they are hiding things about themselves that they feel bad about.


• Second, the person does not get the compassionate warmth and support they could otherwise get, since the person's struggles are hidden.


• Third, there are fewer opportunities to improve since the problem remains hidden.


• And fourth, it leads to superficiality. A person cannot be genuine and authentic when they when they have to hide their imperfections. Instead, they have to put on a facade.

This tendency is systemic. The church as an organization functions on this same principle by hiding anything "not faith promoting". Church president Gordon Hinckley is famous for this, as a result of the Hoffman debacle where it became clear how the church buys and locks away any historical documents that are embarrassing to the church. As well, leading church apostle Boyd Packer has taught that "some things that are true are not very useful" and so should be hidden.

Lost Identity. Many Mormons have a hard time being their own unique selves. It's tough when there are so many unrealistic expectations. A Mormon is expected to be: happy, nice, meek, humble, respectful of authority and never question those over him, etc, etc. The list goes on and on. This leaves little room for being oneself.

The best example of this is what happens to a young person that goes on a Mormon mission. This event happens at just the moment in a young person's life when they should for the very first time be experimenting with adult autonomy. This is a time when a young person should be growing into themselves: exploring competing ideas, ways to think, talk, and act.

Instead, when a Mormon male turns nineteen he goes on what is called a Mormon "mission" where is confined to an extremely restricted mental, spiritual, and physical world. In this world he is told nearly everything about who he is: what he can say, think, and do. He is under complete control of the church hierarchy. He isn't allowed to contact family or friends, except through letters and one or two phone calls a year. He is prohibited from ever being alone, told what to read, how to worship and pray, what music he can listen to, what movies he can watch, how to dress, how to touch, how to wear his hair, how to shave, when to go to bed, when to get up, what he can and cannot buy, the sports he can play, what transportation he can use, and on and on. It's no exaggeration to say that almost everything about his life is controlled from the top down.

This lasts for two years. And then he returns back to the "regular" Mormon world of being all those things a good Mormon is expected to be.

Lost in all of this is a person's true identity. Gone is the opportunity to be oneself, to be genuine and authentic. Instead a person turns into an automaton, unable to express his or her true self. It's ironic that in a religion that places so much emphasis on the right to choose, that most Mormon's live lives not having had the chance to choose who they really are.

Conflict Avoidance. Mormon's avoid conflict. They teach "the spirit of contention...is of the devil" (3 Nephi 11:29) and so should be avoided. This is a nice idea, but not very realistic. Utopian societies were also a nice idea, but have been tried and shown to be a naive approach to building a community in the real world. In the same way, avoiding conflict is a naive approach to living life in the real world.

Conflict avoidance creates several serious problems. The first is that it tends to ignore the source of the conflict. The problem is never addressed and so is never solved. Second, conflict avoidance creates adverse emotional reactions in the person avoiding the conflict: depression and anxiety. Depression results when the person resigns themselves to the source of the problem, realizing that it's never going to go away. Anxiety results from the body's natural response to situations that create conflict. The body produces adrenalin that is meant to resolve the conflict. When a person doesn't, they begin to feel anxious. Left in this state for too long or repeatedly, the anxiousness often turns in to full blown anxiety attacks.

One of the most common places this conflict avoidance is found is in the relationship between man and wife. A healthy and passionate relationship requires that both parties express themselves openly, honestly, and regularly. But the Mormon world is very patriarchal. Women are placed in a secondary role to men. A woman who is bothered by a particular issue or who wants to do some particular thing to further her own personal interests, is either told or concludes that it's not her place to do something about it -- that she must put her husband and her children before her own well being. So she avoids conflict to conform to the system she is taught is "from God", and suffers depression as a result

Attitude of Inadequacy. Mormonism fosters an attitude of inadequacy, a feeling of not measuring up. A recent Sunday School lesson my Mormon wife attended had as it's title this phrase from the Book of Mormon: "They did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness." (Alma 57:21) Two words stand out: every and exactness. Of course the implication is that if these people could obey every word with exactness, then so should you. This is not a realistic expectation. It just sets a person up to feel inadequate. After years and years of this, a person can wind up with serious emotional and mental problems. It's the kind of thinking that causes a person to begin to do a lot of negative self-talk and self-loathing for not being able to measure up.

And it's not just the degree of expectations that causes a sense of inadequacy, but it's the type of expectations as well. One of these is the expectation that every young man become a great leader. Not everyone is cut out to be a great leader, though. Some are far better at simply being followers. And, that's OK. But if you're a Mormon young man, you don't get that message. Instead you're expected to grow into the mold of the "perfect leader" as defined by the Mormon church, no matter how much that mold may not fit.

Another unrealistic expectation is the attitude the Mormon church has towards masturbation. Mormon's are taught that masturbation is evil. This creates a huge unrealistic expectation, especially for young males. A young male has a tremendous desire and even need for sexual release. It's far better to simply get that release with occasional masturbation rather than to try to live under the unrealistic expectation to never masturbate.

These are just some of the unrealistic expectations that Mormon's live with. There are many others. Many of them would be OK by themselves, but again create unrealistic expectations when combined together: have children early, have as many as you can possibly handle, hold a church service "calling" (some of which can consume many hours a week), do your monthly "Home Teaching" visits to other families, share the Mormon message with your neighbors, pray multiple times a day, read scriptures every day, etc., etc. And, provide well for your family because the more money you earn the more God must be blessing you and therefore the more "righteous" you look to everyone else. The net effect is to leave a person feeling overwhelmed and inadequate.

Blind Obedience. Mormon's tend to blindly obey their leaders. They are taught that when the church leaders speak it is the same as if God has spoken. Mormon scripture reads "What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and...whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same." (D&C; 1:38; emphasis added.) This is a dangerous idea because it causes a person to not apply rational thought to major life decisions. Instead they do whatever they've been told, since they assume it was God who was speaking.

There are many examples of nonsensical things done as a result of this. I'll mention just a couple to better illustrate what I'm talking about.

The first is the command that couples have as many children as they possibly can. This was what the church told its members up until the early 1980's. There was no rational thought involved. A couple was simply supposed to produce as many babies as they could possibly produce. But child rearing is an incredibly demanding task and many couples are just not cut out to have as many children as they can possibly have. It's not healthy for them, and it's not healthy for their children.

Another example of blind obedience can be seen with what happened to church members back in the 1830's. They were told to move to Jackson County, Missouri. They were told to attempt to purchase the land their first. Then if that didn't work, they were told they would take possession of it by force.

The Mormon scriptures on this, written as if God were speaking directly to them, read: "Purchase this whole region of country...Let them do this lest they receive none inheritance, save it be by the shedding of blood." (D&C; 58: 52-53; emphasis added.) And then later it reads: "Behold, the destroyer I have sent forth to destroy and lay waste mine enemies; and not many years hence they shall not be left to pollute mine heritage, and to blaspheme my name upon the lands which I have consecrated for the gathering together of my saints...I have commanded...my warriors, my young men, and middle-aged, to gather together for the redemption of my people, and throw down the towers of mine enemies, and scatter their watchmen." (D&C; 105:15-16; emphasis added.)

You can imagine what the people already living in Jackson County thought. There was conflict between the two groups from the beginning. Each side ended up issuing an extermination order against the other. The Mormons had the weaker military force by far and were chased out of Missouri.

The whole event was very tragic. Neither side should have done what they did. But human societies have always been very tribal and when one tribe moves in aggressively against another, there's bound to be trouble.

It seems so obvious to someone looking at the situation from the outside that it made no sense to do what they did: to move in to an area and tell the people living there that God had given their land to them and that either they needed to sell it or lose it by bloodshed. But, the early Mormon's had a leader they thought spoke for God and so there was no need to think. Instead, they blindly obeyed.

Grandiosity. Mormons tend to be grandiose. It's not always evident because they are also told that they must be humble, and many honestly do try. But it's hard not to feel grandiose when you believe that you are one of God's chosen people. Youth get this message especially strong. They are told that they are better than people born at any other time in the history of the earth. These are the "last days" and only the "very elect" were saved to be born now. This does have the effect of making a person feel good about themselves. It can be comforting (just as a child's belief in Santa Clause can be comforting.) But that comfort comes at the cost of feeling superior to others. The superiority is only imagined, though, and as a person grows older the realities of life wear on them. They begin to realize who they really are. The mismatch between who they realize the really are and the comforting fantasy they had can be depressing. Ideally this depression would cause a person to seriously question what they had been told. But what is more common is for the person to try to compensate for the depression with more grandiosity. This of course doesn't solve the problem. Instead it creates a tragic cycle of grandiosity and depression repeated over and over.

Intellectual Blinders. Mormonism causes a person to not want to fully explore all there is to know about the world. This is because much of what there is to know runs counter to what a Mormon has been taught is "the truth." Whenever science runs counter to Mormon dogma, the science is discarded in favor of the dogma. And not only that, but the source of the science is discarded as well. Science becomes something to fear when it causes a person to question the dogma that gives them comfort.

An example of this is the book Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. This book gives a high level overview of the history of the world's civilizations. It has tremendous lessons to offer about why certain civilizations have thrived and others have not. But, the book starts out by talking about evolution. For many Mormons, this is enough to stop reading with the thought that if the author thinks evolution is true then there's no telling what other "untruths" are in the book. And so the opportunity to learn great things about how the world works are lost.

Lack of Professional Help. Mormon's suffering from emotional or mental problems have limited access to professional help. They are first instructed to go to their local leader, the bishop. But a bishop is a layperson with no formal training as a health care professional. This is like asking a grocery store butcher to perform an appendectomy. Neither is trained to do the job they are being asked to do, and both are likely to do more harm than good.

If a bishop decides that someone needs additional help, he can refer the person to a professionally trained therapist. However, the therapist needs to be another Mormon and has to be approved by the church. This creates two problems:

• First, a church approved therapist does not take a systemic approach to solving emotional problems. They look primarily at what the individual is doing wrong. This is as opposed to the approach most therapists take where they look not only at the individual, but also at the individual's environment: both their current environment as well as the one that has shaped who they are over the course of their lifetime. This kind of analysis requires looking at things that are taboo according to Mormon dogma: family history, and the effect of religion. In Mormon theology, it's important to honor your parents and ancestors. So any discussion of the negative effect they may have had is avoided. And then Mormon theology itself could never be the cause of any emotional or mental problems, and so it isn't considered either. So the therapist's work is limited to only what the individual is doing. As a result, many times the person's problems remain unsolved.


• Second, a church approved therapist is encouraged to limit the number of visits they have with a person. Church members are supposed to solve their emotional problem's "The Lord's Own Way". This way does not include a lot of counseling by others. Instead, a person should primarily pray and read their scriptures. So after a few weeks the therapy ends, and the persons problem's remain unsolved.

Miscellaneous Costs. There are other miscellaneous costs associated with being a Mormon. They are not as significant as the costs already mentioned, but need to be considered by anyone thinking about being a Mormon. They are:

• Time. Being Mormon takes up a lot of time. Sundays are spent in three hours of meetings, and then after that either in more meetings or at home doing a very restricted set of activities. Then each Mormon has one or more "callings" that can take anywhere from a several hours a week up to twenty or more. Young Mormon males are expected to serve a two year full time mission for the church.


• Money. Mormons are required to pay ten percent of their income to the church.


• Entertainment. Mormons are not allowed to watch R-rated movies. But there are many great R-rated movies that not only entertain but inspire and teach important lessons.


• Sex. Mormon's are not allowed to: masturbate, have oral sex, or even sleep naked together as man and wife.


• Coffee, Tea, and Alcohol. Coffee, tea, and alcohol are prohibited. But each of these when used in moderation has been found to have healthy side effects and they can all enhance a person's enjoyment of life.

Spiritual Opportunity Cost. There is one final important cost to consider: the spiritual opportunity cost of choosing Mormonism over another spiritual path. The term opportunity cost comes from economics and means whatever was given up for making a particular choice. So for example if I choose to stay home and read a book on an evening when I've been invited to a movie with friends, then the opportunity cost for reading the book that evening is going to a movie with friends. In the same way, there is an opportunity cost associated with choosing to be Mormon. Mormonism is just one spiritual path among many. But by choosing it, a person is also choosing to not benefit from other spiritual paths. Mormon's believe they have the "fullness" of the truth, and that other churches are an "abomination in [God's] sight." (Joseph Smith History 1: 19) But, there are other spiritual paths that offer more opportunities for spiritual growth than Mormonism, and without all the negative side effects.

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