March 2010. It seems more and more that the internet is helping people to understand the truth behind the Mormon Church, when until that point they were not even questioning their beliefs. When members are approached by people who have discovered the truth, their findings are usually rejected out of hand. Faith prevails. However, when someone accidentally discovers something uncomfortable on the internet and then does some further personal research, the truth seems to more readily dawn on them. They may then approach someone who already knows the truth, to confirm their suspicions once and for all. In the last month or so, remarkably, this has happened to several of my own friends who then approached me. Subsequently, several resignation letters have been sent in and the Church has a few less members than it did. I wonder how many more people will be added to the list over the years and when the net Mormon membership will actually reduce year on year. My own analysis shows (see TMD Vol. 2) it is starting to level off and considerably more missionaries are needed to maintain the same small annual growth. This is then reduced by a number of people resigning. Of course, overall membership is still exaggerated by all the ‘lost’ members who are counted on record until they reach one-hundred-and-ten years of age, when they are then considered to have died. Additionally, for the last decade or so, the Church has included 'children of record'; those under the age of eight, previouly not included, to futher bolster the figures. So; who knows, perhaps decline is already underway. Whatever the case, The Mormon Church will ultimately follow in the footsteps of such as the Methodists and Presbyterians who are less popular now and in rapid membership decline. Time will tell. The truth is out there and it is now only a few clicks away.
February 2010. During the last month I have had several further interesting discussions with people who are coming to terms with the truth surrounding Mormonism. It is still gratifying to have been of some small help to those who are searching for the truth. I was also somewhat astonished when I received an invitation from the ExMormon Foundation asking me to speak at their Conference in Salt Lake City in October of this year. I had not anticipated further travels from England to Salt Lake, since my resignation from the Church a few years ago. Who would have thought that I would return there in such a role as this? It is an honour to be asked and for anyone planning to attend, I look forward to seeing you there and I hope to present well and do justice to the request.
January 2010. From December 2009, all TMD volumes have been further corrected with some minor layout, spelling and grammatical updates. Signed copies can be obtained direct from the author. Please email for current prices, including forward postage:
jim@themormondelusion.com
Reed Cowan's documentary film, "8: The Mormon Proposition" will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival later this month. It will undoubtedly spark a huge debate regarding the Mormon Church's highly organised influence and huge undisclosed financial support of 'Proposition 8' in California. Follow the link below to see details of the documentary and view the film trailer. It is very compelling.
8: The Mormon Proposition
17 December 2009. I agreed to donate royalties received via Lulu sales from Nov 5th to Nov 30th to Reed Cowan's project to help complete his documentary film which provides evidence of Mormon Church financial and organisational involvement in support of Prop 8 in California. The Mormon Church did not divulge huge financial support or the highly organised surreptitious lobbying it undertook which ultimately helped to succeed in overturning the previous legal position which in turn took away the civil rights of many individuals who are not associated with the Church. What the Mormon Church did regarding 'Prop 8' appears both illegal and immoral. It is but a small contribution, but the amount raised was £57.80 (Approx $95.89). A donation of $100 was transferred to Reed Cowan's project today.
October/November 2009. One advantage of POD (print on demand) books such as TMD is that it allows for updating the content at any time. At present, another read through is being undertaken in order to be sure any that outstanding errors are eliminated as far as possible. Those discovered have been in preferred layout and grammar and barely noticeable, but as a perfectionist, I would like the books to read well and to flow as smoothly as possible.
September 2009. I have recently received a number of very kind, complimentary and personal emails from people who have read and appreciated my work. The stories are always similar, sharing empathy and explaining their own pain at the discovery of the truth about the Mormon Church. Invariably, readers had concluded the Church could not be true before they read my books and in my work they found some final and conclusive evidence as to why. I am very grateful for the emails - for the empathy and the thoughts. I wrote my books as a form of therapy following my devastating discovery of the truth the Church conspires to hide from members. I hoped that some of my children who are active Mormons may one day find the courage to read my work. I also hoped it might help others in their discovery of the truth and it is extremely gratifying to learn that it has begun to do so. Thank you to those who have written to me expressing such kindness. I have individually replied.
16 August 2009. A Second Edition of Volume 1 was published today following Jean Bodie's meticulous efforts in proof reading and reviewing the First Edition of the book. The result is better flow and removal of some typos which should now make it a more enjoyable read. There is no material difference to the First Edition; other than a few minor historical errors which have now been corrected; and the addition of a little information regarding Mormon temple work for deceased Fundamentalists. Added details appear under the 'TMD Volume 1' tab above, so anyone who has the First Edition can review the addtions to Chapter 16.
August 2009. During the last few months, I have had emails from several questioning Mormons who found answers in my work which confirmed their doubts. The stories and anguish are real and heart breaking. Also, it seems, whilst they come to know the truth, some are just not ready to face it and deal with it, for the sake of family relationships and in order to retain friends and a social circle. Some have indicated that they are working on an exit from the Church but are meanwhile are fisrt trying to gradually and gently help spouses and family members see the truth, while they will still listen, before they make a formal stand. This is very sensible and understandable. Others however, appear to ignore the truth and continue to hide in the delusion, as they want it to be true more than they want to accept the evidenced facts.
Those who do face and deal with the unwanted truth are brave and often suffer severe consequences as family and friends reject them as apostates. I dedicated my first volume to my first deceased wife and my mother, who would both have been devastated had they discovered the truth before they died. My second was dedicated to my children, two of whom rejected the gospel and live 'normal' lives, and six of whom are faithful Mormons who I doubt will ever read my work. The third book is dedicated to those brave people who not only discover the truth, but who then stand up and are counted, regardless of the consequesnces. This is the dedication:
Dedication
This work is dedicated to those who once knew the joy of believing
beyond any doubt that they had found
within Mormonism, the one true religion
only to discover at some later stage they had been deceived.
To those who had to reluctantly face and deal with
the unwanted and at first unbelievable
but ultimately undeniable truth.
Many who discover the truth, consciously decide to ignore it,
reverting to their delusion for the supposed sake of family and friends;
crawling back into and hiding in the ‘Matrix of Mormonism’, ignoring reality.
To those brave people who acted on the truth;
experiencing the unimaginable suffering, trauma
and consequences, which affect relationships within family
and a circle of friends; standing up and being counted
for the sake of integrity –
I dedicate this work and wish them a speedy, effective and complete
recovery from Mormonism.
July 2009. Volume 3 published 18 July 2009.
June 2009. I had the pleasure of meeting Jean Bodie this month. Visiting family in England, Jean found time for us to spend a lovely day together before their flight back to Canada where they live. Jean has been diligently helping with proof reading and editing my work and to meet her in person was an absolute delight. It is strange how different paths cross throughout our lives. Jean also discovered and had to face the awful truth about the Mormon Church and like me has been dealing with the trauma ever since. Her assistance in ensuring my work is as accurate and effectively written as possible has been invaluable. We are nearing the end and Volume 3 will be out soon.
May 2009. TMD Volume 2 is now available to purchase from Lulu.com and will shortly become available from Amazon and other outlets. My grateful and heartfelt thanks once again go out to Jean Bodie who kindly offered to proof read and help with the final edit of Volume 2. This extremely difficult journey has been made easier at the publishing stage with Jean's kind help, eagle eye and sense of proportion. I have deeply appreciated Jean's hard work which has resulted in a far better finished product than would otherwise have been the case.
April 2009. I am grateful for the positive feedback regarding TMD Volume 1 and particularly want to thank Jean Bodie for her careful reading and minor corrections which will appear in the next edition.
March 2009. I recently had a polite and interesting exchange of emails with an active member of the Mormon Church. One misconception he had was that authors such as me write the material we do in order to make money. Just to clarify matters, very few authors make much of anything financially from their efforts. It's a bit like being a recording artist. Very few make substantial returns. Most never 'make it' so to speak. In this 'limited interest' genre, no author is ever likely to recoup the costs of the time, research and publication of their work, nor in my experience is it their objective. Authors have to sell a great many books to actually gain financially and books on Church history do not exactly make any best seller lists, even when written by more prominent authors. There is relatively little interest outside the community who have left the Church and those who are seriously questioning their faith.
It takes years of research to produce such work and in my case I doubt very much that I will ever get back even a small percentage of the costs I have incurred. The motivation (and I am sure this applies to most if not all others who write such material) is purely and simply a compulsion to publish the truth for those who seek it.
In my own case, it has been my therapy as I try to somehow come to terms with the awful truth that the things I accepted as real in my life were no more than a complete fabrication, established for the sole purpose of satisfying the appetites (money, power and women) of Joseph Smith. My hope is that one day, some of my family may have the courage to read my work, learn and accept the truth. I hope a few others may also benefit from my writing along the way.
To recoup the costs of three years of full time research and writing would require sales of many thousands of copies of my work. Realistically; some people may be surprised to learn; many books such as this, sell no more than a few dozen to perhaps a few hundred copies. Few get into the low thousands and none sell more than that. With just a few dollars per book in royalties, it is easy to calculate the amount an author may expect in return for his or her efforts. Please be assured that writers of Mormon history who expose the truth are motivated by anything but money.
Another interesting thing mentioned by this member was that he could accommodate the lies concerning early polygamy and also the lies after the Manifesto, accepting there really was a 'greater good' behind it all. This I simply cannot understand, but clearly he is not alone in his ability. This is not a measure of faith, it is evidence of a very deep seated delusional state. Personally, I could never have accommodated any such thing as a member of the Church and I hold Church leaders to the same standards 'expected' of rank and file members - i.e., Articles of Faith 12 & 13 - to say nothing of the standard I hold any God to; Mormon or otherwise.
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