Losing their religion: Millennials, including Utahns, leaving church

[marc]

Dear millennials:

Please don't throw out the baby with the bathwater. If unrighteous dominion has been exercised upon you, if you have been shunned, mocked, bullied, etc, and if you leave the church, please don't leave Jesus Christ.

-Marc

[Serragon]

Reading the quotes from the article, it really appears this is just narcissism.

We are raising our younger generations to be self focused instead of outwardly focused. What can you do for me, instead of what can I do for you.

Because selfishness isn't very fulfilling, these generations are creating narratives about themselves to mask what they really are. Who needs religion when it might unmask what you have so carefully hidden? Self-reflection is anathema to the intelligent, wise, heroic beings they have carefully crafted for themselves.

[shadow]

Dear millennials:

Please don't throw out the baby with the bathwater. If unrighteous dominion has been exercised upon you, if you have been shunned, mocked, bullied, etc, and if you leave the church, please don't leave Jesus Christ.

-Marc

The problem isn't with the church, it's with prideful parents raising prideful children who care more about their own feelings than truth.

[nightlight]

Though the next generation is gearing up to me more conservative then any generation back to WW2, so, that will probably help.

Are you saying that all Hell is going to break loose or would it be WW3?

FYI I am part of the "next generation."

No yours won't be as spineless or pathetic as mine.
The idea of 72 genders and men and women being exactly the same and selective science because feelings will fade away, millennials have created something insane.
I never cared if someone was gay, or trans or whatever, but now I am called hateful because I said there are 2 genders or I want to be with an actual woman.
Don't let your surroundings be tarnished by insane people.

be

Thank you. My generation is the new "silent generation." As long as you keep doing the right thing, you'll be one of the most righteous in the wicked generation

The majority of the new generation won't live to see 30. Yours will be the lost generation

[marc]

Shadow, while that may be true, it's not always the case. Anyway, too many people are leaving in droves. I don't agree that they should leave, but each circumstance is unique. The last thing I care to do is lay blame. I just want to hold up a light as much as I am able. Nothing matters more than being reconciled with Jesus Christ.

[nightlight]

11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.

12 Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.

13 They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.

14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.

15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

[shadow]

Shadow, while that may be true, it's not always the case. Anyway, too many people are leaving in droves. I don't agree that they should leave, but each circumstance is unique. The last thing I care to do is lay blame. I just want to hold up a light as much as I am able. Nothing matters more than being reconciled with Jesus Christ.

Your previous post laid blame on the church. If you want to hold up a light, sustain the Lord's Prophets and Apostles. Be an example.

The pride cycle found in the BOM is in full play and it's not the fault of 'unrighteous' church leaders who have been doing their best to keep people in the church without excusing the commandments of God.

[marc]

Shadow, while that may be true, it's not always the case. Anyway, too many people are leaving in droves. I don't agree that they should leave, but each circumstance is unique. The last thing I care to do is lay blame. I just want to hold up a light as much as I am able. Nothing matters more than being reconciled with Jesus Christ.

Your previous post laid blame on the church. If you want to hold up a light, sustain the Lord's Prophets and Apostles. Be an example.

The pride cycle found in the BOM is in full play and it's not the fault of 'unrighteous' church leaders who have been doing their best to keep people in the church without excusing the commandments of God.

I said "if" unrighteous dominion has been exercised upon them (and it has with me, though I remain active and faithful), or if they've been bullied, shunned or mocked...which does happen.

[Z2100]

Are you saying that all Hell is going to break loose or would it be WW3?

FYI I am part of the "next generation."

No yours won't be as spineless or pathetic as mine.
The idea of 72 genders and men and women being exactly the same and selective science because feelings will fade away, millennials have created something insane.
I never cared if someone was gay, or trans or whatever, but now I am called hateful because I said there are 2 genders or I want to be with an actual woman.
Don't let your surroundings be tarnished by insane people.

be

Thank you. My generation is the new "silent generation." As long as you keep doing the right thing, you'll be one of the most righteous in the wicked generation

The majority of the new generation won't live to see 30. Yours will be the lost generation

What does that mean? Which time period are you thinking of? I'm thinking 2000-2020.

[nightlight]

No yours won't be as spineless or pathetic as mine.
The idea of 72 genders and men and women being exactly the same and selective science because feelings will fade away, millennials have created something insane.
I never cared if someone was gay, or trans or whatever, but now I am called hateful because I said there are 2 genders or I want to be with an actual woman.
Don't let your surroundings be tarnished by insane people.

be

Thank you. My generation is the new "silent generation." As long as you keep doing the right thing, you'll be one of the most righteous in the wicked generation

The majority of the new generation won't live to see 30. Yours will be the lost generation

What does that mean? Which time period are you thinking of? I'm thinking 2000-2020.

I believe the time of the gentiles will be over soon and WW3 will start​ along will all the other calamities. With 7 billion people​ on Earth it stand to reason, if my timeline is correct, that​ most people will go the way of all the Earth, which includes people born year 2000-2020. So, IMO most people born it that time frame won't reach full maturaity. (age 33) It's just math

[KurtTheMormon]

I am 27, and I refuse to leave. I'm here until the end, be it whatsoever that end may be.

[Z2100]

be

Thank you. My generation is the new "silent generation." As long as you keep doing the right thing, you'll be one of the most righteous in the wicked generation

The majority of the new generation won't live to see 30. Yours will be the lost generation

What does that mean? Which time period are you thinking of? I'm thinking 2000-2020.

I believe the time of the gentiles will be over soon and WW3 will start​ along will all the other calamities. With 7 billion people​ on Earth it stand to reason, if my timeline is correct, that​ most people will go the way of all the Earth, which includes people born year 2000-2020. So, IMO most people born it that time frame won't reach full maturaity. (age 33) It's just math

Do you think that the Second Coming is in 2033?

[eddie]

Millenials are a spoiled bunch, they have seen nothing but affluence and video games. They have not done chores, are not respectful and have been programmed by their teachers to be socialists and accepting of whatever people want to do.

Ok, I know that was harsh and doesn't apply to everyone, sorry if offense was taken. I have to debrief my children of what they learn in school daily, why do we tolerate this? Why do parents let them play video games constantly? Why don't I just stop the rant!

[Cookies]

They didnt join for the church teachings, they joined for somewhere to hang out and socialize. They get baptized without knowing a thing about the gospel.

Well yeah, I mean, a lot of us were eight at the time.

I am talking about the adults (the adults in the article too) that say they joined for a year, etc. and then realized they didnt believe the same.

Oh, in that case, the "meat" was held back for a later date... So...

[Cookies]

Dear millennials:

Please don't throw out the baby with the bathwater. If unrighteous dominion has been exercised upon you, if you have been shunned, mocked, bullied, etc, and if you leave the church, please don't leave Jesus Christ.

-Marc

Why not marc? I'm genuinely curious.

[marc]

Because I know millennials who leave dejected and as a result conclude there is no God. They leave feeling lied to by those in whom they placed their faith. But there is a God, even a living God who awaits all who come unto Him. His name is Jesus Christ and He is mighty to save. He is the only one in whom all faith should be placed.

[Rose Garden]

I recently pondered over the invitation made by the Snuffer movement to join them in making a group covenant this coming September. I've been loosely associated with them during the rise of this movement. I haven't felt inclined to join them in September but have felt some degree of pressure from them to do so. I considered why it was that I didn't feel like their covenant, which some seem to consider vital in avoiding the coming destruction, was necessary to enter into.

I realized that no organization or group that has not yet attained Zion can lay claim on the exclusive ability to grant blessings. If you have not yet attained Zion yourself, you cannot honestly offer it to anyone else. The best you can do is offer to walk beside another as you both stumble around trying to figure things out. You cannot give what you don't have.

I think that the tendency to think these young people are foolish comes from the human tendency to believe you've already got it made. You think that you have something that no one else can get unless they go through your channels and do things your way. But it might be worth asking yourself whether you really have anything valuable to offer. Is your life filled with gratitude and peace from the Lord? Do you spend everyday in a state of confidence that the Lord will provide your needs? Have you eliminated sickness, poverty, crime and the other maladies the scriptures testify are not present in Zion? If not, perhaps it would be best to get down to work and focus on yourself until you actually have something valuable to offer.

I hope no one is offended by this. I just realized I'm talking to myself. Time to go to work.

[BTH&T]

My thoughts on your thinking out loud (in blue)

I think that the tendency to think these young people are foolish comes from the human tendency to believe you've already got it made.
You think that you have something that no one else can get unless they go through your changes and do things your way. But it might be worth asking yourself whether you really have anything valuable to offer.
I don't look to this or any generation and think they are foolish, I look at the environment that has been
developed by selfish, power driven institutions and people (those that follow the natural man) and see the results of the disintegration
of the family, morals, and faith, hope, charity. We need to find our way and then help others, there's no resting or "place of arrival" while in mortality.
How many times does it say in the scriptures to "endure to the end"!
Ultimately it is up to each of us to overcome our weaknesses, thankfully we don't have to do it alone!


Is your life filled with gratitude and peace from the Lord?
That's a life's work and what we should strive for each and every day!


Do you spend everyday in a state of confidence that the Lord will provide your needs?
There are great days when we each feel on top of things and there are rock bottom days, most the time it's somewhere in between. We each need to strive to be perfect and rely on the Lord, knowing that we are not where we want to be, and won't be while in mortality, not a single soul will! So important to be moving in the right direction though


Have you eliminated sickness, poverty, crime and the other maladies the scriptures testify are not present in Zion?
It didn't happen when the Savoir was on the earth in mortality. That was never God's plan.
We are each here to find our way back to our Heavenly Father. Go through our personal trials and tribulations.
The Millennium will be has close as it gets, and that's when the Savior returns.

[dewajack]

I believe a big reason why people are becoming less involved in organized religion as a whole, not just 1 denomination has to do with a lack of spiritual experiences. Many have never encountered the divine, been visited by angels, experienced visions, or received revelation from the still, small voice. There are many reasons for this of course, including not crying out in mighty prayer, or taking the scriptures seriously enough. The solution is always the same,

5 And now, as the preaching of the word had a great tendency to lead the people to do that which was just—yea, it had had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else, which had happened unto them—therefore Alma thought it was expedient that they should try the virtue of the word of God.

9 And this he did that he himself might go forth among his people, or among the people of Nephi, that he might preach the word of God unto them, to stir them up in remembrance of their duty, and that he might pull down, by the word of God, all the pride and craftiness and all the contentions which were among his people, seeing no way that he might reclaim them save it were in bearing down in pure testimony against them.

[Rose Garden]

My thoughts on your thinking out loud (in blue)

I think that the tendency to think these young people are foolish comes from the human tendency to believe you've already got it made.
You think that you have something that no one else can get unless they go through your changes and do things your way. But it might be worth asking yourself whether you really have anything valuable to offer.
I don't look to this or any generation and think they are foolish, I look at the environment that has been
developed by selfish, power driven institutions and people (those that follow the natural man) and see the results of the disintegration
of the family, morals, and faith, hope, charity. We need to find our way and then help others, there's no resting or "place of arrival" while in mortality.
How many times does it say in the scriptures to "endure to the end"!
Ultimately it is up to each of us to overcome our weaknesses, thankfully we don't have to do it alone!


Is your life filled with gratitude and peace from the Lord?
That's a life's work and what we should strive for each and every day!


Do you spend everyday in a state of confidence that the Lord will provide your needs?
There are great days when we each feel on top of things and there are rock bottom days, most the time it's somewhere in between. We each need to strive to be perfect and rely on the Lord, knowing that we are not where we want to be, and won't be while in mortality, not a single soul will! So important to be moving in the right direction though


Have you eliminated sickness, poverty, crime and the other maladies the scriptures testify are not present in Zion?
It didn't happen when the Savoir was on the earth in mortality. That was never God's plan.
We are each here to find our way back to our Heavenly Father. Go through our personal trials and tribulations.
The Millennium will be has close as it gets, and that's when the Savior returns.

I agree with a lot of what you say here. I'm confused by your final part, though. I was raised in the belief that Zion would return soon, and quite possibly in my lifetime. Perhaps we have different expectations of what Zion will be like?

Isaiah 33:34

And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.

Moses 7:18

And the Lord called his people ZION, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.

I remember the first time I read the first of these two verses. I was quite startled by the idea that there would be no sickness in Zion. It also distinctly says that the reason there is no sickness is because the people will be forgiven of their iniquity. I've been experimenting with the idea for years now and I can confidently say that if you approach every illness or other physical malady by first asking the Lord what you need to forgive another of or repent of, you will see miracles. You will see miraculous healing or you will be spiritually led to the source to cure your problem.

Anyway, when it comes to the subject of Zion, I still believe that it will come to be within my lifetime. Whether or not it does, I intend to do everything in my power to be a Zion person. As the Spirit has taught me, if I "reach for the stars" I am motivated to do more good than if I have lower expectations. So I continue to do everything in my power to heal myself and my baby through faith, eliminate poverty as much as I have power to do so, and become one of heart and mind with others.

[nightlight]

The majority of the new generation won't live to see 30. Yours will be the lost generation

What does that mean? Which time period are you thinking of? I'm thinking 2000-2020.

I believe the time of the gentiles will be over soon and WW3 will start​ along will all the other calamities. With 7 billion people​ on Earth it stand to reason, if my timeline is correct, that​ most people will go the way of all the Earth, which includes people born year 2000-2020. So, IMO most people born it that time frame won't reach full maturaity. (age 33) It's just math

Do you think that the Second Coming is in 2033?

Yes sir, I do.

[BTH&T]

I agree with a lot of what you say here. I'm confused by your final part, though. I was raised in the belief that Zion would return soon, and quite possibly in my lifetime. Perhaps we have different expectations of what Zion will be like?

Isaiah 33:34

And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.

Moses 7:18

And the Lord called his people ZION, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.

I remember the first time I read the first of these two verses. I was quite startled by the idea that there would be no sickness in Zion. It also distinctly says that the reason there is no sickness is because the people will be forgiven of their iniquity. I've been experimenting with the idea for years now and I can confidently say that if you approach every illness or other physical malady by first asking the Lord what you need to forgive another of or repent of, you will see miracles. You will see miraculous healing or you will be spiritually led to the source to cure your problem.

Anyway, when it comes to the subject of Zion, I still believe that it will come to be within my lifetime. Whether or not it does, I intend to do everything in my power to be a Zion person. As the Spirit has taught me, if I "reach for the stars" I am motivated to do more good than if I have lower expectations. So I continue to do everything in my power to heal myself and my baby through faith, eliminate poverty as much as I have power to do so, and become one of heart and mind with others.

Always loved the thought of living in Enoch's day (Moses 7 : 18) and I truly believe that repentance and forgiveness have a healing power.

I too am driven to find this Zion. I believe that this can be and should be in our homes and families.
Even on that scale it seems far away.

I've read, studied and prayed about it. This is one of the things that brought me to LDSFF a couple of years ago.
I also wonder why more attempts are not tried to achieve these goals as a group.

I look at the way the world is and feel we are so off base in the way we live our lives on a daily basis. So many distractions.
When you breakdown the elements of what it takes to live a "Zion", how many people really want to live a humble, service oriented, being a true "good Samaritan" and putting others first type life. Really how many?
I would love to find such a place. It is at odds with what the world is for sure.
My feelings are that there are families that have this life, I doubt there are communities or areas.

Your attitude sounds like it's is in line to make it happen if it's to be in this life. Keep on reaching for the stars!

[Z2100]

What does that mean? Which time period are you thinking of? I'm thinking 2000-2020.

I believe the time of the gentiles will be over soon and WW3 will start​ along will all the other calamities. With 7 billion people​ on Earth it stand to reason, if my timeline is correct, that​ most people will go the way of all the Earth, which includes people born year 2000-2020. So, IMO most people born it that time frame won't reach full maturaity. (age 33) It's just math

Do you think that the Second Coming is in 2033?

Yes sir, I do.

A lot of people think that too. I guess it makes sense when you try to date each of the 7 seals.

[Gage]

I believe the time of the gentiles will be over soon and WW3 will start​ along will all the other calamities. With 7 billion people​ on Earth it stand to reason, if my timeline is correct, that​ most people will go the way of all the Earth, which includes people born year 2000-2020. So, IMO most people born it that time frame won't reach full maturaity. (age 33) It's just math

Do you think that the Second Coming is in 2033?

Yes sir, I do.

A lot of people think that too. I guess it makes sense when you try to date each of the 7 seals.

Do you know why the Lord tells us that no one but God knows the day? The ones waiting on 2033 may be in for a shock when it is sooner and they are not ready.

[Z2100]

Do you think that the Second Coming is in 2033?

Yes sir, I do.

A lot of people think that too. I guess it makes sense when you try to date each of the 7 seals.

Do you know why the Lord tells us that no one but God knows the day? The ones waiting on 2033 may be in for a shock when it is sooner and they are not ready.

What is the matter with you guys?? What makes you think that it is sooner that 2020? Ever since this website started, everyone has believed that the Second Coming would be in 2030 or 2033, and they would say that it would hit the fan "soon" since 2006. We've got a-ways to go. Don't think for a minute that it's in 2020. But the Lord can work wonders...