Nothing like an honest child

I was going through some Brain Quest flash cards with Katie and Maddy a few weeks ago.

One card was a picture of a church with a large cross on the top of it, with the question "What is this?"

I saw it, considered skipping it as I didn't want to have to get too much into it, but figured I'd ask my daughters anyway.

So I asked Katie, "What is this?"

She looked at it and said, "That's where people go to die."

I couldn't really argue with that.

It amazes me how much children absorb. It reminded me of how I accepted everything that was handed to me as knowledge and fact from my parents. Their 'hand-me-down' faith that I struggled to accept killed me a little inside. Church was where I started to die inside, every Sunday for 3 hours. (Not to mention Firesides, Seminary, Institute, etc.) It's where all the wonders and beauty of Earth, the Universe, science and nature were sacrificed and replaced with myths to explain all my questioning and reasoning away.

It wasn't until I accepted this wonderful Earth as the only place I will live, this family is the only family I will ever have and now is the only time to do good things and enjoy life, that I started to feel alive again. My children bring so much more beauty into my life. They are the only children I will have and now is the only time I have to love them. That doesn't diminish life, it adds to it.

And I am pretty sure Katie was referencing cemeteries, but it still made me smile.

I don't have any pictures of churches, so I posted a picture of Ruby Falls in Tennessee. Just something pretty to look at.

Still Waiting...

So it's been two months since I received the letter from the LDS church stating that I was going to be visited by members of the priesthood. And I am still waiting.

I actually forgot about it for a while. With my daughters birthday, a bout of sickness, and Eostre, I honestly admit that it escaped my mind for about 4 weeks. But I have yet to receive any form of contact from the LDS church. I drive by the local LDS church building every Sunday and have yet to be able to fight the urge to flip it the bird.

So now I am a little upset. It's difficult to explain the way this whole process has made me feel. They wanted me to reconsider leaving, without knowing my reasons why. They said they were sending folks over, but no one showed. And even though it seems so transparent now, I am starting to think that they have a kink in their system. Do they send that letter as a way to hold onto their numbers as long as they can? Do people just 'give up' when they don't receive their resignation confirmation? Or is this whole charade just another flaw in a flawed religion?

So I am off to write another letter. One that reminds them that I know my rights, that they failed to send me the confirmation I requested and that I am getting upset by their pious attitude and complete disregard for my rights. I want my name off their records. I want my children, if my parents blessed them behind my back, off their records as well.

I still don't understand how something that should be so simple, has to be so complex. I have actually considered going down to the LDS church, and handing another letter straight to the bishop. Sitting through their pointless interview and jumping through their silly hoops. But I know that it is against the law for them to refuse to take me off their records, I know that technically, the second they received my letter I was no longer a member of their church. All this added stuff is drama that they apparently need to feel better and I will not be a part of it.

One of the most wonderful things about being Atheist is the lack of drama and guilt.