I lived in a very Mormon community, owned a business there, so I decided to see what it was all about. In my opinion, Joseph Smith thought he was a modern day Moses, ten comandment tablets, vesus the golden plates... read with two oddly named seer stones, give me a break.

Ok, only Moses or Smith knew of these, and all the fol-de-rol that goes with it. no one else saw god or the angel Maroni. And later finds, translated by Smith, were reviewed and debunked.

OK, I have been a Freemason for many of years I can see where Smith got his rituals, shall we say shamlessly plaigerized?

So what were Smith and Moses about, control of a comminity they saw as immoral and out of control, so we are going to set down rules. Good for Smith on smoking, but coffee and alcohol? I always love it when the Mormons have communion! Or when thay argue wine had almost no alcohol content in the "biblical" times.

And where does all that money go? Yes, they build magnificent buldings, but some folks in the upper eschelons have to be paid, but I am told that Apostles may earn something between $300,000 and $800,000 a year, if not much more in the higher echelon (i.e. First Presidency and Senior Apostles). And the chuch is a huge tax exempt business,

Not bad for what many believe to be a cult.

A few years ago I considered becominga mormon. I started to read book of mormon even thought of joining the church. However, they insisted on 10 % of income tieth. That was a deal breaker for me. I'm glad I'm not a member of that colt. I recently through away the book of mormon. It felt great doing it. I wish I would have become an atheist shorltly after bs experience.

I grew up initially as a Jehova's Witness so I have a notion as to growing up in a cult. I started breaking away from it and looking into other religions when I was 12.. Eventually I noticed no faith was my faith and its wokred out pretty well for me since then.

The great favour that the LDS did me was in getting out I learned how to view religion objectively, learned how to argue on their own terms and discovered just how deep the brain washing goes.
Consequently once on the road to recovery from Mormonism I began viewing and investigating religion as a whole in the same way, and in the same way I found it wanting.
What Joseph's myth did was nothing new. Nor was how he did it was not new and why he did it was the least original of all, he wanted money and power.
Every cult leader has done the same thing for the same reasons since the day when Ugg the first woke up one day and realised all the other Ugs and Ugweenas were dumber than he was and would believe any rubbish he cared to tell them.
Ugg 1.0 then changed his name to Father Ugg stuck his head in his hat and said the sun had spoken to him through a holy stone, and told him that unless the tribe started giving him 10% of the Sabre Tooth tiger meat and first crack at all the virgins, it would stop shining on them and make the winter come early.
Some like Arg laughed at him.
Of course when winter did come Father Ugg was being buried in more virgins and dino meat than he could cope with, and Arg was being burned alive for angering the sun.
Eventually Ugg told them they were forgiven and the sun might come back in a week or so, if they continued to be "good".
We maybe today's versions of Arg, but thanks to secular law and the internet the Uggs cannot burn us or shame us or lie to us anymore, much as they might want to, which is why the days of formal religion are numbered and people are leaving the LDS in a tidal wave of disgust and awakening reason.
Good luck and welcome to the real world.

I myself am a 'recovering catholic'...as for "coping mechanisms they have used when dealing with the judgment of still-active [membership]" I have stated to many family members....."if your guide book states that St. Peter hold The Book of my life, then let him judge me on judgement day as you have no authority of ME today. Amen!

I was not raised in the Mormon church, but I became Mormon for a few years in my early 20's. I live close to Utah so the population of Mormon is very high. Since I know a lot about the church it does give me an in with the general population. I still have a couple of close friends who are Mormon, but most of my Mormon friends do not associate with me anymore.