Finding the Seekers
A friend of our group wants to promote what I would call a bridge website for Mormons who want to know more but are too shaky or nervous to come on to a site like the Keys.
I think this is a good idea. Even so accomplishing the goal may be somewhat difficult.
I know this from experience.
After I “graduated” from the LDS organization and authoritarianism I recalled the scripture which says that many people are looking for the truth, but know not where to find it. I figured that now I was free to speak my mind I could reach many Mormons who would be happy to learn that higher knowledge is available.
I got together with my nephew Curtis and together we brainstormed how best to do this. We concluded that the nearest place to us with a high-density Mormon population was Idaho Falls, about 300 miles from Boise.
We rented a conference room at the Holiday Inn and ran ads in the local daily paper. Then we went down there three days before the event and passed out flyers all over town. I can’t remember the topic but I think it had something to do with the mystery of God and receiving revelation. We thought it would stimulate interest but evidently there was something in the ad that raised a red flag.
The big day finally came and Curtis and I prepared to receive the multitude of seekers storming the door.
We waited and waited and waited and no one came. As we were about to fold up and go home one lone soul finally drifted in.
It was a sixteen-year-old kid.
We welcomed him and asked him what caused him to come.
He said he came to call us to repentance.
Curtis and I looked at each other and we didn’t have to speak. We knew what each other was thinking. This was worse than no one showing up. It was adding insult to injury to have a brainwashed kid show up calling for us to repent from seeking the mysteries of the kingdom.
This was indeed a needed wake up call. From that moment on we knew we had an uphill battle if we thought we were going to attract Mormons with teachings that are out of the box.
After this we reached out to Mormons in every way that seemed possible and nothing seemed to work. We even ran some national ads and the few we attracted were often quite odd individuals. One extreme was filled with glamour and wanted to be the new Moses. The other were people who were expecting the world to end and wanted to go live in the wilderness like the Amish, but with lots of guns – kind of like Randy Weaver on Ruby Ridge.
In addition to that we attracted many more non Mormons to our teachings than we did Mormons.
Here’s the funny thing. When we gave up on the idea of approaching the Mormons directly and just presented teachings without the religious overtones to the general public we had much greater success. I first met my wife, Artie, at a seminar I gave on reincarnation where about 400 people attended.
The funny thing about throwing out a big net is that quite a few people who showed up were Mormons. This stunned me that many more Mormons came to listen to us when we were not going after them, then when we were.
I even spent a period where I was a professional astrologer as I thought it would be a fun way to make a living. Again, I was surprised that a number of people who came for readings were active Mormons.
Here’s what I found. Many Mormons are indeed looking for truth outside the box, but their leaders put the fear of God in them about associating with former excommunicated Mormons such as myself. If they do not feel threatened many, or at least some will listen.
Our Mormon friend is wise in seeking to establish a non threatening environment in an attempt to find those who are seeking. I’m happy to see anyone experiment in this direction as I think there are many Mormons who need some stimulation but are scared away if one comes on too strong.
His group uses the pendulum principle I have taught and this causes concern to some. He teaches about it in his own words and this limited borrowing of my material does not concern me.
If he or anyone else needs to quote significant portions of my writings then in most cases I will freely cooperate if I am asked permission.
Speaking of borrowing from me I found a new age book on Amazon called “There’s Nothing too Good to be True.” I’ll bet the guy got the title from reading The Immortal.
“If you would convince a man that he does wrong, do right. But do not care to convince him. Men will believe what they see. Let them see.” — Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862)
Sept 6, 2007
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