Posted by
Phil E. on Thursday, November 29, 2007 12:04:52 AM
What's wrong with this picture?Green with envy. NOT!
Could there be any correlation between Mormonism and suicide? Nah.
On point
This particular post isn't about Mitt Romney, per se. But it demonstrates my credibility when it comes to Mormonism, so that you may believe what I'm warning about putting a Mormon in the White House. To borrow from Rush Limbaugh, "
I know Mormons better than they know themselves."
For example, I know they're in a cult. They don't.
No one in a cult knows they're in a cult. If they did, they would get out.
Death Cult?
For as long as I've been involved in this ministry (sharing the true Gospel with Mormons) I've heard constant
talk and rumors about how Utah leads the country in suicides. Back in the days B.I. (Before Internet), it was difficult to substantiate this, so I never used it in my ministry.
And Utah authorities might not have been very forthcoming about negative press.
There used to be a joke "Welcome to Utah.
Set your clock back 100 years."
Kinda like it still is in tight lipped, xenophobic polygamist Colorado City, the ways of the old world prevailed when I first started evangelizing to Mormons. It was harder back then to get information from those in government. For example, when I was on my mission in Utah, I heard that a teenage girl had committed suicide. But there was nothing in the local press about it and no one seemed to know much.
, but it's better now that Utah has caught up and entered the Information Age. So now we have
a report from Mental Health America, ranking the 50 States (and D.C.) on rates of depression and suicide. Utah ranked last in depression status.
UPDATE: When I wrote this post, the
Mental Health America website had not yet linked to their report mentioned in their
press release, An Analysis of Depression Across the States, ranking depression and suicide. Since I don't want to be like Mitt Romney and, shall we say, "misrepresent" the truth, I've been checking the MHA website daily for the report to do my own fact checking. It's finally up.
Good news/bad news. According to
the report, I was correct in stating that Utah ranked last in depression status. That's also bad news. It's makes you wonder about Mormonism.
"Happiest people on earth"?
You see, according to former (now dead) Mormon prophet (NOT!) Spencer W. Kimball, "
we [Mormons] should be “the happiest people on earth..." This is a common belief in Mormonism.
CULT WARNING!See if you've heard this before. If so, maybe you're in a cult?
In Mormonism, you usually hear this "truth" stated in the negative. That "
People who leave the [Mormon] church are the most miserable and unhappy people you'll ever meet."
Or
words to that effect. That the ONLY reason anyone would leave the "one true church" is because
- they have sinned [who hasn't?]
- they want to sin
- they are weak
- they have not kept all the commandments [who can?]
- they have taken offense at some imagined slight by someone in the ward
- they never tried to get or keep a testimony
- they succumbed to the temptation of Satan to read anti-Mormon lies [as documented here by quoting the Mormon church itself]
- or some other such reason.
Whatever reason, Mormons seem to feel that it is a psychological (or spiritual or moral) problem that the still-faithful Mormons need to "understand."
It's a classic cult mind-control technique,
using excessive use of fear to scare members into not leaving. Just like North Korean President
Kim Jong-il's personality cult, where he tells the people they live in a Workers' Paradise. How could anyone leave the Mormon Paradise and
still be happy?
What's wrong with this picture?
So it's rather incongruous that Utah, the state with the largest percentage of happy [Mormon] people in the country could, at the same time be ranked the WORST in depression.
Either the study is wrong or.... Mormonism is wrong. I choose the Latter. (pun intended.)
Noise
Now, one kind Mormon correctly pointed out (indirectly, in a comment) that my cute graphic was wrong about Utah being Number 1 in Suicides. (Thank you, Big G, for your kind comment.) Now that the study is out from MHA, I see that Alaska is first in suicides with Utah at seventh. So I've updated the graphic and my title. (I've repented. I trust you'll forgive me.)
Big G's link didn't work for me, but I found
suicidology's state rankings for 2004. Back then, Utah was number nine. The suicide data from MHA, where Utah is number seven, is from 2006. Utah is getting worse!
It's true Alaska leads the states in suicides. I assume that's due to six months without sunlight. But if you look at
the 2000 census chart, there is / was a high percentage of Mormons in
the Alaskan Panhandle. So Mormonism isn't off the hook. There could be causality here.
Nevada is second worse, but you would expect that from gambling in Las Vegas. But again, looking at the census chart, there's a sizable Mormon contingent there too.
I'm not a statistician, but the rest of the worst states are in the statistical noise. That is, Utah could easily be number 3 in this list. And suppose Utah isn't reporting faithfully? For example, based on the police reports I have, the Mesa (Arizona) police department (also known at the Mormon Police Department -
Mesa is heavily Mormon and has a Mormon temple) does not report attacks on Christian Evangelicals by Mormons as "Hate Crimes" per the
FBI's UCR.
There's a
documented culture of hush in Utah. So there may be a lot of suicide data the MHA doesn't get from Utah. As I mentioned above, I heard of one anecdotal story of a suicide in Utah when I was there for a month that wasn't reported. I doubt that the likes of Colorado City are going to disclose such data and neither may other Mormon outposts.
Straining at gnats
But like Pharisees everywhere, Mormons
strain at gnats while swallowing camels. The fact is, Utah is ranked the worst for depression, despite the FACT that it's heavily populated by Mormons who are supposed to be "
the happiest people on earth." Whether Utah is the worst for suicide or "only" seventh, if Mormonism is really true, Utah should be leading the list for the fewest suicides! But it isn't. It's perverse.
It's probably the water
Now, what do you suppose could be causing this? Could it be in the water?
Or
could it be... Satan?Look at the census map above and see if anything peculiar about Utah strikes you.
For Christians: I doubt I could pass this test scientificially (i.e. a "
double blind" experiment), but I've always felt an oppressiveness (a "darkness") when I'm in Utah. (Or near any Mormon temple.) I know it sounds crazy, but as the Apostle Paul said,
there's more to this than meets the eye.Blind?
As with the high incidents of
Down's Syndrome in Utah (caused by inbreeding in the days of the polygamy in the wilderness, with Mormons marrying their brothers and sisters), Mormons probably won't see the correlation between their religion and high depression / suicide rates.
But like the atmosphere acting on us, which we don't feel, the pressure still is real.
Ye must be PERFECT!
I've
written about this before. I'm going to do it again.
To give you "
gentiles" a feel for the burden of perfection Mormons are under,
here's a story written by a Mormon woman for "
The Beehive." (A Mormon newspaper dedicated to "Serving the 320,000 LDS members in Arizona." ) I've underlined the key words. You can see she's obsessed with perfection. She's not alone. This is typical—and stereotypical—of True Believing Mormons. Like Mitt Romney.
I feel sorry for her. Which is one of the reasons I try to share the True Gospel with Mormons.
It's true that the God of the Bible says
we must be perfect. (i.e. sinless.) While Solomon acknowledged the fact that "There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins" (
Ecclesiastes 7:20), I have found a perfect sacrifice that God will accept that, in God's eyes,
makes me perfect now.
He died for you too. All you have to do is
come to Him in humility and ask Him to forgive your sins. Or, you can just try to work off your sins yourself. Your choice, although both Ann Coulter and I can tell you now
that Plan A won't work.
Mormons, especially Mormon women, need to be perfect to have any chance of being a god someday. For Mormon women,
like Ann Romney, it's especially hard because they rely on their husband's to call them up out of the resurrection. They have to be the quintessential
Stepford Wife. If a Mormon wife is not pleasing to her husband here, in Mormon theology, he may decide not to call her up from the dead. I know that's sounds horribly blasphemous, but try to imagine what it would be like if you believed it anyway. The pressure to please your man is tremendous. It's also depressing.
Stop the spread
I hope I've demonstrated some competency in Mormonism with this post. The demands Mormonism makes on its adherents are impossible to meet. Predictably, this results in depression and suicide. Please don't spread this disease
by legitimizing Mormonism by voting a Mormon in the White House. Prevent Mormonism. Don't vote for Mitt Romney for President.
Please help me get the Word out, 'cause I can't do it all by myself.
Please copy and paste the following clip to your friends and in the comment field of pertinent blogs or news stories. (Copy it because the link needs the http:// part in the address, not www.):
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Check this out:
http://romneyforpresident.townhall.com/
Like Mormonism, the blog isn't what it seems.
(Funny photos too.)