Dear Gavas,
As you know, I was raised in Catholic schools from pre-school through the end of High School. I received a good education, much better than my peers in public schools, and I received a scholarship to several Universities that I applied to and some I never heard of. Some of these scholarships were awarded after I completed my sophomore year in High School. But I want to help your readers take another perspective of what you're trying do with your Room for EX-mormons.
I was also raised in a cult. A much larger cult than the cult of Mormonism. My cult burned women at the stake as witches for being nothing more than individualists who were less zealous about joining the cult than everyone else. My cult persecuted the Jews who were scattered through Europe, persecuted in ways that people in 2009 can't even conceive of or would even believe if you tried to explain it to them. Believe me, Hitler and Stalin were not the first to attempt genocide against those Jews of yester-year. The Popes, Cardinals, Bishops, Deacons, and even many Monks of my cult preceded Stalin and Hitler by fifteen hundred years.
I was very lucky to get the education I got from the Catholic schools I attended. It was far superior to public school. But in Catholic School the brainwashing and mind control that you objected to in your EX-mormon Room began for me in pre-school and by the time I graduated from High School I was so confused I scratched my head whenever my ass itched. Your readers are missing the intent of what you're saying in your EX-mormon room. Leaving a cult is very difficult on most people and I applaud you for offering help to EX-mormons because, having taught in Utah for two years, I saw so much resistance to learning on the college level that I was totally amazed. I couldn't believe so many of my students were afraid of what I was teaching. Introduction to Psychology! Could a subject be more benign? In a word, they were programmed to reject everything that contradicted Mormonism. And they asked some of the most ridiculous questions one could possibly imagine on a college level.
For all you mormons who have flooded Gavas' email inbox with hate-mail, please allow me to clear something up for all of you dumb- asses. Gavas is providing a service to EX-mormons. Gavas is sharing forty plus years of study in Judeo-Christian history. He has studied the world's major religions, and classical as well as renaissance period philosophical thought. What he is trying to do he does in a way that I think is ingenious not to mention the dry wit and humor one can only appreciate if one actually knows him. And I do know him. I know him well enough to know the last thing he intended to do was to offend a single Mormon. I called you dumb-asses because of this reason alone: Gavas invited EX-mormons to his EX-mormon room to provide a service to people who need help rewiring their minds after the brainwashing they suffered while living in a cult. He chose Mormonism because he was raised a Mormon and lives in a part of the country where he is surrounded by Mormons. I've heard him say many nice things about Mormons as a people. But Gavas is also surrounded by many Mormons who can't believe all that is taught them in that church. They are non-believers but are afraid to admit it to themselves because they are so wired in that belief system it is easier to keep quiet and try not to fall into a pit of depression. It's a huge struggle for them because they are wired to keep what they're feeling bottled up inside. So if you're not an EX-mormon, you're a dumb-ass who visited where you were not invited, and crashing Gavas' email inbox is not only intrusive but borders on persecution. Believe me, you'll never change Gavas' thinking with all your nasty attempts to convince him he's wrong. He not only knows more about Mormonism than you do, but has probably also forgotten more about it than you will ever know even if you live another lifetime as a Mormon.
Gavas, I really hope you will publish this letter to the Editor. Don't be reluctant because we're friends. I'm with you all the way on this cult business. As a Psychologist I know very well how damaging cults are to the human soul. I see it everyday in others, and I still struggle with my own issues as a victim of the cult of Catholicism. Don't let any of these 'dumb-asses' persuade you to close down and put a lock on that room. It needs to remain open!
Dr. Liana Luciani (received 12/10/09)
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