February 1997 Archives

I like the honesty of your page, and the search for truth that you appear to be on. I hope that you have continue to search for truth in God, not just without Him. Satan might be successful in using the LDS church to keep you from the true God, both as a mormon and as a disallusioned mormon.

Searching for truth in God? That sounds kind of like a theosophic autopsy to me. Reminds me of two of my favorite novels, Towing Jehovah and Blameless in Abaddon by James Morrow. Check 'em out.

Bill, I feel compelled to write to you as we are somewhat kindred spirits, except I am still in the Church. I am a returned missionary with a degree in English, and a card carrying member of the Democratic party. Rush is my favorite band (Suburbs is my favorite song). I consciencely choose to live outside of the intermountain west for probably the same reasons you do. I am a writer, author of "The College Guide for Latter-day Saints":

      http://members.aol.com/legacycomm/guide1.htm

I'm also a dedicated cybernaut. I realize your swamped with Email, but I would love to strike up somewhat of a relationship. No, I'm not trying to be a Churchman (I love that term!). I respect your situation. It's very fascinating to me. I joined the Church initially for my girlfriend (now wife) and entered the MTC 13 months later. it was only there and in the field that I got really turned on to the gospel. Since coming home I've had my bouts, but have stayed pretty much on the "company man" course. Do you realize that you represent a secret side of me, of many X'er Mormons and others throughout the Church? We read you and say "well, if I ever did it, I'd do it somewhat like that...." Fascinating stuff. Oh, I live in Houston. Write me back if you get the chance. What I'd like to know a bit about is the timespan that you went through shortly after you left the Church - what was it like? It seems it would be like jumping off a sea cliff into a churning ocean - so many uncertainties. Anyway, if you got the time, you got someone here who'd love to coorespond a bit. Thanks!

I'll try to pencil you in. :)

Here's a web page I think you might like.....

      http://www.fadetoblack.com/cultkit/cult.htm

Just cuz I'm LDS doesn't mean I don't enjoy the humor of your pages nor the skill that you use to present them. Enjoy!

Hey, we all have our good points and our bad points. Thanks for the URL.

A friend who was reviewing my site (http://www.dolphin.org/greg/) pointed me to yours to get some ideas. Good site! And if you get a chance, drop by my home page and look up some of my stories.

Looks like you got some graphics from me, too. But that's okay -- I won't tell.

Just noticed that you changed the "Mormon Matter" typography at the top of the page. It looks nice. Had been meaning to say that the melting brown typography before reminded me too much of chocolate, creating a craving for them every time I loaded your page! (grin)

Your web pages as a whole is nice and is a LOT of work, not only in content, but also in artistic design.

My own site is breadcrumbs compared to yours, having barely begun (still in the starting gate)!

      http://www2.netcom.com/~kkeil/kkeil.html

Hey, man cannot live on chocolate alone. I'm sure your bread crumbs will grow into a fine fat loaf someday, and will be hot and nourishing long after my chocolate has melted away.

Great website, one of the best I've seen. I enjoy your writing, keep it coming. I'm a lifelong mormon although inacative for years, but the one thing that really chaps my ass is the Word of Wisdom. After reading early church history, I find that none of the early members or prophets for that matter payed any heed at all to it, but now it is generally regarded as the number one commandment to most mormons. In fact I know some people who regard breaking the word of wisdom on the same level as say sodomizing a donkey. I say if brother Joseph and Brigham can smoke fat cigars and drink fine wine let me at it!

I'll drink to that.

It's very unfortunate that despite the lifetime you spent as a member of the Church, you never felt the conversion power of the Holy Ghost. It's evident that you don't really know what the atonement is ... it is MUCH more than a sacrifice of a son on the cross. But what really amazes me is that you are expending so much time, thought, energy, effort, and you LIFE to the work of the adversary ... HOPELESSLY trying to convince the world of your crooked and biased views of Christ and his plan. And it is, my friend, hopeless. You will see someday..someday quite soon...that your choices have only led yourself to a hell more miserable than you ever suffered in any jail. Beware ... it is so obvious who's advocate you are playing. Satan's got a real blindfold on you. I feel sorrow for you. When you want to repent someday of this period of your life (re: Alma the Younger) it will so much harder because of all the efforts your putting into spreading your apostate views across the world. You've affected much more than just yourself, which makes repentance so much harder.

Well, farewell, and remember that once the Spirit has confirmed truth, no amount of deception disguised with humor, sarcasm, pop culture, and new-age individualistic thinking can deter spiritual knowledge. So, in other words, stop wasting your time. "No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing...the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobley, and independent until the purposes of God shall be accomplished." Whatever persecution may arise, it matters not, Christ and his Gospel will prevail. It's Satan who's got you convinced otherwise. Check yourself.

Oh, fuck off, you high-handed, self-righteous, pinheaded, peabrained scold. Maybe if God himself came down and slapped me around -- à la Alma the Younger -- I'd decide to return to the Church. But it's more likely I wouldn't. I can't respect a God who plays favorites. Why should baddies like Saul and Alma get personal wake-up calls from God, when no one else does? Why hasn't the Big Man come down and straightened out Ed Decker? Why does he permit Jerald and Sandra Tanner to continue on their merry divisive way? Hey, for that matter, why didn't he recruit Hitler when he had the chance? Can you imagine what God could have accomplished with der Führer on his team? Who did Alma and Saul have to sleep with to become God's pets?

Fantastic Mormon pages! The story of your mission is absolutely enthralling and provided an awesome immersion in the Mormon culture. I'm an interested observer of the Mormon culture, partially because I plan on moving to Utah soon (not because of the Mormons, but rather because I'm one of those godawful Edward-abbey type nature freaks.

So what did happen to Elder Finn? Have any other former missionaries followed you into apostasy? Are you yourself now an atheist, or do you still consider yourself Christian?

Once again, GREAT JOB!

He's still in the Church. No one followed me, but I know one or two who paralleled me. It's a limiting question when "atheist" and "Christian" are the only two choices; call me agnostic.

Brother Shunn! Would you believe that you were behind my first apostate act that could have stripped me of my temple recommend? My wife and I had just admitted our serious doubts about the church to each other and we sat down at the computer to find someone of a like mind. We found you and read your first four chapters of "The Road to Apostasy" together (so...do you associate or sympathize with any apostates? Nobody but them plane bombers). I e-mailed you and told you what I thought then, but since then I've come through the dark valley and have emerged intact. My wife and I passed through the seven stages of real apostasy: shock, guilt, denial, guilt, anger, guilt and finally resignation (did I miss any?) I can't say that you caused or really contributed to my apostasy, but you made the trip bearable with your candor and sense of humor.

My wife and I went out and bought gentile underwear together, and just last weekend we went to a coffee shop to have our first cup of coffee. Last week I held my wife's hand as she turned down her first calling, just before I told the elders quorum president that I really did not intend to do any home teaching and would he take our family off the home teaching list. Now I'm composing a letter to Salt Lake etc. etc. but the hardest part is now when I tell my family. I know that isn't going to go well...so wish me luck.

Just let me say that this was not an easy decision, especially since my wife is approaching her last semester at BYU before graduation. I called the honor code office and they said that any student that disaffiliates themselves with the church will be dismissed from school regardless of whether or not they have sinned. Go figure. Now what the hell are we supposed to do? It's so simple as just picking up and moving. I asked if she had it within her to hold her nose and lie for her ecclesiastical endorsement (that you need every year to go to BYU) but she said she doesn't.

And finally...I know what your feelings are about God...I'm almost there myself. I feel like there's a god, I sure hope there is, but I know that he goes way beyond the bible, or any other set of ancient tribal stories. There are many paths to the top of Mt. Fuji, said the wise man (I used to scoff at this notion while I was on my mission), I'll see you at the top.

"Tell me all your thoughts on God...'cause I'd really like to meet Her." I forget the name of the band...

I'm happy if I made your road to apostasy even a jot more pleasant. May there be many wonderful miles for you ahead.

I really liked your writing. The "Terror on Flight 789" was funny, but I think your best piece is probably "Toulemonde," although it confused me somewhat. I occasionally try to write things myself, but I always end up thinking that I wouldn't like my writing if it weren't mine. Oh well . . . maybe I'll be able to settle for less than perfection someday . . .

Dave, a wise writer once said that no story is ever truly finished -- it is merely abandoned. (That's either very profound or the mother of non sequiturs.) Keep at that writing, and best of luck.

I have gone from Mormonism to Christianity to paganism/whatever. I was raised in a very small mormon town in southeastern Idaho. One of my most memorable experiences involving "the church" was in the Logan Temple. We were there to be "baptized for the dead" and had to wait our turn while some young ladies got dipped. A very revelatory experience. I made sure I was the last one out of the dressing room so I could abuse myself in the big house. Hot stuff. I fell away some years later. I now live in a somewhat larger town in southcentral Utah. My next door neighbor is "the bishop". I don't think he will ever get used to me addressing him by his first name instead of his title. Most of my friends are mormons. They kind of hold me at arms length. I try not to bring up too many contradictions regarding their beliefs. They for the most part spend their lives secure in the knowlege that while they might be miserable for the time being while I laugh a lot and seem to enjoy life, they will have their revenge later when they are in the "celestial" and I am in the "telestial" or better yet, "outer darkness". Later dude.

You choked the chicken in the temple??? Kelly, I'm sorry, but that was just a leetle bit more than most of us wanted to know.

You called me "the Rush Limbaugh of the Anti-Mormon world." I think that is a rather elevated estimation of my significance to those who are willfully blind to the truth about Mormonism. Please note that my Book of Mormon Exposé will be moving to:

      http://www.iahushua.com/eoeic/thebook.htm

where I will include my secret Temple Name and my Member File # in my list of credentials. Mormonism, that financially powerful goliath of a whore, continues to try to psychologically harass me through the mass media. Whoever they are paying to do this is quite overpaid, as they are consummate amateurs at what they do. Deck the Quorum of the Twelve Cardinals in fine red satin and the end result would be the same. Sheol!

Shalom Aleichem.

P.S. Look for "The 17 Points of an Untrue Church," soon to come to "The Virtual Anne Frank House."

It wasn't an elevated estimation of your significance -- it was an insult. You and Limbaugh are both crackpots, end of story.

God, Bill, I just read your hiatus announcement and got real, real sad!

I feel like my friend is moving out of the neighborhood . . . umm, cyberhood.

Oh, I know the site will still be there for me, but, hell, I've memorized everything on there. It's part of my routine, you see. Come home from grad school and picking up the kid at nursery school. Turn on the computer. And while I get up my nerve to start dinner, check out Mormon Matter to see if anything is new. Any new wack jobs written in to the feedback page? Any new installments of the "Road to Apostacy?" Anything, anything, anything? It's an act of supreme optimism -- there's always the chance that there could be something new to look at at the old Shunn place. But now I know that it's over , a moment frozen in time.

Hey, I'll get over it. I think you are wise to take this positive move for your own writing career. You're taking steps down a slightly different path now . . . and I sincerely wish you a bon voyage!

But hey -- couldn't you send a postcard now and again? :)

Consider this my postcard! But, as usual, it looks as if I beat it home . . .

bill ive only just come back on line....and your deserting me....for SELFISH REASONS how positively healthy...you'll be writing self help books next!!!! goodest and bestest luck in your quest for fame and fortune and thanks for helping me along with eric from mormon insanity to my now blissful godless existance

I guess it's turned out that my Web site and I are co-dependents. Oh, well.

Just a comment on the upcomming reconstruction of I 15. Q.What's orange and sleeps 6? A.A UDOT truck.

For those of you tuning in late, UDOT is the Utah Department of Transportation. Har har.

Hello. I was very disappointed to see that you've decided to discontinue the Mormon pages, but, upon reading your explanation, I can say that I totally understand. We all have to learn to prioritize.

Still, I have to say that I regret seeing the end of what was probably the best ex-Mormon site on the net, and believe me, I've seen a lot of them. I stumbled across your site during a time when I was investigating the church for myself, and it really opened my eyes to the way things are (in spite of the fact that the Mormons I knew assured me that you were a disgruntled, excommunicated member with an axe to grind).

In spite of what you said on your Adieu page, if you ever do get inspired to finish up The Road to Apostasy, please let me know. I'm dying to find out the catalyst that sent you out the door...looking at your web site now, it's hard to believe that you were ever a devout Mormon.

At any rate, thanks for the web page. It made a difference in my life...your efforts were extremely worthwhile.

All the best of luck to you in your writing career. I'll be keeping my eyes open for your work.

Disgruntled, yes -- excommunicated, no. I left under my own power. To quote the late Elder Legrand Richards, you can tell your Mormon friends to put that in their pipes and smoke it. :>