Dear Sir,

This letter is to confirm that I do wish to have my name taken off any and all rolls and registers regarding my membership and any past affiliation regarding the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS).

Unlike most people, my decision is an easy one. During the time I was a member of the LDS, I have been witness to, and a victim of, human behavior at its basest form. I will give several examples.

When I first joined, it seemed that I had finally found a church, even though I still knew very little about LDS doctrine. Everyone was very friendly, and welcomed me with open arms. Little did I know that the smiles were false, and that the friendly atmosphere was used to conceal a more cynical purpose: to check out someone’s “worthiness.” Now, according to the New Testament, Jesus the Christ states that the only way we can come to His Father was through Him. Acknowledge that Jesus is your Personal Savior, acknowledge that you are a sinner, confess with your mouth that you are a sinner, and you will be saved. Of course, you have to try not to sin anymore and mean it as well. According to the LDS, “worthiness” depends on the size of the person’s wallet, because how else can its “unpaid ministry” live?

According to what I was told when a member of the LDS, I had to be married and have several children, because the church was about “families and homes.” Gee, I really wanted to get married, but poverty stood in the way. I wanted a real job, not the crummy part-time and temporary ones I was currently holding. And yet, what did your “church” do? Nothing. Jesus the Christ, in his ministry, would have done something, yet your “church” stood by while I starved. The Elder’s Quorum president, stated that, “It says in my Bible that some people’s lives are supposed to be hard,” and then made sure that mine was. I was also told by a high priest, “No, can’t help you, now go out and get married.” Oh yeah, right. I’ll just do that. Sieg heil! I did not, at any time, ask your ward for a handout. Just a job, so I could pick myself up. You people had job contacts, which you bragged about, and yet sat there and did nothing. Nothing. The only thing I was "worthy" of in your eyes was starvation. 

Eventually I moved to another state, and got married to an LDS woman who seemed honest, but who was just as big a liar. A selfish woman who wanted her own career, and who believed that a husband was a personal servant, and who, being a typical LDS, did nothing for no one except herself. When she wanted a separation, I came down with pneumonia. The only “aid” she gave me was to let me lie in her bed while she slept somewhere else. She could care less if I lived or died, she brought me nothing to eat or drink. During those two weeks I slept in a fetal position, so wracked with pain I was from hunger, and too weak physically to go downstairs and to get anything for myself. The great Mormon “family.” It turns out that, during the time I was ill, she was having phone sex with another priesthood holder. She finally shoved me out while I was still weak and ill, to drive nearly 1,000 miles to my mother’s. I left nearly all of my possessions behind, including my three cats. My youngest, Beauregard, would later be murdered by a child with a “good, strong missionary's handshake.” My estranged wife, from the time of the separation to the divorce, committed adultery six times. Six times. Going to boot her out, and think she’s unworthy? No, because she had children, and was a good tithe payer. 

During the time I was in this other ward, I found out about LDS “dogma,” and what a lie it is. Jesus Christ and Satan brothers? I don’t think so. Not in my Bible. And no, God is not a righteous man from the planet Kolob. He is the God of Isaac and Abraham, the One True God, creator of the universe, and all the stars and planets therein. There is no "Mrs. God," no pre-mortal. And no, we can’t be gods. That was Satan’s line from the Bible. Satan, your one true god. He, and that professional bum Hinckley, a man who never worked at a real job in his life. 

When I went back to my then-estranged wife’s to pick up a few things and to start moving everything to storage, she put me on a bed which turned out to be torture for my bad back (she knew it, too). I had to leave early, and on getting back I found out I had a pinched nerve. Again, what did your “church” do? Did you drive me to emergency, or to the pharmacy? Again, I was not “worthy,” so again I was supposed to suffer, in pain so severe that sleep was a luxury. So, instead of the “true” church taking me to the hospital, some friends of my Mother’s did, friends who are Baptists. That’s right, the evil Baptists whom your “true” church hates. They took me to emergency and waited the two hours there, and then they took me to the pharmacy and then home, with no thought of reward. Again, the “true” church had a chance to redeem itself, and again blew it. 

According to Mormon “beliefs,” those who leave the “true” church are supposed to do poorly, and their families are supposed to have a multi-generational curse. Let’s see now. In 2002, Microsoft had an intense, two-day class in its bid to capture the Internet programming market, Visual Studio.NET. Only 5,000 programmers from around the country were invited to this, meeting in classes in different parts of the country. It’s supposed to be a high honor. Guess who got invited and who went? The invitation went out to a lot of organizations, so I was shocked when I received one. Shocked, because a) I was an IT student at the time, b) because I was not a heavy Microsoft user. One person, whom I told about my incredible good fortune, asked me those very questions His response? “Maybe it was God.” And you know, I think it was. Since I left your clutches, I have reaffirmed my relationship with the One True God. And good things just keep happening. Last year, after 16 years of reverse discrimination and six years of LDS roadblocks, I finally earned my BSIT. Two months later, I entered graduate school, my goal is a Master’s in Business Administration. Unlike you people, who would take it and apply for the first high-paying job, my goal is to teach part-time at some university. I’ve got a ton of experience in the accounting field, and I want to pass along my hard-won business experience. I have two small businesses, one where I create Web sites, another where I work as a portfolio manager. I am also respected by my peers in my classes, not because of any past affiliation with the "true" church, but because of the knowledge I possess, and am more than willing to share. I’m really raking in the bucks, quite a bit which I give away to legitimate charities, and some to street people who ask. And yet, as much as I give away, I get it back, and then some.

I still pray and read my Bible daily, or try to. But regarding your work of fiction, created out of rags, I ignore, as I do your “church.” Every day, I try to live up to God’s expectations, and be worthy of Jesus the Matchless Christ’s sacrifice. Only God judges, and decides who is worthy to enter His House. Decisions that are God's alone. Not yours.