The Pain Caused by Religion


I confess to binge watching the You Tube site "Mormon Stories." I warn myself to not open a new video because they are very long and I can't stop myself from becoming absorbed. One was posted a few days ago, six hours long, and I'll try to summarize it here.

The story starts with a devout young Momon couple in their early 30's with two children under five. The husband was killed in an automobile accident. The wife struggled to support the two children while working toward an advanced college degree that would give her more income. Less than a year later she and another grad student fell in love and decided to marry. He was also a Momon and was on board to help with raise the children. The future again was bright. There was one problem, Mormonism.

Mormons control marriages by the act of being "sealed." A couple can be sealed only by being married in a Temple. Once sealed, the couple will spend their life together but also spend eternity together after they are dead. It is happy, happy.

The problem comes for a wife whose husband dies. She will remain sealed to her first husband in the afterlife even if she remarries. Mormon men who fall in love with a widow often cut off the relationship because they cannot spend eternity with her. 

The widow in this video told church officials she wanted to be sealed in eternity with both husbands. Further, she said, she wanted this available to all widows. She was told by local Mormon officials they supported this but the final decision would have to come from Salt Lake City. Eventually she received what seemed to be a form letter denying both requests. The moderator of the video said he knew of widows who received approval from Salt Lake City for sealing with two men but those women had friends inside the hierarchy. 

The second husband and the woman had a child together and left the Mormon Church. They are atheists today and are happy to be done with the heartache that goes with all religions.  

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