When I said, “My post pointed out that the reason for staying or leaving the Church was to be a spiritual reason, one gained from God and if there are any other reasons, then it is not of God and has no bearing on truth”

I said this in the context of people giving personal reasons based on their beliefs that are negative or against the Church.

Such as a person who stays because, for example, he/she has a spouse who is a faithful member, but they cannot believe in the Church for personal reasons. This is an example of where it has no bearing on truth, that for reasons of faith, it is invalid and also invalidates any faith.

On another note, for those who stay in the Church because they merely believe it is God’s Church, having no spiritual confirmation yet, is an act of faith and is considered spiritual and valid.

In comparison, if a person stays in the Church because he believes nothing else except (for example), that he can get rich, is not faithful and that belief becomes invalid.

The point in this is one of faith, a belief or spiritual confirmation must be one that is faithful to God.

My post pointed out that the reason for staying or leaving the Church was to be a spiritual reason, one gained from God and if there are any other reasons, then it is not of God and has no bearing on truth. So yes, it negates (invalidates) the two points you made because reasons that are personal or of the world does not confirm that Church is false, it merely confirms the reason as a personal choice that is not spiritually based, but worldly based.

Another point made in, to readers who are not members of the Church that, that membership in the Church carries an important goal, that is salvation. This says all the personal reasons to reject or leave the Church negates that persons salvation.

One of the things that occurs with some ex-members, is they join the Anti-Mormon troops. This post addresses those who think they can make claims against the Mormon Church based on personal opinion, which has nothing to do with truth and God.

As far as people who are “unlikely” to claim that God told them to leave, that is one of my points in the Blog entry. The point that since God did not tell them to leave makes their leaving as a spiritual error, one that negates their own salvation.

The central or main reason for my blog is to tell people that to enter the Church or leave it, requires a spiritual confirmation to ensure that the act of entering or leaving is confirmed by God. This is what establishes a spiritual testimony of truth. Of course, God would never confirm to a person to leave, that would be against God’s eternal plan of salvation. That is why such a confirmation (to leave) will never happen.

Your piece ‘What Did God Say, When you Left the Church?’ negates two main points for many people leaving the church.

Firstly, many people either born under the covenant or converted by missionaries, feel that god never actually told them that the church was true in the first place. They were either raised in the church by believing parents which you would have to accept, gives a very strong conditioning to belief in the LDS church. Alternatively, many converts are attracted to the church in times of hardship during their lives & are baptised over a three week period, during which time they are given a lot of attention by the missionaries & by the members who are involved in their fellowshipping.

The 2nd point is that many people leaving the LDS church (and other churches) come to the conclusion that they don’t believe in god at all. Not everyone leaves one church & then joins a different one. So obviously people in the 2nd group are unlikely to claim that god told them to leave the church, if they no longer believe in god.