Is that true? Or did he switch, without God’s instructions, to using his seer stone instead of the Urim and Thummin?

My apologizes for being completely off-topic—but since this is something I want to discuss, should I create a new thread?

No one can judge why Tal really left the church but Tal. Whether a defender or supporter, the truth lies with His search for enlightenment and it’s not really open for debate.

I realize the conversation isn’t simply about Tal anymore it’s about the deeper meanings of life, creation, psychology, philosophy, search for truth etc…

As some of the bloggers have posted, I met Tal several times before his enlightenment. In fact I was in several of his Gospel Doctrine classes. He was intelligent if not overly spiritual, great music career, beautiful wife, wonderful family with 8 kids… He seemed to have it all.

Here is my issue with this whole sad story and it does sadden me as He and Tracey were instrumental in my wife and I meeting.

With all of this truth flowing into Tal’s life since he came to know the Mormon Church is a lie… where are the fruits of all his labors? There must be some kind of blessing… sorry fortunate result for the massive change of direction towards light and truth?! His music career has for the most part disappeared, his wife and him have split up, their kids are at best confused and some openly disrespect him, they have all left the church along with a number of their relatives and for what? I mean talk about finding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow… This was like winning the truth lottery… NO?

And the families,relationships and friends he has affectionately taught the truth too? I mean share the winnings right!

Isn’t the truth meant to set us free? Bring about peace? Instill confidence? Or at the very least lead to something remotely good?

I admit… I am a disillusioned Mormon!

I have read so much of the anti-mormon… I mean…. truth material and yet somehow I still find myself cringing at that overwhelming feeling of peace when I go to the temple, I despise the solid direction I receive while reading the scriptures and talking to My Illusionary Father on Kolob! I know at the end of the day I make it all up in my head because I am weak and need as many rules as possible to keep me stable.

And Joseph Smith… I mean, what a character he was… spending his whole life defending a book that he wrote himself, even reading from it in the final moments of his life for comfort before he and his Bro were shot to death by an angry painted mob who were law abiding citizens making sure the devilry of ‘families are forever” was never taught to the world.

Yeah… I know its a choice between the red or blue pill but I think I will stay with the blue.

And here we have it. As always, religion tells you not to check the facts, and distracts you with psychology in an attempt to make you feel guilty.

Huh? How did you get that from what I said in my post?

When my faith wavered, it wasn’t because I read . . . It was because I doubted God’s existence.

And here we have it. As always, religion tells you not to check the facts, and distracts you with psychology in an attempt to make you feel guilty. Religious people are the most nosy and judgmental people you will meet, and they are all trained to automatically respond with how they are “persecuted” by the rest of the world – that’s how they can lie to themselves about what they are doing at every moment, remember, it’s not the other person being persecuted, it’s you, because you are so clearly in the right.

If there is a God that lies as openly and often as any religious person I have encountered, I want nothing to do with Him. Call me a hater all you want, I don’t hate religious people, but I know what I’m seeing. If their pathetic doctrines were the only reason to believe in God, I would be an atheist.

I think the most important thing to do with Tal Bachman and his family is to simply love them, pray for them, and do good works for them. The same as what you would do if they had never left the church… Being a former UMC member, that is what catches my attention with that denomination and the way they’ve been to me since I left in January.

We’ve always heard the saying, “God works in mysterious ways.” Be God’s love to them in many ways.

The rough road of uncertainty could lay ahead for any one of us. We need to be careful basing our actions on heresay, modern day interpretation of past events, or the emotion-filled explanations of those who hold a grudge. (and I don’t deny that at times people have good reasons to hold those grudges – one of the problems of a Church made up of ordinary people)
Instead we should exercise our own faith and receive our own answers, remembering that we are here to walk by faith and that the existence of uncertainty in any areas of Church History gives us wonderful opportunities to do just that. When we demand that there must be a clear explanation of events we limit the scope for the spirit to influence our lives. Just like each one of us the Church (through the early leaders) too had to go through a period of learning and implementing the will of the Lord – line upon line – and just like in each of our lives errors were made, repentance occurred and the appropriate corrections were made.

The first 3 years after Tal’s ‘escape’ were filled with a ton of guile that was flung to the four corners of the earth via any media he could get his hands on. That’s not to say that everything he said was just plain bitterness, but rather that most everything he said concerning the LDS Church were coated with some unappealing flavour.

But I think non-LDS Tal v.2 is more inline with who he was before his whole escapade. He’s way more bearable and much more fascinating to read. His insights are seen clearly rather than through a cloudy layer of extreme opposition.

So I think he deserves some credit for how far he’s come. I’ve certainly noticed the difference in his postings on some message boards).