One thing I will mention, probably more than once. The purpose of this blog is not to try to bash the church or to prove it's not true. I believe the church is true with all my heart. I believe that it's led by inspired leaders. I believe in some way that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that the Book of Mormon is inspired.

What I have come to believe, however, is that the LDS church is not an exclusive path to salvation. I believe the Lord puts many possible ways up the mountain out there, because we are all created with different personalites. The LDS way will work for many people, and it will not work for many people. The Catholic way will work for many people, and it will not work for many people. Etc.. We have a God that loves us so much and values diversity so much that he has given us a multiple choice test with more than one correct answer.

Where I believe the LDS church errs is in its claims of exclusiveness. The Lord has given us manifest evidence that the LDS church is not perfect, and in their zeal to pretend otherwise the leadership tries to obscure that fact. In fact, we pretend with all our might that the church is true, that the leaders are always inspired, that sacrifice brings forth the blessings of Heaven, etc., until we crack under the weight of self-deception or just permanently lose touch with reality.

I honor and respect the church and its leaders and hope to continue my association with it for the rest of my life. However, I can no longer ignore its imperfections in a schizophrenic attempt to pretend a sows ear is really a silk purse.