[Tonchi]

The last time we tried to discuss this dangerous cult, which has swallowed up members of my family, it seems we offended somebody who is not Mormon but has no choice about living in the middle of their stronghold. So I'm not sure we ought to go into it again. But, oh well...

Suicide and divorce are epidemic within the Mormon Church, and like everything else about this religion, they try to sweep it under the rug when a flaw is exposed. Not only because it is bad publicity for their recruiting, but because the way they retain these people in the fold is by making sure they never have access to anything except approved and official explanations.

The reason that this kid did away with himself after his Mission is very simple if you know how those work. I have copies of the instructions these kids get when they are sent to faraway places to make converts. They are rated on their success in signing up new members over this period, which can affects the prestige of their family and their own standing in the local Temple or Stake, and subsequently could cause employers or the fathers of potential brides to accept them readily or reject them. So they actually have a lot riding on this Mission, whether they admit it or not.

If they do not rake in the converts, or worse still, if they run into somebody who defies them and confounds them at every turn in a "preach-off", these kids have been known to go into massive depressions. (BTW, only men are sent on Missions, women only recently were thrown a bone by being allowed to participate in other missionary activities; they are not potential Gods like their male bretheren may aspire to be.) Because these boys are working from a prepared plan and because they are told that anybody who rejects the word of their Church is on the side of the Devil anyway and is beyond salvation, it is hard for them to understand how they can be blocked at every turn. It is actually very easy to shoot down Mormon arguments because their mythology is so bogus, and the Catholic Church has even printed a pamphlet on how to answer their statements, which I have. After running into enough of these brick walls, the "faith" of a Mormon missionary is sometimes shaken to the bone. The Mormons are not stupid people, quite the opposite, and when they begin to ask questions or to seek clarifications, they discover that there ARE no answers, there ARE no clarifications, and the elders of the Church will turn on them for questioning rather than to provide the information which these kids want in order to understand their failures. You have to understand that the indoctrination by the Mormon Church begins in the cradle and goes beyond the grave, and you are not allowed to investigate any other explanations except those already approved. When you are assured that you know the one true way and somebody gets to take a shot at your bubble and consistently breaks it, it is the end of your world. A Mission can be the end of your faith, and because you have no other reason to live, you take your life.

There is nothing more terrifying to a practicing Mormon than to feel estranged from his group. The suicide epidemic among their youth is not the result of inbred weakness, because the Mormons have also saturated Idaho, California, Nevada, Arizona, and many other locations. They are growing faster than any other mainstream church. They are not just huddling in a fortress in Utah anymore. But as a community, they still judge the members whom they consider to be failures or not of perfect faith very harshly. It is too much for many people to endure. Especially kids, who have enough problems knowing who they are without being told that they have somehow failed their family and failed God.