Windy Sydney

It has happened to me many times. I will be having a conversation, either online or in my daily life, and someone will deduce that I simply left the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints because someone in the church offended me. It could have been a Young Women's teacher, or bishop... maybe someone you didn't even know that you heard speaking about something.

It's amazing that most Mormons assume that this is why people leave the church. You know what? *THAT* is offensive.

I would be lying if I told you that I wasn't offended. I was.

I was offended by the treatment of African-Americans in the Mormon Church and the fact that they were not allowed to hold the priesthood until 1978. I was even more offended when I read some of the statements from prior prophets and apostles regarding African Americans.

I was offended that I was taught stories in primary and young women's classes that turned out to be untrue. The church lied to me and others.

I was offended when my grandmother couldn't see her own son get married in the temple because some guy thought she wasn't worthy enough. I am still offended by that, and so are many people.

Many relatives of holocaust victims were offended when the Mormon Church baptized thousands and thousands of the victims in the temple. That is most offensive.

Okay, so I was offended. Thing is, it's not something you can fix. These issues will always be there, and no matter how you twist things to believe what you want, it will never ever be okay.