[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-144884-en":3,"doc-seo-144884-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":91},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":11,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":20,"is_downloadable":20,"audit_status":20,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":27,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},144884,1099523882367,"Jordan Avery","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_9964176cb1d06d4a9deccf72a44ae3dc",2,"Literature","Confessions of a ModernDay Mobber","A first-person confession recounts a decade of satirizing Mormon culture through newspaper editorials and personal therapy. The narrator describes being fired, relocating to a new ward, and using humor to ease stress from church meetings. Later, writer’s block and doubts lead to considering apostasy, followed by a realization about hypocrisy, courage, and the self-serving nature of group opinions. The piece ends with a struggle to reconcile faith, atheism, and identity.","# Confessions of a ModernDay Mobber\n\nRobert Kirby  \nI HAVE PERSECUTED MORMONs for ten years.I began riding with the mob inthe early 90's while working for the Utah County Journal.Asked one dayto write a quick editorial for the paper,I penned\"5 Kinds of Mormons.\"It offered the theory that of all the millions of Mormons in the world,there were only five basic types:liberal,genuine,conservative,orthodox,and Nazi.  \nAs I recall it took less than an hour to write the editorial.Not sur-prising when you consider that there were so many things about culturalMormonism inside me itching to get out,mostly those things we havetransformed into doctrine out of nothing more than sheer repetition.  \n\"Five Kinds of Mormons\"was well received by nearly everyone butthe newspaper's publisher.Hundreds of readers,most of them activeLDS,praised the humor in the editorial and asked for more.Encouragedby the response,I continued lampooning us and never looked back evenwhen I got into trouble for it.  \nI needled Mormon dress,hymns,kitsch,wedding receptions,food,seating arrangements,and speech.When I wouldn't stop doing it,I wasfired by the Journal and picked up by the Salt Lake Tribune.My reputationfor skewering Mormons grew and followed me when we moved to SaltLake County last month.Our first Sunday in the new ward began with anoticeable no-man's land around us on the pews.I understood,however,that this behavior was prompted out of fear of turning up in a columnrather than distaste.The worry soon abated,and we have since madegood friends.  \nWriting what I do about Mormons initially had far more to do withpersonal therapy than it did with changing anyone's mind.It was myway of easing the internal tension that occurred during boring and fre-quently pointless church meetings,a tension that left unchecked mighthave developed into a scenario involving a rifle and a rooftop.Churchfor me has always been grueling.Writing about it made it easier.  \n82 Dialogue:A Journal of Mormon Thought  \nBut several years ago I really began to struggle.At first I thought itwas simple writer's block.Gradually I came to understand that it wasmuch worse.The thrill was gone.Perhaps writing no longer offered methe sanctuary it once had.If so,maybe it was time for me to leave.Afterall,I do not believe everything I am told simply because someone in aposition of authority says it is so,and I refuse to let congregated opinionsway my personal convictions.Isn't that the definition of apostasy?  \nI briefly considered becoming a committed apostate.I talked it overwith friends,family,and sometimes even tolerant strangers.I exploredthe usual Internet web sites and read the testimonies of abuse by thechurch.One day while lurking around an anti-Mormon website,I readsomething every bit as ridiculous as anything I'd ever heard in church.Aformer Mormon claimed that those who walked the edge of Mormonismdid so because they simply lacked the courage to jump all the way out ofthe church.The writer specifically mentioned members who attendedSunstone Symposia and even me by name.I confess to being surprised.All those years of swimming against the flow and not once had I consid-ered the possibility that I suffered the barbs and harangues of the ortho-dox because I lacked courage to run away from them.  \nRight then I knew I had to stay.Right then I noticed the similarity be-tween those I regularly lampooned and those who mistakenly believed Iwas somehow on their side for doing so.Seriously,where is the differ-ence between the charge that fringe Mormons lack the courage to leaveand the equally spurious and illogical claim that those who do leave lackthe moral fiber to remain?  \nThere are Five Kinds of Ex-Mormons as well,most of them in direneed of a bit of lampooning to help them get over themselves.They suf-fer from the same malady they see so clearly in others:an inability to dis-tinguish between being filled with the truth and being full of yourself.  \nLife is a test of individuals.Unfortunately,we f","cbCaiobV7ySLUfaB","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiobV7ySLUfaB","pdf",891101,1,5,"English","en",105,"# Confessions of a ModernDay Mobber\n## Origins of the satire\n## Reception and fallout\n## Therapy through writing\n## Considering apostasy\n## Self, courage, and group dynamics\n## Faith, atheism, and identity","[{\"question\":\"Why does the narrator initially write satirical pieces about Mormon life?\",\"answer\":\"Writing helps relieve internal tension created by tedious and often pointless church meetings, acting as personal therapy rather than a strategy to persuade others.\"},{\"question\":\"What prompts the narrator to struggle and consider leaving the church?\",\"answer\":\"The thrill of writing fades, and the narrator begins questioning whether authority-based beliefs and congregated opinions should control personal convictions.\"},{\"question\":\"What key insight changes the narrator’s decision about apostasy?\",\"answer\":\"The narrator recognizes a similarity between those they lampoon and those who misjudge ex-members, concluding that the real obstacle is the self and that people’s problems often come from within.\"}]","Confessions of a ModernDay Mobber | 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