I have been researching similar religions (Christadelphians, Church of God, SDAs. Mormons, Bible Students) and just posted a new section at http://www.jwfacts.com/index_files/similar.htm
Below are comments from Mormons and X Mormons that I found on the internet. The active ones are just as bigotted as JWs, and the former ones go through exactly the same emotional difficulties.
Comments from active Mormons
“I'm sorry that you feel this way about the church in which I Know to be True. … I'm sorry that you had the truth and feel it was not. The things you wrote made me sick to my stomach. Some things you wrote were twisted, some were wrong, and some you need faith to have a testimony of them.”
“What church you found to be the truth.”
“Or maybe it was that you just copied all your "facts" out of a typical anti-mormon pamphlet. Your story lacks documentation and proof. You attack irregularities and personal human flaws, nobody is perfect not even Mormons. Religious history, regardless of denomination, is always plaged by "human" misjudgments and mistakes. Give me any religion and I can give you a story three times as long as you gave about Mormons. Your story proves nothing. The doctrine is the heart of mormonism not the the people or its leaders. The doctrine is true and I hope one day you will the ability to overlook these small oversights and descrepancies.”
“Are Ex-Mormons just taking the easy way out? No tithing to pay. So many fewer meetings to attend. So much less criticism from others not of your faith. No more Word of Wisdom. No guilt for sin.”
“I hope you humble yourself and discover that you are fighting against the truth and work of God before you cause great harm to the Christ's work. Don't believe the lies you heard from others or create for yourself.”
“I'm sorry you have fallen away from the ONLY TRUE CHURCH on EARTH and i really do hope you and your wife will repent and have faith in the church and in your testimony.”
“I know without a shadow of a doubt that this is the only true church. not because thats what i was taught all my life, but because i have found it out through my own experiences.”
“I am Very happy. We are not a CULT!!!! We are very nice people and others make up the most ridiculous storys.”
“Satan is a powerful being that can mislead our thoughts and actions. I am astonished that a grown man can be so naive and ignorant. Please, dont spend so much time destroying what other people find dear to their hearts. Why is it only Mormonism that you try and destroy??? I know, because it is the only TRUE CHURCH and misery loves company no sorry misery loves company.”
“What have you found that is a better way to live your life?”
“You have no right to put LIES on the internet to discourage people in converting.”
“You see Eric You made me stronger in the faith. I read entirely through your site and for the first time doubted. Un fortunately for you instead of just leaving I did the unexplainable, I prayed. I did not recieve an answer right away, Which made me doubt more, especialy since I had been praying for three hours. Well to make a long story short I was again browsing through all the sites about mormons when i came to a site www.mormons.org . You see every reason that you left the church was covered. It gave scientific evidence against the smithsonians rebutal of the Book of Mormon and even more scriptural evidence for it. Amazing that the day after I prayed three hours I learned more about what was being said about the church and how it was lies, more so then I had ever leaned before. S”
Comments from ex-Mormons
The following comments are some of many that appear on Internet sites, showing the similar thought process of Mormons on leaving their religion.
“The two sides of myself were at war. On one side was the part of me that expected and yes, wanted, the Church to be true. On the other side were my own personal beliefs, my own common sense, my feeling that things should not be so complicated. … I had pleaded with [God] to tell me the church was true. I finally asked if it wasn’t. I was finally honest with myself that I didn’t think it was. That truth couldn’t possibly be so complicated. With that honesty came a feeling of immense relief. For the first time I was able to look at the Church as an outsider and see what a small sect it was in the world. And you know, it did suddenly look implausible. Of course I had believed it – because everyone I loved believed it. As the weight lifted off my chest I laughed in sheer joy. This was the moment I went from being inactive to an apostate. I slept well that night and woke up in a new world. It has been 7 years since that realization and I have not attempted to force the church to make sense again. I’ve found great joy in just being a regular human being and want my children to be regular human beings as well.”
“Since I have studied somewhat and gained a little understanding I am still amazed at the lack of knowledge that most devout members have about their religion. I mean I discuss some of topics with them and bring up questions that they never had heard anything about. These are college educated, returned missionary brethren that really don’t have a clue about some of their religious history.”
“There was a pervasive attitude at BYU that questions were ok, as long as they were within certain confines. In the Mormon Church, constant questioning can be interpreted as a challenge of authority…. The more I studied, the more questions piled up. I often asked myself why I believed in the church. The answer was invariably because it helped me to be a good person. …I knew that everything in my life was virtually inseparable from the church. Risking everything good in my life wasn’t worth opening the Pandora’s Box that I knew was there, filling slowly but surely. … Mormons are taught that Anti-Mormons are people who are deceived by Satan (probably because they sinned), that they become bitter and angry against the church because they are sinful, and that they spread all kind of nasty lies on the internet to try to make Mormons leave the church and be miserable too. After all, misery loves company! …I finally found someone to talk to at school, and the first thing I did was cry for about 15 minutes, without saying anything. It was fear, anger, loss, betrayal, and relief all rolled up. …My wife and my parents must have felt that I had gone crazy, and sometimes I really felt crazy. They were thinking, “how could Tom have changed overnight like this?” and I was thinking, “Can’t you see the deception in this?””
“I just want to start off by expressing how thankful I am to have found this place. Ever since I left the church 7 months ago, I've been looking for an outlet. Emotions run deep in the Mormon church, and they run deep coming out of it. …[My wife] talked about a shelf that all Mormons have where they keep all their unsolvable doubts. That's when I examined my shelf. That's when I realized my shelf was full. … Quickly, though, I found out that getting out of Mormonism is about as easy as getting out of Alcatraz. … The rumors started almost immediately. Of course, I didn't tell anyone about my falling away. Jana, however, happened to mention to a friend of hers that I wasn't going to church anymore. By the time that little bit-o-gossip got around to my mother, it had mutated into "Dave's gotten some crazy ideas. I think he's gone to the loony bin." …So, as I continue to escape, emotions continue to run deep. I get sad a lot, thinking about the culture I once had and the bond I once shared with my family. I miss it. I really, really do. At times, though, I get those sharp pangs of anger that come from realizing I had been fooled for so long.”