I recently moved to a great neighborhood in Utah. The area I live in is 90% LDS. My neighbors are the best I have ever had. They are concerned, giving and very connected to one another. Living here is like stepping back in time 50 years. They are also very intelligent, educated and well read.

I read a few books on the LDS church before I moved, but I was completely unprepared for the culture shock. Before I moved to Utah, I thought Mormons were just another branch of the Christian faith, like Seventh Day Adventist, but they are as far removed from traditional Christianity as Hinduism is.

.Below is a partial list of Mormon doctrines that contradict traditional Christianity.

• Men can becomes gods of their own planet if they perform enough of the right “sacraments”
• Without polygamy, men can’t become gods
• god has a physical body and has sex with his wife in heaven to produce spirit babies
• Families are sealed together and spend eternity together
• Dead people can be baptized in the Mormon Church and have a chance to enter the Mormon Church after they are dead.
• All Christian history, after the original 12 apostles died, has been false and the LDS church is the one true Christian church.
• No one can be saved unless they are LDS.

This is the culture shock: How can people who seem so accomplished, believe this crazy LDS religion. It is mind boggling to me. It also created the crisis that caused me to loose my faith

These educated, well meaning people, living in a predominantly Christian culture, are polytheist pagans. At first I was amazed, and then angry. Amazed, because the LDS Church twists and perverts Christianity to something that can no longer be recognized as Christian and is the exact opposite of Christian belief. Angry, because they call themselves the one and only true Christian faith.

So why does all of this make me loose my faith? As I stood aghast at the mindless, unthinking acceptance of the bizarre and non-biblical Mormon doctrines, I turned the mirror around and wondered if I was also blind to my own cultural and family prejudices. After reading several books by Jews on why they do not accept Christ or the teaching of the New Testament, I realized I had never questioned the basic foundation of Christianity. Does the Old Testament predict Jesus Christ? Is the Christ to be God? Did Jesus fulfill the predictions concerning the Christ? Do the Jews need a savior? The answer to all of these is, no. The New Testament has no foundation in the Old Testament, therefore, Christianity is either, a true, but new religion without a foundation in any other religion or it is false.

I can’t believe in a brand new religion that relies on mysteries and bizarre contortions of logic to be believed – Christian or Mormon.

Thanks to my wonderful Mormon neighbors, I realized there is nothing illogical or irrational that reasonable people won’t fervently believe if they are taught it early enough.