How To Lose Your Testimony
Have you been feeling tied down lately? Have you recently realized that you’re smarter than most people and, therefore, give little weight to other’s opinions? Are you sick of doing the “right” thing all time and seeing a very little benefit for yourself? If you have said yes to any of these questions, then you might consider joining the small (and progressive) group of people who are deliberately “losing” their testimonies in an effort to “free” themselves from the burden of God, religion, and lofty expectations.
This “new trend” isn’t necessarily “new” or a “trend” to the rest of the world, but for me and my circle of influence, it seems to be more apparent now than it has in the past.
To be clear, it is a natural thing for one’s testimony to ebb and flow through the course of life’s experiences but what I’m referring to is much bigger than that.
This post is an attempt to discuss “how” you could lose go about losing your testimony and why you might consider doing so.
Why? #
The answer to “why would I want to lose my testimony?” is probably simpler than you think.
When considering losing your testimony, you need to disregard the fact that it will likely put serious strains on the relationships you have with family and friends. In addition to that, the idea that losing your testimony will likely send you into a dark hole of unanswered questions about a purposeless existence is something you must overlook. Really, the only thing that you should consider is that losing your testimony will probably make you feel FREE (long-term results are not guaranteed).
Have you caught the vision yet? Imagine a life where nobody is telling you what do to and no one is holding you up to a set of ridiculously high standards. Imagine what it would feel like to not be accountable to anybody. Imagine what you could do if you based your life on the idea that your life’s choices have no significant consequences. The best part is that getting to this point is easy.
Now if a man desired to serve God, it was his privilege; or rather, if he believed in God it was his privilege to serve him, but if he did not believe in him there was no law to punish him. (Alma 30:9)
How? #
Rather than going through the myriad of ways to lose a testimony, we will discuss a few common factors that lead up to that event and how you can implement them into your life with very little effort.
However, before we talk about how to lose your faith in God, we first need to examine how you got it in the first place. God has created everybody in such a way that we were all born with a very basic belief in Him. His goal for each of us is that we will take that God-given belief and cultivate it into a “loving” relationship.
That being said, here is something for you to consider: instead of “cultivating” your testimony as you are supposed to (which sounds like a lot of work), wouldn’t it be much easier to just neglect it until it dies? Why do you have to be the one who does all the work? Remember, there are plenty of other things in life that you can have a relationship with that won’t demand so much from you in return.
Simply stated, you didn’t have to convince yourself that there is a God, but you will have to convince yourself that there isn’t one. Here, I will list a few effective ways of doing just that.
O ye that are bound down under a foolish and a vain hope, why do ye yoke yourselves with such foolish things? Why do ye look for a Christ? For no man can know of anything which is to come. Behold, these things which ye call prophecies, which ye say are handed down by holy prophets, behold, they are foolish traditions of your fathers. How do ye know of their surety? Behold, ye cannot know of things which ye do not see; therefore ye cannot know that there shall be a Christ. (Alma 30:13-15)
1. Take it slow #
In Amish culture, adolescents go through a tradition called Rumspringa where for a period of time (usually a few years) they engage in rebellious behavior and defying parental norms. The interesting thing about this process is that after a few yeas of riotous living, MOST participants come back to their community, get baptized, and spend the rest of their life living the Amish lifestyle. Why do so many come back?
Well, it is because they tried to do too much at once. There is wisdom in the old adage, “Rome wasn’t built in a day”. You can’t expect to lose your testimony all at once. Forgetting your testimony is a delicate process so it is important that you take it slow.
If you were going to eat at an exotic sushi place, you wouldn’t want to try all the exotic sushis on your first visit. You should only try one exotic sushi at a time and slowly work up a tolerance until you’re ready to try another one. The same goes with these tips. Don’t try all of them at once, but just pick one of them and wait until you build up a tolerance and then try to incorporate another.
And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well […] (2 Nephi 28:21)
2. Give credit where it’s due #
This strategy of losing your testimony is a great one to start with because it requires very little effort on your part. All you need to do is tweak your perspective on life so that you realize that all of the good things that are happening to you are a direct result of your own genius. If you’re not in control of your life then who is? Give yourself the credit you deserve.
Conversely, you would never do something that would bring pain or misery into your life. So, when that does happen, we know that it is not your fault. Now, you might be asking yourself the question, “If it is not my fault, then who’s fault is it?”. Well, the answer is simple if you can follow my logic. If God DID exist, then he would have the power to stop bad things from happening to good people (like you). Therefore, either God is mean and not worthy of your admiration or he doesn’t exist at all. Either outcome will negatively affect your testimony. That logic has a few holes in it but lets not worry about the details.
And many more such things did he say unto them, telling them that there could be no atonement made for the sins of men, but every man fared in this life according to the management of the creature; therefore every man prospered according to his genius, and that every man conquered according to his strength; and whatsoever a man did was no crime. (Alma 30:17)
3. Dull your senses #
There is a metaphor commonly used in our culture that depicts a person’s conscience as an angel and devil standing on opposite shoulders, both trying to persuade the person on a course of action. For us to effectively lose our testimony, we need to do all we can to tune out (or push out) any forces in our lives that are opposing the things that I’m telling you today.
In my experience, the preferred mechanism of doing that is the media. It’s readily available, and so subtle at pushing away the angel on your shoulder that it is almost un-perceptible. You could start by listening to music at a volume that drowns out your angel’s voice, After while you could start watching movies that encourage negative behavior and If you really want to pull out the “big guns”, remember that your phone has access to all the pornographic filth that you could ever need.
You never know when something is going to happen that will shake your testimony. It could be a manifestation of an unexpected trial or the discovery of an unfamiliar doctrine. It is important that you cripple the angel on your shoulder now so that at the moment when you need him the most, he will be unable to stem the tide.
Fill the void #
It shouldn’t surprise you that losing something (like a testimony) will likely leave an empty void in your life to be filled. It is important that you fill this void as quickly as possible so that you don’t notice the fact that your life no longer has an eternal purpose. In most cases, that nagging void never really goes away, but it can be managed.
One of the best ways to manage a void in your life is to make sure that you’re in good company. Find people that are in a similar situation and associate with them. When thats not enough, try to convert your friends to your new lifestyle. Social media is a great platform to spread the word on how much perceived happiness and freedom you have.
If you are having a hard time converting others to your cause, don’t worry; there are plenty of other things that you can use to muzzle that nagging void. I won’t go into detail on any of these items, but here is a quick list:
- Money
- Drugs
- Alcohol
- Sex
- Fame
A quick Google search on any one of those subjects should be more than enough to get you started.
Conclusion #
The results of these behaviors will give you an added sense of perceived freedom that might out-weigh the shadowy gloom that will probably follow.
Ultimately, you get to decide the course of action you’d like to take.
You may find it helpful to take a look at the people in your life who made the decision to lose (or temporarily forget) their testimony and compare them to those who have diligently strived to maintain a relationship with God. Then, ask yourself this simple question: “Who would I rather be like?”.