A letter sent to my Stake President tonight.
Dear President________,
More good news from the trenches. These messages just came in today.
Idaho: “My stake president brought up the discussion of how to protect youth during interviews. You’re making an impact. Good work!”
Utah: “I work with millennial TBMs. Today we were having a discussion about the US gymnastics doctor situation. My coworker noted that those kind of abuses make them hesitant to put their kids in sports and such where they might be 1:1 with an adult. Another, who’s a faithful member, piped up that he felt the same way about bishop interviews, citing ‘all the awful stories he’s been hearing about bishops abusing kids.’ I was shocked when the entire team—all TBMs—agreed without hesitation, saying they would never be sending their kids in alone for bishop interviews, and that the church should absolutely change that policy.
So whether or not the policy changes now, people are changing. Those are future parents and church leaders. It’s working, even if it’s slow. Keep up the good work.”
Pretty cool that leaders and members are seeing the imminent dangers to their children by allowing them to be taken behind closed doors and asked questions about sex.
All my Best,
-Sam
P.S. ‘TBM’ is the acronym for ‘True Believing Member.’ It’s not a pejorative term in any way.
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Tocubit Is Invisible's Cubit 
The term “TBM” is pejorative in every aspect of the word.
“TBM” originated from a Mormon hate group on Reddit. It’s primarily used to insult the intelligence of the members. This hate group believes that only an idiot would believe in something like the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
If you want members to join you in your fight to protect children, it’s probably best to not use a term meant to mock them, that came from a group of people that would loving nothing more than for the members to lose their faith and for the Church to be destroyed.
And yes, that is their objective. Especially when they constantly post ideas and methods on “how to get your spouse to lose their faith” or who cheer when a church leader dies.
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Thanks Wade. What would be a better term?
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Hmmm…. I’m not sure what word would naturally come to the mind of an active, faithful member… Oh right, active. You could write active, or active and faithful.
I am an adult convert of 18 years now, and I was subjected to invasive, in appropriate questioning by priesthood authority as a young adult. I support your cause. That said, I am disappointed that everything you post is over on r/exmormon. They are not friendly to the church. The least you could do is rethink your bedfellows, and post over at r/mormon. I know they don’t have the audience, but they do have the audience that will make a difference to active, faithful members.
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Steven,
I want to give you a hug. Thank you for your comments and suggestions. TBM is out. Active member is in.
Starting today, I’m going to post in r/Mormon again. I really appreciate your invite. Thank you for supporting OUR cause…. thanks a million!
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I think the only reason “TBM” is treated as a pejorative, is because of the acronym. I think the origin of it is Joseph F Smith — https://www.lds.org/new-era/1997/11/are-you-a-mormon?lang=eng . I’m comfortable self-describing as “true blue, died in the wool, through and through.”; and so don’t find the term offensive. It’s tough – you’re probably going to offend someone no matter what. Good luck brother.
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A couple of quotes I came across while checking some details of “The Pentagon Files”, which we viewed last week, may be appicable here. Daniel Ellsberg: ‘It is true that most people find it more comfortable to trust an authority than have their faith questioned.”
Further: “We need the courage to face the truth about what we are doing in the world and act responsibly to change it.” Sam is doing just that within the perameters available to him. What he is doing takes great COURAGE and if one thinks that the support of only active members is of real value, then those members need to move out of those comfort zones to protectldschildren.
Many have transitioned out of the church because of these interviews and the consequences. Their opinions carry as much weight if not more than those obliviously unaware of what is happening. Sam needs as much support as he can muster… it is not just his responsibility it is our stewardship.
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