More on Dutcher's Leaving the LDS Church

I must say that I very firmly believe that there is NEVER any real justification for leaving the church. Sure, there are all sorts
of compelling reasons to leave and I can even relate with many and hope they don't ever become compelling enough for me to leave too, but all these reasons ultimately boil down to some flaw in the individual who's leaving, some lack of willingness or ability to be humble or obey or exercise faith or discipline himself or herself, or very often the problem is an overreliance on human understanding (the mental version of the arm of flesh). The church is not fully satisfying or enjoyable to everyone on all levels--certainly not to me--but for now it's the best we're going to get from God, and God don't make no junk.

I personally don't believe it's EVER a better choice to leave the church than to stay, even if it takes a lot of effort and negotiation and patience and even suffering to stay. Even in a marriage, there are times when it's justified to leave, but not with the church. Ever. Period. I wish I could do this belief of mine more justice in words.

As far as I'm concerned, it's an absolute FACT that there is something amiss in Dutcher's heart and/or mind if he's leaving the church, as there MUST be in anyone else's who does so. I don't know what those shortcomings are or why they're there or to what degree a particular individual is even fully accountable for them being there, but the fact that they MUST be in there somewhere is incontrovertible to me.

Now, if Dutcher eventually comes back bigger and better than ever as a Mormon and leaving the church was somehow essential to that, then great. After all, that's what happened to me as a teen. But logically that's almost like saying that you need to nearly die through a malignant cancer before you can return to good health and really commit to it this time. Seriously, the leaving itself is no better than a cancer; it's a BAD THING that usually just ends up destroying. Leaving is the result of some kind of malignancy of the ego--something in the mortal personality has grown out of balance enough to overtake the healthy essence of an eternal spirit.

If that's judgmental, then I guess I'm judgmental. I can relate with or at least pay interested attention to nearly everything that a Dutcher or a LaBute or a Levi Peterson or a Sunstone Foundation says or does within the church, but I simply cannot relate very much with someone who flat out leaves, unless or until they come back on some level.