Memories are Haunted Places

Sadly for them, they were trying to get to Mexico (mostly because they wanted to practice polygyny) but in an ironic twist of fate, the USA won a war against Mexico while the Mormons were crossing the Rocky Mountains. So, the USA claimed most of what is now the Western United States.

I'm sick of having to justify myself anytime I deviate ever more slightly from the Mormon life I used to have. Always having to answer to demands for my reasons.

My Mormon partner never has to do that. His only justification is "That's just what I've always done."

christians have the reading comprehension of a wet carpet square (which...yeah, that checks out).

The ones who present themselves as independent thinkers, ironically, are the ones whose minds are much less likely to change. Their faith is built on their own rationalizations; they've twisted the doctrine into a version that sounds perfectly reasonable to them, more reasonable than it's meant to be. Okay, Joseph Smith really did that, but that doesn't mean he's not the prophet. Yes, leaders in the past all preached something that isn't doctrine anymore, but they're not perfect people. I don't agree with this current policy, but prophets aren't perfect and I know it's going to change someday. The message of the Book of Mormon is still perfect even if the translation doesn't seem to be. Do these minor issues really matter?

It's not. In the most progressive stake I've been in in eastern Canada, there was more political diversity and people were nicer to the gays, sure. But the nice "progressive" stake president still called an actual conspiracy nut and racist anti-semite to be the YSA president. Gay people who wanted to get married still got excommunicated or barred from the temple. Racism, homophobia, and sexism were still everywhere, just more "subtle".