I decided long ago that the Mormon cult was not the place for me. Every time I tried to attend "church" some asshole would invariably spew his right-wing political opinions at me, and I would come home angry, rather than enlightened or uplifted.

I walked away in 1994 and never looked back. Only much later did I realize that it was all a lie and a sham -- long after the members had already driven me away.

I then did nothing about my "membership" for 20+ years. Bishops and home teachers would occasionally knock on my door. One of them even asked "Would you like us to remove your name from our records?"

I didn't see the point. I no longer considered myself to be a Mormon; what did I care if my name appeared on some ward list somewhere?

Nor did I want to give them the pleasure. I knew that they had no "authority" over me. So why would I ask them, pretty please, to remove my name from their precious membership rolls? Wouldn't that be a tacit recognition of their made up rules? I wasn't going to play their game.

But then, in November 2015, the cult decided to double down on its anti-LGBT policies. That was the final straw for me. They made clear that they were a hate group, so I finally decided to sever all ties with them. I resigned (with Mark Naugle's help) as a show of solidarity to the LGBT community, and as a parting middle finger to The Brethren.

I'm not saying that /u/Gr8eyeiseverwatchful should follow my example. He can do whatever he wants. Remain a member or resign. The entire religion is nothing but make believe bullshit, top to bottom, so it doesn't really matter. But I found the November policy so insulting that I had to formally leave the cult.