I am pissed. One of my roommates, we are gonna call him Jeffy, stepped way over the line last night, and I am going to do my best to describe the situation in a good manner so you guys understand the gravity of what it happening.
To really understand, you must know how the Mormon Church operates. We don't have a paid ministry, all of us "regular" members of the Church voluntarily offer our time and abilities to run the ward (parish). But we don't volunteer for the position. One of our leaders, who also is volunteering his time, asks us to fulfill a certain role or calling, be it a teacher, a nursery leader, or even a leader over adults. We have the choice to say yes or no. We do that calling the best we can, and then at some point we get released, and we get called to help out somewhere else. Because we are asked to do it, and the calling isn't permanent, most people don't get boastful about what they are doing. And we shouldn't. Everyone in the Church is just some "regular" members, just humans doing the best they can with what they are given. The leaders don't aspire and fight their way to their leadership position. They are asked to do it for a couple years, then they are done.
So Jeffy has a leadership role, more or less. He is the advisor to someone in a leadership role. And he likes to remind us all the time about his calling, always trying to make himself seem more important because of what he is doing. We, his roommates, have gotten used to this and just kind of tune him out when he starts talking.
But what he did yesterday was way worse than this, but with the same intent.
A couple of my roommates weren't born and raised Mormon. They joined the Church later in life. Every now and then they talk about what their lives were like before joining, crazy parties they used to go to, some of their favorite drinks that they miss, pot, etc. But with all of their talk about it, they are always happy with their decision. They don't deny their past, but for them it's just that, their past.
Another one of my roommates, born and raised Mormon, has been disfellowshipped. This means that he has made some kind of big mistake, but not big enough to be excommunicated, or completely throw out of the Church. This just means that he can't have a calling, can't say prayer, and can't take the sacrament, the bread and water, for a certain time frame. He has interviews with various leaders during this time frame, and they help him repent and work his way back to how he wants to live his life. Now he doesn't talk to Jeffy during this process, but Jeffy knows who has been disfellowshipped because it is his responsibility to find people for certain callings.
Yesterday Jeffy told people about how terrible these roommates are, and how he is so much better than them because of what they have done in their past.
This is like a Catholic priest going around after confession and telling all of your friends how he is better than you because of your sins. WAY out of line.
The roommates who weren't born Mormon just shrugged it off, they have always been open about their past life, and they weren't struggling with that life anymore. But my roommate who was disfellowshipped was way hurt. He is one of the nicest guys I know, and he doesn't deserve that type of treatment. His wife walked out on him and his little brother committed suicide within months of each other. He has had a hard hand dealt to him, and he messed up somehow. Big deal, we are all human. But Jeffy tries to play it off like he is better than him, and he broke the confidence that leaders are supposed to hold.
We talked to the people above him to explain the situation, needless to say he isn't in that position anymore. We also talked with our landlord, and he isn't living here anymore either.
Stuff like this reminds me why I am getting my own place in Denver.
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