My story on www.exmormon.org can be found here: [exmormon.org]

Long story short, if your child is endowed with and has internalized the level of skepticism you believe rubbed off on him through your efforts, it will eventually be apparent. Surrendering to feelings in spite of facts may work well for him for a while, but certain ugly truths may prove hard to accept down the road. If he is truly a thinking man who values Independent thought, he will have to figure it out on his own. I realize it must hurt like hell to have to watch the forthcoming shit show and for that I do feel for you. Good luck.

The Bool of Abraham that Joseph Smith „translated“ from Egyptian scrolls turned out to Egyptianfuneral texts.

[fairmormon.org]

[coldcasechristianity.com]

I am at a bit of an advantage here because I know you in person. And, therefore, I know that you are not about trying to control your son. This is not your way—at all. I know that you simply want your son to have all the relevant information so he can make an informed decision; and, everything I know about Mormonism lets me know that they are not about that. Many, if not most, Mormons do not have a clue about many of the things that are in their Church doctrine; so, how can someone who has only been exposed to it for a couple of months, who is likely being wooed and groomed, really know what he is getting into? Yes, he is an adult; but he is still young and susceptible. And, YES, from what I know about him through you, he is likely feeling isolated and lonely.
This said, my recommendation is for you to have a good talk with your son. Ask him why he believes that Mormonism is for him? What is it that they teach that speaks truth to him? Questions along that line. I would let him know that you did not know much about Mormonism and wanted to learn a few things about it; and, I would bring up the things that you learned. I would mention any "virtues" that you discovered-- and then the things that concern you. And, knowing you, I know you will stand behind your son-- whatever he decides, loving him and making it clear that no matter what you will always be there for him.

You missed out the 10% of his income... for life. But that`s okay because he cannot spend it on beer or coffee.

You should take him to watch that play by the creators of South park, " the book of Mormon " they do a really good job of making fun of the religion without being offensive. Plus it will let him know that he doesn't need to be in an organized religion to have friends.

If he is a coffee drinker, he is safe!

Mate, your son is 22. You should trust him by now. If you cannot trust him ... well ... With all due respect, perhaps you have to grow up and let it go.

On Children by Kahlil Gibran

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

Hello. I live in Salt Lake City and have for about 30 years. I'm quite familiar with your problem. Your summary of Mormonism pretty much says it all, so if that didn't convince your son then unfortunately he will have to learn the hard way. You, however did not mention the real purpose of the church and the missionary's , it has more to do with money and power than any spiritual quest. The 10% tithe speaks for it self. The proselytizing is a means to get other people involved in this kind of Ponzi scheme. Much of the business community are LDS and this is where deals are made and business is conducted between the "Faithful".They have a very active refugee wing and this is to provide labor at cheap rates for LDS church programs, which can also be used as public relations fodder. The LDS church is tax-exempt and they make good use of this charade. I use to think when I first moved here was what kind of christian church doesn't have a cross neither inside or outside? It's like who would go to a synagogue without The Star of David. Good luck with your son maybe he'll wise up when they get their hands in his pocket.

The first thing that comes to mind is the prominent aspect of the Mormon church to glory in being "persecuted" for their beliefs. In modern times, in the absence of any real persecution, they'll grasp at straws to make out that they're being persecuted. So I would exercise extreme caution in approaching your son with the negative things you've found. He may be open to them or the whole experience may be used to build him up as a "faithful believer" who's being persecuted for his new beliefs by his misguided family member.

The way I would approach the situation is by listening first. I'd ask what his reasoning is and listen, including doing my best to clue into unspoken signals that might help me understand things that aren't being said. I'd make sure I understood the best I could where he was coming from before deciding how to address the situation. I would also approach the situation with the intention to support him in whatever decision he made. That is the best thing you can do to offset the possibility that your actions might be used to build him up as a martyr by the church members.

You might know your son well enough to know that he just needs to be exposed to the information you listed to be dissuaded from joining and if so feel free to disregard what I've said. Otherwise, I would say be very cautious.

While I don't believe your concern is misplaced, I would also say don't worry too much of he does end up getting baptized. The majority of people who join the church drop out again right after joining. It's probably the sudden pressure to go to church every Sunday, go ministering every month, pay one tenth of your income, dress "modestly," attend pretty much every church activity, prepare to go to the temple, and so on and so forth. There's a good chance he won't stick around very long.

I lived in Utah for years as a non-Mormon, check out Fawn Brodie’s (born & bred a Mormon) No Man Knows My History, a definitive work on Joseph Smith and the Mormon Church. It’s eye-opening and factual. Hope it helps. You could mention, besides blood atonement, that the amount of African Americans lynched by Mormons is appreciable to the amount of African Americans lynched in the South.

My biggest heartache as an outsider looks at them would likely be the hypocrisy. Their 'religion' has been a scam from the beginning. They are set up to gather converts by-hook-or-by-crook then hope to keep them later by inertia. Look up their 'Milk Before The Meat' doctrine.

Their 'Prophets' get 'revelations' when it's politically convenient. A trigger for me was 1978 when minorities looked like they were growing into some political power so the church president had a 'revelation' that they could be church officers, at least officially. (But of course not women -- 'they have a different calling'.)

The LDS is purely a political organization. Their goal is nothing more or less than monetary and political growth. My wife did their training as a teenager and they were quite blatant about it -- the taught that missionaries were going to be lonely and vulnerable when they get home -- so the women should grab one, marry and get pregnant. They pushed the most direct route to solidify and grow their organization. That was one of my later wife's biggest triggers to get clear of them.

I was going to dig out some simple links but decided that your list is about as good a starting point as I could provide. Just search Wikipedia and Google for some of the terms on your list -- Brigham Young, Joseph Smith(especially 'criminal justice system' ), Mountain Meadows Massacre, etc.

As far as your son goes... I would just try to be honest with him. Try to get him to look at the church from perspectives other than their own propaganda. They don't look very good in other views.

The problem that some may not get of someone getting ready to convert to Mormonism is that they do not get the whole story from Mormon missionaries, and the Mormon conversion machine is geared to fellowshipping potential converts. At one time, a General Conference theme encouraged all Mormon families to select someone or another family for conversion. They were supposed to put the family on project mode to get them baptised.

We knew a couple who were good friends and the guy had been a missionary in the LA area in California. He tells the story of teaching Debbie Boon daughter of Pat Boon. At one point, Pat Boon supplied his daughter with "anti-Mormom literature" which she found apalling. She shared shared it with the missionaries on her last visit with them. Our friend was so disturbed by what he was presented with, that went about trying to prove it false, but instead only confirmed most of it enough so that he left and took his family with him.

My current view of Mormonism is that it began as a cult of personality with narcissist Joseph Smith. From my reading, the Smith family were all steeped in magical thinking to an extreme. They apparently engaged in treasure hunting using "seer stones" (which later were used to "translate" the Book of Mormon texts). Joseph Smith was engaged in a number of activities typical of narcissists like infidelity - which was later covered up with the institution of polygamy.

More in a bit, I need to take a break. A good book as a reference is Fawn Brodie's No Man Knows My History. The section on polygamy which is toward the end of the book was very eye opening. The other book I read was The Writings of John D Lee. This one disspelled a lot of the misinformation about the Mountain Meadows Massacre which I had been told from faithful members. Lee's two trials also demonstrated the cult control Brigham Young had on the membership which caused them to lose their own personal integrity in order to demonstrate their faithfulness.

Let him do his own figuring out. Outlining everything that is wrong or false about Mormonism may only cause him to dig in his heels. He is young enough that this may still just represent an exploration that he will return from. Even if he doesn't, becoming a Mormon is not the worst thing that could happen to him.

It is interesting that you only suddenly found out about his interest in the LDS. Obviously I don't know you or your family, so just a wild guess here. He is really flying the coop now and needs to feel he is taking a path separate from both you and his mother.

He may have become interested , because of a female he's met , who is Mormon .

Pedophilia is kind of a thing in Mormon history as well.

Maaan.... that's tough. You don't suppose this could be work related, do you? New boss with previously unknown requisite perhaps?

You are understandably upset, but unfortunately, there is nothing you can
do, except let your son know you love him and are always there for him.
He's an adult, and is free to make his own decisions, even if they are completely
fucked up and wrong.
Hopefully, he'll see the error of his choices and return to reason.
I'll keep a good thought for both of you.
Hang in there.

It’s his life, not yours.

He's newly graduated from college so just ask him if he really subscribes to a belief system made up by a career con man who claimed he saw divinely written gold letters he read in a hat using a magic stone as a translation tool all on the advice of an angel who came to him in a dream.

If he says yes then you can kiss all that tuition money goodbye.

There is something you don’t seem to understand. The effort of the Mormons is your going to like this. This is honoring utopia.

Here is a few helpful things to define your inoculation task.

1. Your right it is not factual in some things but intelligent approaches to hide these inconsistencies are difficult to discern. A Mormon can always doubt the facts and feel he has done the right thing. There is a great amount of intelligence in the Mormon church teachings much of it surpassing what you might obtain from any other one source.

2. The leaders know it is not possible to keep members there based on the history, doctrine, beliefs, and etc. So they assign you friends, give you spouses, give you prophesied Patriarchal blessings, aspirations and helping others assignments and more, while knowing it isn’t founded on all truth. Paraphrase from Mormon leaders ‘When you know that there is no God, then your in the resurrection bringing about the cause of Zion’. A linguistic double bing approach to listening to Mormon leaders is worth pursuing.

3. Joseph Smith said the most righteous follower of Jesus was Mahonri Moriancumer. If you clarify mouthing the words it is My Honoring Morean Comer. Thomas Moore wrote the book Utopia in the early 1500’s and was a popular read. The mouthing of words is prevalent in the Book of Mormon such as Moroni-‘More On It’ and Mormon-‘More Man’

4. The Mormon church is the God Machine best version spoken of by Benjamin Franklin. There other not so good versions out there. It is supported by the United States as a tool to get into other countries, public relations support, and voice to make the USA ordained of god. The Mason’s temple teachings are similar-although not permitted to speak about it they are supported by these founders of our country.

5. The Mormon church is an multi billion dollar corporation with employment, education, welfare, and prestige to be apart of.

6. Now why you will not like your membership in the Mormon church, is the question you should address for inoculation. Study what people have had to do for this false god.

Update:

Having meanwhile spoken w my son, I thought some of you might appreciate an update.

For those who doubted my account, my son confirmed that his first contact w Mormon missionaries was just 2 months ago. By the time I was speaking with him this past Thursday, his mother, his uncle and the latter's wife (with whom my son is particularly close) had persuaded him that he might be "coming in too hot" on this, so he had called off the scheduled August 31 baptism. Of course, he's still interested in exploring this (his good right), and it seems likely at the moment that he will eventually join the LDS church unless he does more of his homework and finds in the process that it doesn't add up for him after all. We talked for about 90 minutes during which he talked about what he'd found appealing about the missionaries (principally their apparent emotional strength, stability, and compassion, areas in which he finds himself sorely lacking) and I planted some seeds of things he should be checking up on about the Mormon tradition (not the whole list, for those commenters here who still imagine I'm an idiot ... )

Thank you to everyone who contributed constructively to my knowledge of Mormonism as requested. Thank you also to everyone who expressed confidence in my intelligence and capacity to interact appropriately with my adult son. Thank you finally to those who might have had some concern about the latter but who at least were insightful and cautious enough in their expression thereof not to outright insult my intelligence.

Get him a trip to Nevada with a few prepaid tickets to nice bordellos. The kid needs sex!

Most young men have a rebellious streak, and Mormonism may seem like a way to rebel against his mother while pleasing her.

And while it may take a ceremony to become a member of a church, there's no ceremony involved in walking away from it. Unless, of course, he signs one of those horrible tithing agreements where the take the money directly out of your bank account. ☹

I agree with @SeaGreenEyez on this. He is an adult and has a right to make his own choices and to recover from them if he changes his mind later. Maybe he deserves more respect than you telling him that he’s just bowing to pressure. He may sincerely feel at home there. I know some wonderful people who are Mormons. Let him do his thing and set a boundary if you don’t want him trying to convert you.