I'm a Mormon

I’m a Mormon, even if religious organizations once associated with that name disregard it.  I’m a Mormon because “one of the grand fundamental principles of "Mormonism is to receive truth, let it come from whence it may”, even if that truth comes from outside or goes against “proper authority”.  (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith pg. 313)

I’m a Mormon because Joseph Smith defined Mormonism as this:

The first and fundamental principle of our holy religion is, that we believe that we have a right to embrace all, and every item of truth, without limitation or without being circumscribed or prohibited by the creeds or superstitious notions of men, or by the dominations of one another, when that truth is clearly demonstrated to our minds, and we have the highest degree of evidence of the same.  

-Letter from Joseph Smith to Isaac Galland, Mar. 22, 1839, Liberty Jail, Liberty, Missouri, published in Times and Seasons, Feb. 1840, pp. 53–54; spelling and grammar modernized.

I’m a Mormon even if it means being completely estranged from the religious culture of my youth and being regarded as a heretic to religions of the world.  I’m a Mormon even if it means never fitting in because although walking that middle Way of Life can be scary, treacherous, and sometimes lonely, it’s worth it when you belong to the Truth, Jesus Christ.