There are enough strange doctrines in mormonism. Some of what you post is true some is not. Sevenbak's reply avoids answering your questions.
"I’ve heard that the Mormon religion requires practicing Mormons to divorce their spouses (and, of course, seek custody of kids) if the spouse leaves the religion. This is NOT a "doctrine" as such. However, there are many stories posted on web sites that indicate the individual who leaves the mormon church is divorced by his/her mate so that the other party may "find eternal marriage with a different "worthy" (as defined by mormons) mate".
" Mormon friends are to shun the apostate; And what friends would an apostate Mormon in a marriage have besides Mormons?"
Again, NOT official doctrine. However, this is a practice that occurs as those of us who are former mormons can personally verify. I do not know of a mormon leader advising against the practice of shunning, since "worthy" mormons are required to answer "temple recommend" questions in order to be allowed entry to their temples, such as No. 7 below. "Do you support, affiliate with, or agree with any group or individual whose teachings or practices are contrary to or oppose those accepted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?"
One must take part in performing ordinances only given in these temples as a requirement for "exaltation", mormonism's version of what Christians see as Heaven. As an aside, these same ordinances are performed by proxy for the dead in the temples
"Non-Mormon must be excluded even from witnessing Mormon marriages." True. Not only "non-mormons" but the mormons who fail the entrance test described in the temple recommend questions below, are refused entry to the weddings of friends and families, including parents and children of the couple. The practice has been for those excluded from the ceremony to wait around to be included in the family pictures following.
1 Do you have faith in and a testimony of God the Eternal Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost?
2 Do you have a testimony of the Atonement of Christ and of His role as Savior and Redeemer?
3 Do you have a testimony of the restoration of the gospel in these the latter days?
4 Do you sustain the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the Prophet, Seer, and Revelator and as the only person on the earth who possesses and is authorized to exercise all priesthood keys? Do you sustain members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as prophets, seers, and revelators? Do you sustain the other General Authorities and local authorities of the Church?
5 Do you live the law of chastity?
6 Is there anything in your conduct relating to members of your family that is not in harmony with the teachings of the Church?
7 Do you support, affiliate with, or agree with any group or individual whose teachings or practices are contrary to or oppose those accepted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?
8 Do you strive to keep the covenants you have made, to attend your sacrament and other meetings, and to keep your life in harmony with the laws and commandments of the gospel?
9 Are you honest in your dealings with your fellowmen?
10 Are you a full-tithe payer?
11 Do your keep the Word of Wisdom?
12 Do you have financial or other oblgations to a former spouse or children? If yes, are you current in meeting those obligations?
13 If you have previously received your temple endowment:
Do you keep the covenants that you made in the temple?
Do you wear the garment both night and day as instructed in the endowment and in accordance with the covenant you made in the temple?
14 Have there been any sins or misdeeds in your life that should have been resolved with priesthood authorities but have not been?
15 Do you consider yourself worthy to enter the Lord's house and participate in temple ordinances?
Thanks... that was helpful. But in a sense, I now realize that I did sorta have a good shot at the answer already:
The doctrine of celestial marriage states that only those who are bound in celestial marriage can achieve the highest levels of Heaven. Also, anyone who isn’t Mormon is going straight to Hell, since all other churches are of the “great apostasy.” So any marriage to a non-believer will deprive the Mormon of the highest heaven. So even if there is not an obedience which calls for divorce, one can infer that it must be God’s will.
(Contrast this with Catholicism which holds that love expended in such a marriage will not only help the Christian draw closer to Christ, but also serves as a sign of hope for the salvation of the non-believer.)
Or am I wrong? I admittedly know little about Mormonism that I didn’t learn in response to FR posts. It *is* true that Mormonism doesn’t hold the same horror for divorce that Catholicism (formally) does, isn’t it? Is there some other doctrine I don’t know about that throws a chink into my logic?
>> True. Not only "non-mormons" but the mormons
>> who fail the entrance test described in the
>> temple recommend questions below, are refused
>> entry to the weddings of friends and
>> families, including parents and children of
>> the couple. The practice has been for those
>> excluded from the ceremony to wait around to be
>> included in the family pictures following.
I can attest to what you wrote being absolutely true. After I lost my belief in Joseph Smith being a "true prophet" I was excluded from being able to witness the weddings of 3 siblings. And having served in a Bishopric myself I can attest that the temple recommend questions as you described are fully accurate. However the church leaders are generally quite flexible in their interpretation of what constitutes a pass -vs- fail on all the questions except one. And that question is about tithing. If you are not a full tithe-payer then you cannot get a temple recommend and you will be excluded from any temple weddings for which you are invited. That's why I call the Mormon Temple Endowment Film the highest grossing movie of all time.
Do they really think it gives them more strength in their loins and sinews to exclude relatives from attending the temple ceremonies?