Monthly Archives: October 2023

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"That is when I realized why the church vehemently warns members about searching for truth outside of church sources. Under even minimal scrutiny, all of the church’s foundational truth claims crumble. There is easily verifiable evidence that the Book of Mormon is not an ancient text, that Joseph Smith could not translate ancient texts like he claimed, that Joseph Smith led a life of secrecy and deception, that subsequent prophets do not talk with God, and that Jesus Christ is not leading this church. How many of the church’s truth claims need to be disproven to show that the Church is not what it claims to be?" - Patrick | https://wasmormon.org/profile/pdbrandt/
"That is when I realized why the church vehemently warns members about searching for truth outside of church sources. Under even minimal scrutiny, all of the church’s foundational truth claims crumble. There is easily verifiable evidence that the Book of Mormon is not an ancient text, that Joseph Smith could not translate ancient texts like he claimed, that Joseph Smith led a life of secrecy and deception, that subsequent prophets do not talk with God, and that Jesus Christ is not leading this church. How many of the church’s truth claims need to be disproven to show that the Church is not what it claims to be?" - Patrick | https://wasmormon.org/profile/pdbrandt/
"For decades I set aside all doubts, concerns, and questions that arose to challenge my faith, believing that leaders of the church knew better than I did what was right for me and my family. I believed, because I was told so, that the good feelings I felt when contemplating on the beautiful promises of the church were evidence from God that everything I was taught is true." - Patrick | https://wasmormon.org/profile/pdbrandt/
"For decades I set aside all doubts, concerns, and questions that arose to challenge my faith, believing that leaders of the church knew better than I did what was right for me and my family. I believed, because I was told so, that the good feelings I felt when contemplating on the beautiful promises of the church were evidence from God that everything I was taught is true." - Patrick | https://wasmormon.org/profile/pdbrandt/
"The fact is, the church withholds the whole truth in most if not all corners of its history. It promotes half-truths that serve its agenda, and it uses a mix of beautiful promises, deception, and fear to keep people indoctrinated. Since the beginning of the church, the church’s doctrines have done incalculable harm to the most vulnerable members of society." - Patrick | https://wasmormon.org/profile/pdbrandt/
"The fact is, the church withholds the whole truth in most if not all corners of its history. It promotes half-truths that serve its agenda, and it uses a mix of beautiful promises, deception, and fear to keep people indoctrinated. Since the beginning of the church, the church’s doctrines have done incalculable harm to the most vulnerable members of society." - Patrick | https://wasmormon.org/profile/pdbrandt/
"So what happened? I was trying to understand what I as the father of an LGBTQ child, should be teaching my family about what it means to be a gay child of God. The church teaches that gay people sin if they act on any desires that are not heterosexual. LGBTQ people who can not or will not conform to heterosexual norms are going against God’s plan for them. The only acceptable life for a gay person, according to the church, is lifelong and complete celibacy – they can not act on love, they can not be who they feel they are, they must always be on guard against intimacy in any meaningful relationship." - Patrick | https://wasmormon.org/profile/pdbrandt/
"So what happened? I was trying to understand what I as the father of an LGBTQ child, should be teaching my family about what it means to be a gay child of God. The church teaches that gay people sin if they act on any desires that are not heterosexual. LGBTQ people who can not or will not conform to heterosexual norms are going against God’s plan for them. The only acceptable life for a gay person, according to the church, is lifelong and complete celibacy – they can not act on love, they can not be who they feel they are, they must always be on guard against intimacy in any meaningful relationship." - Patrick | https://wasmormon.org/profile/pdbrandt/
"When my search for truth caused a faith crisis, my conscience demanded that I leave the church. Leaving the church was incredibly hard and scary. At times I found myself wishing I were dead, yet I had a new horror of death. I temporarily lost all hope and meaning in my life. I grieved the loss of everything I thought was constant and eternal. I felt angry. I felt stupid. I felt duped. I wondered how much of my life had been a waste of time. I wondered what harm I had done to others on my mission, in my family, among my acquaintances. Though the process was difficult and painful, I have found peace and fullfillment as an ex-mormon that I never had while in the church." - Patrick | https://wasmormon.org/profile/pdbrandt/
"When my search for truth caused a faith crisis, my conscience demanded that I leave the church. Leaving the church was incredibly hard and scary. At times I found myself wishing I were dead, yet I had a new horror of death. I temporarily lost all hope and meaning in my life. I grieved the loss of everything I thought was constant and eternal. I felt angry. I felt stupid. I felt duped. I wondered how much of my life had been a waste of time. I wondered what harm I had done to others on my mission, in my family, among my acquaintances. Though the process was difficult and painful, I have found peace and fullfillment as an ex-mormon that I never had while in the church." - Patrick | https://wasmormon.org/profile/pdbrandt/
"I gladly sacrificed to live the teachings of the church because I had been taught all my life that Jesus Christ is alive and that he personally leads the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and no other church on Earth. I believed that Joseph Smith talked to God face to face, that he translated the Book of Mormon, and that he lived and died as God’s chosen servant incapable of leading anyone astray. I believed that current leaders of the church are similarly connected to God and incapable of leading anyone astray." - Patrick | https://wasmormon.org/profile/pdbrandt/
"I gladly sacrificed to live the teachings of the church because I had been taught all my life that Jesus Christ is alive and that he personally leads the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and no other church on Earth. I believed that Joseph Smith talked to God face to face, that he translated the Book of Mormon, and that he lived and died as God’s chosen servant incapable of leading anyone astray. I believed that current leaders of the church are similarly connected to God and incapable of leading anyone astray." - Patrick | https://wasmormon.org/profile/pdbrandt/
"With time, introspection, and with the love and advice of wonderful people in my life, my life has taken on beautiful new meaning and urgency. My commitment to being a good person and helping make the world a better place, a commitment that so many members of the church share, has blossomed outside of the stultified confines of the church. It turns out there is a whole beautiful world outside of the church and I am grateful to be finding it. I don’t think I would be where I am now without the beautiful things I have learned from the LGBTQ+ community and for that I will be forever grateful!" - Patrick | https://wasmormon.org/profile/pdbrandt/
"With time, introspection, and with the love and advice of wonderful people in my life, my life has taken on beautiful new meaning and urgency. My commitment to being a good person and helping make the world a better place, a commitment that so many members of the church share, has blossomed outside of the stultified confines of the church. It turns out there is a whole beautiful world outside of the church and I am grateful to be finding it. I don’t think I would be where I am now without the beautiful things I have learned from the LGBTQ+ community and for that I will be forever grateful!" - Patrick | https://wasmormon.org/profile/pdbrandt/
"I grew up in a devout LDS family, served a mission, and spent 45 years as a believing member of the church. My faith defined every decision of my life. I dutifully gave 1/10 of any money I ever earned to the church. I willingly made a promise to God that I would give all my time, effort, and anything God asked of me through his church leaders, to build up his kingdom on Earth. I did anything asked of me in the church. I had more than one ongoing responsibility in the church and devoted more than a dozen hours per week to church responsibilities. I was a Mormon." - Patrick | https://wasmormon.org/profile/pdbrandt/
"I grew up in a devout LDS family, served a mission, and spent 45 years as a believing member of the church. My faith defined every decision of my life. I dutifully gave 1/10 of any money I ever earned to the church. I willingly made a promise to God that I would give all my time, effort, and anything God asked of me through his church leaders, to build up his kingdom on Earth. I did anything asked of me in the church. I had more than one ongoing responsibility in the church and devoted more than a dozen hours per week to church responsibilities. I was a Mormon." - Patrick | https://wasmormon.org/profile/pdbrandt/

The Lord Is At The Helm?

Despite the fact that church leaders remind us constantly that the Lord is at the head of the church, Uchtforf’s refreshing frankness here clarifies that it’s really men running things, and not the Lord. Once you see it, it’s clear that church leaders are merely men doing their best and stumbling along. They are not …

Continue reading “The Lord Is At The Helm?”

"I launched a crusade to get this changed in our church. I was very naive I thought it would be an easy change to make. I subsequently found out that this has happened to countless people. It's a very very common practice in our church to ask sexually explicit questions and it's mandated you take kids behind closed doors." - Sam Young's "I was a Mormon" | wasmormon.org
"I launched a crusade to get this changed in our church. I was very naive I thought it would be an easy change to make. I subsequently found out that this has happened to countless people. It's a very very common practice in our church to ask sexually explicit questions and it's mandated you take kids behind closed doors." - Sam Young's "I was a Mormon" | wasmormon.org
"That got me very upset to hear this was done to my child! Then I found out it happened to three more but my children. So four out of my six children were asked sexual explicit questions behind a closed door. I knew, everybody in the world knows that's wrong, dead wrong, except members of our church. I believe that the Apostles even know that it's dead wrong." - Sam Young's "I was a Mormon" | wasmormon.org
"That got me very upset to hear this was done to my child! Then I found out it happened to three more but my children. So four out of my six children were asked sexual explicit questions behind a closed door. I knew, everybody in the world knows that's wrong, dead wrong, except members of our church. I believe that the Apostles even know that it's dead wrong." - Sam Young's "I was a Mormon" | wasmormon.org
"I collected thousands of stories of people (as adults) who were harmed while they were kids and anywhere from suicide to physical sexual abuse and then to psychological sexual abuse and there are just all kinds of horrible consequences that have come out of these interviews. To raise awareness these interviews and stories are all shared at protectldschildren.org." - Sam Young's "I was a Mormon" | wasmormon.org
"I collected thousands of stories of people (as adults) who were harmed while they were kids and anywhere from suicide to physical sexual abuse and then to psychological sexual abuse and there are just all kinds of horrible consequences that have come out of these interviews. To raise awareness these interviews and stories are all shared at protectldschildren.org." - Sam Young's "I was a Mormon" | wasmormon.org
"I found out that my daughter, when she was 12 years old, was asked sexually explicit questions behind the closed doors of a bishop. This introduced her to pornography, and introduced her to masturbation. I had no idea this happened until 10 years after she left the young women's program." - Sam Young's "I was a Mormon" | wasmormon.org
"I found out that my daughter, when she was 12 years old, was asked sexually explicit questions behind the closed doors of a bishop. This introduced her to pornography, and introduced her to masturbation. I had no idea this happened until 10 years after she left the young women's program." - Sam Young's "I was a Mormon" | wasmormon.org
"After a series of events, I was disciplined by the church and then excommunicated from the church for speaking out against church policy and leaders, which made me an apostate. The disciplinary council often mentioned protecting the good name of the church, but I was more concerned with protecting children." - Sam Young's "I was a Mormon" | wasmormon.org
"After a series of events, I was disciplined by the church and then excommunicated from the church for speaking out against church policy and leaders, which made me an apostate. The disciplinary council often mentioned protecting the good name of the church, but I was more concerned with protecting children." - Sam Young's "I was a Mormon" | wasmormon.org
This turn of the century family portrait was taken close to the time Joseph F. Smith succeeded Lorenzo Snow as president of the LDS Church in October 1901. Besides Levira, with whom he had no children, Smith had five other wives and forty-eight children. His wives are (L to R seated by Smith): Mary Taylor Schwartz (married, 1884, seven children); Edna Lambson (married 1871, ten children); Julina Lambson (married 1866, thirteen children, including Joseph Fielding Smith—top row, center); Sarah Ellen Richards (married 1868, eleven children); Alice Ann Kimball (married 1883, seven children); circa 1904
This turn of the century family portrait was taken close to the time Joseph F. Smith succeeded Lorenzo Snow as president of the LDS Church in October 1901. Besides Levira, with whom he had no children, Smith had five other wives and forty-eight children. His wives are (L to R seated by Smith): Mary Taylor Schwartz (married, 1884, seven children); Edna Lambson (married 1871, ten children); Julina Lambson (married 1866, thirteen children, including Joseph Fielding Smith—top row, center); Sarah Ellen Richards (married 1868, eleven children); Alice Ann Kimball (married 1883, seven children); circa 1904