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"I started to listen to A Year of Polygamy podcast on her recommendation. When I got to the episode about Helen Marr Kimball, all of my belief collapsed. How could I follow a man that would do that? My wife told me about her shelf-breaker, the Lowry Nelson letters. Our kids have all left as well. It has been a difficult time leaving, but our little family is happier and more together than ever." – Mike | wasmormon.org
"I started to listen to A Year of Polygamy podcast on her recommendation. When I got to the episode about Helen Marr Kimball, all of my belief collapsed. How could I follow a man that would do that? My wife told me about her shelf-breaker, the Lowry Nelson letters. Our kids have all left as well. It has been a difficult time leaving, but our little family is happier and more together than ever." – Mike | wasmormon.org
"My wife preceded me out of the church. Her leaving was like a gut punch. How could we have a celestial family with a non-believing mom. It took me a bit to come to terms with it, and she helped me immensely, but I eventually realized that I married her and not the church." – Mike | wasmormon.org
"My wife preceded me out of the church. Her leaving was like a gut punch. How could we have a celestial family with a non-believing mom. It took me a bit to come to terms with it, and she helped me immensely, but I eventually realized that I married her and not the church." – Mike | wasmormon.org
"I had plenty of shelf items, but the first time I was honestly and permanently stumped was when we were talking about the Book of Abraham. I never studied apologetics, but I knew all of the "answers" anyway. The problem is, the only good answer for the Book of Abraham is 'wow, that doesn't make sense.'" – Mike | wasmormon.org
"I had plenty of shelf items, but the first time I was honestly and permanently stumped was when we were talking about the Book of Abraham. I never studied apologetics, but I knew all of the "answers" anyway. The problem is, the only good answer for the Book of Abraham is 'wow, that doesn't make sense.'" – Mike | wasmormon.org
"I decided to double down and get us all there. At the same time, I tried to understand why she left. I will absolutely admit that I was arrogant enough to think that if she gave me the reasons, I would be able to "reason" her back into the church. Wow was I wrong." – Mike | wasmormon.org
"I decided to double down and get us all there. At the same time, I tried to understand why she left. I will absolutely admit that I was arrogant enough to think that if she gave me the reasons, I would be able to "reason" her back into the church. Wow was I wrong." – Mike | wasmormon.org
"I hit all of the milestones and served a mission at age 19. I married an amazing woman and we had 5 kids. While I never had any super important callings (mostly due to a job that required work on some Sundays) we were one of those stalwart "same ten people" families. I never said no to a calling, even the ones I knew I would hate. My wife did the same and my girls were called into YW presidencies when they got there." – Mike | wasmormon.org
"I hit all of the milestones and served a mission at age 19. I married an amazing woman and we had 5 kids. While I never had any super important callings (mostly due to a job that required work on some Sundays) we were one of those stalwart "same ten people" families. I never said no to a calling, even the ones I knew I would hate. My wife did the same and my girls were called into YW presidencies when they got there." – Mike | wasmormon.org
"I'd always known I was different than the other kids my age but I didn't quite know why. When I hit puberty, changes that made the other boys in my class happy caused me to feel wrong and uncomfortable in my body. I began to wish that I was a girl even though I didn't have any idea what being transgender was at the time. I prayed every night for God to take these thoughts away from me with no response. I fell into a deep depression." – Willow | wasmormon.org
"I'd always known I was different than the other kids my age but I didn't quite know why. When I hit puberty, changes that made the other boys in my class happy caused me to feel wrong and uncomfortable in my body. I began to wish that I was a girl even though I didn't have any idea what being transgender was at the time. I prayed every night for God to take these thoughts away from me with no response. I fell into a deep depression." – Willow | wasmormon.org
"I finally found the label for the thoughts and unhappiness in my head when I was twenty-three and tried to tell my spouse that I might be transgender. The confession was met with threats of losing access to my child if I were ever to come out. My relationship with my spouse soured as they became neglectful and abusive." – Willow | wasmormon.org
"I finally found the label for the thoughts and unhappiness in my head when I was twenty-three and tried to tell my spouse that I might be transgender. The confession was met with threats of losing access to my child if I were ever to come out. My relationship with my spouse soured as they became neglectful and abusive." – Willow | wasmormon.org
"I started to see problems that I could not accomodate. The LDS church's homophobic and sexist policies became more and more upsetting as I got older and I made more LGBTQ friends and I had a harder and harder time overlooking the historical inaccuracies in the Book of Mormon." – Willow | wasmormon.org
"I started to see problems that I could not accomodate. The LDS church's homophobic and sexist policies became more and more upsetting as I got older and I made more LGBTQ friends and I had a harder and harder time overlooking the historical inaccuracies in the Book of Mormon." – Willow | wasmormon.org
"I stopped going to church entirely and began to resent the LDS church. I finally came out a year after I first realized I was a woman and that signaled the end of my marriage. I have now been on hormones for a year and a half and have never been happier." – Willow | wasmormon.org
"I stopped going to church entirely and began to resent the LDS church. I finally came out a year after I first realized I was a woman and that signaled the end of my marriage. I have now been on hormones for a year and a half and have never been happier." – Willow | wasmormon.org
Episode exploring the origin story behind the wasmormon.org website – "where people who have left their faith tradition can post stories and information to express their feelings and personal journey. Evan wanted to create a safe space to share very personal stories which are cathartic and healing to those sharing the stories, and also a good resource for anyone who wants to gain an understanding of why someone has changed course. His hope is that "I Was a Mormon" will destigmatize doubt and normalize those who leave the church by providing a platform for all to tell their own story." Steven Pynakker, Mormon Book Reviews Podcast | wasmormon.org
Episode exploring the origin story behind the wasmormon.org website – "where people who have left their faith tradition can post stories and information to express their feelings and personal journey. Evan wanted to create a safe space to share very personal stories which are cathartic and healing to those sharing the stories, and also a good resource for anyone who wants to gain an understanding of why someone has changed course. His hope is that "I Was a Mormon" will destigmatize doubt and normalize those who leave the church by providing a platform for all to tell their own story." Steven Pynakker, Mormon Book Reviews Podcast
"I lost my only brother, my dearest friend (oldest sibling) from suicide, due to being diagnosed with AIDS a little over 3 years ago. I know that my parent's beliefs were one of the direct causes of his death. I've felt let down and repulsed by TSCC for many years and now I'm trying to move past the disenchantment and grief of said years and money lost to TSCC." Gen https://wasmormon.org/profile/genniphersghost/
"I lost my only brother, my dearest friend (oldest sibling) from suicide, due to being diagnosed with AIDS a little over 3 years ago. I know that my parent's beliefs were one of the direct causes of his death. I've felt let down and repulsed by TSCC for many years and now I'm trying to move past the disenchantment and grief of said years and money lost to TSCC." Gen https://wasmormon.org/profile/genniphersghost/
"Having left, I've felt more hopeful, less anxious and freer in these past 4 months than I ever did in the past 49 years of my life. I just wish I had left sooner. I plan on making whatever time left I have being my authentic self and finding happiness outside of TSCC." Gen https://wasmormon.org/profile/genniphersghost/
"Having left, I've felt more hopeful, less anxious and freer in these past 4 months than I ever did in the past 49 years of my life. I just wish I had left sooner. I plan on making whatever time left I have being my authentic self and finding happiness outside of TSCC." Gen https://wasmormon.org/profile/genniphersghost/
"A seeker of the facts. Fascinated by anything paranormal. I recently left TSCC after not being able to stomach the homophobia, bigotry, bigamy, sexism, child abuse, personal trauma and outright damning lies. I was a Mormon." Gen https://wasmormon.org/profile/genniphersghost/
"A seeker of the facts. Fascinated by anything paranormal. I recently left TSCC after not being able to stomach the homophobia, bigotry, bigamy, sexism, child abuse, personal trauma and outright damning lies. I was a Mormon." Gen https://wasmormon.org/profile/genniphersghost/
"We aren’t good yet at talking about these issues in a healthy way. So we leave young people with two choices: to either shut up and accommodate, even though it hurts, or to leave and become a fierce critic of the church. Those outcomes to me are both tragic outcomes." Chad Ford, Author Dangerous Love | wasmormon.org | Look again at what he's saying, our current cultural practice of submission and avoiding the hard questions by putting them on the shelf lead to tragic outcomes. We're seeing it today. Since the church is incapable of healthy conversations about hard issues, we essentially give members two choices: shut up or leave the church.
"We aren’t good yet at talking about these issues in a healthy way. So we leave young people with two choices: to either shut up and accommodate, even though it hurts, or to leave and become a fierce critic of the church. Those outcomes to me are both tragic outcomes." Chad Ford, Author Dangerous Love
"The tragic reality is that there have been occasions when Church leaders, teachers, and writers have not told the truth they knew about difficulties of the Mormon past, but have offered to the Saints instead a mixture of platitudes, half-truths, omissions, and plausible denials... A so-called "faith-promoting" Church history which conceals controversies and difficulties of the Mormon past actually undermines the faith of Latter-day Saints who eventually learn about the problems from other sources." Dr. D Michael Quinn, Excommunicated Mormon | wasmormon.org
"The tragic reality is that there have been occasions when Church leaders, teachers, and writers have not told the truth they knew about difficulties of the Mormon past, but have offered to the Saints instead a mixture of platitudes, half-truths, omissions, and plausible denials. Elder Packer and others would justify this because "we are at war with the adversary" and must also protect any Latter-day Saint whose "testimony [is] in seedling stage."35 But such a public-relations defense of the Church is actually a Maginot Line of sandy fortifications which "the enemy" can easily breach and which has been built up by digging lethal pits into which the Saints will stumble. A so-called "faith-promoting" Church history which conceals controversies and difficulties of the Mormon past actually undermines the faith of Latter-day Saints who eventually learn about the problems from other sources." Dr D Michael Quinn, Exommunicated Mormon
When bearing a nominal amount of “shelf issues,” many members continue with strong faith and active Church participation. Accumulating additional social and historical issues can lead to the weakening—and then catastrophic failure of the member’s faith. – LDS Personal Faith Crisis Report p29
When bearing a nominal amount of “shelf issues,” many members continue with strong faith and active Church participation. Accumulating additional social and historical issues can lead to the weakening—and then catastrophic failure of the member’s faith. – LDS Personal Faith Crisis Report p29
Blaise Pascal's Wager suggests that it is rational to believe in God, even if there is no conclusive evidence of His existence, because the potential infinite reward outweighs the finite cost of missed opportunities, while the potential infinite loss from not believing in God outweighs the finite gain of living a free lifestyle. Humans wager with their lives that God either exists or does not.
Blaise Pascal's Wager suggests that it is rational to believe in God, even if there is no conclusive evidence of His existence, because the potential infinite reward outweighs the finite cost of missed opportunities, while the potential infinite loss from not believing in God outweighs the finite gain of living a free lifestyle. Humans wager with their lives that God either exists or does not.
A BYU professor who was excommunicated in 1993 for publishing factual history about Mormon Church leaders taking plural wives and secretly encouraging polygamous marriages AFTER publicly renouncing plural marriages. The church would later admit in their own essay that such marriages took place. -D. Michael Quinn
A BYU professor who was excommunicated in 1993 for publishing factual history about Mormon Church leaders taking plural wives and secretly encouraging polygamous marriages AFTER publicly renouncing plural marriages. The church would later admit in their own essay that such marriages took place.
"Some real tares even masquerade as wheat, including the few eager individuals who lecture the rest of us about Church doctrines in which they no longer believe. They criticize the use of Church resources to which they no longer contribute. They condescendingly seek to counsel the Brethren whom they no longer sustain... They leave the Church, but they cannot leave the Church alone." - Elder Neal A Maxwell, Mormon Apostle | wasmormon.org
"Some real tares even masquerade as wheat, including the few eager individuals who lecture the rest of us about Church doctrines in which they no longer believe. They criticize the use of Church resources to which they no longer contribute. They condescendingly seek to counsel the Brethren whom they no longer sustain... They leave the Church, but they cannot leave the Church alone." - Elder Neal A Maxwell, Mormon Apostle
"They leave the Church, but they cannot leave the Church alone. Considering their ceaseless preoccupation, one wonders, is there no diversionary activity available to them, especially in such a large building—like a bowling alley? Perhaps in their mockings and beneath the stir are repressed doubts of their doubts." - Elder Neal A Maxwell, Mormon Apostle | wasmormon.org
"They leave the Church, but they cannot leave the Church alone. Considering their ceaseless preoccupation, one wonders, is there no diversionary activity available to them, especially in such a large building—like a bowling alley? Perhaps in their mockings and beneath the stir are repressed doubts of their doubts." - Elder Neal A Maxwell, Mormon Apostle
"Through the ages, some without scriptural understanding... have deduced that, because of certain similarities between different forms of life, there has been a natural selection of the species, or organic evolution from one form to another. To me, such theories are unbelievable!" - LDS Church President Russell M Nelson | wasmormon.org
"Through the ages, some without scriptural understanding... have deduced that, because of certain similarities between different forms of life, there has been a natural selection of the species, or organic evolution from one form to another. To me, such theories are unbelievable!" - LDS Church President Russell M Nelson