Skip to content
  • Join
  • Login
wasmormon.org

wasmormon.org

Stories of mormon faith transitions. Share your truth – own your story!

  • Profiles
  • Create Profile
  • Questions
  • Blog
  • About

Hi, I'm Christopher.

I was a mormon.

Christopher Nicholson profile image for wasmormon.org
  • Facebook
  • instagram
  • reddit
  • twitter
  • other

Questions about Mormons My Answers to Questions about Mormonism

#Link to this answer of 'How long was your struggle?' by Christopher Nicholson How long was your struggle? See more answers about 'How long was your struggle?'

Nearly twelve years from the time I read my first "anti-Mormon" website to the time I decided I was done with the church.

#Link to this answer of 'What was the response from your family when you left?' by Christopher Nicholson What was the response from your family when you left? See more answers about 'What was the response from your family when you left?'

My parents were just like "Thanks for letting us know." One of my siblings who had already left years earlier reached out to talk about it for the first time.

#Link to this answer of 'What was the response from your ward when you left?' by Christopher Nicholson What was the response from your ward when you left? See more answers about 'What was the response from your ward when you left?'

I didn't make an announcement of it except to those I was close with, and they kept being my friends and welcoming me to hang out with them. My bishop asked if I wanted to have my records removed (which I didn't at that time but did a few months later) and said that if I could get closer to Christ somewhere else, I should go somewhere else.

#Link to this answer of 'What do you feel or know about the church's history/beliefs with race and the Priesthood?' by Christopher Nicholson What do you feel or know about the church's history/beliefs with race and the Priesthood? See more answers about 'What do you feel or know about the church's history/beliefs with race and the Priesthood?'

I found this topic very troubling as a Mormon and researched it more than almost anyone else in the world, hoping that at some point it would make sense. That didn't happen. The church's history/beliefs with race (including but not limited to the Priesthood) are abysmal, full stop, and in my opinion there simply is no adequate explanation for why an organization led by God screwed up so badly on such a basic issue as the equality of God's children. And no, it's not true that "everyone was just as racist back then." Many people opposed slavery and supported the civil rights movement while this church did the opposite. Recognizing that its stance on race was never inspired helped me to recognize that its stances on women and LGBT+ individuals aren't either.

Spotlight on Christopher Nicholson

  • "I was born into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but, like all members, had to decide for myself whether I actually believed in it or not. I thought it was boring and my attitude toward it ranged from apathetic to hostile until a random spiritual epiphany around age twelve or so. From then on it was an incentive for me to not kill myself, first out of fear that I would be punished for it and later out of love for God and hope for a better future. I was a Mormon" - Chris | https://wasmormon.org/profile/alien236/
  • "I don't have the usual male apostate's checklist of qualifications. I didn't graduate seminary, I didn't serve a mission, I was never Elders Quorum president, I didn't marry in (or out of) the temple. But I was fiercely committed to The Church as a teenager and for my first decade of adulthood. I wanted to be a beacon leading souls to Christ, a role model for balancing faith and reason, someone that people could look to and say "He's intelligent and knows about all the issues and still believes, so I can too." Perhaps I felt a bit prideful about staying in the church while leaving it was the trendy, obvious choice for my generation. Changing my mind was very hard, embarrassing, and long overdue." - Christopher | https://wasmormon.org/profile/alien236/
  • "In August 2010, age seventeen, I stumbled upon my first "anti-Mormon" website and discovered a bunch of the things people typically cite for their loss of faith - Joseph Smith's 1826 trial, Joseph Smith's evolving accounts of the First Vision, Joseph Smith's failed prophecies, DNA evidence contradicting the Book of Mormon, the Book of Abraham not matching the papyrus, and so on. I was blindsided and confused, but because of my recent spiritual experiences at EFY (now FSY) I held onto my faith until I found answers." - Christopher | https://wasmormon.org/profile/alien236/
  • "Most of the answers from FAIR and other apologists were good enough for me. What I could never resolve, though, was the feeling of betrayal at having to learn these things from hostile sources instead of the church itself, or why it had sanitized, dumbed down, and misrepresented its history, which is ethically dubious at best and has caused a lot of avoidable problems. Why didn't prophets, seers and revelators have the foresight to be more honest before the internet gave them no choice?" - Christopher | https://wasmormon.org/profile/alien236/
  • "The church's history/beliefs with race (including but not limited to the Priesthood) are abysmal, full stop, and in my opinion there simply is no adequate explanation for why an organization led by God screwed up so badly on such a basic issue as the equality of God's children. I found this topic very troubling as a Mormon and researched it more than almost anyone else in the world, hoping that at some point it would make sense. That didn't happen." - Christopher | https://wasmormon.org/profile/alien236/
  • 'And no, it's not true that "everyone was just as racist back then." Many people opposed slavery and supported the civil rights movement while this church did the opposite. Recognizing that its stance on race was never inspired helped me to recognize that its stances on women and LGBT+ individuals aren't inspired either.' - Chris | https://wasmormon.org/profile/alien236/
  • 'I did "doubt my doubts." I was not a "lazy learner" or a "lax disciple." I've tried to be an honest seeker of truth, and at this time, my honest truth-seeking has led me outside of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I appreciate much of what I've learned and gained from the church and I don't intend to throw it all away.' - Christopher | https://wasmormon.org/profile/alien236/
  • "I do, however, want to get outside of its conditioning and see it more as outsiders see it. I want to learn in depth about other religions as objectively as I can, without evaluating all of their teachings through the filter of how much they align with what I already believe. I have no predetermined destination in mind and no goal of converting to something else. In all this, my highest priority is my personal relationship with God, which the church taught me to value. - Christopher | https://wasmormon.org/profile/alien236/
  • 'I might close my own remarks the same way Stewart Udall closed his Statement of Conscience when he distanced himself from the church seventy-five years ago: "All this is said respectfully, in the realization that the Church contains much that is good, true, and beautiful …. and that it fills a felt need for most of its adherents. I nevertheless feel that I cannot enter into full communion with the church, indeed cannot commune with it at all in good conscience, as long as these attitudes, ideas and principles - and the men who further them - dominate the church."' - Christopher | https://wasmormon.org/profile/alien236/
  • Christopher | https://wasmormon.org/profile/alien236/
  • Share this profile

  • Share link on Facebook
  • Share link on twitter
  • Share link on reddit
  • Share link via email
Contribute your own story
Back to the Directory
Random Profile
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Reddit
  • Bluesky
  • Mastodon
  • Twitter
  • RSS Feed

Register or Log In

Lost your password? Register

Forgotten Password

Cancel

Register For This Site

A password will be e-mailed to you.

Profile Details

Thanks for signing up!

Are you ready to start your profile now? You can always add/update your profile later, and in order to display on the website you’ll still need to complete your account setup and sign in.

Cancel

Subscribe

Sign up to receive the monthly newsletter!
wasmormon.org

Though this site discusses mormonism, topics related to mormons, the mormon church and people who refer to themselves as unorthodox mormons, ex-mormons, post-mormons or any other form of wasmormon, it is not officially affiliated with or managed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or even the Corporation of the Presiding Bishop. They don't want to be called mormon anymore anyways. All of the content, stories or opinions expressed, implied or included in this site are solely credited to those sharing their own personal stories and not those of Intellectual Reserve, Inc. or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Privacy Policy
  • Stories
  • Questions
  • Blog
  • Images
  • About
  • Resources
  • Contact
  • How To Help
  • Community Guidelines