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Ollo, I’m Brooklyn.

I knew I was ignorant of what Mormonism was. Then I decided it was time to learn.

Orem,
Brooklyn Parks profile image for wasmormon.org

    About me

    I grew up in St Louis in a relatively small ward. So I didn’t really have members in my school. All of my ward experience after childhood has been a series of singles wards at BYU then in Orem. Boring.

    On my shelf

    • authority
    • blind faith
    • Book of Abraham Translation
    • book of mormon origin and translation
    • church history
    • corporation of the church
    • excommunication of Sam Young
    • fear-based teachings
    • Joseph Smith's polygamy

    On the Mormon Spectrum

    • Atheist

    # Why I left More stories of 'Why I left' the Mormon church

    My deconstruction started in college when I realized every week so much of what people said was the same self-hatred coded in self-righteousness. People always found something to dislike about themselves to share with the class. And did the same thing — praying every day to be better and always feeling I was coming up short. Well, I decided that would be the end of that and to love myself unconditionally. Funny thing is, when you do that, you give yourself room to disagree with everything that doesn’t fit with that message. So I was frequently hearing things at church and THINKING. A dangerous pastime, I know. Fast forward six years, and I recognized there were things about the Mormon Church that I heard on the fringes but didn’t want to digest. Things that I knew that if I knew them, I’d have to act. Have to decide if this was all hogwash or not. Then came the Arizona abuse case. I watched a Mormon Stories of Tim Kosnoff, and  I was so repulsed by what he shared, I decided it was time. That fortuitously coincided with LDS Discussions series on Mormon Stories, and a month later, I was out. And what a lovely thing that is.

    Questions about Mormons My Answers to Questions about Mormonism

    #Link to this answer of 'How/why did/do you stay in the pew?' by Brooklyn Parks How/why did/do you stay in the pew? See more answers about 'How/why did/do you stay in the pew?'

    I kept going to church for 9 months after losing my faith just to observe. And because losing faith in Mormonism was easy. Having the courage to fully detangle all the pieces of it in my life was hard. It was fascinating going — well, it was at best boring and at worst disturbing. So many people internalize the most horrid things from this church. Why does Relief Society always devolve into trauma sharing hour?

    Spotlight on Brooklyn Parks

    • I grew up in St Louis in a relatively small ward. So I didn’t really have members in my school. All of my ward experience after childhood has been a series of singles wards at BYU then in Orem. I knew I was ignorant of what Mormonism was. Then I decided it was time to learn. I was a Mormon. - Brooklyn's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/bparks898/
    • My deconstruction started in college when I realized every week so much of what people said was the same self-hatred coded in self-righteousness. People always found something to dislike about themselves to share with the class. And I did the same thing — praying every day to be better and always feeling I was coming up short. - Brooklyn's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/bparks898/
    • I decided that would be the end of that and to love myself unconditionally. Funny thing is, when you do that, you give yourself room to disagree with everything that doesn’t fit with that message. So I was frequently hearing things at church and THINKING. A dangerous pastime, I know. - Brooklyn's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/bparks898/
    • I recognized there were things about the Mormon Church that I heard on the fringes but didn’t want to digest. Things that I knew that if I knew them, I’d have to act. I'd have to decide if this was all hogwash or not. Then came the Arizona abuse case. - Brooklyn's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/bparks898/
    • I watched a Mormon Stories of Tim Kosnoff, and I was so repulsed by what he shared, I decided it was time. That fortuitously coincided with LDS Discussions series on Mormon Stories, and a month later, I was out. - Brooklyn's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/bparks898/
    • What a lovely thing being out is. I kept going to church for 9 months after losing my faith just to observe. It was fascinating — well, it was at best boring and at worst disturbing. So many people internalize the most horrid things from this church. Why does Relief Society always devolve into trauma sharing hour? - Brooklyn's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/bparks898/
    • Losing faith in Mormonism was easy. Having the courage to fully detangle all the pieces of it in my life was hard. - Brooklyn's "I was a Mormon" story. Read more at https://wasmormon.org/profile/bparks898/
    • This is a spotlight on a profile shared at wasmormon.org. These are just the highlights, so please find the full story at https://wasmormon.org/profile/bparks898/. There are stories of Mormon faith journeys contributed by hundreds of users like you. Come check them out and consider sharing your own story at wasmormon.org!
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    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.

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