Hi, I'm Josh from Canada!
I'm a family man, a nerd, a technology evangelist, and a podcaster. I was a Mormon.
About me
Born in the covenant to a pair of Returned Missionaries. RM. Married to a recent convert. High Priest in my early 20s when I served in a Bishopric. Served as a Branch President, multiple Bishoprics/Branch Presidencies. Every local leadership calling. Stake Young Men's presidency.
Why I left
I began to study the life of Christ to learn how to be better. As I did that, I began to see inconsistencies with how the LDS church was behaving. The response to the McKenna Denson allegations that acknowledged there was an unnamed 2nd woman gave me permission to ask questions about why the response was so un-Christ like.
After months of cognitive dissonance between the correlated curriculum and the recorded history of Mormonism as recorded in its own archives, I was done. I waited for our son to get home from his mission before resigning.
I resigned in December 2019 along with my wife, oldest son, and youngest son. Of the 6 people in our family, 4 have resigned, 1 is completely inactive, with only 1 active.
Questions I've answered
Are you still christian?
No. I believe Jesus lived and that there is a God but I don't know the disposition of God anymore nor his influence on humanity.
Jesus was a rebel who would have been excommunicated from any modern Christian Church.
Does the church encourage leader worship?
Yes. Primary children sing "Follow the Prophet" as one of their songs. An unwillingness to sustain and follow the living prophet is an offense that will keep you from full participation in Mormonism.
How did being Mormon affect your daily life?
I was riddled with guilt and shame every single day. My self-respect was trashed by that guilt. I invested countless hours serving in the church, working harder and harder at my career, in the community, in my home, all to be an example of the joy of being a Mormon.
In January 2018, I reached a breaking point that nearly killed me. Being broken down to my weakest point allowed me to ask the questions that I had been too busy to ask.
The answers to those questions led me to leave Mormonism, a decision that I don't regret.