Tag Archives: apostate

Someone who has abandoned their religious faith. Often used pejoratively by church members toward those who leave.

“Among the victims to priestly hatred and jealousy was a young man about twenty years of age, in San Pete County, named Thomas Lewis... he was quite attentive to a young lady-friend... It happened that Snow, the Bishop of the ward in which the Lewis family lived, had cast his patriarchal eye on this young girl, and designed her for himself... Lewis's doom was sealed at once... The closest espionage was kept upon him by the Bishop's band of ruffians, and one evening a favorable opportunity presented itself; he was waylaid, and the Bishop's sentence carried out, which was to inflict on the boy an injury so brutal and barbarous that no woman's pen may write the words that describe it.” - Ann Eliza Young, Wife No.19, Brigham Young's Apostate Wife, 1876 | wasmormon.org
“Among the victims to priestly hatred and jealousy was a young man about twenty years of age, in San Pete County, named Thomas Lewis... he was quite attentive to a young lady-friend... It happened that Snow, the Bishop of the ward in which the Lewis family lived, had cast his patriarchal eye on this young girl, and designed her for himself... Lewis's doom was sealed at once... The closest espionage was kept upon him by the Bishop's band of ruffians, and one evening a favorable opportunity presented itself; he was waylaid, and the Bishop's sentence carried out, which was to inflict on the boy an injury so brutal and barbarous that no woman's pen may write the words that describe it.” - Ann Eliza Young, Wife No.19, Brigham Young's Apostate Wife, 1876

Bishop Warren S. Snow’s Teenage Brides and The Castration of Thomas Lewis

In 1857, just as tensions with the U.S. government were escalating toward the Utah War, a dark and largely forgotten episode of Mormon frontier justice played out in Manti, Utah. It involved a young man named Thomas Lewis, potentially an unnamed teenage girl, and Warren S. Snow, a high-ranking Mormon bishop and militia leader. What …

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Leadership Suppress Dissenfecting Light – The Nauvoo Expositor

On June 7, 1844, a bold and short-lived newspaper called the Nauvoo Expositor published its first—and only—issue in Nauvoo, Illinois. It was created by former Mormon insiders who could no longer remain silent. They leveled charges against Joseph Smith, including abuse of power, political tyranny, and most explosively, his secret polygamy. The Nauvoo Expositor printed …

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How to Let Religion Sabotage Your Life: A Deconstructing Mormon Perspective on Jim Palmer’s 16 Steps

Jim Palmer, a former pastor turned spiritual critic and trauma-informed coach, outlines 16 stark observations in his piece How to Let Religion Sabotage Your Life. For those deconstructing Mormonism, these steps feel less like satire and more like a checklist of lived experience: 1. Begin with the premise that there is something hopelessly and incurably …

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“Must we, under the broad folds of the American Constitution, be compelled to bow down to the narrow contracted notions of Apostate Christianity? Must we shut up our consciences in a nut shell, and be compelled to submit the bigoted notions, and whims, and customs of the dark ages of popery, transferred to us through the superstitions of our fathers? Must we be slaves to custom and render homage to the soul-destroying sickening influences of modern Christianity? No: American freedom was never instituted for such servile purposes.” - Orson Pratt, LDS Apostle, The Seer (1853) Criticizing "bigoted" monogamous marriage laws forbidding his preferred plural marriage. wasmormon.org
“Must we, under the broad folds of the American Constitution, be compelled to bow down to the narrow contracted notions of Apostate Christianity? Must we shut up our consciences in a nut shell, and be compelled to submit the bigoted notions, and whims, and customs of the dark ages of popery, transferred to us through the superstitions of our fathers? Must we be slaves to custom and render homage to the soul-destroying sickening influences of modern Christianity? No: American freedom was never instituted for such servile purposes.” - Orson Pratt, LDS Apostle, The Seer (1853) Criticizing "bigoted" monogamous marriage laws forbidding his preferred plural marriage.
“He had already succeeded in abolishing marriage among Priests and Nuns, and the next step was to forbid the plurality of wives... Through the influence of Apostate Christendom several nations have actually been persuaded to assist the Devil in his malicious warfare against this divine system: they have actually passed laws prohibiting it in their midst. Thus that order of plurality... has been overturned and abolished by human enactments and by human authority. Let Apostate Christendom blush at her sacriligious deeds! Let her be ashamed of her narrow contracted bigoted laws!” - Orson Pratt, LDS Apostle, The Seer (1853) Criticizing "bigoted" monogamous marriage laws forbidding his preferred plural marriage. wasmormon.org
“He had already succeeded in abolishing marriage among Priests and Nuns, and the next step was to forbid the plurality of wives... Through the influence of Apostate Christendom several nations have actually been persuaded to assist the Devil in his malicious warfare against this divine system: they have actually passed laws prohibiting it in their midst. Thus that order of plurality... has been overturned and abolished by human enactments and by human authority. Let Apostate Christendom blush at her sacriligious deeds! Let her be ashamed of her narrow contracted bigoted laws!” - Orson Pratt, LDS Apostle, The Seer (1853) Criticizing "bigoted" monogamous marriage laws forbidding his preferred plural marriage.
“The laws against the plurality of wives, we believe to be unconstitutional, growing out of the narrow-contracted bigoted customs of Apostate Christianity. If the [saints] wish to enjoy the privileges granted by the word God, and by the glorious Constitution of our National Republic, let them depart from under the jurisdiction if these illiberal State laws, and go to Utah where religious liberty is tolerated, and where every people and sect have the right to worship please, and marry as many wives as they please.” - Orson Pratt, LDS Apostle, The Seer (1853) Criticizing "bigoted" monogamous marriage laws forbidding his preferred plural marriage. wasmormon.org
“The laws against the plurality of wives, we believe to be unconstitutional, growing out of the narrow-contracted bigoted customs of Apostate Christianity. If the [saints] wish to enjoy the privileges granted by the word God, and by the glorious Constitution of our National Republic, let them depart from under the jurisdiction if these illiberal State laws, and go to Utah where religious liberty is tolerated, and where every people and sect have the right to worship please, and marry as many wives as they please.” - Orson Pratt, LDS Apostle, The Seer (1853) Criticizing "bigoted" monogamous marriage laws forbidding his preferred plural marriage.

Brigham Young’s Blood Atonement Distorts Love – He Had “no wife whom I love so well that I would not put a javelin through her heart”

Brigham Young advocated for violent retribution as a form of atonement. Let’s look at one of the most extreme examples of his teachings on blood atonement, a controversial and “unofficial” doctrine which teaches that some sins require the shedding of the sinner’s own blood for redemption and that they are beyond the scope of Christ’s …

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Distorted Reality

Religious zealotry distorts reality by imposing rigid, dogmatic worldviews that demand absolute obedience. High-demand religions, like Mormonism, instill a black-and-white perspective where faithfulness equates to righteousness, and doubt or dissent signals moral failure. This absolutism fosters an “us vs. them” mentality, making it nearly impossible for devout believers to see those who leave as anything …

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Plato’s Allegory of the Cave

Plato’s Allegory of the Cave serves as a timeless metaphor for the journey from ignorance to knowledge and truth. It parallels the experience of leaving Mormonism in profound ways. Just as the freed prisoner emerges into the light, grappling with the shock of a broader reality, those who leave the church often confront unsettling truths …

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November Policy of LGBT Exclusion, The Reversal, and Mormon Mental Gymnastics

In November 2015 a new church policy was leaked and upset many members of the church and those outside the church. It became known as the November Policy of Exclusion. It affected those who are LGBTQ+ allies and family and friends by prohibiting children of same-sex married couples from being baptized or blessed at church …

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Reversing the November Policy

The 2015 November Policy of Exclusion The November Policy of Exclusion, or the LDS Church policy to ban LGBT, was a controversial policy change by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in November 2015. This policy update was initially leaked to the public and was later officially confirmed by the LDS Church. The …

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Christopher Was a Mormon, an Ex-Mormon Profile Spotlight

Christopher’s path within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints encompassed doubt, growth, and eventual departure. Born into the faith, he faced critical information as a teen and young adult. He grappled with church history, racial issues, and doctrinal conflicts. His departure from the church marks an authentic pursuit of personal truth and growth …

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Brigham Young on Apostates

Brigham Young was the second leader of the Mormon church. He wanted no dissension among the ranks and taught that members who openly disagree with church leaders are cursed. He said that any who reject Mormon doctrine or the absolute authority of the church leaders are apostates. He shared what he thinks of an apostate. …

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