What Does Gaslighting Mean? The term “gaslighting” comes from the 1938 play Angel Street, which Alfred Hitchock later adapted into the film Gaslight, in which a man tries to convince his wife that she is going insane so he can steal from her. When he turns on the lights in the attic to search for her jewelry …
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There are myriad warnings against dissension and apostasy by church leaders. Church leaders are afraid of those who leave the church behind. Those who leave have the gumption and the gall to stand up for what they believe in, rather than believing what they are told to believe. Those who leave have the courage to …
Continue reading “Mormon Authorities Threaten Doubters With “Don’t You Dare Bail” Messages”
What Happened between Fanny Alger and Joseph Smith? As a young woman, Fanny Alger was a servant in Joseph Smith’s house. She lived with the family for a time while also serving as a maid. Joseph Smith and Fanny got very close. Multiple accounts exist of Emma Smith, Joseph’s wife catching Joseph celestializing (sexually involved) …
Continue reading “Fanny Alger, Joseph Smith’s “dirty, nasty, filthy affair” Teen Bride”
For the past week, the church has been all over the news. Not for something they will want to draw publicity. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced that the Church has been fined $5 Million for using shell companies to obscure the size of its investment portfolio. On February 21st, the SEC issued a …
Continue reading “LDS Church’s Misstated Filings to SEC Approved by First Presidency”
The CES Letter is a collection of questions, concerns, and doubts about the Mormon church’s truth claims addressed to a Church Education System Director from Jeremy Runnels. Learn about the background, the effects and rebuttals and some of the contents.
This faith crisis report next lists many anonymous faith crisis profiles each detailing the exit story of the member (along with precious statistics and demographics the church cares deeply about such as household income). Not to be confused with the actual faith crisis profiles shared on wasmormon.org.
The report defines the stages of such a faith crisis from a true believing member, through a catalyst and traumatization, and then either through a traumatized disbeliever and ex-mormon or a nuanced believer and then secular participant.
The Personal Faith Crisis Report was presented to Elder Uchtdorf in 2013 by Elder Jensen so leaders could better understand what is happening and take appropriate measures to address members leaving the church as a result of a faith crisis. The gospel topic essays were part of the response to this study by the church.
What was the Nauvoo Expositor? The Nauvoo Expositor was a four-page newspaper that only printed one issue. It reportedly printed so many vicious lies and slander about Joseph Smith that the prophet of the restoration had the printing press destroyed in retaliation or as the church claims to avoid violence. Somewhat ironic that they destroyed …
Continue reading “The Nauvoo Expositor And More Lies From Joseph Smith”
Prominent LDS historian Richard Bushman and famed author of Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling notes, “I think that for the Church to remain strong, it has to reconstruct its narrative. The dominant narrative is not true; it can’t be sustained. The Church has to absorb all this new information or it will be on very shaky grounds …
Was the first vision a “vision”? Was it the “first” one? Which one is “The” first vision? There are so many different accounts. The gospel topic essay mentions some of the main versions, but they also gloss over the differences and dismiss them all. The First Vision is a total misnomer and can be completely debunked with some simple reading and thinking. Something the church does not want members to do, they do everything they can to keep members from looking at the accounts. They first tried to hide them, and then they dismiss them by saying “we’ve always been honest and transparent about these accounts, and they all tell the same consistent story anyways, so don’t worry, trust us”.
Alan found it impossible to reconcile the truth and science with the church and all the anti-truth he found there. “I was born and raised in the church. I was taught from a young age to value truth over all other considerations. Truth was more important than feelings, authority, or friends. As I grew up …
Continue reading “Alan Was a Mormon, an Exmormon Profile Spotlight”
The church is famous for strongly pressuring members to follow a dress and grooming standards and whenever possible requiring it. They suggest that members follow the grooming standards but require every volunteer missionary who are paying their own way (or at least their parents are in many cases), every volunteer temple worker, and every student …
Continue reading “BYU honor code dress and grooming standards – Mormon Facial Hair”
The Book of Mormon is purportedly “translated” from the gold plates which Joseph Smith discovered in the hill Cumorah. These writings of the gold plates were in “Reformed Egyptian”. At the time no Egyptian language was translatable, but Joseph could translate them with his seer stone in a hat. In order to prove that the …
The current president of the mormon church, Russell M Nelson, shared a thought in the October 2020 General Conference. After the world has dealt with the pandemic of Covid-19 and the US is in the throes of a heated election cycle, and much of the world is facing a racial reckoning and awakening, the self-proclaimed …
Continue reading “Mormons are Taught that outside the church is life filled with fear”
Do religions take advantage of the innate human desire to matter, to have purpose and to exist beyond death? Was this nefarious? As all religions are different, it may not be a blanket statement that could be made. It does stand though that we must take the word of leaders who tell us how to …
In a faith transition many face feelings of groundlessness akin to crisis level vertigo. They may feel that their life is completely falling apart; that nothing is what it seemed and they struggle to cope with such a huge shift. They face reprocessing every principle, every value and potentially every reason for every thing in …
Continue reading “Finding Personal Meaning and Purpose in a Faith Transition”
Many people have as their main defense of Mormonism is that it gives them purpose and meaning. “The church is good or useful for me so I stay.” Those who find it useful may or may not be all in believers, they might or might not drink deeply of the kool-aid. We each have a …
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In the story of Dumbo, we have the little elephant with giant ears (even for an elephant) born into a circus family. His ears are so big that while his name is Jumbo, he earns the nickname Dumbo. His mother is soon imprisoned for standing up for him when he is ridiculed. Maybe she overreacts …
It’s General Conference weekend. Time to listen to the church authorities share their messages #ldsconf #generalconference Do you want a voice too? Share your story on wasmormon.org #nofilter
!["Joseph had asked [Jane Law] to give him half her love; she was at liberty to keep the other half for her husband." Elder William Law, Mormon Apostle. Defected from the First Presidency and published the Nauvoo Expositor when his wife Jane told him she refused Joseph Smith who came in the night while he was away seeking a polyandrous relationship.](https://i0.wp.com/wasmormon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/William-Law-Joseph-Smith-sought-polyandry-with-Jane-Law.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1)
