In his lazy learners and lax disciples talk at the April 2021 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, church President Russell M Nelson emphasized the importance of developing faith in Jesus Christ through intentional effort and action. He refers to doubters as “lazy learners and lax disciples” and blames them …
Tag Archives: doubt
(Page 5)The Strange Hidden First Vision Account of 1832
There are multiple accounts of Joseph Smith’s “first vision”. This is a fact and today the church admits it. The church wants to dismiss these different accounts though by claiming that they really aren’t different because they tell the same consistent story. The details are in fact very different though. The earliest version of this …
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Elder McKay’s Sure and Certain Foundation for Unhistory and Brainwashing
Elder McKay the official Church Historian, with no credentials for history, but a career lawyer and executive gave a devotional at BYU-I in April 2023 titled A Sure and Certain Foundation. He detailed to students and young adults how to strengthen their faith in the church and how to face doubts. Elder McKay, Church Historian …
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These Are Not the Droids You’re Looking For
May the Fourth be with you. In honor of today – which is commonly known as Star Wars Day, because May the Fourth sounds like “May the Force be with you” – let’s look at a simple example of gaslighting, or as it can be referred to when aided by the Force, Jedi mind-tricks. May …
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Demonizing Doubt: Nelson’s Talk on Lazy Learners and Lax Disciples
In his lazy learners and lax disciples talk at the April 2021 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, church President Russell M Nelson emphasized the importance of developing faith in Jesus Christ through intentional effort and action. Those who don’t succeed in this self-administered brainwash he refers to as “lazy …
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Putting Questions on the Shelf is Unhealthy and Doesn’t Work
In the Mormon community, the practice of putting questions on a shelf refers to the act of setting aside doubts or concerns about the faith in order to maintain belief and avoid conflict with church teachings. Mormons are encouraged to trust in the leadership and authority of the church and to believe that answers to …
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Pascal’s Wager for Mormons and Ex-Mormons
Pascal’s Wager is an argument proposed by the French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal in the 17th century, which attempts to demonstrate that it is rational to believe in God. It does not provide evidence or proof that God exists, but it sets up belief as a rational choice we can make and outlines the …
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Explore the Origin Story of wasmormon.org – A Mormon Book Reviews Podcast Episode
A recent episode of the Mormon Book Reviews podcast features an interview with Evan, the creator of wasmormon.org, and his brother Garrett. Evan shares the story of how he came to create the website and why he chose to share his experience of leaving the Mormon church. The interview includes the personal stories of faith …
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Does Faith Survive Seeing the Forest for the Trees?
This idiomatic phrase relates to one who does not understand or appreciate a larger situation, or problem because they are considering only a few parts of it. If you can’t see the forest for the trees, you are too focused on small details or parts and so you are missing something more important; you fail to understand …
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On Being a Mormon Historian from Michael Quinn
The late Dr. D. Michael Quinn was among the many scholars who were forced to choose between promoting church propaganda and maintaining their integrity as historians in response to Elder Packer’s controversial talk “The Mantle is Far Greater Than the Intellect,”. Quinn delivered a pointed response to Elder Packer’s remarks in his lecture entitled “On …
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Elder Maxwell Tells ExMormons to Go Bowling and Leave the Church Alone
Many church leaders bemoan those who leave the church and then refuse to leave the church alone. Despite the ethical duty many ex-members feel to expose fraud when they see one or the training they have received to “always be converting” as missionaries. What about the hypocrisy when the church commonly talks about those who …
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Changing The Narrative –Reconstructing Mormon History
When Latter-day Saints discover problems with church history and doctrine, they often turn to church leaders and scholars for answers. Sometimes these answers are more unsettling than the problems themselves. Here’s a video compilation followed by quotes with individual sources where available. Some struggle with unanswered questionsabout things that have been doneor said in the …
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Church and its Inoculation Approach to Addressing Historical Details
The church is working hard to inoculate the youth from the disease of church history. They are teaching seminary students in the scripture mastery program that historical details are not important since they can’t provide salvation, so let’s not get distracted by these less significant details. This conditions young members to ignore the troubling issues …
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Joseph Smith’s Peep Stone Translation Method Renders The Gold Plates Useless
If Joseph Smith used a rock (seer stone or peep stone) in his hat as the main translation process, as the church is slowly teaching today, how do we call it a translation? If he didn’t use the gold plates to produce the Book of Mormon, why did he even have them? Why were they …
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Elder M Russell Ballard’s Colorful History With the SEC
Before M Russell Ballard was an apostle, he is praised as a successful businessman. He was involved in various business pursuits in Utah. He was the top-selling salesman for his father’s Nash car dealership, which he left and in the late 1950s put his efforts into being the first Edsel car dealer in Salt Lake City. Sadly, …
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Church Historians Attempt Normalizing Strange Seer Stone In Hat Translation Method
Mason Allred and Mark Ashurst-McGee discuss the various historical accounts of the Book of Mormon translation process, including accounts of Joseph Smith using a Seer Stone to translate the ancient record and accounts of Joseph Smith using the Urim and Thummim in a video posted on the “Church History/Latter-day Saint History” YouTube account, the official …
Writing Your Traumatic Faith Crisis Experience is Healthy and Healing
Do you have exmormon trauma? Try writing your story. Write about your faith deconstruction or crisis. wasmormon.org gives you a place to do this important and healing writing. Consider contributing your story to the site so others can read it and find community and validation as well! Suppressing the trauma is bad for us and …
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Bill Reel Was a Mormon, an Ex-Mormon Profile Spotlight
As a convert in his late teens, Bill Reel learned early that church history was messy, but loved it. He began a podcast (which has now grown to host over a dozen individual podcasts) to discuss and explore this messy mormon history. Over the years through examining the church, he discovered that the Mormon church …
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The Mormon Church Published The Gospel Topic Essays
After receiving the Faith Crisis Report, the church leaders commissioned and started quietly publishing what they call Gospel Topic Essays. These essays, for the most part, are the first time the church has published an official stance on many of the topics. They were published quietly and buried deep within the church site of materials. …
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Mormon Church Perpetually Gaslights Members
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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Mormon Authorities Threaten Doubters With “Don’t You Dare Bail” Messages
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 …
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Fanny Alger, Joseph Smith’s “dirty, nasty, filthy affair” Teen Bride
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) …
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LDS Church’s Misstated Filings to SEC Approved by First Presidency
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 …
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Elder Holland’s Taffy-Pulled Devotional – Don’t You Dare Bail & Stay in the Boat!
Elder Jeffrey R Holland gave a fiery talk at a devotional in Tempe, Arizona in April 2016. Tempe Rescue This is a very dynamic address, and he’s quite emotionally charged about those who leave. Though charged, Holland does come off as more intelligent than in his BBC interview where he claims he’s neither an idiot …
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What is the CES Letter? Is it True/Safe to Read?
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.
No Surprise that Every Ex-Mormon is Still a Missionary
The Mormon church likes to point the finger and demonize those who leave, complaining with the clever phrase that they can leave the church, but they can’t leave the church alone. They want us to leave quietly. This site refutes this demonization and serves as a platform to loudly share your story. We shouldn’t leave …
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Personal Mormon Faith Crisis Report – Summary & Potential Next Steps
The report concludes with suggestions the mormon church can take to mitigate the further loss of members due to a faith crisis. This report shows that the church leaders are well aware of the fact that members are leaving and why they are leaving and shows us insight into how the church thinks it can plug this membership leak.
Personal Mormon Faith Crisis Report – Faith Crisis Profiles
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.
Personal Mormon Faith Crisis Report – Perpetual Cycle of Disaffection
The report also analyses a perpetual cycle of disaffiliated members, where a member finds troubling information and through the age of information and the internet confirms the troubling issue as true and feels betrayed by the church for not being honest, and ends up venting to a family member and causing the cycle to restart for them.
Personal Mormon Faith Crisis Report – Faith Crisis Stages
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.