Stephanie grew up deeply immersed in the Mormon faith, believing that following the Church’s teachings would lead her to salvation. She dedicated herself to the Church from an early age, participating in youth activities, serving a mission in Colorado, and eventually marrying in the temple. But underneath the commitment, Stephanie carried a secret: since she …
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Meet Kate, a woman who has faced incredible challenges as she navigated a profound faith transition. Kate was “born in the covenant” and spent her life in the Church. But at 45, her “proverbial Mormon shelf” came crashing down, triggered by a series of life changes that left her feeling lost, uprooted, and homeless—all tied …
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The Church is built on specific claims. The church claims that Joseph Smith met God and Jesus, received ancient plates from an angel, translated them, and had priesthood authority restored by heavenly messengers. Church leaders even state that if the events didn’t occur, the church would fall apart. This is the danger in the church …
Continue reading “Mormon Truth Claims Crumble With Changing Church History Narrative”
A member of the LDS Quorum of the Seventy, Hugo Montoya, shared a message in the Ensign, the church magazine, in June 2017. He is among the top leadership of the religion. He adds to the Mormon paranoia of doubt. The church demonizes doubt and uses fear to scare members from questioning their authority or …
The Mormon church wants everyone to read the Book of Mormon, but it will do nearly anything to keep anyone from reading their financial books. 60 Minutes Australia did some investigative reporting and alleges that the Mormon church is ripping off hundreds of millions of dollars from the Australian government in tax evasion. In many …
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President Spencer W Kimball, as president of the church gave a speech at BYU about Marriage and Divorce in 1976. This talk is currently referenced frequently, nearly 50 years later, in church lesson manuals and by church leaders. In this talk, he spoke against interracial marriages. He advised against marriages between those from differing economic …
Doubt is frequently cast as the opposite of faith. Doubt is frequently shunned, and sometimes, outright condemned. Mormon leaders today demonize doubt and admonish members to doubt their doubts, to stop rehearsing their doubts with others, researching doubts is not going to provide answers and even that research itself is not the solution to doubt. …
Continue reading “Doubt is Not the Opposite of Faith; Certainty Is”
This reading for worship, from the Unitarian Universalize Association, emphasizes the value of doubt as an essential and positive element in the pursuit of truth and knowledge. It contrasts doubt with unquestioning belief, arguing that beliefs immune to questioning can lead to error and incompleteness. Doubt, in this context, is portrayed as the key to …
Doc Wade, a retired Chiropractor and Country Music enthusiast, shares his faith transition story out of Mormonism. Born into the Mormon Church, he faithfully followed all the rituals and served a two-year mission. After a temple marriage and raising six sons, he faced challenges in his personal life, including a divorce after 25 years of …
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Elder Kyle McKay, the Executive Director of the Church History Department asks a rhetorical question. He asks during a devotional address (A Sure and Certain Foundation) in which he attempts to bolster testimonies by teaching how to believe. He absolves church leaders of mistakes by basically countering that “you couldn’t do any better.” He suggests …
Continue reading “Would There Be Fewer Mistakes if God Restored His Church Through You?”
Carl Sagan, an astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, and science communicator, captivated the world with his unparalleled ability to convey the wonders of the cosmos. Renowned for his role in popularizing science, Sagan’s legacy extends beyond academia, leaving an indelible mark on the public’s understanding of the universe. Carl Sagan’s well-known quote about being bamboozled exactly recounts …
Continue reading “Bamboozled Long Enough, We Tend to Reject Any Evidence of The Bamboozle”
Jeremy Runnells, hailing from a seventh-generation Mormon heritage, achieved all the milestones within the LDS Faith: earning his Eagle Scout rank, serving as a full-time Missionary, and graduating from BYU. His journey took a transformative turn in 2012, in which he dove into a deep exploration of the church’s truth claims. A CES Director asked …
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David A. Bednar, Mormon Apostle, visited the University of Texas and spoke at a devotional for young adults. He shared a story in which a friend he calls “John and Heather” faced a serious health challenge, prompting a discussion about faith and healing. Bednar surprisingly asked when about to give John a blessing, if John …
Aldous Huxley wrote that “Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.” This hits home when we think about questioning our beliefs, especially in high-demand religions like the Mormon Church. It’s a reminder that the truth doesn’t vanish just because we turn a blind eye. Deconstructing faith, especially in a church that demands …
In this interview, LeGrand Richards discusses the revelation to lift the priesthood ban for individuals of African descent and the subsequent Official Declaration 2. He highlights the role of Spencer Kimball, the then-president of the church, in seeking guidance on this matter. An admitted catalyst for the revelation is the concern about the growing number …
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In the April 2023 General Conference, President Russell M. Nelson pleaded with members of the church for more civility and decency. He states that vulgar language, fault-finding, and evil speaking of others are too common these days. This is wise counseling from the church leader. Does the prophet follow his own council? Should he or …
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One could define a faithful perspective as supporting the church’s truth claims at all costs. Anything that is outside of that faith-promoting mindset could be argued to be anti-mormon, because it doesn’t align with promoting faith in the church at all costs. We aren’t willing to sacrifice everything (as Elder Oaks says is his Apostolic …
Lorenzo Snow coined a couplet that famously explains a complex doctrine of Mormon theology which is closely tied to the idea of eternal progression. It also gets Mormon theology in deep water with most other Christian denominations. It challenges (or changes) the nature of God and our relationship with him as mankind. It proclaims that …
Continue reading “As Man Now Is, God Once Was; As Now God Is, Man May Be – Lorenzo Snow”
A famous saying within the Church states, “As man is now, God once was; as God is now, man may be.” This couplet, originating from Joseph Smith’s King Follet discourse, was popularized by the fifth Church President Lorenzo Snow. Time Magazine published an article about Mormons and asked President Gordon B Hinckley about this concept …
Continue reading “Hinckley’s “I Don’t Know That We Teach It” Interview”
Patrick served faithfully and notes that his “faith defined every decision of [his] life.” He was successful at putting his issues on the shelf for decades until he wasn’t and it came time to understand and accept his own gay child in the context of the church. He found the church position lacking when studying …
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Elder Dieter F Uchtdorf remarked that as members leave the church, they leave the “light of the gospel,” wherein these exmormons find themselves questioning why they ever believed in the church and their previously clear knowledge would even seem foolish in retrospect. Here he contributes to the narrative that church leaders enjoy telling about those …
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Emma didn’t feel right or safe at church. She struggled with the dissonance until she stumbled on ex-Mormon creators and community and knew she’d finally found her people! I was born into the church. I left the church in 2020, after taking a hiatus from church for about a year. I decided I didn’t want …
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Teddi chipped away on her Mormon checklist, repented when guilt and shame told her she needed to, and thought that without the rules and teachings of the church, she wouldn’t be happy. Over time she found herself disillusioned from the church, and still happy. She recognizes there is still healing on the other side, but …
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Daniel was raised Mormon and cruised along the Mormon conveyor belt in life. He’s also a physician and was educated to “research and investigate, to seek truth from reliable sources”. He suffered from religious scrupulosity and constantly felt like a sinner. He came across the Gospel Topic Essays though and quickly felt “uneasy with the …
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Micah was all in and fully believed in the church. He lived every bit of it. To be more prepared for the second coming, he studied church doctrine deeply. But as he studied church history, he learned that what he’s always been taught wasn’t exactly an honest representation of history. In fact, he found that …
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There has been a lot of discussion in Mormondom regarding race and the priesthood. The church denied the priesthood from black members (specifically those of African descent) from the 1850s until 1978. They did not relent through the end of slavery, through the proposed State of Deseret joining the United States as Utah, and through …
Continue reading “Apostles Discuss Reasons For Lifting the Priesthood Ban”
Not only does the church dismiss the previous racist doctrines of the church in today’s church essays, but the church publications and leaders also do the same. From the mid-1800s, the Church did not ordain men of black African descent to the priesthood or allow black men or women to participate in temple endowment or …
Continue reading “Mormon Leadership Dismisses Racist Doctrines as Folklore”
We have seen through the racist statements of Brigham Young when he announced banning the priesthood to those of African descent, or blacks that this was considered doctrine of the church. It was taught as doctrine and understood as doctrine. We also see it in the Lowry Nelson exchange with the First Presidency in 1947 …
Continue reading “Authoritative Statement by the LDS Church on the Doctrine of Blacks in 1949”
Elder Andersen met with the leaders of Zimbabwe and he said the significance of the meeting with Vice President Mohadi was to “express to him our desire to help improve Zimbabwe.” He noted that Vice President Mohadi had made a specific request for support with the development of clean-water wells in more remote areas of …
Continue reading “Elder Anderson claims “We Are Not a Wealthy People””
![“Accusations of lightening the pockets of the Australian tax office by 400 million dollars. The church's members claim very generous tax benefits, while other religions in Australia go without. It's alleged the Mormon books are actually being cooked in a massive tax dodge. Handed out on doorsteps around the world, [The Book of Mormon] promises to answer all of life's great questions. But we're throwing open a set of books the Mormons would rather nobody reads – their financial books.” - Mormon Church Accused of Ripping Off Taxpayers by Millions, 60 Minutes Australia | wasmormon.org](https://i0.wp.com/wasmormon.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/60-Minutes-Australia-cooking-the-book-of-mormon.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1)
!["One clear-cut position is that the folklore must never be perpetuated. I have to concede to my earlier colleagues. They, I'm sure, in their own way, were doing the best they knew to give shape to [the policy], to give context for it, to give even history to it. All I can say is however well intended the explanations were, I think almost all of them were inadequate and/or wrong." - PBS: The Mormons. Elder Jeffrey R Holland Interview, March 4, 2006 | wasmormon.org](https://i0.wp.com/wasmormon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Holland-PBS-Interview-2006-01-the-folklore-must-never-be-perpetuated-well-intended-almost-all-inadequate-wrong.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1)
