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 …
Tag Archives: research
(Page 4)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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Research on Human Rights And Mormonism Seeking LGBTQ ExMormon Volunteers
A master’s student studying human rights in Sweden is writing his thesis on LGBTQ Rights and Religion Based on Mormonism. The research aims to see if religion has an impact on LGBTQ rights based on Mormonism and how Mormonism impacts LGBTQ people’s lives. Purpose of the project The purpose of the research project is to …
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Heidi Was a Mormon, an Ex-Mormon Profile Spotlight
Heidi was a faithful member who enjoyed studying church history. Recently, the “new” church history became disturbing and sounded more like a cult. Through her spouse leaving the church she struggled with the fear-based messages of church leaders and digging in to understand when they are speaking as prophets vs as men, realizing that they …
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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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We Want Nothing Secret Nor Underhanded – Not The Mormon Church Today
John Taylor, the third President of the church, would not recognize the church today. He invites discussion and investigation on even trivial matters. He’s not afraid of research or whack-a-mole. When there was speculation and disagreement about a certain plot of land which Brigham Young was reimbursed for after having personally purchased for the church …
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What is Research According to the Mormon church
Though Oaks will say research is not the answer, and the church uses research to understand why they are losing so many members to a faith crisis, the church handbook has something else to say about research. Research in the Church Research as defined in the church handbook is to gather information to support the …
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Orson Pratt Wouldn’t Have Left the Mormon Church Alone
Orson Pratt was an early Apostle of the church. He believed and proclaims that the Book of Mormon is inspired and true. He has some pointed criticisms of the book though if it turns out not to be true. If false, [The Book of Mormon] is one of most cunning, wicked, bold, deep-laid impositions ever …
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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.
Fred Was a Mormon, an Ex-Mormon Profile Spotlight
Fred lived as dedicated to the church as anyone could. He watched respected people leave the church and he was curious about why they left. So, he followed up with some research and collected issues onto his shelf, but he was able to reconcile them over time with his faith and would not deny the …
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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.
Personal Mormon Faith Crisis Report – Research Summary
This report studies a faith crisis in detail along with an actual research survey of members who have left the church due to faith crisis and these respondents’ demographics such as age, gender, education level, household income, and church callings held as well as the primary reasons why the member left.
Personal Mormon Faith Crisis Report – Introduction and Overview
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.
The Problems with Joseph Smith and Peep Stone Translations
Anyone who was raised Mormon, or even attended the church for any length of time knows the Urim and Thummim story. Joseph Smith is portrayed as having translated the Book of Mormon with some special seer stones which were found with the gold plates. The Book of Mormon translation was possible with this Urim and …
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Dominant Narrative of Church is Not True
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 …
Aaron Was a Mormon, an Ex-Mormon Profile Spotlight
Aaron faithfully dug in deep to explain away the anti-mormon lies he was exposed to. The more he studied, the more problems he found until he realized the anti-mormons were the ones being honest and sharing the true history with evidence, not the church to which he’d dedicated his whole life to. This sent him …
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Joseph Smith and “The” “First” “Vision”
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”.
Rodney Was a Mormon, an Ex-Mormon Profile Spotlight
Rodney collected issues onto his shelf while serving in his calling. Eventually, when looking into the origins of the Book of Mormon he found some answers which helped him answer everything on his shelf. The issues were all red flags he’d come across that he couldn’t figure out, but once you see the reality, the …
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Brik Was a Mormon, an Ex-Mormon Profile Spotlight
Being born into the church many have had the thought that they wouldn’t be members had they not been born into it. Brik is among them, but parenting brought her to study the church’s truth claims. She wanted to know deeply before raising her children in the church too. She found that the truth claims …
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Yesterday’s Anti-Mormon “Lies” Are Today’s Church Essays
What are the Church Essays? The church has quietly published some essays discussing some hard-to-reconcile issues. There are multiple topics in these essays, such as Multiple First Vision Accounts, Rock in a Hat Translation & Mormon Institutionalized Racism, a collection of essays about Polygamy referred to as Plural Marriage & even Heavenly Mother. Haven’t heard …
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Church as transparent as it knows how to be
Is the Mormon church transparent? Is the church honest with its own history? What does it mean to be as transparent as you know how to be? Not much actually, but it’s their best excuse and retort when questioned. M Russell Ballard and Dallin H Oaks had a fireside broadcast with Young Single Adults. They …
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Zac Was a Mormon, an Exmormon Profile Spotlight
In his quest to find himself, Zac realized he was done living for everyone else’s comfort. He really began to find himself and face his own sexuality. Finding the CES letter helped him open his eyes and see that he’d been conditioned his whole life and never allowed himself to think his own thoughts! “I …
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Sydney Was a Mormon, an Exmormon Profile Spotlight
Sydney found the CES letter both devastating and relieving. She followed up with her most sincere prayer ever but received no answer. There’s only one conclusion at that point. “I did my research, from sources inside the church and out. The breaking point, as I’m sure it was for many, was the CES letter. I …
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Ella Was a Mormon, an Exmormon Profile Spotlight
Ella bravely considered the scary question. “What if the church isn’t true?” In the end, everything makes more sense once we consider that conclusion. “I finally had the thought; What if it isn’t true? I’d read the gospel topics essays when they came out. I’d served a mission. I’d seen miracles and felt the gift …
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BYU honor code dress and grooming standards – Mormon Facial Hair
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 …
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