Intuition is one of the most powerful tools we have as human beings. It guides us, protects us, and helps us navigate the complexities of life. It is that inner voice warning us of danger, confirming truth, and pushing us toward growth. But what happens when an institution systematically strips that voice away, only to repackage it and sell it back as divine revelation—available only through them? This is precisely what the Mormon Church has done.
The Hijacking of Personal Revelation
From the moment a child is born into the LDS Church, they are taught to distrust their own thoughts and feelings unless they align with church teachings. Children learn from an early age to “follow the prophet,” a phrase repeated so often that it becomes ingrained in their subconscious as the ultimate rule. Instead of being encouraged to explore, question, and listen to their internal compass, members are trained to seek external validation through church doctrine and leadership approval.
In our learning, let us not neglect the fountain of revelation. The scriptures and the words of modern-day apostles and prophets are the sources of wisdom, divine knowledge, and personal revelation to help us find answers to all the challenges in life. Let us learn of Christ; let us seek out that knowledge which leads to peace, truth, and the sublime mysteries of eternity.
Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Two Principles for Any Economy, General Conference, October 2009
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2009/10/two-principles-for-any-economy
Dieter F. Uchtdorf’s statement that apostles and prophets are the sources of personal revelation is a misleading attempt to redefine the very nature of revelation itself. Personal revelation, by definition, is meant to be direct communication between an individual and God—without intermediaries. Yet, Uchtdorf subtly shifts this by asserting that the words of church leaders, alongside scripture, are where one should seek wisdom and divine knowledge. This framing undermines personal authority and intuition, conditioning members to believe that their own spiritual experiences must be filtered through hierarchical priesthood authority. Instead of empowering individuals to trust their own connection with the divine, this rhetoric reinforces dependence on church leadership, positioning them as gatekeepers of truth. This approach does not encourage genuine revelation but rather conformity, ensuring that members remain tethered to the institution for their spiritual guidance rather than developing true personal discernment. This seeks to undermine personal authority and intuition, supplanting it with a hierarchical priesthood authority from the church offices and leadership.
Ironically, the church teaches the concept of “personal revelation,” claiming that individuals can receive answers from God. But there is an unwritten caveat: the answer must align with church teachings, or it is deemed false. In other words, the church takes ownership of intuition, dictating when and how it is valid. If a person feels prompted to leave the church, question its history, or reject harmful doctrines, they are told their feelings come from Satan, not God. This manipulation forces members into a loop of self-doubt, where their inner knowing is in frequent conflict with institutional control.
The Church has mastered the use of emotional manipulation through a technique previously known and registered as HeartSell®, a marketing strategy designed to evoke strong emotions first, which then lead to belief and action. The church openly acknowledged this approach in their Bonneville website, stating that their goal is to “touch the hearts and minds” of their audience, triggering emotions to land the “sale”. This is precisely how they condition members to interpret manufactured emotional experiences—whether through carefully crafted music, storytelling, or sentimental imagery—as divine confirmation of the church’s truth claims. By engineering these feelings and then teaching members that these emotions are the voice of God, the church effectively bypasses rational analysis and critical thinking, replacing personal discernment with institutional messaging. This tactic ensures that members remain emotionally invested and resistant to outside questioning, as they have been taught that any doubts contradict the “spiritual witness” they were led to feel.
Conditioning Members to Distrust Themselves
One of the most striking examples of this is the way the church controls the narrative around doubt. Leaders like Dieter F. Uchtdorf have famously said, “Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith.” This message subtly tells members that their internal discomfort is the problem, not the church itself. If something feels off—whether it be polygamy, racism in past doctrine, or inconsistencies in church history—the problem isn’t with the doctrine but with the member’s lack of faith. This mental conditioning leads to self-gaslighting, where individuals learn to ignore red flags in favor of compliance.
Russell M. Nelson pushes this further in counsel to members. He urges members to 1) only seek counsel from other believers, 2) not discuss their doubts with others because this tends to increase them, and 3) choose to believe despite their own doubts.
This is a direct assault on personal intuition. When people feel uneasy about church history, doctrine, or policies, their inner voice is warning them to investigate, to think critically, and to seek truth. But rather than encouraging honest inquiry, Nelson tells members to silence those instincts and instead double down on faith, even when it contradicts reason or personal revelation. By conditioning people to distrust their own thoughts and only rely on the church’s approved sources, the institution ensures continued control over their beliefs, emotions, and decisions—replacing personal intuition with institutional loyalty. This follows a long history of church leadership teachings that the faithful should have not “do their own thinking,” and equating one’s own thinking to cunning deceptions of the devil. They teach to simply trust the church and follow the prophet, this is an unhealthy and blind faith.
The Mormon Church systematically teaches its members to distrust their own intuition by framing it as part of the natural man, which is portrayed as an enemy to God. This concept is rooted in Mosiah 3:19, which states, “For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit.” This verse is frequently used to instill the belief that one’s own instincts, desires, and personal reasoning are inherently flawed and must be suppressed in favor of obedience to church teachings. There are common “inspirational” quotes labeling this self-denial as submission, such as, “Don’t be fooled by that feeling of relief that you get when you walk away from the will of God. It’s not a spiritual confirmation; it’s your flesh breathing, ‘I won.’”
By equating human nature with sinfulness and self-deception, the church conditions members to distrust their own thoughts and feelings unless they align with approved doctrine. If a person experiences a gut feeling that something in the church is wrong—whether it be historical issues, doctrinal inconsistencies, or ethical concerns—they are taught that this is simply the “natural man” leading them astray. Instead of validating their own experiences, they are counseled to doubt their doubts, ignore critical thinking, and conform to church teachings even when those teachings feel wrong. They are not allowed to critique leaders or teachings, as Oaks insists. In this way, the church replaces innate human intuition with institutional authority, ensuring that members remain dependent on leaders to tell them what is true, rather than trusting their own inner compass.
Additionally, emotions are weaponized. If members feel peace in church settings, it is said to be the Spirit confirming truth. If they feel discomfort when questioning doctrine, it is said to be the influence of Satan. These false dichotomies rewire members’ natural instincts and create a dependence on the institution.
The Church Profits from Manufactured Dependence
By controlling intuition, the Mormon Church maintains a firm grip on its members’ lives. Leaders demand obedience, tithing, and lifelong devotion, all under the premise that these acts bring divine blessings. Members are encouraged to suppress their doubts, stay in line, and continue supporting the institution financially and emotionally.
What the church is selling back to members is nothing more than what they once had naturally—the ability to discern truth and act accordingly. But now, it comes with conditions: obedience to leadership, adherence to doctrine, and the ever-present threat of losing eternal salvation. In contrast, true intuition requires no middleman. It is raw, personal, and free.
Reclaiming Intuition
For those who have left or are in the process of leaving, one of the most liberating experiences is realizing that intuition was never lost—it was just buried under layers of conditioning. Former members often describe a profound sense of clarity when they begin trusting themselves again. For many, the moment they permit themselves to listen to their gut, the entire house of cards collapses. This experience leads some into a total existential crisis or faith crisis and feeling groundlessness. They realize that all this time, they’ve ignored their own intuition in favor of the organization of the church telling them how to interpret life and how to think.
If you have felt this struggle, you are not alone. The process of unlearning religious indoctrination and reclaiming personal intuition is deeply personal, but it is also incredibly empowering. You don’t need an institution to validate your experiences or tell you what truth feels like. You already have the answers within you, your intuition may have been telling you all along.
“Told you so.”
Sincerely,
Your Intiuition
Share Your Story
If you’ve ever felt that the Mormon Church took your intuition and sold it back to you as God, your voice matters. Sharing your journey can help others see that they are not alone in their struggles. Visit wasmormon.org to share your story and connect with others who have walked a similar path. Your experience could be the light that helps someone else reclaim their own inner voice.
More reading:
- https://faithlead.org/blog/faith-after-deconstruction/
- Bonneville’s HeartSell® – Strategic Emotional Advertising With the Holy Ghost
- Truths From Mormon Satan – Or Someone Who Plays Lucifer in the Temple, Corbin Allred
- Is it Wrong to Criticize Mormon Church Leaders?
- Experiencing Groundlessness in a Faith Transition
- How to Avoid a Faith Crisis
- When Church Leaders Speak, Has Any Thinking Been Done
- Questioning The Infallible Thinking of Mormon Leaders
- On Choosing to Believe
- Examine What You Know – Dismiss What Insults Your Soul