Peter Danzig did not set out to be a Mormon activist.
The gentle musician spent his life serving the church he loved. He went on a mission, married in the temple, composed pieces for Mormon pageants, and taught hymns to children. He and his wife, Mary, also a returned missionary, were raising their three daughters in Levan, but driving to Salt Lake City each week to play in the LDS Orchestra at Temple Square he on viola, she, the violin. Both believed their music was their gift to God.
Danzig said nothing in 1993 when church officials charged six well-known Mormon scholars and intellectuals with apostasy for their writings or speeches about LDS issues. He kept quiet when Brigham Young University fired history professor Steven Epperson, a member of Danzigs Mormon congregation, for serving the homeless rather than attending church.
But in 2006, Danzig finally felt compelled to protest. BYU adjunct professor Jeffrey Nielsen lost his job for arguing in a The Salt Lake Tribune column that the LDS Church was wrong to oppose gay marriage and to enlist Mormon support for a constitutional amendment against it.
Read more of Peter’s exit story at
“If you tell anyone, we’re going to have to excommunicate you.” How is the guy supposed to explain that all of a sudden he’s not allowed to perform with the orchestra anymore? “Oh, I just decided I don’t like music.”
LOL. It’s pathetic, isn’t it, Alan?