It’s not uncommon for TBM Mormons to claim that people who leave the religion do so because they want to sin. Tied to this are all sorts of claims about addiction: addiction to drugs, to pornography, to alcohol, to coffee, and to sex. A simplified caricature of the TBM perspective…
Author: profxm
I'm a college professor and, well, a professional X-Mormon. Thus, ProfXM. I love my Mormon family, but have issues with LDS Inc. And I'm not afraid to tell LDS Inc. what I really think... anonymously, of course!
City Creek Center – breeding cynicism
I’m an alumnus of the University of Utah. As an alumnus, I get their alumni magazine, Continuum. With all of the other stuff I have to read, I rarely read the magazine all that closely. I typically just skim through the articles, looking for anything that might seem interesting. The…
Orson Scott Card teaming up with Scientology?
Did anyone else catch Orson Scott Card’s recent interview in the magazine, Freedom, published by the Church of Scientology International? Â Not sure how or why, but I was sent a copy in the mail (I’m not a subscriber). Â The interview is kind of trippy and suggests just how ostracized Card…
A Desire to Help
I have heard hundreds of members of the LDS Church, when they encounter someone who has left the church who is now critical of the church, say, “You can leave the Church, but you can’t leave it alone” or, more confrontationally, “Why can’t you leave the Church and just leave…
Why Nathaniel Givens Can’t Face Reality (or the real reason John Dehlin is going to be excommunicated)
Nathaniel Givens’ latest article on John Dehlin just went live on Meridian Magazine’s website. Â While it’s unlikely responding to Givens will do much to alter the opinions of those already decided on this matter, I realized as I read his article that I wasn’t reading it how most Meridian…
new survey on gender issues in the LDS Church
A research team made up of a mixture of scholars (see information about them here) is conducting a survey on gender issues in the LDS Church. Â They are interested in responses from both current and former Mormons. Â Here’s a link to the survey. Â And, if you can, please pass it…
Missionary Chat: Origins of the Bible
I’ll admit up front, this chat was basically just an attempt to show that Mormon missionaries are ignorant. Â I wanted to know what they knew about the origins of the Bible. Â Here we go: Bailey: hi how are you? Bart (me): I’m good. How are you? Bailey: good Bailey: what…
Missionary Chat: Native Americans cursed?
I had another question I wanted to run by “Mormons on the street”: Are Native Americans cursed? Emily:Â Hello! Sam (me):Â Hello! Emily:Â What brings you to mormon.org chat today? Sam:Â I have a question about Mormon teachings. Emily:Â Okay… we will do our best to help you Sam:Â A friend of mine is LDS and…
Three Ways to Leave the LDS Church – Loudly, Quietly, and Forcefully
I had a missionary email me after he listened to a podcast in which I was interviewed. Â He was deciding whether he wanted to be Mormon and was wondering what the best way to leave the religion was. Â I’ve written about this before, but after having spoken with lots of…
Repurposing Temples
Maybe others have thought about this before and I’m late to the game, or maybe mind is just weird, but I saw this press release from LDS Inc. about their new temple in Fort Lauderdale and a thought struck me. Â Already in some areas, churches are being repurposed as more…