#exmormon — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #exmormon, aggregated by home.social.
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[Edit*]An older but ever-relevant of ICSA Today with articles on recovering from sexual abuse in cults, how to communicate with loved ones inside cults, the spread of conspiracy theories in France, and multi-generational cult survivors.
https://library.internationalculticstudies.org/24n7ceh/
[The issue is from 2021, but they emailed around an article from it recently.]
#ReligiousTrauma #cult #cults #exmo #exmormon #exvie #exvangelical #ICSA
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I find the names interesting. They're way cooler than the names men gave to us when I was coming up.
'The group of girls turning 12 or 13 will now be called “Builders of Faith,” those turning 14 or 15 will be “Messengers of Hope,” and those 16 or older will be “Gatherers of Light.'
I did notice an interesting tier-structure, which mirrors the levels of heaven.
You've got your low-level laborers at the bottom, building shit. Then there's the Messengers, middle-managers who get a bit more pay for far less work. Then there's the Gatherers who are just gathering light, which is the lightest work of all, enlightened youngsters ruling over their younger, less-equal sisters in Zion.
I'd love to see the men's youth group counterpart names to represent the eternally opposing gender roles.
I suggest:
Foot Soldiers of Faith
Prophetic Preachers of Hope
Big Game Hunters of Lighthttps://www.sltrib.com/religion/2026/04/25/lds-young-women-president-emily/
(Clearly this one's lit a blog post in me.)
🧵
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Wow, big changes in the LDS Church. They're giving women so much leeway over their own organizations!
Clearly, Mormon leadership has come to respect women and expects big things from them! They've put a tremendous amount of trust in them for this monumental job! How inspired! Has any human organization ever been so progressive towards women's liberation?
It'll be difficult, but I know you can do it girls!
🧵
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The ICSA has a journal article about how career counseling can help protect vulnerable kids from trafficking and cults.
Surprise! Poverty increases risk. Having a solid sense of identity helps prevent risk.
Abstract: 'Human trafficking is a rapidly expanding global criminal industry that frequently targets children and adolescents by preying on their vulnerabilities. This article presents research identifying seven categories of susceptibility in Generation Z, with a specific focus on how poverty and low personal achievement increase the risk of being trafficked. The authors propose that career counseling can serve as a vital preventive measure by building self-sufficiency, motivation, and a long-term “career self-concept” that helps youth reject the immediate gratification offered by predators.'
(Sorry, it's Substack.)
https://icsatoday.substack.com/p/could-career-counseling-help-protect
#ReligiousTrauma #cult #cults #exmo #exmormon #exvie #exvangelical
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Natasha Helfer on developments in Utah with the LDS church supporting rollbacks of discrimination protections for transgender people. 10 minutes.
#ReligiousTrauma #UTPol #exmo #exmormon #LGBTQ #Sexcommunicated
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Christians and defenders of Christianity who haven't thought it through like to point to the New Testament as where God finally decided to be a nice guy. (Which is antisemitic, btw. But that aside.)
Sometimes I revisit various stories from the New Testament and realize what an asshole Jesus was.
Today my feed reminded me of the walking on water story, in which Jesus was particularly dickish. It goes like this:
Jesus sends his pals out in a boat and he's like, "You go on boys I'll catch you up later." And he goes on a mountain to pray for the rest of the day because he's SO HOLY. When he's done, he heads back to the ship, which by now is way out to sea. So he just walks out there as if states of matter are nothing to him.
The dudes on the ship, they're like holy shit boys, there's a ghooost! (idk why but everybody was always mistaking The Christ for a ghost back then.)
Jesus is like "hey guys, lol naw it's just me, walking on water!! Check this out!"
Peter is like "I don't fucking believe you, SCARY GHOST! If it IS you, then tell me to come out there and get you!" (wtf Pete??)
So The Christ is like, "ok bru, come on out here."
Peter is like "boys, hold my beer, don't you go drinking it Judas, it's my last one!" and he jumps out of the boat and is walking on water, just like his buddy Jesus!!
But it's a bit windy and this one huge wave is like "ooooohhh I'm the ghost now! Boo!" and Peter is thinking "Shit this was really stupid, I'm way too drunk for this." So Peter starts sinking, right?
Then Jesus, god what a dick, he goes, "Pete you motherfucker, you didn't have enough faith and now I've got to save your ass AGAIN!" And he saved Peter from drowning, even though this whole thing was a setup from the beginning to make him look like some sort of savior.
And just to prove it, the weather calms right back down when Jesus gets into the boat, and they all has a good laugh.
Just kidding. What really happened is, in fact, everyone started worshiping him then and there with his smug-ass grin.
The version they tell in Sunday school has all of these same beats, but is told in a different tone, where Jesus is awesome and Peter should be ashamed of himself for not believing hard enough that he could only walk *a little way* on stormy water.
That, my friends, is what I call #AbuseCulture and why you should decolonize your mind.
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Lady Maga - Ryan Woods (not the UK based footballer)
#LadyMagaRyanWoods #Mormon #ExMormon #CostumeArtist #Drag #DragQueen
(search results from DuckDuckGo)
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Lady_MAGA
Lady MAGA - Wikipedia
Lady MAGA is a character created by Ryan Woods, an American political activist, internet personality and former drag queen who supported Donald Trump during the 2020 United States presidential election.Lady Maga USA
https://ladymagausa.com › about
What I Stand For - Lady MAGA USA
I'm Ryan Woods. I'm a Utah man and a staunch Conservative Constitutionalist. I use the drag character Lady Maga USA to bring humor and fun to the dark world of politics. I stand for the original values of MAGA: America first, no foreign wars, mass deportations, government swamp clean-up, a border wall, lower taxes, and arrests of corrupt government officials and Epstein clients. Lady Maga ...grokipedia.com
https://grokipedia.com › page › Lady_MAGA
Lady MAGA - grokipedia.com
Lady MAGA USA is a drag persona created and performed by Ryan Woods, a gay conservative activist based in Utah, who employs the character to advocate for America-first principles, constitutional freedoms, and Republican policies while challenging perceptions that LGBTQ individuals cannot support conservative causes. Woods, an ex-Mormon with a background in aviation where he worked eight years ...Advocate.com
https://www.advocate.com › news › lady-maga-usa-drag
Right-Wing Drag Queen Lady MAGA USA Now a 'Costume Artist'
Lady Maga USA, the drag queen character played by a Salt Lake City-dwelling, gay, Mormon man named Ryan Woods, has walked a fine line for years since appearing in conservative circles and ...Yahoo
https://www.yahoo.com › news › just-not-now-lady-maga-100000898.html
'It's just not in me right now': Is Lady MAGA USA hanging ... - Yahoo
2 Apr 2025For the better part of five years, Woods has exhausted himself and stretched his finances serving as the ultimate Trump cheerleader: Lady MAGA USA, a drag queen who sashays from rally to rally ...Facebook
https://www.facebook.com › LadyMagaUSA › directory_category
Lady Maga USA - Facebook
Hi, I'm Ryan Woods, creator of the drag character Lady Maga USA. I'm based. I am a Patriot. I love America. I love the Constitution. I'm a free speech absolutist.Rolling Stone
https://www.rollingstone.com › politics › politics-features › lady-maga-loneliest-drag-queen-america-1234703303
Lady MAGA: The Loneliest Drag Queen in America - Rolling Stone
A blue sash proclaimed the name of Ryan Woods' drag persona in sparkly letters: "LADY MAGA USA." The floor-length ensemble, he'd explain, was an homage to Abigail Adams, Marie Antoinette ...IMDb
https://www.imdb.com › news › ni64012398
The Loneliest Drag Queen in America - IMDb
A blue sash proclaimed the name of Ryan Woods' drag persona in sparkly letters: " Lady Maga USA." The floor-length ensemble, he'd explain, was an homage to Abigail Adams, Marie Antoinette and Scarlett O'Hara. The dress was festooned with yellow ribbons,...LGBTQ Nation
https://www.lgbtqnation.com › 2023 › 03 › magas-resident-drag-queen-will-now-be-known-as-a-costume-artist
MAGA's resident drag queen will now be known as a "costume artist"
Lady Maga is the creation Ryan Woods, a recently sober Salt Lake City native and a member of the Church of Latter-Day Saints. He's racked up nearly 14K tweets promoting the Trump and MAGA agenda ...New York Post
https://nypost.com › 2024 › 06 › 12 › us-news › trump-loving-drag-queen-lady-maga-schools-anti-israel-pride-marcher-in-viral-video
Trump-loving drag queen 'Lady Maga' schools anti-Israel Pride marcher ...
12 Jun 2024A conservative drag performer schooled an anti-Israel Pride marcher on her contradictory support for anti-gay Palestine in an incredible exchange captured on video. -
@CosmicTraveler Yeah I never bothered to do name removal, because I would still be part of the church through my personal and family history. And I don't even acknowledge their pretended authority to keeping records for eternity.
In my case, they didn't invite me to anything fun or useful. No, it was to clean the building. Why would anyone think that cleaning a church you don't attend be some sort of reactivation incentive? Even the Mormons themselves hate doing it!
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Christianity primed white people to feel guilty when certain Pavlovian bells ring.
Accused? Wrongdoing even subtly implied? Guilt! Shame!
Then, if it's a respected authority doing the implying (be it parent or priest), we're primed to submit.
If we don't respect the authority of the "accuser," well, were primed to see them as the enemy in the all-or-nothing good vs evil war. "My authorities haven't called that a sin so who is this person anyway??" And we lash out. At women, POC, queers, disabled, and often, even ourselves.
What, you're white but never were Christian? Sorry, but you were programmed this way, too. (If you feel mad at me, that's the programming.)
Christianity's way out from guilt and shame is impossible. It doesn't work. It's designed to make you feel forever ashamed and in debt to Jesus — or rather, the religious authorities who represent him. That's how they get you.
We aren't allowed to emotionally mature to know how to handle our own feelings when we've done wrong. We're forever dependent children on the religion. We go to confession, do the penitence, feel a few days of relief, then go back to feeling guilty. No matter how well-meaning any particular clergy, this is by design.
Now suddenly here's these people I don't respect out of unexamined implicit bias dumping more crap on me.
Aren't I bad enough? Haven't I submitted enough? What am I supposed to do about it?
I'm hamstringed. My white brain has been lobotomized wrt how to handle this. But also, I've been told by trusted authorities that I'm not a racist, so I'm not!!! Out comes the Karen.
Colonialism=Christianity=Corporatism
It's all the same system.
Freeing ourselves from this system means freeing those whose oppression we enable.
Because it's all the same thing.
#AbuseCulture #ReligiousTrauma #exmo #exmormon #exvie #exvangelical #antiracism #antifa
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I saw a white evangelical basically screaming at the camera yesterday on YouTube about patriarchy, racism, capitalism, and SA, ready to split from every Christian, even the progressive ones, and while I disagreed with some of her minor points and her shouting gave me a headache, I'm emotionally so with her.
Would that even 25% of white women had even a portion of her intensity and self-awareness.
#exmo
#exmormon
#ReligiousTrauma
#antiracism
#deconstruction
#LDS
#Mormon -
🎶 Genealogy: Are you "doing" it? 🎶
Or are you just listing names and dates so you can nonconsensually force your dead relatives to conform to some arbitrary standard of perfection in the afterlife?
#exmo
#exmormon
#ReligiousTrauma
#antiracism
#deconstruction
#BYU
#LDS
#Mormon -
In Mormon news, BYU tried to make an indigenous student cut his braids. So fuck them.
Thankfully, they responded to pushback and now will not make him do that, but I'm sure they will continue to get away with all of their other attempts to control the hairstyles and harmless behaviors of literally everyone else.
(Which is why this issue is a "white" cause as much as it is anyone else's. My Celtic and Germanic ancestors wore long hair in all sorts of styles, and so did yours. Whiteness restricts all of our freedoms.)
#exmo #exmormon #ReligiousTrauma #exvie #exvangelical #antiracism #deconstruction #BYU #LDS #Mormon
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RE: https://toad.social/@wdlindsy/116250786806679193
Well, what do you know? He's #DezNat. Our own weirdo Mormon brand of Christian Nationalism: Deseret Nationalism.
https://gist.github.com/travisbrown/3e6d29e2a6931f40c2293f092337fa03
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I'm watching a horror movie in a purity culture setting called Pure. It's fairly good, really liking how they're handling the themes. I feel like it's personal for the director, who's a woman.
It's not a perfect movie. Feels like the director doesn't have much experience with the horror genre. But there's strong talent, just a little raw on the skills, small things that would have made it better.
I still haven't seen the ending. There are some ways I want this to go, and some ways I really hope it doesn't go.
(Previous twoot is not a direct quote, but sums up a speech the pastor is giving.)
[edit: ok that ending was super powerful. We need what happened there to become a recurring motif.]
[Director is Hannah McPherson. She didn't experience purity culture, but is real mad about it. https://deadline.com/2019/09/pure-director-if-youre-not-pissed-off-you-may-be-a-lost-cause-1202742568/ ]
#movieReview #horror #ReligiousTrauma #exmo #exmormon #exvie #exvangelical #feminism
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CW: SA within cult contexts, Epstein, Rome
Further, I recently watched bible scholar Dan McClellan talk about homosexuality in biblical times. It' a subject I have seen him and others talk about before, and I've read about it. (But I am not an expert on ancient history – I'm just repeating.)
Fact: In Roman society and before, when Leviticus was being written, they didn't have any concept of "sexual orientation" the way we do today. They didn't have the concept of consent. They centered sexual mores around the hierarchy of power. Anyone up on the chain was expected to take the penetrative role; anyone below them was expected to take the receptive role. Anyone who violated these hierarchies was sexually immoral.
Free men with status? Top of the chain. Boys or men of low status? Below that. Women, at the very, very bottom, always. The sin was in penetrating someone who was supposed to, themselves, be in the penetrative role.
The Sodom and Gomorrah story was about a people who had been taught to care for strangers who instead wanted to rape a (male) guest to death. Which violated two mores: Hospitality and the chain of status wrt to the penetrative role. That's why it was perfectly ok for Lot to offer his daughters, and why the gang didn't want *girls*. They wanted to demonstrate their power by taking on men of station.
What does this mean in this context? It means that sexual domination has long been a part of how power works in human civilizations, at least in these cultures that descend from that place in those times.
We, here today, with our consent norms and our idea of love and equality in relationships, we're the odd ones. We've bucked the norms. (A tremendous accomplishment that took thousands of years.) And those norms *still exist.* They exist within toxic masculinity, pro-patriarchy religions, and abusive relationships.
It is hard for me to believe that the Epstein Class of today is somehow worse than the Fat Cats of the 1920s, or the aristocracy of the Renaissance, or the lords and monks of the Middle Ages.
We're really not that far descended from Rome. The path to liberation has been carved against these longstanding traditions.
We have only to look at the world billionaires are trying to create, to see what their values and expectations are.
And why they admire Rome so much.
🧵
#ReligiousTrauma
#exmo
#exmormon
#PTSD
#cults
#exvie
#exvangelical
#abuseCulture
#SexualAssault -
CW: SA within cult contexts, Epstein
I've recently commented on Epstein probably not being the first of his kind, that his market for sex victims already existed, and that the sexual abuse of minors and the marginalized as a recreational activity for the rich and powerful likely goes way, way back. And I got a little bit of pushback.
But this is my world, this cult stuff. And if this has been going on in new sex cults like NXIVM, and secretly in old established religions like Catholicism, in Mormonism, in evangelicalism (it is), the why the hell wouldn't the richest, most powerful people in the world have done this going back across time?
Why are we holding dead billionaires to an idealized image? Why are we defending them? Why are we *still* bending over backwards to suspend disbelief that the worst people in the world in every other regard are somehow pure when it comes to sexual abuse?
🧵
#ReligiousTrauma
#exmo
#exmormon
#PTSD
#cults
#exvie
#exvangelical #AbuseCulture #SexualAssault -
CW: SA within cult contexts, kink
New paper on sexual conditioning within cults just dropped. This article sums up the paper for a lay audience.
https://icsatoday.substack.com/p/dominance-and-submission-the-psychosexual
I am so relieved that highly respected cult researchers are finally backing up conclusions I suspected early in my own research:
- C-PTSD isn't just about trauma, it's about conditioned reactions and beliefs.
- Oppressive high-demand religious institutions condition followers to accept sexual abuse, or be the one to dish it out.
- Religious control of sexual bodies doesn't just prime one for abuse. It is itself a form of sexual abuse. It is at least as bad to manipulate a person into having children she doesn't want as it is to traditionally abuse her.
- What I say next may be controversial, but this research implies it, and I've suspected this since I joined the kink scene of my own free will first thing after leaving Mormonism: Sexual submissiveness can be a result of being reared in a high-demand religious environment, even if as adults we joyously consent as bottoms outside of the original religious framework. (I also think Dom/sub alignment is partly biological.)
Excerpts:
"This article is foundational because it frames sexual exploitation as structurally embedded in coercive systems, not merely the misconduct of individual leaders."
...
"Cult leaders quickly recognize that controlling the sexual and intimate lives of their followers provides a massive source of power. In Lalich’s analysis, sexual domination is not merely one abuse among many — it is the final stage of objectification within an authoritarian system.
"This exploitation ranges from strict rules regarding marriage and procreation to more overt abuses like arranged marriages and forced sexual activity. By controlling the most intimate aspects of life, the leader ensures there is no private sphere beyond his reach."
...
"One of Lalich’s most important contributions is her direct challenge to the notion of consent within cult environments. Because cults are structured around extreme power imbalances, genuine consent cannot exist. Members are conditioned through fear of expulsion, spiritual threats, peer pressure, and dependency on the leader for identity and belonging."
...“Because of the power imbalance between leader and followers, sexual contact is never truly consensual and is likely to have damaging consequences for the follower.”
...
"Shame, guilt, and self-blame persist long after exit. The leader’s ideology continues to shape the survivor’s internal narrative. Recovery therefore requires dismantling both the sexual trauma and the ideological manipulation that sustained it."
...
"At one post-cult recovery workshop, 40% of women present reported having been sexually abused in their cult (p. 7). Lalich suggests this number likely underestimates the true prevalence based on her own clinical observations. The silence surrounding sexual exploitation, she argues, is itself part of the problem."
–
I believe this is true even in (especially in) sex-negative environments. We pointed this out in the book I just wrote. If sex is shrouded in secrecy and shame, victims are unable to understand what they are going through, and unable to report it.🧵 ?
#ReligiousTrauma #exmo #exmormon #PTSD #cults #exvie #exvangelical #abuseCulture #SexualAssault
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Christian apologists should be like, "Oh, yeah, we're really sorry about that. That isn't right. We're gonna fix that right away."
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I realized recently that I don't think I've seriously revisited my scripture writing project since my dad died in 2023. I tried to get back into it a couple of time, but omg that place I came from and how sick I was. Considering that I *wrote it* while sick in the first place is a real testament to how awful things got.
I had all but 3-4 planned chapters finished, with even a few edit passes. (I need to keep re-reading it as I pick it back up, and just edit as I go.) So like, it's *almost* ready for people to see it. So close.
I had tried to sell it the season before dad died, but there's really only like, one place that would be a good fit for this weird little gremlin. And they rejected it.
At this point, I'm kinda sorta thinking of just putting it online. I've been thinking about doing an indie web site anyway, and this is just the sort of weird little text you could easily find on the 90s internet.
I just read chapter 2 and it's solid.
idk. I felt called to write this thing to express the insights I'd gained while trying to stay alive enduring unbearable pain for so long. And as a project to see if I could untangle the authoritarian aspects of Mormonism, to see what a truly expansive, inclusive, diversity-embracing version of Mormon doctrine could look like.
It's my Secular Woke Hermeneutics of Mormonism in the vibe of Alan Watts and Carl Sagan. My speculative theology. My sequel to Recovering Agency after deconstruction. It's the "So now what?"
It feels right. It feels like a calling. I feel like I'm coming up for air now and want to do something with it.
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Digging in to Season 3 of Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, and I've got to say, most of these women are extremely capable of growth, and it shows.
It's been good practice for me to test my ability to spot red flags of people who are genuinely toxic, and probably always will be, vs. those who are just mimicking unhealthy behavior they learned within a toxic culture.
And when people do change, seeing if it sticks or if they're just manipulating people.
And I'm watching passive women conditioned to capitulate and defend bad behavior eventually come into their power.
I'm really proud of most of these kids as they come into their own. I'm cheering them on. Yes, even *that one,* who is maybe(?) starting to show some glimmers of self-awareness and being genuine.
These are the kinds of cultural forces swiftly changing LDS culture, and why I say Therapy Culture is the biggest secret threat to the institutional abuse culture within religious authoritarianism and fascism.
Though it often makes me uncomfortable, I unironically love this show.
🧵
#RealityTV #SecretLivesOfMormonWives #MomTok #RVLife #exmo #exmormon #ReligiousTrauma #AbuseCulture
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🎶freedom's just another word
for nothing left to lose🎶#solarpunk #exmo #exmormon #ReligiousTrauma #exvie #exvangelical #USPol #Antifa #resist #humanism #atheism
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There definitely seems to be a vibe shift. From powerlessness and helplessness to empowerment and determination
I'm not the only one. And it's not just here on Mastodon.
Nothing is forever. No trend continues ever upward. We're learning the skills and fortitude we need. We're self-organizing against the shape that collective trauma has forced us into.
This too shall pass.
Then imagine the world we'll be able to build with the momentum.
#exmo #exmormon #ReligiousTrauma #exvie #exvangelical #USPol #Antifa #resist #humanism #atheism
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A study on how media coverage of cults affects the recovery of former cult members. Via the ICSA.
https://icsatoday.substack.com/p/cults-and-media-stereotypes-does
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CW: SA, Mormonism, and a very angry rant
From the story: 'A year ago, the Trump administration repealed previous guidelines that generally prevented law enforcement officers from entering churches in search of immigrants lacking permanent legal status. A few days after the announcement, the church’s governing First Presidency stated that church buildings “should not be used to help shield individuals from law enforcement.”'
ahem.
*cracks knuckles*
[Warning: Yelling incoming.]
THEN WHY THE FUCK IN CASES OF SEXUAL ABUSE DO YOU OFFICIALLY COUNSEL BISHOPS TO ONLY INFORM LAW ENFORCEMENT IF STATE LAW REQUIRES IT???
Fucking fucking fuck. What a bunch of abject racist authoritarian pedo-harboring cowards.
So in honor of this occasion, I will link to the FLOODLIT database, a record of the hundreds of *documented* sexual abuse cases that have been enabled and/or covered up by the LDS Church:
And The Mormon Alliance Case Reports, which were reporting on this systemic issue in the 1990s (for which its author was excommunicated):
https://mormon-alliance.org/casereports/volume1/v1.htm
And my own testimony that I have read or heard literally *thousands* of personal sexual abuse stories that happened within LDS contexts where either secrecy was passively maintained due to the high levels of shame created by Church rhetoric, or was actively maintained by official leadership decisions, which include, among other things, punishing victims, letting perps go, and placing perps back into positions of power or over new potential victims. I have sourced these stories from memoirs, many forums including Reddit, Facebook, or been personally told these stories, even while still LDS.
The LDS Church is a sex abuse factory, and this quote from the Church really fucking pisses me off. We can't possibly use the church to shield individuals whose only crime is existing in an unauthorized location, but by hell, if you hurt kids, well, it's game on boys!
Prophet Oaks full on agreeing with Donald "Epstein" Trump, says "Throw 'em to the pigs!"
You'll never find any top LDS leadership in the Epstein files because they don't need his overpriced island. They've got one of their own, right in the open in Utah!
After all this time, 25 years out, I don't think the SA issue in the LDS Church will ever not absolutely enrage me.
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Wow. See here is why I love the Mormon people. When they end up cutting past the propaganda that keeps them hampered, they show up with the kind of energy and moral correctness that we were taught to have, that surpasses any modern church I've ever seen.
LDS Corp has left the ICE issue up to individual wards to decide. The wards that have decided to protect their own are *going hard*. This is a fantastic model for mutual aid. This is some City of Enoch level bravery and righteousness.
They're protesting detention centers, holding services online, locking down church entrances against potential ICE raids, planning escape routes, providing information about rights and how to handle ICE, feeding people, picking up kids,
“It is my divine obligation to … be politically aware and pass along information,” [Osorio Reyes] said, “to make sure the people in my ward are informed and safe.”
The Stake President is collecting extra fast offerings to help affected families with material needs.
This is the shit I was raised on. This is the shit I was told we were to be doing. And then... we simply never did. Our energies were redirected to useless time-wasters, and more priority was placed on "sexual" righteousness and whether or not someone drank Coke. Our minds were filled with barely coded racist interpretations of the world.
This is why, for my activism focus, I chose to work with exmormon populations. Because for all the dysfunctional ways we were conditioned to be, we were also instilled with a fire. Helping exmormons (and open-minded progressive Mormons) dump the dysfunctional baggage frees us up to be a real force for good in this world. We gave a majority of our time and money to the LDS Church, so when we stop doing that, our energies are free to go elsewhere.
One note on the geopolitics of the situation: unlike other brands of Christianity in the US, the LDS Church is interestingly torn on the immigration issue, because outside of the USA, their majority membership is in Latin America.
I've got one more thing to say about top-level leadership, next post.
Archive:
Original (paywalled still):
https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2026/02/03/how-latter-day-saints-la-responded/
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And about a year, (I'll have to do some birthday math) I will have been out of the Mormon church for as long as I was in.
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The ICSA has been working hard to better support former cult members and those who have loved ones stuck in cults. Here's their newsletter recapping their updated website and revamped services.
I've been an ICSA member for many years. It's a very small academic organization that also welcome lay people who have had life experiences with cults. They've been around (under various names) for many decades, originally the publishers of Cultic Studies Journal, which is now split across several publications under various names. I've spoken about Mormonism at their conferences and met people with all kinds of backgrounds.
Their resources include: an academic journal, a magazine for lay people, conferences, a directory of helping professionals, and a back catalogue of all their past publications.
I'm glad to see them becoming more active and increasing their outreach.
#cults #ReligiousTrauma #ICSA #exmo #exmormon #exvie #exvangelical
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#Satanism is too #exCatholic. We need #exJW Satanists with giant Yule trees with Baphomet on top. We need #exMormon Satanists outside the temple chanting "You can get anything I'm this world with money" with garment symbol pasties and tithing slips with the url to Widow's Mite report. We need #ExMuslim Shaytanists, idk, reading Salman Rushdie or something.
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#Satanism is too #exCatholic. We need #exJW Satanists with giant Yule trees with Baphomet on top. We need #exMormon Satanists outside the temple chanting "You can get anything I'm this world with money" with garment symbol pasties and tithing slips with the url to Widow's Mite report. We need #ExMuslim Shaytanists, idk, reading Salman Rushdie or something.
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Hello Fediverse!
THRIVE Community Group hosts channels, support calls, and other resources to help people transitioning away from high-demand religions, or anyone who is experiencing a faith crisis, to connect, support, and find solidarity with each other.
We are on Discord, Jabber, and Matrix. We are hoping to get an index going to make it easier for those trying to transition out of high-demand religions to find resources and help.
#religion #highdemandreligions #exjw #exmormon #mormonism #thrivebeyondreligion #thrivecommunitygroup -
This is a long way to say: If you don't understand the effects of cognitive dissonance, and don't unpack your own internal contradictions, you can be more easily manipulated into behaviors and beliefs you would not *consciously* agree with.
If you like free agency and are a big fan of free will, this is the sort of thing you need to work on.
#philosophy
#atheism
#theism
#exvangelical
#exvie
#exmormon
#exmo
#ReligiousTrauma
#AbuseCulture -
Theological concepts like "The Problem of Evil" aren't just atheist gotchas. The contradictions within certain theologies can exist unawares within the minds of believers, causing dissonance that comes out in ways that perpetuate and allow harms to continue.
For instance, even if a Christian believer has not consciously considered the Problem of Evil, they will still feel this contradiction whenever it is encountered:
1. God is good.
2. God is omnipotent.
3. God allows evil to exist.They will have many sideways methods of resolving this discomfort, which will vary from person to person and from situation to situation.
They may, for instance, lean on Just World views (the feeling that the world is automatically fair and so if someone is disadvantaged they must have done something to deserve it) when it comes to LGBTQ issues. God is good, and omnipotent, so if a queer person is suffering, it isn't because their church community has stigmatized them or because church doctrines about God's will are wrong (or further, that God might not exist or might not be good), no it must be proof that being queer is sinful and they deserve their suffering.
This same formula applies in many other areas, including towards abuse victims.
The contradictions within many popular forms of theism are not harmless. They get resolved, usually unconsciously, by organizations and individuals. When they are resolved without mindful consideration of the consequences, people get hurt.
For abusers and powertrippers? This is by design, to their benefit, and more likely to be conscious.
#AbuseCulture #ReligiousTrauma #exmo #exmormon #exvie #exvangelical #theism #atheism #philosophy
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CW: SA, DV, kink, religious context
That's why I call it grooming. It has all the hallmarks. It normalizes creepy old men snooping into the sex lives of younger people. It normalizes sexual submission to authority and to men. It trivializes seeking approval with regard to sexual acts from men with power.
I wouldn't have put up with any of my abusers and various random sexual assaults my whole life if the LDS Church had not groomed me.
(It's also no mistake that many of us ended up kinky.)
🧵
#ReligiousTrauma
#AbuseCulture
#exmo
#exmormon
#exvie
#exvangelical
#deconstructing -
CW: SA, DV, religious context
And you know what else wasn't consensual when I was a young person in Mormonism?
Going to a much older man and telling him my unauthorized sexual acts, a requirement for getting right with God.
Very 100% sick and NOT CONSENT.
"You are unworthy of God's love, guidance, approval if you do not go to a much older man in authority over you and tell him how you've acted sexually. You will not be able to go 'home' after you die unless you do this thing."
THIS IS SEXUAL ABUSE.
In Mormonism, though, it's totally normal, and righteous, and holy. They run kids as young as 12 through this.
But it's sexual abuse even on adults.
Even though the man I confessed to wasn't a sicko, and he treated me well, didn't want to know many details, it was still abusive because I did not consent. I was coerced.
... but many of them are sickos.
A higher ranking guy I got later, when I wasn't repenting, just wanting access to the Temple, he DID want to know details even though I'd repented and was supposed to have been wiped clean!
And my experience of ecclesiastical sexual abuse was light compared to some I've heard accounted.
🧵
#ReligiousTrauma
#AbuseCulture
#exmo
#exmormon
#exvie
#exvangelical
#deconstructing -
CW: SA, DV
The sexual grooming of ultra-conservative religions confuses consent by making you not want something you actually want.
Did I want sex? Yes.
Was I supposed to want sex? No.
So when "lawfully" making out with another person but approaching the line, my internal concept of what I really wanted got all confused. Masturbation? Even worse! Of course I wanted it, but punished myself afterwards, trying to force myself to never do it again.
That confusion lasted well beyond me dumping those beliefs and moving into highly sex-positive communities. It lasted into the relationship with my abuser, where he (also from a conservative religious background) took advantage of my confusion. I was very often confused about whether I wanted sex, or certain types of sex, or sex under certain contexts, at any given time in that relationship.
Many of those occasions I've looked back and saw where I said yes when I meant no. Or where I said yes, and then he changed the circumstances, and I didn't feel "No" was an option.
And more than a few times where I did say no but he pushed me in ways I did not actually want.
And I'm sure he knew that. That was part of his game. Sometimes things happen out of miscommunication, which I thought at the time, but in his case? He knew.
🧵
#ReligiousTrauma #AbuseCulture #exmo #exmormon #exvie #exvangelical #deconstructing
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The Mortdale Stake (Sydney Australia) received an email informing them the area had been selected for a Pilot Program named Informed Consent. The email included links to church sites for sources for all the statements. Upon examination it becomes clear it's not an official church-sanctioned email, but a disillusioned member who had access to the stake email system. https://wasmormon.org/email-to-sydney-australia-mortdale-stake-pilot-program-informed-consent/
#Mormon #Mormonism #ldschurch #Sydney #Mortdale #pilotprogram #informedconsent #exmormon #exmo #iwasamormon
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The 1832 account is the earliest known version, written in Joseph Smith’s own handwriting 12 years after the event and there is no other contemporary record from anyone. It was written in a letterbook but never publicly known until the 1960s. This version was removed from the letterbook and hidden in a safe when Joseph Fielding Smith first found it because it was so strange.
#Mormon #JosephSmith #firstvision #exmo #iwasamormon #exlds #ldsquotes #ldschurch #lds #exmormon #1832
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https://wasmormon.org/why-worry-about-different-versions-of-the-first-vision/
Hinckley says he's not worried that Joseph Smith's multiple versions of his First Vision. He dismisses these different versions of the vision without ever mentioning any differences in the accounts. His goal is calming members who have heard of these strange accounts, and hope they will not look at them.
#Mormon #JosephSmith #gordonbhinckley #firstvision #exmo #iwasamormon #exlds #ldsquotes #ldschurch #history #religion #Mormonism #lds #exmormon -
https://wasmormon.org/joseph-smith-was-a-glass-looking-treasure-digger/ The church denied the strange magic practices of Joseph's Smith. Facts they now claim were commonplace. The church apologists yearn to dismiss the practices as astrology or gambling today, but does that make them better? They denied Joseph was involved and that he used his seer stone for treasure digging out translation.
#Josephsmith #Mormon #history #lds #exmo #exmormon #LDSchurch #lies #exmormonbecause #Mormonism #ldshistory #HughNibley #denial #fraud #Mormonism #exlds
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Today, the fact that Joseph Smith was involved in treasure digging is undisputed, yet still hardly common knowledge among members of the church.
https://wasmormon.org/joseph-smith-was-a-glass-looking-treasure-digger/
#treasure #magic #Mormonism #ldschurch #ldsquotes #seerstone #scrying #josephsmith #Mormon #exmormon #exmo #exlds #postmormon #peepstone #glasslooking #prophet #iwasamormon #lds #ldshistory #HistoryMatters #translation #BuriedTreasure #bookofmormon #ldscult
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https://wasmormon.org/joseph-smith-was-a-glass-looking-treasure-digger/
LDS Historian, Richard Bushman concedes that Joseph Smith was looking for treasure. He argues that this was “part of a culture found virtually everywhere,” “something like reading astrological charts today—a little goofy but harmless,” “too commonplace to be scandalous,” “too common in the nineteenth century for it to invalidate Joseph Smith,” because, he states “folk traditions and religion blend.”
#Josephsmith #Mormon #ldsquotes #exmormon #ldschurch #treasure #fraud
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"We have nothing to hide. Our history is an open book. They may find what they are looking for, but the fact is the history of the church is clear and open and leads to faith and strength and virtues." Gordon B. Hinckley, LDS Church President.
Ok seriously? 😳
https://wasmormon.org/nothing-to-hide/
#Mormon #exmormon #lies #ldschurch #ldsquotes #GordonBHinckley #exmo #iwasamormon
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The Church and Victim Blaming Victims of Abuse
https://wasmormon.org/the-church-and-victim-blaming-victims-of-abuse/
#Mormon #exmormon #ldsquotes #ldschurch #exmo #iwasamormon #abuse #victimblaming
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Book of Mormon Anachronisms – Slippery Treasures and Treasure Digging Concepts
The Smith family and other treasure seekers believed that enchantments on buried treasure had the power to move the location of the treasure under the earth so that those seeking the hidden valuables could not acquire them. These were called slippery treasures.
https://wasmormon.org/book-of-mormon-anachronisms-slippery-treasures-and-treasure-digging-concepts/ #exmormon #josephsmith #Mormonism #ldsquotes #bookofmormon #treasure #seerstone
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"First, it was church history. Then doctrine. Then the finances. Then the hypocrisy.” – Doc Bob
This is a spotlight on a profile shared at wasmormon.org. These are just the highlights, so please find the full story at https://wasmormon.org/profile/docbob49/. There are stories of Mormon faith journeys contributed by hundreds of users like you. Come check them out and consider sharing your own story at wasmormon.org!
#Mormon #exmormon #exmo #lds #ldschurch #church #iwasamormon #iGotOut #Mormonism #exlds
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Benjamin Franklin on Treasure Seeking Seers. Franklin saw the folly and called it out as the “most egregious folly and madness.”
The church denied Joseph’s involvement with treasure digging until the evidence was no longer possible to refute or ignore. There is no doubt today that Joseph Smith was deeply involved with treasure digging.
https://wasmormon.org/benjamin-franklin-on-treasure-seeking-seers/ #exmormon #benjaminfranklin #josephsmith #Mormon #lds #ldschurch #folkmagic #seerstone #treasure #prophet #profiteering #iwasamormon
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Kevin W. Pearson, Holy Ghost Not Active For Doubters or Apostates
https://wasmormon.org/kevin-w-pearson-holy-ghost-not-active-for-doubters-or-apostates/
#exmormon #Mormonism #ldschurch #lds #ldsquote #iwasamormon #igotout #Mormon
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After being ghosted by the Holy Ghost, Jana found the strength to detach herself from the confines of Mormonism, choosing instead to create a life where she could be true to herself and find genuine happiness.
This is a spotlight on a profile shared at wasmormon.org. Full story at https://wasmormon.org/profile/the-last-tapircorn/
#Mormon #Mormonism #ldschurch #lds #religion #exmormon #iwasamormon #igotout #mormonstory #exmo #exmormonbecause #exlds #faithcrisis #deconstruction