The Path of the Uncorrelated
Mormon
John Dehlin
How do we create local and global
communities of support for
uncorrelated Mormons?
The only question (for me)
(Need help developing this
presentation)
(Not about word parsing,
academic posturing)
Some Common Stages
True believer
Traumatized believer
Liberal believer
Evaporation of traditional belief
Pragmatic, non-believing participant
Ex/Post-Mormon
The True Believer
“To believe in God is impossible.
To not believe in Him is absurd.”
Voltaire
“If God did not exist it would be
necessary to invent him.”
Voltaire
True Believer
• God lives and He loves us
• The scriptures are His word
• Jesus died that we may live with God
someday
• Church leaders (GA’s and local) speak for God
• LDS church members are chosen
• The LDS church is true
• Obey and be blessed
Beautifully simple,
Simply beautiful
(Iron rod)
16,000,000 reasons to love
Mormonism
If I could have stayed in this stage,
I would have
The Traumatized Believer
Love
Studying Church History
• Multiple, varying first
vision accounts
• Joseph’s use of folk
magic/treasure digging
• Book of Mormon
translation (stone/hat)
• Masonry / temple
connection
• Polygamy/polyandry
and deception
• Kinderhook plates
• Book of Abraham
• Church’s history with
race
• Dis-empowerment of
women
• Mountain Meadows
Massacre
• General lack of candor
by church
Thinking about doctrine/theology
• Taking the Bible seriously
• God-sanctioned genocide, sexism,
homophobia?
• The need for an atonement?
• One true church w/ exclusive authority?
• Apostasy?
• Historical Book of Mormon?
• Proxy work for the dead?
• Church led by God?
Spiritual Issues
•
•
•
•
Never receiving a spiritual witness
Feeling unfulfilled in church activity
Feeling spiritually led elsewhere
Redefining your understanding of
spiritual knowledge
• Disaffection of a loved-one
Cultural Issues
• Developing racial sympathies
• Developing feminist sympathies
• Developing LGBTQ (gay) feelings or
sympathies
• Developing liberal political
sympathies
• Extensive exposure to non-Mormons
Organizational Issues
• Corporate culture
• Culture of authority, rules, and
unquestioning obedience
• Culture of patriarchy
• The billion $ mall
Non-Sources of Trauma
(Disaffection Myths)
• A desire to sin
• Being offended
• Caring too little
No single smoking gun….
…instead a mosaic that lacks
credibility
Credible concerns by
credible people
For many, it’s
the Church’s credibility that
becomes the issue
The Liberal Believer
Liberal Believer
• The gospel is still mostly true, but the
church/leaders aren’t perfect
• “Buffet” Mormon
• A “shelf” for doubts/concerns
• Lots of symbolic/metaphorical belief
• “This is where God wants me….”
• Patron saints: Lowell Bennion,
Eugene England, Richard Bushman
Challenges to Liberal Phase
• The church is led in a somewhat
authoritarian, literalistic way
• By nature, liberals question, dissect,
disobey
• Open liberals are not generally appreciated
in authoritarian organizations
• Hard to be authentic, and hard to not feel
like an outlier
• Sometimes the trauma becomes too great
Evaporation of Belief
Evaporation of belief
• God, Christ, all religious beliefs often
go out the window
• Hit rock bottom
• Very, very disturbing and unsettling
for many
• “Dark night of the soul”
Dark Night of the Soul
• No existential foundation
–Meaning, purpose, fear of death, loss
of identity and values framework
• Fear of losing family, friends, social
network, jobs
• Can’t tell anyone. Desperately lonely
• Anxiety, depression, suicide
At this point, some people circle
back to a previous stage
Factors that Affect Circling Back
• What if my spouse leaves me?
• How will I raise my children?
• Concern about loss of respect from
friends/family
• Concern about social isolation
• Desire to see a deceased loved one again
• Concern about death
• Concern about job security
Pragmatic, Non-Believing
Participant
Pragmatic, Non-Believing Participant
• Enjoy it. “Works for me.”
• Can’t find anything better
Problems with the Pragmatic
Perspective
•
•
•
•
•
Usually involves staying silent
Often leaves one feeling inauthentic
Can lead to building internal pressure
Can lead to bitterness/anger
Can lead people to live a “double-life”
The eventual killer: Integrity
Ex/Post Mormon
Ex/Post Mormon
• Often is an incredible act of courage
– Can lead to loss of family, friends, job, etc.
• Can leave a huge vacuum in life
• In early stages, can involve behaviors that are
reactive to Mormonism
– Coffee, alcohol, etc.
• Involves establishing:
–
–
–
–
New identity
New moral framework
New social community
Coping mechanisms for death, suffering
1. There is a significant trend
towards disbelief and
disengagement (uncorrelation) in
the LDS church
(credibility and integrity
are the 2 big issues)
2. This trend is much bigger than
just the LDS church
3. There is probably little to nothing
substantive that the church can do
about it (and stay strong)
4. If you haven’t already become
uncorrelated, you likely will, and the
majority of your children or loved
ones children most likely will
5) Becoming uncorrelated causes a
major disruption and often leaves a
significant vacuum in an active LDS
church member’s life
The Biggest Gaps When People
Become Uncorrelated
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Loss of spouse
Loss of support for raising children and teens
Loss of friends/family relationships
Loss of moral framework
Loss of identity
Loss of spiritual framework/support
Concern about job security
Could We Create Together….
• Support for alternative approaches to a moral
framework
• Support for alternative forms of spirituality
• A dating service for singles/divorced
• Local communities
–
–
–
–
For children -- Local play groups
For teens -- EFY’s
For college students -- College meet-up groups
For couples/families – Book clubs, study groups
• A new collective identity? (“Reform Judaism”)
•
•
•
•
NOT a church/religion
Can co-exist with church/religion
Positive, constructive approach
Carry forward the good in what got us here
– Heavy emphasis on love/service
– Support of families (all types)
– Strong communities of support
– Encouraging healthy living
• Leave behind the less desirable things
– Belief in harmful doctrine/theology
– Bigotry
– Sexism
– Authoritarianism
– Patriarchy
– Elitism
– Anti-intellectualism / anti-science
• Strong appreciation of science
• Rooted in common sense values/ethics
How do we create local and global
communities of support in support
of transcendence?
The only question (for me)