Why Mormons Leave, by Sandra Tanner

Posted on June 20, 2009 by Aaron Shafovaloff

A downloadable .mp4 file of video is available here.

Possibly related posts:

  1. Sandra Tanner on Heart of the Matter
  2. Survey-Evangelism to Mormons, by T.J. and Angela Haisten
  3. Joseph Smith as a Sexual Predator

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7 Responses to Why Mormons Leave, by Sandra Tanner

  1. FIGJAM says:
    June 20, 2009 at 11:07 pm

    psst. ‘shem’ couldn’t have told you why I left Mormonism … according to him my “faith was weak” when I was a member. it was easily shaken by “trivial” matters. yep, such “trivial” matters like how the mormon “church” believes in a false Savior, A Jesus being different than THE TRUE, BIBLICAL JESUS. So “trivial” indeed shem.

    I pray that one day, we can get Richard Branson to reserve two seats for you and I on his new Virgin Galactic (Space Ship One) and we could hold hands, discuss our beliefs, and snap photos of the planet Kolob together. I’ll put them on my Facebook page. How fun!

  2. Martin_from_Brisbane says:
    June 21, 2009 at 4:48 am

    Thank you Aaron for posting this, and thank you Sandra Tanner for putting forward such a clear message.

    This blog has had a lot of traffic from ex-Mos (like FIGJAM), and I was curious to see why they left. In watching this video, I couldn’t help but pray for my Mormon friends. I wish I could find some way to get them to open their eyes and put their faith in the real Christ. I have not been able to find a “magic bullet” solution (if ever such a thing existed), but the pattern that emerges is that so many leave as an end result of researching Mormonism. Its a massive indictment on the LDS church, which claims to be presenting its message clearly and openly.

    The reasons Sandra Tanner sees for Mormons not leaving are also telling. There seems to be a mixture of being unable to leave family and culture (contra Matt 10:37). Also there’s a habituation to compartmentalizing faith i.e. what’s true in the “real” world doesn’t need to be true of the Restored Gospel or its proponents.

    Wow! Does the church vault really have Joseph’s seeing stone? The Catholics and Eastern Orthodox keep the bones of their saints in their vaults, but they get them out for festivals and parade them in front of the world. Why doesn’t the LDS church do the same with its most valuable relic?

    If any lurkers out there are considering whether they should commit to Mormonism, I have one word – “bolt”.

    Grace and peace to you all.

  3. Linda says:
    June 22, 2009 at 12:14 am

    What a beautiful lady. She’s so modest about the important work she is doing.

  4. daisygirl28 says:
    June 22, 2009 at 1:06 am

    Thanks for posting this! I especially appreciated the part about allowing everyone to take his time to fully let go of a belief that so molds his life. Those words gave me great hope for the people I love!

  5. falcon says:
    June 22, 2009 at 1:46 am

    I really liked this. I listen to Sandra Tanner every chance I get. This is superfluous, but I like her manner of speaking and her choice of vocabulary. She has done the heavy lifting over the years and her information is irrefutable because of how she sources it. About the only thing a Mormon can do in response to her presentation is use the tired old testimony tactic.
    And that’s the crux of what Sandra is saying. In light of anything that provides solid support for Mormonism, the Mormon dismisses the facts and says, “I have a witness from the Holy Ghost.” Now that sounds impressive to a Mormon and moves them up a few notches on the Mormon social register, but anyone can claim that. The FLDS say it. Jehovah Witnesses say it. It’s just more of the “Shut up God has spoken to me” rhetoric so popular among aberrent religious groups and cults.
    There’s a guy who has a little following down in New Mexico who says God told him he’s Jesus come again. He has that witness and his people follow him and the married women have given themselves to him sexually. Must be true, huh? He’s sincere and everything. He’s as believable as the information that comes out of Mormonism; which is to say, “Not”. But he has a witness and a testimony so you have to believe him.

  6. Pingback: Why we do what we do (2) « Defending. Contending.

  7. Enki says:
    June 30, 2009 at 3:40 am

    Isn’t suspending reason and critical thinking and turning your life over to some old men in Salt Lake enough reason to leave? What about getting away from sickly-sweet ‘molly mormons’ that have some sugar coated vision of an ideal life, they seem so sweet, but they would stab you in the back when they get the chance.

    This kind of thing isn’t that far off for NON-LDS christians.

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