Main Page: Anti-Mormonism
Anti-Mormon Conversions
Well, I no longer consider these stories evidence of the LDS Church's truth claims, but they're interesting nonetheless.
Anna Buttimore fought tooth and nail against the Church, driven by an obsession of hate that evolved from Christian concern. This is more common than anyone will admit because, regardless of your motivation or intentions, once you start attacking the Lord's Kingdom you have become Satan's ally whether you like it or not. But because she started with a good heart she was eventually able to get it back and receive the truth. She offers no less than three accounts - on Mormon.org, Mormon Converts, and Mormon Fortress.
The late Renee Olson, co-founder of Blacklds.org, was anti-Mormon for many years because like many she believed the Church was racist. But eventually thanks to a Latter-day Saint friend who showed her the pure love of Christ and a missionary who cared about her as more than a number she saw the light, and knew the Church didn't care that her skin was dark. (See my own overview of the topic of race.) She did a 180 degree turn and became an apologist with FairMormon.
In a similar vein, my dad told me about a lady who was incensed by the Church's opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment, and visited his ward in Glens Falls (also Jimmer Fredette's ward, woo-hoo!) for several weeks taking notes so she could expose them as sexist pigs. One day she said a prayer and said something along the lines of "God, please open these women's eyes and let them see how they are being oppressed." Suddenly, her own eyes were opened, and she understood how it all works. She was baptized. I can't link to this one because it's just a story my dad told me, but he wouldn't lie.
Maxine Hanks was a liberal Latter-day Saint scholar who was excommunicated as part of the infamous "September Six". It apparently had something to do with a paper she wrote about women and the priesthood, but there's no way to know for sure because the Church doesn't publicly discuss the reasons for excommunications. Sister Hanks began researching to find another religion, but her research led her to believe in a lay priesthood authority, which in turn led her to the Church once more. Nearly twenty years after her excommunication shewas rebaptized at the Church's invitation. She's still a liberal scholar, but guess what, that's okay.
Due to certain terms and conditions I can't link directly to this one. It's Chapter 11 of They Lie In Wait to Deceive, Volume 1, which can be read for free but not stored in another website's database. To read it click on the link provided, scroll down and download the chapter. It's long enough to justify the extra hassle and I recommend reading the whole book, though there are some repetitive bits that I skipped over. Anyway, he was a Catholic - very rare; Christian anti-Mormons are usually evangelical - who got involved in handing out anti-Mormon pamphlets to his Latter-day Saint friends. It didn't get him anywhere and eventually he realized he needed to learn the truth for himself.
Robert Marsh was a Christian who struggled with his faith and then became open to all religions, but at first refused to extend that courtesy to the Latter-day Saints, because he had been conditioned against them by anti-Mormon propaganda and thought they were all brainwashed. Then he started dating one. She didn't exactly "flirt to convert", thank goodness, but her influence led him to reconsider his position, and then he sought out real members for answers to his questions and finally agreed to meet with the missionaries. Shortly thereafter he was baptized.
Darrick T. Evenson was a fresh convert to the Church when he encountered anti-Mormon material and it led him right back out again. He joined the ranks of Ex-Mormons for Jesus (which has since changed its name to "Saints Alive" since most of its members aren't actually ex-Mormons) and joined them in "witnessing" against the Church. But he became increasingly uncomfortable both with their dishonest tactics and their obvious lack of "love" as a motivating factor, and eventually returned to the Church and served a mission. His book The Gainsayers details what he learned during his time as an apostate. Then he left the Church once again and became a Baha'i but continued to defend the Church. He may be anti-Mormon again this week, but his book should be judged on its own merits.
Don Bradley's personal research led him to conclude that Joseph Smith was an opportunistic fraud, and he became an atheist and resigned from the Church with a strongly worded letter. However, the absurdity of some atheist apologetics for the universe's suitability for life drove him to believe in God again, and he was drawn to the Baha'i faith. Then the untimely death of his brother Charles caused some soul-searching about resurrection that led him into Protestant Christianity - and then back to the Book of Mormon. He didn't believe in its contents anymore, but it had worked for him before. As he worked with early documents at USU, he came to find that his earlier conclusions about Joseph Smith were insufficient to account for his complexity and that evidence for his sincerity was more prolific. He rejoined the Church shortly after, which he hadn't thought would be possible after his angry letter. He said, "In the eyes of the church, it was as if I'd never left. I can tell you with certainty: It is a gospel of forgiveness."
Tami Havey struggled with her testimony during her early years and lost it altogether in 2013 after visiting an anti-Mormon website and feeling lied to. Joining the ex-Mormon community, she became virulently anti-Mormon and tried to destroy others' testimonies as well. Two thing were key in her return: the story of Alma the younger in the Book of Mormon, which obviously reminded her of herself, and a flood that destroyed her parents' basement. The restoration of the basement reminded her of the Atonement working on her own life and she realized no one is too far gone to come back. She texted her brother one of the greatest lines in Latter-day Saint history: "Holy crap. The church is true, isn't it."
Brad Parr had an unfavorable impression of the Church of Jesus Christ after encountering several judgmental hypocritical Latter-day Saints, and both of his parents had drug problems that filled him with pain. In eleventh grade a minister of a nondenominational faith converted him to anti-Mormonism and he started trying to lead his Latter-day Saint peers out of the Church. "I hate to admit it, but I was able to get a few people to leave," he says. One night, when he had drunk too much and thought he was going to die, he received a visitor. "There was somebody sitting next to me in bed. I don’t remember what they looked like or anything; I just remember white. And I remember being told specifically, 'Brad, God knows you and He loves you.'" Still skeptical, he started giving the Church a chance, and this time encountered the love of Christ he had been missing for so long.
Steve "Dusty" Smith found the Church of Jesus Christ, then left it after studying anti-Mormon material raised too many questions and destroyed his testimony. He resigned and became virulently anti-Mormon. Over the course of more than twenty years, miracles softened his heart and began drawing him back to the Church, including God Himself answering each of his questions via revelation in the middle of one night after another. He was rebaptized and was asked to share his story by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, who in turn shared a heavily summarized version of it in the October 2016 General Conference. His experience has had a ripple effect that helped many others to return or stay in the Church.
I've saved the best for last. Victor Garcia da Rosa, surely one of the most devout Latter-day Saints there ever was (the dude writes his own psalms) and an admin of Real Mormon and LDS Facts on Facebook, shared this beautiful story about an ex-anti-Mormon. There's nothing I can say here that will do it justice.
I decided to also share someone I found who, although she didn't convert to the Church ("I like my current underwear too much - and my husband concurs", she wrote), did convert away from anti-Mormonism. In Bridget Jack Jeffries' "memoirs" she referred to the entire countercult industry as "the intellectual short bus" and describes her disillusionment with it. She's more scathing than almost any Latter-day Saint apologist I've met, though she brings up the same critiques. We need many more evangelicals like here who are willing to stand up and speak out against "Christian"-sponsored bigotry and intellectual dishonesty. On the other hand, the fact that she's still an evangelical, after acknowledging that Latter-day Saints have responded more than adequately to criticisms of their faith, proves that intellectualism and debate can never prove any religion.
Main Page: Anti-Mormonism
Anna Buttimore fought tooth and nail against the Church, driven by an obsession of hate that evolved from Christian concern. This is more common than anyone will admit because, regardless of your motivation or intentions, once you start attacking the Lord's Kingdom you have become Satan's ally whether you like it or not. But because she started with a good heart she was eventually able to get it back and receive the truth. She offers no less than three accounts - on Mormon.org, Mormon Converts, and Mormon Fortress.
The late Renee Olson, co-founder of Blacklds.org, was anti-Mormon for many years because like many she believed the Church was racist. But eventually thanks to a Latter-day Saint friend who showed her the pure love of Christ and a missionary who cared about her as more than a number she saw the light, and knew the Church didn't care that her skin was dark. (See my own overview of the topic of race.) She did a 180 degree turn and became an apologist with FairMormon.
In a similar vein, my dad told me about a lady who was incensed by the Church's opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment, and visited his ward in Glens Falls (also Jimmer Fredette's ward, woo-hoo!) for several weeks taking notes so she could expose them as sexist pigs. One day she said a prayer and said something along the lines of "God, please open these women's eyes and let them see how they are being oppressed." Suddenly, her own eyes were opened, and she understood how it all works. She was baptized. I can't link to this one because it's just a story my dad told me, but he wouldn't lie.
Maxine Hanks was a liberal Latter-day Saint scholar who was excommunicated as part of the infamous "September Six". It apparently had something to do with a paper she wrote about women and the priesthood, but there's no way to know for sure because the Church doesn't publicly discuss the reasons for excommunications. Sister Hanks began researching to find another religion, but her research led her to believe in a lay priesthood authority, which in turn led her to the Church once more. Nearly twenty years after her excommunication shewas rebaptized at the Church's invitation. She's still a liberal scholar, but guess what, that's okay.
Due to certain terms and conditions I can't link directly to this one. It's Chapter 11 of They Lie In Wait to Deceive, Volume 1, which can be read for free but not stored in another website's database. To read it click on the link provided, scroll down and download the chapter. It's long enough to justify the extra hassle and I recommend reading the whole book, though there are some repetitive bits that I skipped over. Anyway, he was a Catholic - very rare; Christian anti-Mormons are usually evangelical - who got involved in handing out anti-Mormon pamphlets to his Latter-day Saint friends. It didn't get him anywhere and eventually he realized he needed to learn the truth for himself.
Robert Marsh was a Christian who struggled with his faith and then became open to all religions, but at first refused to extend that courtesy to the Latter-day Saints, because he had been conditioned against them by anti-Mormon propaganda and thought they were all brainwashed. Then he started dating one. She didn't exactly "flirt to convert", thank goodness, but her influence led him to reconsider his position, and then he sought out real members for answers to his questions and finally agreed to meet with the missionaries. Shortly thereafter he was baptized.
Darrick T. Evenson was a fresh convert to the Church when he encountered anti-Mormon material and it led him right back out again. He joined the ranks of Ex-Mormons for Jesus (which has since changed its name to "Saints Alive" since most of its members aren't actually ex-Mormons) and joined them in "witnessing" against the Church. But he became increasingly uncomfortable both with their dishonest tactics and their obvious lack of "love" as a motivating factor, and eventually returned to the Church and served a mission. His book The Gainsayers details what he learned during his time as an apostate. Then he left the Church once again and became a Baha'i but continued to defend the Church. He may be anti-Mormon again this week, but his book should be judged on its own merits.
Don Bradley's personal research led him to conclude that Joseph Smith was an opportunistic fraud, and he became an atheist and resigned from the Church with a strongly worded letter. However, the absurdity of some atheist apologetics for the universe's suitability for life drove him to believe in God again, and he was drawn to the Baha'i faith. Then the untimely death of his brother Charles caused some soul-searching about resurrection that led him into Protestant Christianity - and then back to the Book of Mormon. He didn't believe in its contents anymore, but it had worked for him before. As he worked with early documents at USU, he came to find that his earlier conclusions about Joseph Smith were insufficient to account for his complexity and that evidence for his sincerity was more prolific. He rejoined the Church shortly after, which he hadn't thought would be possible after his angry letter. He said, "In the eyes of the church, it was as if I'd never left. I can tell you with certainty: It is a gospel of forgiveness."
Tami Havey struggled with her testimony during her early years and lost it altogether in 2013 after visiting an anti-Mormon website and feeling lied to. Joining the ex-Mormon community, she became virulently anti-Mormon and tried to destroy others' testimonies as well. Two thing were key in her return: the story of Alma the younger in the Book of Mormon, which obviously reminded her of herself, and a flood that destroyed her parents' basement. The restoration of the basement reminded her of the Atonement working on her own life and she realized no one is too far gone to come back. She texted her brother one of the greatest lines in Latter-day Saint history: "Holy crap. The church is true, isn't it."
Brad Parr had an unfavorable impression of the Church of Jesus Christ after encountering several judgmental hypocritical Latter-day Saints, and both of his parents had drug problems that filled him with pain. In eleventh grade a minister of a nondenominational faith converted him to anti-Mormonism and he started trying to lead his Latter-day Saint peers out of the Church. "I hate to admit it, but I was able to get a few people to leave," he says. One night, when he had drunk too much and thought he was going to die, he received a visitor. "There was somebody sitting next to me in bed. I don’t remember what they looked like or anything; I just remember white. And I remember being told specifically, 'Brad, God knows you and He loves you.'" Still skeptical, he started giving the Church a chance, and this time encountered the love of Christ he had been missing for so long.
Steve "Dusty" Smith found the Church of Jesus Christ, then left it after studying anti-Mormon material raised too many questions and destroyed his testimony. He resigned and became virulently anti-Mormon. Over the course of more than twenty years, miracles softened his heart and began drawing him back to the Church, including God Himself answering each of his questions via revelation in the middle of one night after another. He was rebaptized and was asked to share his story by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, who in turn shared a heavily summarized version of it in the October 2016 General Conference. His experience has had a ripple effect that helped many others to return or stay in the Church.
I've saved the best for last. Victor Garcia da Rosa, surely one of the most devout Latter-day Saints there ever was (the dude writes his own psalms) and an admin of Real Mormon and LDS Facts on Facebook, shared this beautiful story about an ex-anti-Mormon. There's nothing I can say here that will do it justice.
I decided to also share someone I found who, although she didn't convert to the Church ("I like my current underwear too much - and my husband concurs", she wrote), did convert away from anti-Mormonism. In Bridget Jack Jeffries' "memoirs" she referred to the entire countercult industry as "the intellectual short bus" and describes her disillusionment with it. She's more scathing than almost any Latter-day Saint apologist I've met, though she brings up the same critiques. We need many more evangelicals like here who are willing to stand up and speak out against "Christian"-sponsored bigotry and intellectual dishonesty. On the other hand, the fact that she's still an evangelical, after acknowledging that Latter-day Saints have responded more than adequately to criticisms of their faith, proves that intellectualism and debate can never prove any religion.
Main Page: Anti-Mormonism
