Click here for the “Why Mormons Question” full report.
For a video explaining the results of the study, watch here:
Why Mormons Question is a service of Mormon Stories and the Open Stories Foundation. Mormon Stories explicitly seeks to align all operations with the Mormon Stories Shared Values Statement. Additionally, we endeavor to ensure that the projects we undertake 1) support individuals in Mormon-related faith crises, 2) save marriages, 3) heal families, and 4) celebrate, challenge, and advance Mormon culture in healthy ways.
The Why Mormons Question project is possibly the least understood of all of the Mormon Stories and Open Stories Foundation undertakings. Many argue that research intended to investigate the phenomenon of questioning and loss of belief in the Internet age necessarily seeks to destroy faith and families and therefore directly contradicts foundation objectives numbers two and three (above). To be clear, Mormon Stories and the Open Stories Foundation do not seek to destroy faith — and in fact, we have created the podcast “A Thoughtful Faith” with the explicit desire to support/promote thoughtful, well-informed faith.
Further, Mormon Stories and the Open Stories Foundation believe that the Why Mormons Question project has the potential to save marriages and heal families. In many cases, miscommunications and conflict in familial relationships can be avoided when family members have access to information and resources that can help them understand and empathize with one another. The Why Mormons Question project seeks to make this information available as safely as possible to all who genuinely seek to understand what their loved ones are learning and are subsequently struggling with.
Again, the information on this site is not intended to draw individuals out of Mormonism. The information found on this website is simply intended to be information. We have done our best to present it with honesty and compassion for all who now or once loved Mormonism. We understand that God, belief and family cultural traditions are often held close to the heart and that it can be challenging to encounter information that does not always place something one strongly identifies with in a positive light. Although many hearts have been broken by the information that is available on the Internet, we have accepted that the information will not disappear if we choose not to look at it. For better or for worse, we no longer have the luxury of living in a society that will allow us, our children, or our children’s children to protect themselves from information that, admittedly, can be painful when it is first encountered.
Last of all, we sincerely hope that the resources on this website will validate and support those who are suffering because of the information they have accessed online.
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What is Mormon Stories?
Mormon Stories is a nonprofit organization that seeks to create online and in-person environments that allow for authentic self-expression and the open discussion of Mormonism. We are a secularly-based organization with no affiliation to the LDS church. We are not a religion and have no intention of becoming a religious organization at any point in the future. Our podcasts, websites, online and in-person communities are conducted in the spirit of the Mormon Stories Shared Values:
- We acknowledge the richness of Mormon heritage, teachings, and community in all of its diversity.
- We believe that one can self-identify as Mormon based on one’s genealogy, upbringing, beliefs, relationships, and other life experiences, regardless of one’s adherence or non-adherence to the teachings or doctrines of any religious organization.
- We seek spaces where we as Mormons can live lives of intellectual and spiritual integrity, individual conscience, and personal dignity.
- We acknowledge and honor different spiritual paths and modes of religious or non-religious truth-seeking. We respect the convictions of those who subscribe to ideas and beliefs that differ from our own.
- We recognize the confusion, distress, emotional trauma, and social ostracism that people on faith journeys often experience. We seek constructive ways of helping and supporting people, regardless of their ultimate decisions regarding church affiliation or activity.
- We affirm the inherent and equal worth of all human beings. We seek spaces where Mormons (and all people) can interact as equals regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation. In this spirit of egalitarianism, we prefer non-authoritarian and non-hierarchical means of organization and affiliation.
We recognize that our goals are lofty and that we consistently fall short of our own ideals. We continue in the pursuit of what we hope will empower individuals, strengthen family relationships, and forward healthy Mormon culture despite our imperfections because we believe that goodness and happiness will come from our efforts. At the same time, we acknowledge our own ineptitude and see the advantages of maintaining flexibility in our programming and decision-making. Your feedback is therefore important to us. Please let us know when and how we’ve missed the mark and what you can do to help make Mormon Stories better. Please email us at MormonStories@gmail.com.
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