Essays
Essays
Here are some of my best essays on Mormonism available for free online
Huffington Post
Huffington Post
I wrote for Huffington Post from July 2015-January 2018, beginning just after The Bishop’s Wife came out and as I was trying hard to stay connected to Mormonism while still honoring my own spiritual journey and my sense of self. This was sometimes excruciating and sometimes rewarding. I have much respect for those who have been in the “in between space” of Mormonism for much longer than I was able to stay. Ultimately, it was too painful to force myself to continue inside a space where as a woman, I felt powerless and unwanted.
My Zion Includes Ex-Mormons and Atheists
One Year of Protesting the Mormon POX
Why Charity Isn’t About Giving
Sitting on the Porch Steps With Jesus
Embarrassed by Fellow Church Members
Missing the Sacred: Why This Atheist Came Back to Faith
A Journey From Mormon Orthodoxy
Trading This Life For the Next
Can Modern Christianity Give Up Satan?
New Church Problems: Mormonism
13 Ways to Protest the New Policy
What It’s Like to Be A Mormon Woman
Run and Not Be Weary: Why Mormons Don’t Drink
Confessions of a Former Doomsday Prepper
How to Manage Mormon Missionaries
Is White Supremacy Inherent to Mormon Doctrine?
Medium
Medium
After stepping away from formal affiliation with the Mormon church, Medium became a new space for me to talk about the journey. At first, I wasn’t sure if I was going to go back, but it has become more clear to me in the months since then that I had already ost everything that I was going to lose and that there was nothing to gain in going back. I still believe in a god of love, though not the god of Mormonism.
They Left Mormonism But Not The Patriarchy
Losing the Best and the Brightest
Why They Didn’t Tell You About Their Faith Crisis
Religion News
Religion News
Jana Riess joined Mormonism in 1990, just before I finished my PhD at Princeton. I spoke at her baptism. We lost touch for many years, but reconnected in 2014, before The Bishop’s Wife came out. Jana asked me to write about Mormonism directly, in non-fiction essays. It was the first time I’d really tried to do this, and she later asked me to be a regular guest columnist for RNS.
Five Doctrines of Ex-Mormonism
How to Be Mormon in Just 73 Easy Steps
The Best Mormon Family Home Evening Ever
10 Ways to Imagine a New Mormonism
An Open Letter to My Mormon Family and Friends
10 Ways Former Mormons Can Connect with Family and Friends
My Daughter Isn’t Mormon Anymore
For Families Divided by Mormonism
Families Are Forever as a Threat
My Mormon Family May Not Be Forever
Being Excluded From a Mormon Temple Wedding
11 Challenges for the Mormon Introvert
A Letter to My Daughter’s Seminary Teacher
My Visiting Teacher Saved My Life
Drink a Coffee, Save Your Mormon Soul
Leaving Mormonism and Finding My Way Back
