The Pros and Cons of Mormonism

This website compares and contrast all different aspects of Mormonism from the perspective of a true believer and the perspective of an ex-believer. I hope it is useful to help you evaluate both the good and bad that Mormonism may bring, depending on one's stage of belief or ex-belief. Please note that this website is not about whether or not Mormonism is true. Rather, it's about the positive and negative things Mormonism may or may not bring to your life. I hope it's helpful.


Topics I address:

• Abrahamic sacrifices

• Armageddon, the end of the world, and the second c...

• The Atonement

• Believing that a loving God is watching out for yo...

• Believing that you are a child of God

• The Book of Mormon

• Children, effects on

• Chosen People

• Comfort

• Critical thinking

• Community

• Dating

• Divorce

• Evil, the problem of

• Family life

• Family planning (having kids)

• Families, eternal

• Forgiving others

• Fun

• Genealogy

• Guilt, shame, and anxiety

• Hell

• Journal Writing

• Language

• Lay clergy

• LGBT issues (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender)

• Making Decisions

• Media consumption

• Miracles

• Missionary work (full-time)

• Missionary work (member)

• Modesty

• Morals

• Obedience

• One true church

• Passivity and conflict

• Patriarchal blessings

• Plan of salvation

• Prayers

• Priesthood

• Priesthood interviews

• Prosperity gospel

• Prophets

• Pornography and masturbation

• Purpose in life

• Racism

• Satan

• Sabbath day observance

• Science

• Scripture study

• Sexual purity

• Service

• Social life

• Social pressure / superficiality

• Suffering, philosophy of

• Temple work

• Tithing

• Testimony and spiritual experiences

• Tolerance

• Word of Wisdom

• Women's Issues

About me:

I was born and raised in the church and I come from pioneer stock. I am a descendant of a prophet. I got my eagle scout, served a mission, was sealed in the temple, and have several kids. I had a long crisis of faith during medical school, where I tried my best to make the church work for me. Eventually, I couldn't rationalize it anymore, my shelf crumbled, and I became an ex-believer. My wife soon followed. 

As we reflected on whether or not to stay in the church, we had to reflect on what the pros and cons were of participation in the church. It wasn't easy. I discovered that even though there were podcasts, blogs, and books on various aspects of Mormonism, there wasn’t a comprehensive “go-to” resource that summarized most aspects of Mormonism from the perspective of ex-belief / non-belief. I thought I might be able to make such a resource, and I spent over a year working on it. The project took me forever. I made a long document, then transferred it to a website which I spent money on to host for 3 years. I then transferred it to this free blogger platform, which will be hassle-free in the future. I don't enjoy thinking of Mormonism anymore, and leaving the material on blogger will allow me to move on while continuing to provide these materials to others.

                                           Cheers