No, I’m Not Going Through a ‘Phase’

For the first time in my life, I’m on the other side, being explained and rationalized by the ‘faithful’. I used to use those narratives too.

This is the third in a series of critical reflections on LDS theology as I navigate my shifting faith.

I offer my thoughts not as an act of retaliation, rebellion or disparagement, but as contributions to the growing community of Mormon thinkers who want the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be the best version of itself.

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Next: Suspending the Need for Truth

Photo by Thiébaud Faix on Unsplash

1. The ex-missionary on the porch

It was one of those stickily humid days in the middle of Minnesotan summer. The kind where the air heaved with a palpably aqueous, mosquito-dense sludge. (Ask Minnesotans.) My Mormon missionary companion and I were ‘tracting’—knocking on doors, proselyting, sharing the ‘good news’, etc.—in the small city of Mankato, south of Minneapolis. I’d been a missionary for less than 6 months, my companion only a little more.