The following was sent to me by a fellow exmormon:
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Below, FYI, is a sad but illuminating extract from a well considered article on religious
repression. Even though the extract uses the Utah as an example of the social consequences
of religious repression, it generalizes to other religions as well. Full article here:
http://www.nanice.com/article/630/Recovering-from-Religious-Repression-The-Journey-to-Freedom/Repercussions of Repression
No doubt, many religious organizations use various forms of repression in order to control
church members so that they obey religious doctrine, but the irony is that repression does
not stop people from indulging in âsinful behaviorâ and, in fact, it often results in the
exact opposite. Statistics and direct experience clearly demonstrate that the more rules and
consequences a society has, the more âillicit behaviorâ develops. Although this applies to
any religion where repression is pervasive, and we are not just talking about any one
religion, the statistics found in Utah, USA exemplify the cost of religious repression.
Although Utah is one of the most beautiful places on Earth, it is actually most known for its
predominant religious culture. On the surface, there is a strong emphasis on family values,
morals and ethics â most people are kind and appear relatively happy, but if you look at
statistics, you quickly discover that appearances are drastically deceiving, and, in fact,
countless âwhite picket fencesâ cloak dysfunctional dynamics that top the national
average.
Even though over 60% of Utah's residents are LDS (members of the Mormon Church) and
Mormonism forbids the use of drugs, including alcohol, tobacco, coffee, and even tea, Utah
has one of the highest rates of prescription drug addiction in the USA, as well as related
deaths caused by opiate overdose.
The church strongly emphasizes family values and yet Utahâs domestic violence
homicide rate is 13 percent higher than the rest of the nation with domestic violence
homicides accounting for 47 percent of all homicides in Utah in 2015, while Utahâs child
abuse statistics are also among the highest in the country, and, in fact, statistics show that
more children are sexually abused in Utah than any other US state.
Taking all this into consideration, it is not surprising that a study by Mental Health America
ranked Utah the most depressed state, which explains why Utah has the highest anti-
depressant use in the USA. Sadly, a devastating symptom of Utahâs excessively high
prevalence of depression has resulted in the youth suicide rate tripling since 2007.
And, if all that is still not enough, with similarly high statistics on rape and sexual assault,
Google search-trends have ranked Utah the #1 porn capital of America, which is quite
astounding when you consider that the religion condemns any sexual conduct outside marital
relations, including pornography and even masturbation.
Although there may be ways to rationalize these statistics, they inevitably point to a
serious issue that demonstrates the repercussions of repression. Many other studies conclude
that the fall-out of repression commonly results in some form of escape that inevitably leads
to an underworld of shame and secrecy, involving drugs, sex or other addictions, and often
manifests as anxiety disorders, depression and suicide.