back?" Certainly, the GBH Larry King interviews. I'm still baffled by the transparency of his answers to Larry King questions regarding his role as a prophet and to questions regarding basic church doctrine. Wow, it hit me hard. His answers are not those to which I was raised, and for which I spent two cold years preaching. The emperor wore new clothes, and I never looked back.

I should not write anything, not ever having been a member, but as an outsider I could see how life-long Mormons could come to the conclusion that the church was a fake: Joseph Smith's pre-revelation background, changing church doctrine (normal for an ancient faith like Catholicism, weird for one that is only 100+ years old), or how the leadership treats the adherents. Even without the ecclesiastical element, the obnoxiousness of the leadership, constantly asking for the laity's time and giving very little back in return would have driven me away, and because there is a similar (but cruder) structure within Fundamentalist Christianity, I did leave, not because I became a non-believer in God overnight.

I wish all the escapees of the American religions of Mormonism, Jehovah's Witness, Fundamentalist Christianity, even Scientology the best of luck at trying to clear those groups' emotion and reality-warping dogmas out of your minds.

Regarding the Gollum B Hinckley thing, I totally sympathize. I remember watching the interview and thinking, "If the prophet doesn't believe church doctrine why should any of us?"

More like a bus running me over.

The Morg's insistence that its members in California support Prop 22, the Knight Initiative, back in the 90s. They wanted $, signs on our lawns (which they provided for free), canvassing of our neighborhoods to pass out pamphlets (which they provided for free).

I felt I could not support the Morg and at the same time be the kind of mother I wanted to be to my gay daughter.

that was taught by Brigham Young. When he said that God allows prophets to teach false doctrine as a test, and that BY did teach false doctrine, it was all over for me. I had been told all along that God would remove the prophet before he could lead the church astray.

When I saw how slippery the reality was for church leaders, and how little stock they put in truth, it was all over.