Former Mormons Ostracized

It is unfortunate that, as “Losing Faith and Lots More” (Dec. 1) points out, there are pockets of intolerance in some Utah communities.

Gordon B. Hinckley, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has addressed the issue of intolerance in virtually every church conference in the past few years. Thank heaven that there are also leaders among many other religious and nonreligious groups who remind us to not only tolerate but to enjoy the wonderfully diverse world we live in.

It is unfortunate for all when some don’t follow this counsel.

Steve Gilliland

Lakewood

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I knew Steve Benson [the grandson of Mormon prophet Ezra Taft Benson] in 1976 and 1977 when we were students together at Brigham Young University. He was my elder’s quorum president. I was a young man from an apostate Mormon family who had recently converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Steve was a tower of strength; he often bore his testimony of how he “knew” the church was true. He spoke with pride of his proselytizing mission overseas.

Steve’s spirituality and leadership skills helped my shaky faith grow. I lost contact with him when I served my own mission at the end of that year. I cannot shake the irony that, as we have grown older, Steve has left the church he once knew was true and I have embraced the knowledge my ancestors once left.

Jeff Combe

Temple City

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Two years after returning from missionary service in Peru, I voluntarily resigned from the membership rolls of the church. After that, my Mormon family demonized me, my fiance’s Mormon parents told me not to date their daughter and my Mormon friends stopped talking to me.

After discovering the community at https://www.exmormon.org , I felt relieved to know that I wasn’t the only one who had been treated unfairly by people who once called me “brother.” The members of the ex-Mormon community have been my greatest support while leaving my former faith. I will always be grateful to those great friends, whom I now consider my family.

Like the Mormon pioneers who crossed the plains to leave persecution, the ex-Mormons have an equally sad tale to tell: the rejection we feel from our own people. Thanks for sharing the stories of those who dare to challenge the faith of our fathers.

Ted Cox

Los Angeles