Why do LDS more likely to become atheist after losing faith

I don’t believe it is really true most become atheist. I’m sure some do. But “more likely”??? I’m not sure I believe that.

I think some become less interested in believing in a confusing god and religion. So…they call it atheism because it isn’t the belief in God they once had with an institution.

I think more just get less interested in religion, and are applying their pain to their concept of “god” and so try to eliminate that.

I think more are likely to become agnostic. They believe in something, but don’t know how to frame it.

I just think atheism is another religion, another story about stuff. And i think it can be equally disappointing.

Two thoughts –

Firstly -The all or nothingness we teach, sets up the fall. If the Mormon Version isn’t than how can any other version be viable. Plus Science wins so often its safer when the religious is nebulous. If the leadership had chosen to build our spiritual scaffolding on the idea of “finding truth from any source” – Ala Joseph Smith, many of us would have had a wider net of belief, and the crash of conviction may not have been so steep.

Secondly – This faith transition is still in it’s infancy on a mass level. Many of us are healthy middle aged active people. We can function with or without a God. However, I know 3 or 4 life stories of people coming back to the church as they pass into their sunset years. As friends, family and life changes the former tug of what felt good seems to call people back. Maybe they return for community, maybe for familiarity, or maybe as it gets closer to passing out of this life a connection to a deity becomes rekindled. I for one am interested how this faith tsunami will play out in 25 years.

My opinions only.

No stats to back it up, either, but I do believe most of those who don’t stay become atheist or agnostic. I also saw that Bushman reference somewhere and I think he’s right. We talk so much about the church being true and the Book of Mormon being true and “this gospel” and spend so little on the relationship with God or Christ. I think the Brethren are trying to address this a bit with the Sabbath emphasis but I think this is seeking a culture change that is not going to happen quickly – it may take a generation or two.

I’m not awfully optimistic about this change happening. I think we’re bringing up a new generation just as likely to snap and break as the old one. The message in Primary (year after year, regardless of the ostensible theme) is very church-centric. The Scriptures Are the Word of God, The Scriptures Teach Heavenly Father’s Plan, Heavenly Father Speaks to Us through His Prophets, Jesus Christ Is My Savior and Redeemer, The Church of Jesus Christ Has Been Restored (May is the month the kids will learn “Praise to the Man”), First Principles and Ordinances…, The Temple Is a House of God, My Body Is a Temple of God (includes modesty lesson), The Gospel Will Be Preached in All the World, and then, finally, at the end of the year:

Prayer Is Reverent Communication between God and Me

Reverence Is Love and Respect for God

The Scriptures Teach Me about the Savior’s Birth and Second Coming

But most of 2016 will be spent emphasizing the one true church message, authority, necessity of temple work, etc.

Kids who go on to question or reject the foundation on which it is based just don’t have much to fall back on, I think.

As a people we were taught that JS was told none of the existing churches were correct. A new true church had to be brought forth. When someone decides the the LDS church isn’t true, they tend to keep their bias against other churches.

Sadly, to completely leave religion is somehow more acceptable in LDS culture than to attend another denomination. Even TR interview questions are set up to allow non-attendance more than attendance with “the competition”

I don’t think that I have any stats to back it up, but I have heard many people say that when compared to other religions in general it is more common for LDS to move to being atheist after losing their belief in their faith tradition.

There is research to back up the assertion that many Mormons become atheist/agnostic after a loss of belief. John Dehlin did a survey in 2011 of disaffected Mormons (n=3086) and 53% of the respondents identified as atheist/agnostic. See http://www.whymormonsquestion.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Survey-Results_Understanding-Mormon-Disbelief-Mar20121.pdf for survey results and discussion.

Although this study was not a random sample of those who lose their faith (respondents were recruited on social media and several bloggernacle sites), I think there is good evidence that many Mormons do lose their faith in God when they lose their faith in the Church.

For me, (regardless of the survey) it makes sense that the more you are invested in activity and belief in the Church and then lose that faith, the more likely you are to lose belief in God as well, at least initially. That belief may change over time. I think that someone who was baptised but didn’t have a strong belief in the truth claims of the Church and then simply goes inactive shortly after is less likely to lose their belief in God, because they didn’t have as much invested in their activity and beliefs in the Church.

http://youtu.be/xl_TrvIIcBY

There is research to back up the assertion that many Mormons become atheist/agnostic after a loss of belief. John Dehlin did a survey in 2011 of disaffected Mormons (n=3086) and 53% of the respondents identified as atheist/agnostic…Although this study was not a random sample of those who lose their faith (respondents were recruited on social media and several bloggernacle sites), I think there is good evidence that many Mormons do lose their faith in God when they lose their faith in the Church…For me, (regardless of the survey) it makes sense that the more you are invested in activity and belief in the Church and then lose that faith, the more likely you are to lose belief in God as well, at least initially. That belief may change over time. I think that someone who was baptised but didn’t have a strong belief in the truth claims of the Church and then simply goes inactive shortly after is less likely to lose their belief in God, because they didn’t have as much invested in their activity and beliefs in the Church.

To be honest I was surprised that these numbers were not even higher (I would have guessed over 60%) but maybe some of the atheists and agnostics are simply more vocal on NOM and various ex-Mormon websites than many of the believers are. Of course, even if disaffected Church members and ex-Mormons still believe in God that doesn’t necessarily mean very many of them will ever become evangelical Christians, JWs, Catholics, etc. For one thing, the Church basically directly encourages a certain level of disrespect for other churches with the teachings about the great apostasy and restoration of the one and only “true and living” church. Another factor is how so many different LDS doctrines are currently taken so seriously in the Church as if it is vitally important for them all to be true at the same time in part because these truth claims are relied on to justify the relatively high costs of being a practicing Mormon in terms of time, money, effort, strict rules, etc.

From this background it’s a relatively straightforward transition to simply reevaluate the best way to know what is true or not to lose confidence in the Church’s recommended approach of trusting feelings as good way to know what is true and instead not trust anything not already supported by undeniable evidence but meanwhile the obsession with whether traditional doctrines are true or not and disrespect for other churches learned from the LDS Church itself remain which is a perfect recipe for the relatively high number of Mormons becoming atheists and agnostics that we see. I think there is also an element of Church members feeling like they have been burned by trusting the LDS Church’s doctrines and leaders so that now they are especially mistrustful and wary of any other faith-based beliefs and basically think, “Why should I trust the Bible any more than Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, etc.?” (I.E. “once bitten, twice shy”).