Mormonstories good but could it also be bad?

[Dr Exiled]

This brings up a good point. Money is made on the continued cycle of the sick forever needing the remedy provided by whomever. JD's overzealous focus on excommunications or how bad it is to discover the questionable parts about Mormonism leads to the victimhood portrayals that he seems to feed on. Even so, Mormonism is utter nonsense, mostly a waste of time and definitely a waste of money, and people like Dehlin should exist to spread the message.

[Kukulkan]

I think the 3 most important things that someone needs in the wake of a faith crisis are:

1. Validation
2. Community
3. Foundation (to rebuild on)

The reality is that Mormon Stories accomplishes and satiates those 3 key needs at varying levels. Does it do it in the healthiest ways all the time? Absolutely not.

Validation

I think that many of those who left the Church pre-now would say a huge part of their faith crisis was due to different levels of gaslighting they experienced while researching deeper into church topics. Learning that Joseph actually translated with a peep stone in a hat was and is a surprise to many, and in attempts to relate and express dissatisfaction with learning such news, many are met with "they've always taught that" or similar replies. So a primary need of someone who decides or is in the process of leaving is to have someone tell them that they aren't crazy and are validated in what they know and how they feel. This is a large component of MS Podcast.

Community

I would say this is fairly self explanatory. The Mormon world offers an abundance of community so a loss of faith obviously creates a gaping gash where that community existed. People leaving the safety of Mormonism feel the need (I did, so did my wife) to immediately re-transplant themselves in a new community for the same reasons they enjoyed community in Mormonism. MS Podcast not only offers the podcast itself but a plethora of new events, blogs, social venues to fill that immediate need.

Foundation

Losing faith is a destruction of ones foundation. Leaving Mormonism is incredibly self-violent and destructive as you are literally hacksawing the very foundation that you stood on and in a sense still stand on. For many, Mormonism is their foundation, so choosing to leave Mormonism leaves one foundationless. It is an incredibly disassociating experience. For many who have been listening to MS on their way out, it offers a new foundation to build upon. In a unhealthy (in my opinion) way it provides a new 'religion' in a sense for people to rebuild a foundation on, as it is the most familiar format for those that choose to leave.

Ultimately I think that MS Podcast has a lot of positive to offer in the sense that it gives one the 3 key needs outlined above. It can on the other hand become a negative and limiting resource if the same expectations are placed on it as was done with Mormonism. It can't and shouldn't. Some do, and some don't and they eventually graduate and move on with their lives. Just my thoughts.

[Dwight]

Overall a net positive, but I don't read the Facebook group or listen to it for years (except for the Robert Ritner episodes so it came in on the RFM feed).

I think deconverting, going exmo, etc. is like high school. It is great for some, it is bad for others, it's best for most everyone to move on, but you need to have teachers and staff who are in the high school to help it run. Some students and some teachers have a hard time letting go of each other, or the experience. Some guys are still wearing their letterman jacket long after they should. There may be something off with the math teacher.

[cinepro]

Being the free-market kind of guy I am, I have to say that the financial success of the Open Stories Foundation enterprises argues it's doing something for someone. I listened to many of the earlier podcasts, but over the years they just seemed to get interminably longer without much increase in quality. The time investment just wasn't worth it.

John's followers are an interesting crowd. I actually got kicked out of the Facebook group, and I'm fairly certain I didn't violate any of the community guidelines. I guess they just didn't get the jokes.

[Kishkumen]

Being the free-market kind of guy I am, I have to say that the financial success of the Open Stories Foundation enterprises argues it's doing something for someone. I listened to many of the earlier podcasts, but over the years they just seemed to get interminably longer without much increase in quality. The time investment just wasn't worth it.

John's followers are an interesting crowd. I actually got kicked out of the Facebook group, and I'm fairly certain I didn't violate any of the community guidelines. I guess they just didn't get the jokes.

I found myself too often tempted to give John advice on toning down his adversarial rhetoric toward the LDS Church, etc., so I just quit following his posts on Facebook.

[Aristotle Smith]

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[Holy Ghost]

Net positive? or Net negative?

Don't want to say too much because I'm curious what people think. Has this foundation been a good thing or bad thing? I can definitely see why some might see it as very good and I can see why some might not see it as so good, perhaps even go so far as saying it might in the sum have been a bad thing.

ideas?

No idea. I’m ambivalent about the notion of building a community of former Mormons. I think any such community should focus on helping people transition from being Mormons to whatever they are going to become next. In other words, the community is a way station. It should have as an explicit goal having people leave the community.

I think healthy communities are those that are built around common interests and beliefs. Building a community around what people don’t believe is, I think, inherently unstable, because people will have a wide range of things they believe in that will tend to fragment the community.

When the polestar of an organization is that they no longer are in a cult (LDS church), the organization is just a counter-cult for those that stay in too long. There seems to be a strong stream of newly apostatizing, former LDS members to keep the organization bolstered by those using it as a transitory passage to their new, normal lives.