May 17th, 2011
Member Records Division, LDS Church
50 E North Temple Rm 1372
SLC UT 84150-5310
This letter is my formal resignation from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and it is effective immediately. I hereby withdraw my consent to being treated as a member and I withdraw my consent to being subject to church rules, policies, beliefs and discipline. As I am no longer a member, I want my name permanently and completely removed from the membership rolls of the church.
My resignation should be processed immediately, without any waiting periods.
After a lifetime of affiliation and commitment to the LDS Church, the reasons I have decided to resign my membership in the LDS Church are as follows:
1) The Church presents a false account of its history. Significant, yet unflattering, facts of Church history are simply whitewashed and ignored because they are not faith promoting. Omitting unflattering facts from the Church's accepted history is a form of dishonesty since it purposely misleads others - most importantly, the members of the Church itself. The Church shows little effort in trying to correct the inaccurate version of history it has invented.
2) It is impossible to participate in the Church, with intellectual honesty and integrity, when you do not accept the myths upon which it is based. This tyranny of belief in the Church results because of a homogeny of thought and an orthodoxy created by the leaders of the Church. Freedom of thought and speech is simply not tolerated within the current Church.
3) The Church's beliefs about, and treatment of, homosexual people is reprehensible. I am particularly concerned with the Church's political involvement in California's Proposition 8 - as well as other similar political misadventures - in which the Church attempted to enforce its religious beliefs on others. The Church's treatment of homosexuals is hurtful; it is not something I want to be associated with in any way. I view my membership in the LDS Church as tacit approval of its bigoted policies towards homosexuals.
When the LDS Church corrects its dishonest version of its history, and when the Church treats all people - regardless of sexual preference - with equality and love, then I will consider returning to the church that I grew up in, and still continue to identify with in certain cultural ways. However, I don’t expect this will happen anytime soon. Please respect my request for name removal from the LDS Church immediately.
Sincerely,
Member Records Division, LDS Church
50 E North Temple Rm 1372
SLC UT 84150-5310
This letter is my formal resignation from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and it is effective immediately. I hereby withdraw my consent to being treated as a member and I withdraw my consent to being subject to church rules, policies, beliefs and discipline. As I am no longer a member, I want my name permanently and completely removed from the membership rolls of the church.
My resignation should be processed immediately, without any waiting periods.
After a lifetime of affiliation and commitment to the LDS Church, the reasons I have decided to resign my membership in the LDS Church are as follows:
1) The Church presents a false account of its history. Significant, yet unflattering, facts of Church history are simply whitewashed and ignored because they are not faith promoting. Omitting unflattering facts from the Church's accepted history is a form of dishonesty since it purposely misleads others - most importantly, the members of the Church itself. The Church shows little effort in trying to correct the inaccurate version of history it has invented.
2) It is impossible to participate in the Church, with intellectual honesty and integrity, when you do not accept the myths upon which it is based. This tyranny of belief in the Church results because of a homogeny of thought and an orthodoxy created by the leaders of the Church. Freedom of thought and speech is simply not tolerated within the current Church.
3) The Church's beliefs about, and treatment of, homosexual people is reprehensible. I am particularly concerned with the Church's political involvement in California's Proposition 8 - as well as other similar political misadventures - in which the Church attempted to enforce its religious beliefs on others. The Church's treatment of homosexuals is hurtful; it is not something I want to be associated with in any way. I view my membership in the LDS Church as tacit approval of its bigoted policies towards homosexuals.
When the LDS Church corrects its dishonest version of its history, and when the Church treats all people - regardless of sexual preference - with equality and love, then I will consider returning to the church that I grew up in, and still continue to identify with in certain cultural ways. However, I don’t expect this will happen anytime soon. Please respect my request for name removal from the LDS Church immediately.
Sincerely,
Well-written and succinct. Congratulations!
ReplyDelete'I view my membership in the LDS Church as tacit approval of its bigoted policies towards homosexuals.'
ReplyDeleteThis is perfect. Wish I had included this in my resignation letter! (stumbled upon your site randomly. curious to see what other people put in their letters!)
Are these three the only reasons for your leaving the church? If they accepted homosexuality and put their actual true beginnings into the beginning of their BOM would you again want to be a member?
ReplyDeleteWhy is it you believe they are wrong on their homosexual views?
Stephen - No, they're not the only reasons. The other big reasons are that I don't believe the Church is what it claims to be, I don't believe in Christianity, I don't believe in God, and I don't want to be perceived as a second-class citizen (and apostates are) in the Church. You can check out my other post "Why I Resigned My Membership" for other thoughts I have on the subject.
ReplyDeleteAs for the gay issue, I think it is the most glaring, and recent, position the Church has taken that shows it for the man-made, irrelevant, and out-of-touch organization it is. Their position on homosexuality is harmful to people who are gay. Their branding of homosexuals as defective or sinful, and the emotional, psychological, and physical harm that comes to them as a result, causes tremendous harm to these people. It goes against the "Golden Rule" in every way. Can you imagine being gay and growing up in the Church? Can you imagine what future you could have if you could not marry the person you wanted to. Could you imagine that if you were to live authentically, that you would be kicked out of the church and possibly ostracized by your LDS family and friends. Just put yourself in their shoes, and imagine how hard it would be.
Here is a review from a pediatrics journal about the harm that comes to gay youth as a result of homophobia aimed at them. Sadly, homophobia is prevalent in the LDS Church, and encouraged by their doctrine that homosexuality is a sin:
http://journals.lww.com/co-pediatrics/Fulltext/2001/08000/Health_care_issues_of_gay_and_lesbian_youth.2.aspx?WT.mc_id=EMxj00x20110627xL9