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Letters regarding request for termination of LDS membership:

  • November 11, 1987 - Letter to Ezra Taft Benson outlining my experiences in the Mormon church and summarizing differences. Enclosures with this letter included 13 outlined Affirmations of Faith, dated November 21, 1986; and a book review entitled Zane Grey and the Mormons, published October 30, 1986.

  • November 30, 1987 - Letter from F. Michael Watson acknowledging the above and urging reconsideration of the request for excommunication, "in view of the eternal consequences of such action."

  • January 1, 1988 - Letter to Ezra Taft Benson pointing out that promised action by the Scranton stake had not been had not been taken.

  • February 19, 1988 - Letter to Ezra Taft Benson, noting that still no action had been taken, and commanding formal notice "within 13 days of the date of this letter (the next full moon) that my name has been removed from LDS membership rolls."

  • June 3, 1988 - Letter to Ezra Taft Benson, in light of the failure of the Scranton stake to take the requested action, LDS membership, ordinations and priesthood were renounced, "effective this date."

  • June 6, 1988 - Letter from Walter H. Chudleigh, Scranton Pennsylvania Stake, advising that in a church court, "The decision was that your membership in the church should be terminated."

    APOSTASY, RECOVERY, ALTERNATIVE VIEWS

  • Affirmation: Gay and Lesbian Mormons - Serves the needs of gays, lesbians, bisexual LDS and their supportive family and friends through social and educational activities.
  • A close look at Mormonism, by James David. Discussion of Joseph Smith, Book of Abraham and LDS Endowment, with numerous external links.
  • How to get excommunicated - His letters to the editor led to CIA attorney Michael J. Barrett's excommunication. He said LDS church leadership sought to quiet dissenters.
  • Mormons in Transition - Sponsored by the Institute for Religious Research (IRR), a non-denominational, nonprofit foundation, this site provides relevant, scholarly resources for investigating the foundational claims of Mormonism.
  • Principia Discordia, or How I found Goddess and what I did to Her when I found Her, by Kerry Thornley, cofounder of the Discordian Society. "As I indicated earlier, my own background is Mormon. Since few are familiar with the off-beat creeds of that unusual sect, Mormonism doesn't lend itself to broad satire readily. Yet the temptation is forever with me..."
  • Religion--The Mormons - Moroni's home page, songs, theology, Mormonism on masturbation, eternal progression, space travel, the speed of prayer, polytheism, etc.
  • Women and Mormonism - "Many religions have recently begun changing in an attempt to equalize the roles and responsibilities of men and women. Mormonism is one of the exceptions...," by Jessica, March 27, 1995 (includes bibliography).

    MISSIONARY DOCUMENTS

  • Teaching and acting are similar - Handout from a missionary Zone Conference illustrating the conventional sales techniques with which LDS missionaries are trained.
  • Conducting a baptismal interview - From the General Missionary Handbook, describing the questions candidates for baptism are asked and how to set the mood. (Written when men of African descent were banned from holding the priesthood.)