Saintmaking and Saintbreaking: An Empirical Analysis of the Mormon Experience

Abstract

Why do fervent following adherents disaffiliate from the religion of their birth? In so doing oftentimes one’s culture, heritage, and perhaps all that has provided shape to a person’s life may be left behind as well. The extremely complex, controlling, and efficacious system of Latter-day Saint socialization within the Rocky Mountain West has served as the substrate by which a comparatively young and peculiar people have experienced a relative catapult into the global arena of religious philosophy, international politics, and economic commerce. To be sure, studies of departure from mainline churches abound. However, such research has neglected to specifically address the exit process of embedded Mormons. This exploration is unique in that I provide an articulation of elements that clarify what it means to possess an identity aligned with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints within its home parameters of the Mormon culture region. Narrative data acquired from forty ex-LDS members who were born to, and raised by fervent following parents underneath the ideological shelter of the Mormon sacred canopy proffers a treasure trove of feelings, patterns, and expectations that offer insight and explanation into the mechanisms connected to LDS detachment, exit, and apostasy.