Leaving the Fold

by James W. Ure

Book Overview

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1560851341
• ISBN13: 9781560851349
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Signature Books
• Length: 253 Pages
• Weight: 0.99 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Saying Goodbye

Leaving The Fold is a collection of interviews the writer James W. Ure conducted with a number of Jack Mormons who live mostly in Utah ("Jack Mormon" is a non-pejorative slang term for "cultural Mormon"; Ure writes that "it is a term that feels just right, even jaunty... it has a meaning that virtually everyone in the mountain states understands.") Some of Ure's subjects are well-known in Utah, some are not. All were once active in the church;some are still semi-active; others are completely gone. Ure is an insightful, probing interviewer. He himself is inactive but he knows where all the bodies are buried, so to speak. He raises the most interesting issues and lets his subjects speak their peace. There is a certain cathartic effect in reading the doubts raised here (maybe you have thought some of these same things but never said them out loud.) And it's fascinating to eavesdrop on some Utah celebrities talking about some of their most intimate feelings about religion. Many of the male interviewees do have a "jaunty", good-humored air about them. Stewart Udall and Levi Peterson affirm their loyalty to Mormonism whatever their current church-going status might be. Calvin Rampton recounts his adventures in politics while lamenting his lack of a testimony. Rod Decker has some pointed but accurate things to say about the church and politics that the Brethren might agree with if they were phrased more delicately. The rancher Met Johnson has a blunt country wit: Ure says "maybe you had to be there, but Met Johnson knocks me out." I can identify because I have relatives like this: rough-hewn guys who have trouble fitting in, but whose hearts are in the right place. Other interviews are inadvertently entertaining: Ardean Watts comes off as a true eccentric who is capable of believing anything and everything. Edwin Firmage has (in my opinion) drifted off into a liberal cloud cuckoo land that is just as far out in its way as the John Birch Society world-view he condemns. Ure's interviews with women are more sobering. There is a lot more anguish evident here. You can see real consequences in separating from the church (I count five divorces among the eighteen interviewees.) One hesitates in judging the pain of these sisters. There conversations make one more aware about aspects of female church membership that thick-headed males like me aren't very clued in about. The objections raised in these interviews can be roughly categorized: "Political" -- I have the least patience for this, to be frank. Those who are offended politically by the church usually would prefer it to conform more to the "progressive" politics of the world. In past decades this meant socialism and its variants; nowadays it means moral relativism as embodied by the current President. Personally I wouldn't like to see the church reformed in the image of Barack Obama. Some interviewees have doctrinal objections. They just can't bring themselves to believe in the historicity of the Book

A Fascinating Glimpse: those who Leave Mormonism, but Remain Members

Note: Mormons have be slamming my reviews, so I would appreciate your "helpful" vote. Obviously they don't want you to read what former Mormons are saying. I have repeatedly asked and never found an answer to the following question: If the LDS Church is the only true church, how is it that good people who totally believed in it would ever leave it (and continue to live good lives)? Your "helpful" votes are appreciated. Thanks I thought all the interviews were fascinating. The interview with Paul Rolly really hit the nail on the head: Question: "Have you ever considered asking for excommunication?" Answer: "No. But if anybody ever wanted to, they could do that. I wouldn't go play their game. I mean, I wouldn't go to a bishop. I wouldn't do any of that stuff. Plus, I don't want to do anything to hurt my kids, either." Rolly's answer illuminates the dark side of Mormonism--fear. See my one-star reviews of books by Mormon authors who attempt to defend the Book of Mormon through specious scholarship. See my reviews of Hugh Nibley's books, for example, and "Echoes and Evidences for the Book of Mormon." Echoes and Evidences of the Book of Mormon Another book by former Mormons that I highly recommend is "American Apocrypha," edited by Dan Vogel and Brent Lee Metcalfe. In that book, Professor Edwin Firmage, Jr. writes: "Nearly twenty years ago, as a first year-graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, my ambition was to become another Hugh Nibley, whose writings I loved since I was twelve...." "Still a neophyte, but armed with German and a little Arabic, Greek, and Hebrew, and intent on acquiring the requisite apologetic tools, I came to Berkeley to study ancient Near Eastern languages, particularly Egyptian, the language of mysteries par excellence. "Not long after my arrival, I was asked to teach the Book of Mormon in the Gospel Doctrine class in my Berkeley ward. I welcomed the opportunity, as it would give me a chance to delve deeper into the book. By any standard, my wife and I were faithful Mormons who attended church, visited the temple, and prayed together. I expected my study of the Book of Mormon to result in an increase of faith as it had done on my mission. But within six months, I no longer believed the Book of Mormon to be an ancient text. "To this day, I am not sure how it happened, although I can isolate several issues that played a role in my change of mind....I have often thought that what happened to me in Berkeley was fundamentally a conversion, or, if you like, an anti-conversion. The process had all the inscrutable suddenness that characterized some of the conversions I had witnessed as missionary. Like a conversion to faith, the effect of my change of mind propagated with amazing speed. Almost overnight my whole outlook on life was different." "The remaining pages of this essay will present a few of what, for me in 1984, were discoveries of some importance. These do not by any means constitute a com

Original, insightful, thoughtful, informative, candid.

Leaving The Fold: Candid Conversations With Inactive Mormons is a unique work based on interviews conducted by James Ure with eighteen high-profile, once active men and women who ceased to be energetic participants with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, commonly referred to as the Mormon Church. Ure found that these lapsed Mormons had fond memories of the church, the reasons for their leaving ranged from politics of general and politics in general, to guilt over unachievable perfection, and an inability to accept the basic tenets of Mormonism. These thoughtful, often touching expressions by people who left active Mormonism to find their own personal path to salvation and meaningful life will enable their former Mormon neighbors, friends and colleagues to better understand their "wayward" friends. Leaving The Fold is original, insightful, thoughtful, informative, revealing, candid, engaging reading for students of religion in general, and Mormonism in particular.

Glimpses of a human dilemma

While the substantive content of this book is about Inactive Mormons, it could apply to anyone. I would characterize the book as telling a human story that transcends the Mormon experience, but that also is located in the unique Mormon experience. What is unique about the Mormon version of this experience is the extent to which the people interviewed are dealing not only with a set of religious beliefs, but a culture that has dominated their lives and the lives of family and friends and the history of Utah. Yet the people in this book have to find ways of continuing to live in this culture. Many who have left the church continue to have good relationships with family and friends who remain active in the church, and even speak well of the church itself inspite of their problems with the church. Jim Ure is not a professional social scientist. He is a person trying to make sense of his own experience by talking with people who have similar experiences. In the process Ure opens doors to many aspects of the experience of losing the faith. Ure does not retell, analyze and make detailed comments on the stories of his informants, although he does give a short introduction to every chapter. Rather, Ure lets us read the stories as they were told to him. In the course of his conversations he often reveals things about his own experiences. He is not writing the definitive book on the subject. In fact, there are few in depth studies on this subject in the social science literature much less books that are written specifically for the general public. This is a good introduction to a complex topic, and should generate many interesting thoughts and discussions. I found the interviews touching and intriguing on both a personal and a professional level. I am an ex-catholic. I am also a social scientist. I learned some things about myself, and I learned about some things that I will pursue in the future.

Informative, Challenging, Engaging.

A singularly important book to help one better understand (or understand at all for some readers) an often misunderstood religion (Mormonism). More importantly, this book attempts to grasp the inner significance of why once devoted members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints ("Mormons") have chosen to no longer be an active follower of their church and, as well, no longer hold its doctrines as strongly. Recurring themes members express for "leaving the fold" of Mormonism -- believability of certain aspects of the historical/religious bases of the church, oppressive insularity of the Mormon community, a reluctance to accept/adapt to changes in contemporary society, an unyieldingly rigid doctrinal environment -- are also elements common to many religions with which their adherents, both the devote and the hesitant, seem to struggle. The deeply personal views expressed by these thoughtful, passionate people in their interviews offer the reader knowledge and understanding which transcend Mormonism. Regardless of ones religious persuasion or spiritual inclination, the honesty, patience, and sincere consideration presented by the 18 interviewees is heartening and thought-provoking. Having grown up a non-Mormon in the virtual heart of Mormonism (Salt Lake City, Utah) I found this book frighteningly revealing of my own long-simmering prejudices and ignorance. So, if the reader is willing to accept an adventure that may challenge their core values, and perhaps bring to life previously unquestioned thoughts, then get this book soon and begin the journey.