The Mormon Cult: A Former Missionary Reveals the Secrets of Mormon Mind Control [Paperback]

Jack B. Worthy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2008

Scrutinizing the experience of growing up Mormon, this personal narrative tells the story of one man's disillusionment with his faith and subsequent excommunication from the Church. This account reveals what is posited as inherent racism and sexism within the church and seeks to expose the controlling methods of indoctrination and the harsh process of excommunication. The basic tenets of the religion are explained, personal stories and analyses are shared, and church authorities are cited to support the claims of extreme gender and racial discrimination. From unknowing follower to angry rebel, and finally to a content, worldly man, this book recounts the experience of a survivor who feels the duty to explain his truth.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Quickly allows the reader to 'become' that devout Mormon boy who voluntarily gave up two years of his young adulthood to serve God and to save souls."  —Richard Peckham, founder, Ex-Mormon Foundation

About the Author

Jack B. Worthy was born and raised a Mormon, participating in the indoctrination process and mission work until he became disillusioned and left the Church. He has written under a pseudonym to protect his family members who are still active Mormons.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: See Sharp Press (April 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1884365442
• ISBN-13: 978-1884365447
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #159,278 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Lame Title, Good Book, November 9, 2008

By 

John Smythe (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mormon Cult: A Former Missionary Reveals the Secrets of Mormon Mind Control (Paperback)

The Good:

The author makes one very cogent argument with this book: If Mormon missionaries are the chosen among the chosen - the Scions of Zion - why do they seem so indistinguishable from any other large group of haphazardly selected, though well trained, salesmen?

The bulk of the book is a (seemingly genuine) personal struggle to relate a young man's faith to his surrounding reality. Despite an economy of words I found I was able to enter into where the author (Jack B. Worthy - clearly not his real name btw - and one hopes he was equally kind with the names of his former companions mentioned in this book) was at - emotionally and intellectually. No awkward sentence structures (unlike this review), though an occasional strained metaphor. No key points left out or vaguely defined. Just a story that, once it gets going (see "The Bad" below), flows to the very last word.

The narrative of Elder Compton alone is worth the price of this book. I once talked with an LDS missionary who was missing . . . something. I'm not sure who could have decided he was ready to go out and spread the word. I remember he sat there at my table and fiddled with one CTR ring after the other the whole while his partner presented the first discussion. As I recall, and this is about all I recall from my lesson that day, Elder "Ring" adjusted, rotated and admired (?) each of his eight or nine silver rings during the entire time. If his partner was as distracted as I was he never let on - he must have been the "Dad". Anyway, being on mission for nearly two years gave the author many more sad and/or hilarious experiences to share. Stories that when strung together with the author's own struggles makes this book very readable.


The Bad:

As indicated in the heading for this review, I am displeased with both the title and sub-title. What could the author/publisher possibly be thinking? If the author does care about current members of his former church then he could have picked almost any title and it would have been better than this one. As a former member he must know that anything labeling the church a "cult" is anathema and not worth considering further in the least. By declaring on the cover that this book "reveals the secrets of Mormon Mind Control" he has virtually guaranteed no member of the church, even one lacking a Temple Recommend, will read it.

Similarly, the first 51 pages gives a condensed, sarcastic and condescending summary of the LDS Church. The arrogance of his personal tone is not unlike that of the biologist Richard Dawkins. This may seem a small criticism but if the author really means to convey his message unto those who are still active members then he might as well be standing in temple square handing out anti-Mormon tracts during General Conference for all the good this book will do.

In short: The author seems to be writing this book expressly for himself and others who are already unconverted. At least for the first 51 pages. After that the author becomes funny, sad and captivating as he relates his life as a member of "the one true church". I read the remaining pages in one sitting. So buy this book if you're interested, skip the first 51 pages and enjoy.

86 of 128 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Escape From Entrapment, May 24, 2008

By 

Dwain A. Deets "Dwain Deets" (Leucadia, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Mormon Cult: A Former Missionary Reveals the Secrets of Mormon Mind Control (Paperback)

This book presents a superb account by a former Mormon missionary of his journey through, and away from his pressure-filled entanglement with the church. I find it impossible to think of a suitable analogy to describe this complex social and human entrapment experienced by Elder Worthy, entrapment by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (otherwise known as the Mormon Church). (The author refers to himself as Elder Worthy, as that is how others referred to him throughout his mission.)

Beginning with his two-year mission in Hong Kong at the age of nineteen, Elder Worthy takes the reader with him as he experiences the journey first hand. Everything he had been brought to believe told him this would be a wondrous experience. The whole support system of his social environment, as proscribed by the Mormon Church, including his parents and authority figures, all reinforced the idea that this mission would be positive almost beyond imagination. For, how could it not be when the Heavenly Father would be inspiring individuals to hear the Word he was about to bring?

The mission itself was an ordeal--filled with frustrations, embarrassments, and feelings of inadequacy. Elder Worthy blamed all these shortcomings on himself. If only he were more diligent, more worthy, he was sure the Heavenly Father would cause the mission to be the success he had been certain it would be. Many of these frustrations were the direct result of the highly constrained rules and pressure for obedience concerning sexual expression.

As the months wore on, Elder Worthy became disillusioned about the whole mission setup. He started seeing patterns across the other missionaries at his outpost that seemed consistent with his own experience, and saw that it might be the system that led to disappointing performance, not his lack of being sufficiently worthy. The more he became disenchanted with the system, the more he began to press the limits, more or less to see how the system would react. Ultimately, the combination of frustrated sexual desires and the rush that comes with pressing the limits led him to the most serious infraction of the rules. This led to disciplinary action, the premature ending of his mission, and the disgrace to his parents and himself when he returned amongst suspicions he may have done something unworthy. He of course was not invited to give his testimony about the wonders of his mission.

Whether or not a person is familiar with the inner workings of the Mormon Church, I think the reader will gain an excellent understanding of what actually happens on these two-year missions that every 19-20 year old Mormon male experiences. Even more important in my mind is the account of one lonely person's struggle to make sense out of the many contradictions he saw on his mission, compared with all the glowing reports from the missionaries that went before him.

38 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An informative and enjoyable book, May 2, 2009

By 

Brad Princeton (Idaho) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mormon Cult: A Former Missionary Reveals the Secrets of Mormon Mind Control (Paperback)

The most enjoyable part of this book is the author's personal story. Anyone who has ever seen Mormon missionaries and wondered what makes them tick will love this book. The author gives us an inside look at the life of a devout missionary who slowly becomes disillusioned. His story is not only interesting - with its colorful descriptions of Hong Kong and missionary life - it's also funny and entertaining. I highly recommend it.

Many Christian sects call the Mormon Church a cult, so the book's title may cause people to wrongly assume that this is just another typical Christian rant against Mormonism. But it's not. The author did not convert to another religion, and has no agenda to convert his readers to his way of thinking.

Anyone who reads this book will learn a lot about Mormon beliefs. The book is very credible because the author backs up his statements with plenty of quotes from official Mormon writings and scripture. Perhaps the most fascinating part of the book is a detailed explanation of how adult Mormons are taught to indoctrinate children.

The two people who gave one-star reviews of this book have given it the best possible promotion. One of them "knows" the author was guided by Satan, and the other gives no indication at all that he or she read the book, which means he or she probably gave a critique of the entire book based on its title alone. Those two reviews make the authors point very well.