Customer Reviews

Mormons in Transition

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Editor Leslie Reynolds "was raised in Salt Lake City in the LDS church... She followed her Ph.D. in Counseling with a more recent degree in Christian Studies from Regent College..." She is also the author of Street People: Case Histories of the Homeless.

She wrote in the Preface to this 1996 book, "Former Mormons will find this book useful as a clarification of their process of leaving the church. Inactive Mormons, too, will find it useful to gain perspective on what it means to be a Mormon and possibly to aid in completing their experience of the LDS church. This book may also be a resource for questioning Mormons, to let them know how others like themselves have resolved their questions."

Here are some quotations from the book:

"My plan was to write a book that would give Mormons in the process of leaving the LDS church an opportunity to identify their situation. They could read it and say, "Oh, I see, I'm somewhere between steps two and three' and know that they were experiencing what others had before them, therefore easing some of their anxiety, anger, and pain." (Pg. 1)
"Angry Larry had a cousin excommunicated from the church... 'I thought the church isn't supposed to be about wreaking emotional devastation on people. The church is supposed to be about helping people...' ... Alyce... commented on the excommunications: 'I think that I would imagine if I were running a church, it would be more important to bring people in and spend more time with them instead of casting them out.'" (Pg. 45)
"The criticism of the church expressed in the preceding chapter indicates that the respondents have been wounded. And many of them have sought ways to heal those wounds---frequently new belief systems or behaviors." (Pg. 53)
"I believe that most former Mormons would be repelled by the word 'cult' in the title (of a book). I, who was formerly a Mormon, am still emotionally offended by references to Mormonism as a cult, even though I understand definitionally that it is one." (Pg. 97)

Reynolds's "Mormons in Transition" is an excellent introduction to the process of Mormons leaving their religion to become Christians. This is no easy thing for them to do. For many, it will involve leaving their family, community, work, and their whole economic support system. This book shows just how difficult it can be to help a Mormon out of their brainwashing and into the light of orthodox Christian faith and life. However, Reynolds gives many guiding hints and helps into saving Mormon souls. The Mormon religion is a dangerous fraud; this book helps to save people from it.

Here's another anti-Mormon tract by a disaffected former Mormon. To understand Leslie Reynolds better, please know that in recent political deals in Salt Lake City, UT she has condemned her opponent by publicly stating that he could not possibly understand the diverse people he would represent because of his gender, race, and religion. Poor Ms. Reynolds is so filled with bitterness that she cannot see that she is using the same arguments of bias to condemn her opponent that she claims she felt in making her "transition."

As was said in the New Testament, if it is of God you cannot fight it and if it is not, it will fail on its own. Leave it alone, Ms. Reynolds and go find your way.

In 'Mormons in Transition,' Reynolds labels the LDS Church as a non-traditional Christian denomination and means it as an insult. However, the LDS Church does not PRETEND to be traditional. It is consciously (and proudly) radical. That being said, Mormonism is the FULLNESS of Christian doctrine, not a REPLACEMENT for it. I don't know if I'll ever be able to say this emphatically enough, but for now I'll resort to using all caps: MORMONS BELIEVE THE BIBLE WORD FOR WORD. Despite what you may hear from naysayers like Reynolds, the differences between so-called "traditional" Christianity and Mormonism are completely reconcilable, and, when examined carefully, turn out not to be differences at all. Anyone interested in doing a personal comparison should visit www.mormon.org.

Reading anti-Mormon literature reminds me of how Christ was shunned by the Pharisees when he began teaching HIS radical doctrine to the Jews. And so, I will put an exclamation point on my review with his words: 'Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.'