Religion is a complicated subject that all too often gets painted as simply black and white. I've not practiced religion since my mid-teens, but I try to remain open-minded about religious thought and what drives people to it. Especially in the sphere of public policy, it is easy to dismiss opinions or positions informed by religion as baseless or unsupported. That may be an accurate assessment in many situations, but it is useful to think more broadly about religion and the role that it can and does play in communities and the lives of millions of individuals. In this longread, the author explores his own personal history with Mormonism to portray a somewhat different account of the religion that the one often conveyed in mainstream media sources. I think there is a definite danger that this kind of account can become an apology for the worst abuses of religious organizations (such as the Mormons and Prop 8, as mentioned in this piece). It is important to hedge against that kind of apologism but that doesn't require completely disavowing some of the benefits that religious institutions can deliver.
"Confessions of an Ex-Mormon" by Walter Kirn
Published in the New Republic, July 13, 2012
Eric
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