Some people are faithful Latter-day Saints. Deal with it. I thought you were supposed to be all about tolerance and acceptance.

My best friend growing up was Mormon. Because I was so close with him I picked up some other Mormon friends too. Funny guy. Outgoing. Most Mormons are awesome people. Because most people are awesome.

He went off to Utah (BYU) for college and I lost touch with him. Came to find out later his dad was an abuser.

Isn’t it funny? How the funniest people on earth are the ones who have endured the worst trauma?

Anyway. I say that not to bash Mormons. The fact that an organization as large as the Latter-Day Saints has some bad apples in it is a point so obvious as to barely be worth making.

That said: are there skeletons in the closet of the Mormon faith? No doubt. You don’t have to look much further than the deviant sexual practices of its Founder and early followers. Some of which continue under the guise of the “Fundamentalist” Latter-Day Saints.

My friend? He wasn’t Fundamentalist. But his abusive dad absolutely threw up his faith as a shield. Something that reflexive wagon-circlers like you are also wont do to.

By the way, abuse — and the failure of the Church to address it honesty — is one of the main things driving many young people today away from religion. Not just Mormonism, but Catholicism, Southern Baptism — anything. So it serves the interests of the faithful to clean up their own houses.

I can tell you my wife (not Mormon, but raised conservative Christian) started deeply questioning and ultimately rejected her faith when a pastor at her church was found out to be a serial sexual abuser of girls — and that his church had known for years. She wasn’t abused herself, but she could have been.

Most people who have thought about their faith deeply have complicated feelings about it.

We’re not asking perfection. Perfect belongs only to the divine.

We’re asking honesty.

So that's why you are the way you are

I'm really sorry to hear that. I've never liked the Mormon church, as from a young age I was taught about the polygamy stuff they used to do, but, just like any other religion, the majority of Mormons are decent people, just like you and I. It really angers me to hear of religious ministers, like pastors and priests, who are supposed to protect the people, who should be an example of righteousness to their congregation, that misuse their power and commit such monstrous acts. It's a huge detriment to decent Christians who have to put up with these people in their midst that bring disgrace upon Christianity. Now that I've heard about that, I kind of understand why you hold those views on religion and social issues. It's quite common for atheists to have had a bad experience with religion or religious people that made them that way.