DiscussMormonism.com

“The people in the pews,” writes the author of a new study, “are not the same as a generation ago.”



https://tinyurl.com/22xux52c

Ask Latter-day Saints — even regular churchgoers — if theirs is the one true faith leading to eternal life, and there’s a decent chance they’ll say no.

That’s due to a growing number of active U.S. members holding less-than-orthodox views.

Such is the (tentative) conclusion data scientist Alex Bass reached in his recently published study, “Mormon Typology Report 2025.”

Based on data he mined from three Religious Landscape Studies from the Pew Research Center, the paper examines responses from nearly 2,000 self-identified members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Mormons (the surveys and Bass used both “Latter-day Saint” and “Mormon” terms). This approach meant that people who had once been members, but no longer considered themselves part of the Utah-based faith, were unlikely to appear in the results.

From their responses, collected over the past nearly 20 years, he concludes that “the people in the pews are not the same as a generation ago.”

Put simply, he explains, “What was once a faith defined by overwhelming uniformity — where the majority of members could be described as devout, orthodox and politically conservative — may have fractured into a more complex spectrum of identities.”

Rather than the church dying, the church seems to be changing. This is to be expected as religions age. John Larsen famously thought that the brain drain would leave only increasingly fundamentalist Mormons in the pews. He predicted an evaporation of the moderates and a concentration in the number of fundamentalists.

I think the data here are reassuring. Mormons are bending their beliefs to fit the growing evidence against traditional beliefs. The Book of Mormon doesn’t need to be historical. The law of chastity doesn’t mean covering elbows. An occasional coffee isn’t going to send you to hell.

It’s probably sad for traditionalists like DCP to realize their version of Mormonism is quickly slipping away. But as the Mormon church transforms into something more moderate and mainstream, I think the number of gay Mormon suicides will decrease. The amount of shame and guilt that masturbating missionaries felt will decrease. The culture of perfection and puritan morality will ease. And overall the mental health and wellbeing of future Mormons will improve dramatically when compared to the oppressive overbearing moralistic LDS church of the 1980s.

Add this to the anti-Hitchens file. Religion really doesn’t poison everything.

DiscussMormonism autocorrect strikes again.

Clicking the link gets you a 404. But if you change the URL in the address field of the 404 page, to put "𝑙𝑑𝑠" in lower case, the link functions just fine.

Alternative: use https://tinyurl.com/22xux52c

Hey, Dr Shades - can you PLEASE have someone fix this recurring issue!

Don't ask me why I think this, but I believe that even active temple-going members may be crossing their fingers behind their backs during TR interviews, and clearly not being too worried about it. At least, they seem to doubt that the Bishop and Stake President will detect their deception using the vaunted "priesthood discernment" - the same power that uncovers serious sin, and prevents serious sexual sinners from ever being in a position of having access to LDS children to molest. /s

Isn't it wonderful; isn't it marvelous!

malkie wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 07, 2025 8:01 pm

DiscussMormonism autocorrect strikes again.

Clicking the link gets you a 404. But if you change the URL in the address field of the 404 page, to put "𝑙𝑑𝑠" in lower case, the link functions just fine.

Alternative: use https://tinyurl.com/22xux52c

Hey, Dr Shades - can you PLEASE have someone fix this recurring issue!

Thank you for this! I’ll try to remember to use tinyurl going forward.

There is a possibility that the 1980s and thereabouts were a time of unusual Mormon uniformity and narrow conservatism. The time of the 1960s seemed more open. I was not aware of anybody suggesting it was ok to think the Book of Mormon was not real history, however.

I find myself wondering what sorts of variations in Mormon attitudes were being observed and counted.

malkie wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 07, 2025 8:08 pm

Don't ask me why I think this, but I believe that even active temple-going members may be crossing their fingers behind their backs during TR interviews, and clearly not being too worried about it. At least, they seem to doubt that the Bishop and Stake President will detect their deception using the vaunted "priesthood discernment" - the same power that uncovers serious sin, and prevents serious sexual sinners from ever being in a position of having access to LDS children to molest. /s

Isn't it wonderful; isn't it marvelous!

I think it is the case that there is motivation on the leadership level to get people into the temple as opposed to keeping them out. That certainly looks better statistically. You want to send a report to SLC that shows more temple-goers, not fewer.

Kishkumen wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 08, 2025 1:04 pm

malkie wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 07, 2025 8:08 pm

Don't ask me why I think this, but I believe that even active temple-going members may be crossing their fingers behind their backs during TR interviews, and clearly not being too worried about it. At least, they seem to doubt that the Bishop and Stake President will detect their deception using the vaunted "priesthood discernment" - the same power that uncovers serious sin, and prevents serious sexual sinners from ever being in a position of having access to LDS children to molest. /s

Isn't it wonderful; isn't it marvelous!

I think it is the case that there is motivation on the leadership level to get people into the temple as opposed to keeping them out. That certainly looks better statistically. You want to send a report to SLC that shows more temple-goers, not fewer.

I am aware of three individuals--because each told me--who lied in order to get a temple recommend, to attend a child's wedding in the temple. Perhaps if more Mormon (I'm assuming it's now kosher to use that word again) kids had the civil wedding first followed by the temple sealing, there would not be as many "unworthy" people in the temples.

sock puppet wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 08, 2025 3:00 pm

I am aware of three individuals--because each told me--who lied in order to get a temple recommend, to attend a child's wedding in the temple. Perhaps if more Mormon (I'm assuming it's now kosher to use that word again) kids had the civil wedding first followed by the temple sealing, there would not be as many "unworthy" people in the temples.

Ultimately, the temple interview process is about personal integrity. People can lie to get into the temple, but they probably won't get everything out of it that they were intended to receive. Honestly, I think too many people are expected to go to the temple. Most people who take out their endowments are woefully underprepared and probably not spiritually inclined to do it. There should be no stigma attached to not going to the temple.

If I were in charge, there would always be a civil marriage before a marital sealing in the temple.

Kishkumen wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 08, 2025 3:49 pm

sock puppet wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 08, 2025 3:00 pm

I am aware of three individuals--because each told me--who lied in order to get a temple recommend, to attend a child's wedding in the temple. Perhaps if more Mormon (I'm assuming it's now kosher to use that word again) kids had the civil wedding first followed by the temple sealing, there would not be as many "unworthy" people in the temples.

Ultimately, the temple interview process is about personal integrity. People can lie to get into the temple, but they probably won't get everything out of it that they were intended to receive. Honestly, I think too many people are expected to go to the temple. Most people who take out their endowments are woefully underprepared and probably not spiritually inclined to do it. There should be no stigma attached to not going to the temple.

If I were in charge, there would always be a civil marriage before a marital sealing in the temple.

When my son was planning his temple wedding, I had been totally inactive and somewhat critical of the church for about 10 years. I was completely taken aback by the number of members who said things like: "Come on, malkie - you know the answers to the TR questions. Just tell the bishop & stake president what they need to hear."

I could easily have done it and not felt "bad" in a religious sense, because I didn't believe any of the church teachings. But I just could not sit there in front of these men and deliberately lie my head off.

And so I waited at the temple for the wedding party to finish all of the "inside" stuff.

I had non-member colleagues who were more than a little surprised when I told them that I was considered not worthy to attend my son's wedding, but I would not have expected any of them to suggest that I lie to be admitted.

malkie wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 08, 2025 5:09 pm

When my son was planning his temple wedding, I had been totally inactive and somewhat critical of the church for about 10 years. I was completely taken aback by the number of members who said things like: "Come on, malkie - you know the answers to the TR questions. Just tell the bishop & stake president what they need to hear."

I could easily have done it and not felt "bad" in a religious sense, because I didn't believe any of the church teachings. But I just could not sit there in front of these men and deliberately lie my head off.

And so I waited at the temple for the wedding party to finish all of the "inside" stuff.

I had non-member colleagues who were more than a little surprised when I told them that I was considered not worthy to attend my son's wedding, but I would not have expected any of them to suggest that I lie to be admitted.

Yep! It's an emotionally charged issue. My dad was not able to attend my temple wedding. That hurt both of us.