https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvtYSLvfmvs
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-othering-5084425Neil Anderson April 2022 - "The existence of critics and ex-Mormons isn't surprising. Even the disciples of Jesus left him."
Neil Maxwell April 1996 - "Critics can leave the church but they can't leave the church alone. Don't they have anything better to do than attack the church? They may have repressed doubts of their doubts."
Dallin Oaks - April 2020 - "Satan confuses our thinking and leads us away from priesthood authority. Critics are ravenous wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Mormons are happy therefore all objections against the church are easily dismissed."
Gerrit Gong April 2019 - "Critics are bad shepherds leading sheep astray."
Dallin Oaks April 2015 - "When life gets hard, critics are offended and leave the church. They aren't rooted in The Word. Even the elect can slip. The Internet menaces faith. Young people texting and playing video games at church is severing spiritual roots. Hyper-focusing on problems in the church leads Mormons astray"
L Perry October 2014 - "Critics and ex-Mormons will be burned metaphorically like tares. Critics come through your devices to destroy your faith through the Internet. Mormonism is protecting the family and family values against the evil world."
James Faust - April 2003 - "The devil entices ex-Mormons with appealing messages like "It's the cool thing to do." Satan's disguise is perfect. Mormons are good. Critics and ex-Mormons are evil and come from the devil. Non-Mormons will be burned at the end of days"
Neal Maxwell October 1998 - "Judgement day is quickly coming soon for the "tares" critics and ex-Mormons."
Richard Worthlin April 1997 - "Beware false Mormons. Wolves are everywhere.
Neal Maxwell April 1993 - "Angels are anxiously waiting at any moment to reap the wicked tares. Critics and ex-Mormons hyper-ventillate over their concerns. They are conspiring together in these end times. Critics of the church are only spouting nonsense."
Joseph Worthlin October 1992 - "We live in a dangerous time when wolves roam the country in search of weak faith Mormons."
Dallin Oaks 1989 - "Critics and progressive Mormons seek to devour and deceive the flock.'
Neal Maxwell 1988 - "Critics will not relent. They're among you in sheep's clothing. The end time is near where they will be punished, and also history will forget them. They will pay all the debt of all the trouble they have brought to the innocent."
Marion Romney April 1979 - "There are real destroying angels from the spirit world around you just waiting to destroy the Mormons who haven't followed their covenants."
Harold Lee - 1972 "There are wolves among our own membership drawing Mormons away from obeying their church leaders. And ideas or experiences you have that are contrary to church leaders are from Satan."
Ezra Benson - 1972 "There are wolves among our own membership who even hold the priesthood. Only TBMs will avoid being cast into the fire in the last days."
It was one of the most disturbing experiences of my life. Seeing the Mormon family I loved completely change once I brought up some criticisms and questions about the Mormon church, after months of being an investigator. It was like watching a trained instinct kick in. The fear that overcame them, the shame, guilt, their whole bodies racked in a visceral response.Othering is a phenomenon in which some individuals or groups are defined and labeled as not fitting in within the norms of a social group. It is an effect that influences how people perceive and treat those who are viewed as being part of the in-group versus those who are seen as being part of the out-group.
Othering also involves attributing negative characteristics to people or groups that differentiate them from the perceived normative social group.
It is an “us vs. them” way of thinking about human connections and relationships. This process essentially involves looking at others and saying "they are not like me" or "they are not one of us."
Othering is a way of negating another person's individual humanity and, consequently, those that are have been othered are seen as less worthy of dignity and respect.
On an individual level, othering plays a role in the formation of prejudices against people and groups. On a larger scale, it can also play a role in the dehumanization of entire groups of people which can then be exploited to drive changes in institutions, governments, and societies. It can lead to the persecution of marginalized groups, the denial of rights based on group identities, or even acts of violence against others.
Seeing compilations of Mormon leaders telling these harmful messages over, and over, and over, and over, finally gives me a lot of empathy for that poor Mormon family. They had no choice but to react in the way they did. They were powerless to entertain any negative thoughts about the church or its leaders. These conference talks had done incredible damage to their ability to think critically about the church, so that it had become essentially non-existent.