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Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU All Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 5-2012 This Was the Place: Apostasy from the LDS Church Traci K. Burnett Utah State University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd Part of the Sociology Commons Recommended Citation Burnett, Traci K., "This Was the Place: Apostasy from the LDS Church" (2012). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 1145. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/1145 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THIS WAS THE PLACE: APOSTASY FROM THE LDS CHURCH by Traci Burnett A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in Sociology Approved: _______________________ _______________________ Dr. John C. Allen Dr. Peggy Petrzelka Major Professor Committee Member _______________________ _______________________ Dr. Phillip Barlow Dr. Mark R. McLellan Committee Member Vice President for Research and Dean of the School of Graduate Studies UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY Logan, Utah 2011 ii Copyright © Traci Kristine Burnett 2011 All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT This Was the Place: Apostasy from the LDS Church by Traci Burnett, Master of Science Utah State University, 2012 Major Professor: Dr. John Allen Department: Sociology This paper looks at both the causes for and the consequences of apostasy from the LDS (Mormon) Church for those residing in the state of Utah. While previous quantitative research has identified many of the demographic characteristics associated with becoming a religious apostate, fewer studies have used qualitative methods to explore the expressed reasons that individuals have when choosing to relinquish their faith. This research offers an in-depth qualitative exploration of the causes for apostasy by examining the results of interviews with 21 heterogeneous respondents identified using a non-randomized snowball sample. The results were analyzed with an inductive grounded theory approach to ascertain the reasoning behind an apostate‟s decision to leave their religion. This research identified 14 reasons for leaving the LDS Church. All of participants in this research expressed at least one intellectual concern with church history or expressed concerns with human rights issues as reasons for leaving their religion. In addition, this research also identified 17 different positive and negative consequences that impacted the apostates‟ sense of community. (137 pages) iv PUBLIC ABSTRACT This Was the Place: Apostasy from the LDS Church Traci Burnett As with every religion, the LDS (Mormon) Church suffers from attrition of membership. This study looks at the experiences of 21 individuals who have left the LDS church, asking about the reasons for leaving the church and about the consequences of making such a decision. Unlike many other studies concerning religious apostasy, this research takes a strictly qualitative approach to examining the causes and consequences for leaving the LDS Church. Instead of focusing on demographic characteristics such as race, class, or gender as indicators for apostasy, this research asks a small group of individuals in-depth questions to gain a deeper understanding of apostasy on an individual level. This type of data collection and analysis allowed for the identification of previously unknown reasons for apostasy not discussed in prior literature. Additional benefits of this research is it‟s contribution to the greater body of knowledge concerning apostasy by looking at a topic that has been largely ignored for the last 10 years, and by changing the focus from large scale quantitative data collection and analysis to a more exploratory approach that offers and deeper understanding of apostasy. Ultimately 14 individual reasons for leaving the LDS church were identified in this research, in addition to 17 diverse consequences for leaving. The individual reasons for apostasy from the LDS church were often intellectual in orientation; some of the reasons included polygamy in church history, concerns over the authenticity of the Book of Abraham, and gay rights, among others. The consequences for leaving the church were both negative and positive, including the loss of a sense of community, negative impacts to family relationships, and an increased sense of happiness. Finally, this study revealed that every participant interviewed has refrained from joining another organized religion, leading to additional questions about apostasy, including the degree to which other apostates remain independent of organized religion. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My committee members deserve special recognition for helping me through the thesis process, which doubtlessly took much, much longer than was necessary. I want to give my major professor, Dr. John Allen, a special thank you for his willingness to remain committed to my project despite his new position as Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. I know that his schedule was tight to begin with and yet he still was willing to help a master‟s student succeed. I also want to express my gratitude to my other committee members, Dr. Peggy Petrzelka and Dr. Phillip Barlow, who also gave me such wonderful insight. I couldn‟t have completed this project without them. Dr. Mike Toney also deserves credit for always having faith in me, even as I transitioned back into academia as undergraduate after a four year hiatus in the military. I also want to make my husband, Greg, aware of how profoundly grateful I am to have him in my life. Without him pushing me it is likely I never would have had the courage to apply to graduate school, much less finish. He spent countless hours helping me edit term papers, discussing sociological theory, and making me cookies and dinners on the days that I got the craziest, and was my anchor through it all. I also want to thank my family. My parents and siblings are the best that anyone could have, and I never would have survived school without those Sunday dinners! Finally, I am indebted to everyone in the department for helping me out all those years, particularly Doug, Kevin, “G”, Beth, Karin, Joyce, Stephanie, Bryan, Becca, Anita, and Matt. You are all great sources of inspiration to me. Traci Burnett vi CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... iii PUBLIC ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. v LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ vii INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................1 Definition of Community ........................................................................................4 The LDS Church as Community .............................................................................6 Consequences of Apostasy: Community Lost? .....................................................11 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................. 17 Rubric of Quantitative Research ............................................................................17 Qualitative Research on Apostasy .........................................................................23 Research on Consequences of Apostasy ................................................................27 METHODS AND PROCEDURES....................................................................................30 Research Questions ................................................................................................30 Key Concepts .........................................................................................................31 Nature of the Sample .............................................................................................32 Data Collection ......................................................................................................34 Data Analysis .........................................................................................................36 FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS ..........................................................................................39 Aperçu of the Apostates .........................................................................................40 Antecedents of Apostasy........................................................................................45 Discussion: Antecedents of Apostasy ....................................................................70 Aftermath of Apostasy ...........................................................................................84 Discussion: Aftermath of Apostasy .....................................................................107 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................115 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................122 APPENDIX ......................................................................................................................130
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