Posted by:
mre
(
)
Date: February 21, 2012 01:51AM
I am going to say yes.
As a long time lurker and infrequent poster, I am probably one of the less outspoken members here, and having looked at people who I know have left the church personally and on this board I truly think the OP is on to something and that the OP is correct.
First, a bit about myself:
I always sort of believed in the church. I wasn't a hardcore believer or TBM in most senses, but I went to church, sang the songs, and got the little placards (and mental scars) to show for it. Luckily though, I got out before I got too far into it. I never married in the church, in fact I left shortly after doing my first baptisms for the dead at like 14.
That said, I don't have a lot of hatred towards the church. Don't get me wrong, I hate the church and what they stand for and what they do to people, but I hate them in the same way I hate the Westboro Baptist Church. I don't have this personal vendetta against it (not saying posters here do, just saying that for some it is more personal).
However, in the case of some people I know, my parents included, they spent YEARS in the church. They got married because of the church. They went to BYU, gave up 10% of their money every year for 40 years (give or take). They were TBMs, and leaving the church was a big deal.
For one: They researched a lot more than I did. Like the had to know for sure that the church was right or wrong. Me? It took only a little evidence to convince me. All it really took was "Hey, Smith was a conman did you know that?" and I was basically out of the door (lucky me). For them though? A lot more. They know (I would argue) a good majority of the church's dirty secrets.
They came to this site, and I honestly don't know if they posted or simply read the stories on here, but I know it was a huge comfort to them. They would talk about what people were experiencing, saying, and how it applied to them and all that.
Anyway, what I'm getting at is that the people who have been effected most by something are often the ones who are going to have more reason to speak about it, which is exactly what the OP is guessing at.
People who don't have a story to tell just aren't going to tell it. The people who, like me, left pretty much on a whim (there was more to it than a "whim" but it certainly wasn't very hard), have nothing to really say. Sure we had fears of parents saying one thing or friends leaving us or something, but the choice in our minds was there, and it was clear we had a choice. The people who invested so much time want to make sure that they didn't waste their time (or won't be by leaving). I mean, how horrible is it to realize you wasted 1/5 of your free time to something you don't believe in anymore? It kinda sucks. Not to mention the love bombs, exciting tales of marriages/divorces, kid trauma, etc. It's all very... traumatic.
And those things make up your stories, your warnings. People who didn't experience pain have nothing to warn about.