We think Mormonstories provides an important service for people who question their beliefs and who want to know more about the Restoration, as well as Christianity and religion generally.
Decisions to join or leave any organization involve multiple complex considerations. The stakes are even higher when joining or leaving a religion. We are all free to believe whatever we want and we are free to choose whatever organizations we want to belong to or affiliate with. Ideally, we make informed decisions. That's embedded in the Articles of Faith.
11 We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may. (Articles of Faith 1:11)
John Dehlin demonstrates empathy and understanding for the people he interviews and supports--so long as they agree with him. We applaud that approach, although we encourage him to express the same empathy and understanding for those with whom he disagrees. Every organization should do the same for its members and others.
It is evident that John has evolved away from openness toward a dogmatic editorial stance that confirms his own biases and does not provide his audience with an honest variety of perspectives. Consequently, he is not helping people make fully informed decisions.
We're not here to debate, but to offer some alternative perspectives.*
Although John claims to be objective, fair-minded, and open to alternative interpretations and opinions, he allows only guests who confirm his own biases. John's approach misleads people by employing his straw man approach (aka fake news) to create a gap between expectations and reality that suits his agenda. He exploits that gap to generate interest and income.
We will discuss and explain alternative perspectives in each section of our review.
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*By "alternative perspectives" we're not referring to FairMormon and similar "apologetic" sites which have accepted some of the same factual premises as Mormonstories has, particularly with respect to the translation of the Book of Mormon and its historicity/geography. While such apologists do offer useful defenses and explanations on some issues, they have also done much to undermine faith in Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, and their contemporaries and successors.
Overall, MormonStories focuses on the views and theories of LDS intellectuals as represented by what we call the M2C/SITH citation cartel, including FairMormon, Book of Mormon Central, the Interpreter, BYU Studies, and Meridian Magazine. This group, in important ways, have repudiated the teachings of the prophets and caused confusion (although lately BYU Studies has taken a broader perspective than the rest of the cartel). We think MormonStories has pointed out some of the problems created by the citation cartel.
