Ex Mormons Will Accomplish What Atheists Cannot

Do you ever learn something new and realize it was right before your eyes since forever but you didn't see it? I'm embarrassed to say this happens to me often. One I'm mulling over just now is the role of Mormonism in driving or attracting people out of Christianity completely. I've come to see that the denomination of Mormonism has all the ingredients for a mass exodus and this could provide leverage that reaches deep into Christianity itself.

Let's start with three huge denominations which have one thing in common. In the U. S. there are 6.8 million Mormons. There are 10 million U.S. Southern Baptists with three or so million that attend church. Some sources say there are roughly 50 million Catholics in the U.S. As I understand, numbers provided by Catholics are baptisms and includes those who have become inactive.

What these denominations have in common is they treat women as second-tier citizens. Women cannot hold the reins of power including clergy. If a large percentage of women these denominations left, say a fourth to a half, the money and volunteer engines of all would be reduced to a sputter.

Of these three denominations, Mormonism has the best ingredients for a large-scale exodus of women.  Catholics have the myth of "Mary," Mormons don't. "Mary" is a place for some Catholic women to park their thinking until men allow them on the inside. Southern Baptists have the southern culture and "the Bible" that might delay some exodus of women.  

Mormon women have two reasons to leave. One is the absurd myth of Joesph Smith. The written myths about him are treated as "history" but have more holes than a sieve. His several wives and unverified "messages from God" make it laughable. Then, women have been assigned limited and disciplined roles to play in the denomination. There is little female heroism in the official history. It's a guy's denomination. 

The exodus of women from Mormonism is underway. There are many You Tube channels and books discussing this. One explained the role of the internet, "Before, information was vertical. Men on high passed down information to those below, women. Now information is horizontal. Women easily find affirmation and community outside the faith."

The many excellent sites guiding both women and men to become ex Mormon are attracting supporter in other branches of Christianity. The horizontal flow opportunity for women saying goodbye Christianity is attracting fans who are leaving the Catholic and Baptist denominations.