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.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UTAHS/oai:digitalcommons.usu.edu:etd-2142 |
| Date | 01 May 2012 |
| Creators | Burnett, Traci K. |
| Publisher | DigitalCommons@USU |
| Source Sets | Utah State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | All Graduate Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | Copyright for this work is held by the author. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. For more information contact Andrew Wesolek (andrew.wesolek@usu.edu). |
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