The Mormon Cult: A Former Missionary Reveals the Secrets of Mormon Mind Control [Paperback]

The Good:

The author makes one very cogent argument with this book: If Mormon missionaries are the chosen among the chosen - the Scions of Zion - why do they seem so indistinguishable from any other large group of haphazardly selected, though well trained, salesmen?

The bulk of the book is a (seemingly genuine) personal struggle to relate a young man's faith to his surrounding reality. Despite an economy of words I found I was able to enter into where the author (Jack B. Worthy - clearly not his real name btw - and one hopes he was equally kind with the names of his former companions mentioned in this book) was at - emotionally and intellectually. No awkward sentence structures (unlike this review), though an occasional strained metaphor. No key points left out or vaguely defined. Just a story that, once it gets going (see "The Bad" below), flows to the very last word.

The narrative of Elder Compton alone is worth the price of this book. I once talked with an LDS missionary who was missing . . . something. I'm not sure who could have decided he was ready to go out and spread the word. I remember he sat there at my table and fiddled with one CTR ring after the other the whole while his partner presented the first discussion. As I recall, and this is about all I recall from my lesson that day, Elder "Ring" adjusted, rotated and admired (?) each of his eight or nine silver rings during the entire time. If his partner was as distracted as I was he never let on - he must have been the "Dad". Anyway, being on mission for nearly two years gave the author many more sad and/or hilarious experiences to share. Stories that when strung together with the author's own struggles makes this book very readable.

The Bad:

As indicated in the heading for this review, I am displeased with both the title and sub-title. What could the author/publisher possibly be thinking? If the author does care about current members of his former church then he could have picked almost any title and it would have been better than this one. As a former member he must know that anything labeling the church a "cult" is anathema and not worth considering further in the least. By declaring on the cover that this book "reveals the secrets of Mormon Mind Control" he has virtually guaranteed no member of the church, even one lacking a Temple Recommend, will read it.

Similarly, the first 51 pages gives a condensed, sarcastic and condescending summary of the LDS Church. The arrogance of his personal tone is not unlike that of the biologist Richard Dawkins. This may seem a small criticism but if the author really means to convey his message unto those who are still active members then he might as well be standing in temple square handing out anti-Mormon tracts during General Conference for all the good this book will do.

In short: The author seems to be writing this book expressly for himself and others who are already unconverted. At least for the first 51 pages. After that the author becomes funny, sad and captivating as he relates his life as a member of "the one true church". I read the remaining pages in one sitting. So buy this book if you're interested, skip the first 51 pages and enjoy.

This book presents a superb account by a former Mormon missionary of his journey through, and away from his pressure-filled entanglement with the church. I find it impossible to think of a suitable analogy to describe this complex social and human entrapment experienced by Elder Worthy, entrapment by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (otherwise known as the Mormon Church). (The author refers to himself as Elder Worthy, as that is how others referred to him throughout his mission.)

Beginning with his two-year mission in Hong Kong at the age of nineteen, Elder Worthy takes the reader with him as he experiences the journey first hand. Everything he had been brought to believe told him this would be a wondrous experience. The whole support system of his social environment, as proscribed by the Mormon Church, including his parents and authority figures, all reinforced the idea that this mission would be positive almost beyond imagination. For, how could it not be when the Heavenly Father would be inspiring individuals to hear the Word he was about to bring?

The mission itself was an ordeal--filled with frustrations, embarrassments, and feelings of inadequacy. Elder Worthy blamed all these shortcomings on himself. If only he were more diligent, more worthy, he was sure the Heavenly Father would cause the mission to be the success he had been certain it would be. Many of these frustrations were the direct result of the highly constrained rules and pressure for obedience concerning sexual expression.

As the months wore on, Elder Worthy became disillusioned about the whole mission setup. He started seeing patterns across the other missionaries at his outpost that seemed consistent with his own experience, and saw that it might be the system that led to disappointing performance, not his lack of being sufficiently worthy. The more he became disenchanted with the system, the more he began to press the limits, more or less to see how the system would react. Ultimately, the combination of frustrated sexual desires and the rush that comes with pressing the limits led him to the most serious infraction of the rules. This led to disciplinary action, the premature ending of his mission, and the disgrace to his parents and himself when he returned amongst suspicions he may have done something unworthy. He of course was not invited to give his testimony about the wonders of his mission.

Whether or not a person is familiar with the inner workings of the Mormon Church, I think the reader will gain an excellent understanding of what actually happens on these two-year missions that every 19-20 year old Mormon male experiences. Even more important in my mind is the account of one lonely person's struggle to make sense out of the many contradictions he saw on his mission, compared with all the glowing reports from the missionaries that went before him.

I became a Mormon when I was 16 years old and I practiced and followed every single rule until I started to THINK and look outside the box of Mormonism. The book written by the Former Missionary is compelling,carefully researched, honest and through personal experience all what I have read is real. Personally I can't understand a God that gave his life for me, for my freedom and redemption but that in return I have to feel guilty for what he chose. If God decided to have a son and sent him to earth then He (Jesus in his preexistence)chose to be a human, he chose to die for me and if he did it out of love then I do not own Him my respect with guiltiness and slavery. That is what I became when I was a former Mormon as well. The real God that I know made me free to enjoy Life and to choose good or bad but that is no more than life experience with the one I learn to grow. I was given intelligence and discernment. I am a human being and love being a human being and I do not have to be perfect all the time as the Church teaches. I just need to be me. Mormonism is like being in the military except that they don't use violence but persuasion and a clearly mind control over its members.The book is excellent even as a source for the ones that are investigating the church. People are starting to wake up and speak out.I haven't been a Mormon for more than 10 years and my life is still being blessed everyday. Great job.

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