Disenchanted Lives: Apostasy and Ex-Mormonism among the Latter-day Saints [Hardcover]

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormons), often heralded as the fastest growing religion in American history, is facing a crisis of apostasy. Rather than strengthening their faith, the study of church history and scriptures by many members pushes them away from Mormonism and into a growing community of secular ex-Mormons. InDisenchanted Lives, E. Marshall Brooks provides an intimate, in-depth ethnography of religious disenchantment among ex-Mormons in Utah. Showing that former church members were once deeply embedded in their religious life, Brooks argues that disenchantment unfolds as a struggle to overcome the spiritual, social, and ideological devotion ex-Mormons had to the religious community and not out of a lack of dedication as prominently portrayed in religious and scholarly writing on apostasy.  

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormons) once heralded as the fastest growing religion in American history, is facing a crisis of apostasy. Many members’ study of church history and scriptures has pushed them away from Mormonism and into a growing community of secular ex-Mormons. InDisenchanted Lives, Brooks provides an intimate, in-depth ethnography of religious disenchantment among Mormons in Utah.

E. Marshall Brooks is an assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Population Health and lectures in the School of World Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. 

"An extremely frank, thoughtful, compelling, and analytically rich exploration of contemporary apostasy and religious defection within a Mormon context. As more and more people walk away from their religion, it is essential that we understand the various dynamics at play—and Brooks's investigation on this front is not only highly readable, but extremely insightful. One of the best in-depth studies of apostasy I've ever encountered. BrolÃ2