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Out of Mormonism: A Woman's True Story

Out of Mormonism: A Woman's True Story

List Price: $12.99
Your Price: $9.74
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A little brash, but still has some merit
Review: I live in Utah, the state that is 70% filled with LDS people. Many of the non-Mormon people here seem to think that the LDS church is just andother Christian denomination. It's not, which is why so many books have been written for Christian and Mormons alike showing that Mormonism is nothing more than an 11 Million member cult. I've read many, many books on the subject. This one was handed to me as an item to return at the library, since I work at one. I decided to give it a try, especially since I have noticed that the locals (Mormon Utahns) seem to gravitate towards these books and thusly ask for them. Robertson's work is a lot less nasty than say, "the Godmakers" by that Decker guy. Instead of presenting theology in a boring matter to the reader, Robertson shares her experiences as a former member of the LDS church. She does, however, occasionally vent some rage, which is why her book gets 4 stars. I recommend this, though, if you are looking for something that does not come out and blatantly accuse. As for the remarks I've heard in person and read here, Mormon missionaries are very persistent. Unil my parents confronted out LDS neighbors that their missionaries' efforts were in vain, we were visited by Mormon missionaries every week at least once. They are kind of like telemarketers. Excpet I prefer the telemarketers, becuase you can hang up on them and they eventually give up. Mormon missionaries do not. Which is why so many people give in--so they will quit bothering them.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This was a pretty good book
Review: I read this book and I found it to be pretty good. Not a whole lot of people know what happens inside mormonism but this explains it pretty well. I visited with a now exgirlfriend several times and it is quite different. Everything they say it is, its not really. I would recommend this book to everyone to read both mormon or nonmormon. I'd also recommend a wonderful book called the Bible, its got awesome truths on life and God's wisdom.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Voice from the Dust, you Rock!
Review: I want to review Voice from the Dust of November 11, 2001!
Five stars Dude, you totally rock, that's the best darn satire I've read. I was in hysterics!
You are so right on, and you can bet Joseph Smith is begging for a sip of water and to get out of those god-awful neck to wrist to ankle garments "that can never be altered from the very pattern in which God gave them" he has inflicted on so many!
Rock on!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: In's and out's of Mormonism
Review: Judy Robertson gives a layperson's view of how a family gets caught up in Mormonism, finds out more about its beliefs and practices, and then leaves it for Christianity. For Christians who have no understanding of that process, this testimony would be a good place to start. Its style is candid and unpretentious and not meant to be professional.

Robertson's account poignantly conveys the hurts, rejections, and personal attacks which often occur in the process of leaving Mormonism. I especially appreciated her sharing of her children's perspectives on their spiritual journey--they are a feature unique to this book.

My only disappointment is that this release is a retitled reissue of an earlier book. I think it would have been more fair to the buying public to retain the original title.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Honest & Open
Review: Judy shares a lot of inner thoughts and practices of the mormon church. Her emotion is apparent in the book about how the church affected her life. I think it gives great insight as to how she discovered the truth and she provides biblical references. This may not be a book to buy your female mormon friends unless they have recently opened up as she suggests in her book. She shares about the temple ceremony, why mormon women have so many babies, how the mormon religion twists words & fails to teach individual thinking, a woman's relationship and role in the mormon church and how to witness to mormons.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: If you want to learn how to cook are you going to ask a cop?
Review: Like my title suggests, I find it interesting when people look for fact about a subject without going directly to a valid source. If you want to learn how to be an incredible cook, the best source to learn from would be from a chef. I am constantly amazed by the amount of people who will avoid this best possible source and instead ask a plummer or a doctor(hypothetically speaking of course)and take their advice as if it were gold. Now, STAY WITH ME, for all of you who are thinking, "SHE WAS A MORMON! WHAT BETTER SOURCE IS THERE?!" If you are interested in learning about specifically one person's experience then this is the book for you. But it would be ridiculous to devour this book as a guide to "understanding mormon doctrine" etc. when it has nothing to do with such. It is simply an opinion, an experience, a journal entry so-to-speak, about one person's "perspective" on an experience in their life. I would also keep in mind that when looking for valid sources, there are even "mormons," like Judy, who MAY not be valid sources for finding out about the religion or the practices because they themselves have never bothered to find out, or simply understand it differently. It is very similar to anything else in this world. You have people that claim they are hundreds of millions of different things. That doesn't mean that they are, or maybe they are "trying to be" but they certainly are not experts on it yet. It is a perception. My advice, if you actually want to learn something about the LDS faith or "mormons" as they are more commonly known, go to a vaild source. A starting point? www.lds.org may have some suggestions. Just be careful about deciding whether or not you accept something as fact about a subject before validating the source and even then, know that it is simply someone else's perspective and nothing else. As with any religion, the teachings or gospel, is the foundation of the religion. The "members" of that religion, are simply people. Most seem to be people who have just come across something that caught their attention enough to want to try and implement or mold their life towards those teachings. This in no way makes the individual members of a religion, the religion itself. Go to the source. Religious teachings are not defined by the people who try to live them or by people who come in contact with someone who tries to live them. Hope this helps :)

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Good Resource
Review: OUT OF MORMONISM tells the autobiographical story of Judy Robertson's experience in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The book exists to lend a personal face to the plethora of Mormonism resources that are out there.

Robertson's story is worth reading. She grew up in the (orthodox) Christian church but because of a lack of Biblical grounding she found herself drawn into Mormonism with her family, thanks to the LDS's emphasis on family and morals. At first it was a blissful life, but things began to sour when some of the deeper truths about Mormon doctrine were learned, and when her and her husband were sealed in the temple ceremony (an experience that shocked her to her core). Eventually she became so disillusioned with the discrepancies between Mormon doctrine and the Bible that she found the courage to leave the church, and she now runs and outreach to Mormons with her husband.

If you know someone who is struggling with some of Mormonism's teachings, this might be a good resource to give them. It's pretty even-handed and not antagonistic (unlike some other books on this church). The only issues I take with it are literary. Robertson isn't the best writer and as a result her story, which should've been profoundly moving, seems a little forced and impersonal. It's a powerful testimony, but it could've been told better if a different writer would've handled it. A similar book, BEYOND MORMONISM, by James Spencer, I found to be much more effective, personal, and moving. I would look for BEYOND MORMONISM first, if pursuing a book of this nature, but OUT OF MORMONISM is not a bad choice by any means. It speaks the truth and does so in a straight-foreword and loving manner, and hopefully it will be a powerful tool to reach the lost for Christ. THREE 1/2 STARS.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Let the Truth be known....
Review: Praise the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! Judy Robertson has been given a mission in her life to expose the cult, the lies, the deception that comes from the pit of Hell and is called "Mormon"!! Through her book she tells what goes on behind the walls of the "Temple". She tells things that aren't told up front to people joining the "church". They reel you in and get you trapped!! The ceremony that goes on in the "Temple" comes from Hell itself with a man behind a veil calling himself "Lord"! I highly reccommend this book to anyone who is thinking of joining the Mormon church. There is only one God and only one true Book...."The Bible". Jesus Christ died on the cross to save us from Hell. Nothing you can DO can save you. Only accepting Jesus Christ into your life will save you from Hell!! Join the Mormon church and you are opening up your life to the devil, Satan himself. Get this book! It could mean the difference between Heaven and Hell!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Unbelievable
Review: Seriously, I don't believe much of this book.
After reading enough of it to get the back story at the book store, about a family searching to fill a spiritual void in their lives, I brought it home with me.
Generally, I do not read books written by former Mormons when studying the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons), because they tend to be bitter, angry, and full of just enough truth to make them seem believable.
This book reminded me of that, so I gave it three stars instead of one.
While at the start of the book, the author takes responsibility for not knowing enough about the Bible to refute Mormonism, that is pretty much the only place where she takes responsibility for anything. She proceeds to blame all of HER personal issues, like pride, depression, and marriage difficulties on the LDS church and its teachings. At many parts I just wished that she would stop whining and look in the mirror to put a face on her problems.
The overall dispute I had with her story was that she joined the LDS church for the wrong reasons, a common mistake. Her family joined for want of worldly blessings, without proper study into it (another thing she blames on Mormons). When she doesn't get the great house, the money, or the picture perfect family, she assumes that it means her religion must be wrong. This does not correspond with the teachings of Jesus, which state "If ye love me, keep my commandments", not "If ye want a nice house, a perfect family, and a problem-free life, keep my commandments".
Anyone who treats religion as a burden of duty to get blessings will eventually be crushed under it, as happens to this woman. She now proclaims that it was an act of God.
One thing that turned me off is that she and her husband end up forming a small army of ex-Mormons to attack the Mormon church. I have issues with anyone who seeks to tear down someone's religion instead of teaching their own.
In the end, the pleathora of doctrine misinterpretations, both in Mormon scripture and the Bible, the misinformation about Mormon teachings, and the tendancy to blame most, if not all, of her problems on the LDS church led me to wonder if the twenty years of persecuting the Mormons between when they left that church and when the book was written hadn't reshaped some events in their minds.
This book is not to be taken seriously. It was not the inspiring story of religious conversion I was expecting. Mormon or not, if you have spiritual questions about the Mormon faith, read their scriptures and the Bible, think about it, and THEN pray, having not decided one way or the other, trusting to God to lead you downt he right path.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Interesting but terribly biased
Review: The first half of this book is interesting. It describes this couple's conversion and immersion into the Mormon culture. Unfortunately, the author is terribly biased and the venom she feels comes through blatantly from the beginning.

Many people have resentments toward the Mormon church, however very few have started such a malicious program of persecution against them like the author and her husband. She claims over and over again that everything she does is in Jesus' name, however I wonder if Jesus would truly condone the behavior this woman and her organization have instigated in his name.

If you pick up this book, I would recommend reading it with a with an eye to the bias included. A better book that describes the culture with humor and insight is Deborah Laake's "Secret Ceremonies".


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