That's a good read.
Except that many Lds are quite intelligent, even if not so spiritually discerning.
And more Lds than ever can discover things on the Internet that their parents, Boy Scout leaders, and other leaders ne'er dare mention about their past.
Sometimes, then, the Holy Spirit instills a "hunger" to dig into the "origins" of what they "caught" (as well as what they were "taught"). And when they discover disconnects galore, it tends to only intensify their emotional and spiritual and intellectual struggle.
They want to be true to the truth...yet they are heavily emotionally, spiritually, financially invested, as well as "dug in" family ties-wise...
They have to know that advocates for truth are praying for their release from legalistic bondage, e'en tho it may come at a high price tag relationally.
The Living Truth, Jesus Christ, sets them free...no matter how much sentimentalism has them all "wrapped up."
“Except that many Lds are quite intelligent, even if not so spiritually discerning.”
That’s a good view of it. I have met many ex-Mormons who certainly wouldn’t fit with what I had just written, and who came out of it exactly because Mormon doctrine and history was exposed along with the Gospel message. I was thinking of my worst encounters, the kind who sit there refusing to acknowledge that, for example, Smith predicted New Jerusalem would be built by Mormons in “this generation,” but didn’t happen, along with ignoring the the obvious contradiction with the Bible which has New Jerusalem literally floating down from heaven.