u/BetComprehensive6316

I was told of something that a lot of people didn't know was going on and neither did I. I was shown that there was a disconnect between material that people of other faiths/beliefs people use outside of the LDS church, and I wanted to show it so people are aware of what's going on. I listed them each as short stances to list a few loophole stances at the same time: Here's the heads I win tails you lose material:

1. The Wealth stance “The Church is poor → It can’t be God’s church.” “The Church is rich → It’s too wealthy to be God’s church.”

2. The “Too Weird vs Too Normal” stance “The Church is weird and rejected → Definitely a cult.” “The Church is normal and successful → It sold out and isn’t special anymore.”

3. The Cult Size Stance “It’s small → It’s irrelevant.” “It’s big → It’s too big to be a real cult… or is it?”

4. The Joseph Smith Stance “His prophecies failed → False prophet.” “His prophecies came true → He was too vague or lucky.”

5. The Book of Mormon Stance “The book is too simple → He made it up.” “The book is too complex → An uneducated boy couldn’t do that. Fake!”

6. The Change Stance “The Church changes its teachings → It’s false.” “The Church never changes → It’s rigid and outdated.”

Prophet Stance “Prophets make mistakes → Not real prophets.” “Prophets are too perfect → Clearly fake.”

Modesty Stance “They teach modesty → Oppressive and sexist.” “Members dress normally → They’re becoming worldly.”

Jesus Stance “They talk about Jesus a lot → Copying real Christians/unauthentic worship/don't believe in him.” “They focus on Joseph Smith → They don’t center Jesus.”

Welfare Stance “They help their own → Selfish.” “They help everyone → Trying to look good.”

Testimony Stance “People feel the Spirit → Emotional manipulation.” “Some don’t feel anything → The Church isn’t true.”

As much as I think ex Mormons make good pointers sometimes I think this is a legit problem that needs to be acknowledged. Moving the goalposts or confirmation bias isn't good at all, I'm not sure how the material got to this point In the first place anyways.

I recently watched some videos where Alex O’Connor (an atheist) discussed positive observations about Mormonism/LDS culture and practices. The reaction from parts of the ex-Mormon community was extremely negative, which surprised me. I’m someone who has my own struggles and doubts with the Church, but the intensity of the pushback is almost utter insanity. It often feels like no positive aspect of the LDS faith can be acknowledged—whether positive comments comes from an atheist, an agnostic, a mainstream Christian, or anyone else. Even neutral or charitable analysis seems to get twisted or dismissed outright. I saw one podcast where ex-Mormons themselves expressed embarrassment over how some prominent voices (like RFM and others) were framing or even misrepresenting what Alex and Jacob said, despite him being a clear atheist with no skin in the game. I get why people leave and why there’s pain and anger—those feelings are real. But at what point does the skepticism toward the Church become an unwillingness to grant any credit at all? It starts to feel more like an obsession than healthy criticism.