Leaving the Saints: How I Lost the Mormons and Found My Faith

ISBN: 0307335992

Author: Beck, Martha

Condition: Used

As Mormon royalty within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Martha Beck was raised in a home frequented by the Churchs high elders in an existence framed by the strictest code of conduct. As an adult, she moved to the east coast, outside of her Mormon enclave for the first time in her life. When her son was born with Down syndrome, Martha and her husband left their graduate programs at Harvard to return to Utah, where they knew the supportive Mormon community would embrace them.But when she was hired to teach at Brigham Young University, Martha was troubled by the way the Churchs elders silenced dissidents and masked truths that contradicted its published beliefs. Most troubling of all, she was forced to face her history of sexual abuse by one of the Churchs most prominent authorities. The New York Times bestseller Leaving the Saints chronicles Marthas decision to sever her relationship with the faith that had cradled her for so long and to confront and forgive the person who betrayed her so deeply.Leaving the Saints offers a rare glimpse inside one of the worlds most secretive religions while telling a profoundly moving story of personal courage, survival, and the transformative power of spirituality.