Thursday, July 23, 2009

Leaving the Saints - A Review

I was browsing at the local library and happened to find an audio book of Martha Beck's Leaving the Saints. I had to check it out as the description immediately had me hooked.

"...soon after Martha began teaching at BYU, she began to see firsthand the Church's ruthlessness as it 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 Church's most prominent authorities. This book chronicles her difficult 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."

Martha is the daughter of the famed Mormon apologist (professional excuse maker), Hugh Nibley. Although she makes an effort in the book to not mention his name, the famous Mormon defender turns out to be a child sexual predator. It's a sad story of how her own mother and siblings turn against her in order to preserve the church, her father's reputation, and the testimonies of all who relied on him.

As I listen to this story, it enrages me to hear her describe how, years later, her father denies the sexual abuse and taunts her with "you'll never prove it." Funny how proof is so important to him in that case, but any other type of proof can be tossed to the wind when it comes to maintaining and defending the faith. And even if she did prove it, we all know that Nibley was the master of twisting the truth to meet his own pre-determined outcome.

She also describes how she discovered that her father had published outright lies about the "sources" he quoted and how his 'fact checkers' were threatened with their jobs if they came out with the truth.

This book is a must-read for everyone, faithful and non-faithful alike.

8 comments:

adamf said...

I can see why you would like to defend her, given your stance, and Mormons would like to bury her stuff or call her a liar, given their stance, but from independent sources she has been discredited. I suggest you read the book "Mistakes Were Made, but not by me" - it mentions Beck and the abuse stuff. Fact is, there are much better and more conclusive claims against Mormons and Mormonism. Beck's is not even close to truthful, and is based on "recovered memories" which aren't reliable in any way.

Just because something jives with what you already believe doesn't make it true, and I am not just pointing the finger at you, most of us do it.

Mormon411 said...

I'll be willing to be you $100 that you haven't even read it. First of all, throughout the entire book, she NEVER mentions the name of her father. Her purpose in writing this book is just to tell her story, not to discredit her father or the church. She tells further stories of Apostles doing some very dishonest things and, again, she does not mention any names. Why would she write such a book with such controversial claims and not mention any names? If she was going to make it all up, I am quite sure it would have been written differently.

adamf said...

Lol, I wasn't referring to the book, and no, I haven't read it yet, although I plan to. Then you will owe me $100. :)

You didn't address my point, however, that of how we all seem to accept things that support our views. It is a common error.

Mormon411 said...

I didn't address it because I don't see it's relevence. If there was just one or two things that didn't "jive" with my position on Mormonism, then I would have nothing to blog about. But since there are countless issues, I have plently to talk about. And again, as far as Beck is concerned, Mormons will always deny and explain away her story. But as I see it, she has no reason to make up stuff like that. I'm not simply taking her side because it fits my side, but because I see no reason to not believe her. I'm willing to look at opposing evidence, but my experience thus far has taught me that most Mormon defense tactics require a ton of mental gymnastics. Therefore, I am hesitant to take the time to find them.

adamf said...

You should read the book I mentioned, regardless. People make up stuff all the time, or even more interesting, they are convinced of this or that experience when it didn't really happen (such as alien abductions, or abuse in some cases. ) Beck may very well be convinced of what happened, but that doesn't mean it did. It's not about making it up or not. Recovered memories are totally unreliable, regardless of who they are coming from. Letting your views in Mormons influence how you view the book is the same as a Mormon letting their love for Hugh Nibley get in the way of how they view the book. It's best too look at credible independent sources.

Mormon411 said...

You should read the book I mentioned, regardless. People make up stuff all the time, or even more interesting, they are convinced of this or that experience when it didn't really happen (such as alien abductions, or abuse in some cases. ) Beck may very well be convinced of what happened, but that doesn't mean it did. It's not about making it up or not. Recovered memories are totally unreliable, regardless of who they are coming from. Letting your views in Mormons influence how you view the book is the same as a Mormon letting their love for Hugh Nibley get in the way of how they view the book. It's best too look at credible independent sources.

True, I don't buy into every alien abduction story. In fact, Beck talks about her near death experience and her encounter with the "light". I'm skeptical of that seeing as how she was hopped up on drugs at the time.

However, she does discuss the evidence of sexual abuse such as scarring in that area. She also tells how her childhood was fraught with nightmares and an obsession with killing herself (starting at age 6). I don't think these are symptoms that just show up out of no where (usually). But anyway, I encourage you to read the book (the audio book was an easy read) and then make your judgement from there. If I have time, I'll check out the book you referred to.

adamf said...

Audio book sounds good. I always seem to have time for those.

The book I mentioned is by two social psychologists. One of the chapters deals with recovered memories, but the rest of it is great as well, talking about cognitive dissonance and all kids of interesting stuff.

Mormon411 said...

Here is a link to an article written by Steve Benson explaining why he believes Martha Beck is telling the truth. Benson has known Beck personally for years and states that he finds every aspect of her story to be true. http://www.mormoncurtain.com/#pub_1584085923.