Lucifer's Lantern

Religion can offer structure, purpose, and belonging, but for many young people raised in high-demand religious environments, it becomes a source of fear and lasting psychological harm. A 2023 systematic review in Psychiatry Research analyzed 152 studies on adolescent religiosity and found a mixed picture. While some studies showed lower rates of depression and risky behavior among religious youth, the positive outcomes depended heavily on whether the environment provided emotional support and personal meaning (Koenig et al., 2023). When belief was enforced through guilt, fear, or strict control, the effects were often negative. Mental health professionals have begun using the term Religious Trauma Syndrome to describe the harm caused by authoritarian religious systems. Symptoms can include anxiety, depression, identity confusion, and chronic guilt. Many individuals report decision paralysis, nightmares, and a deep-seated fear of divine punishment, especially if they grew...

I want to share a little bit about my experience going through a Mormon temple. Specifically, I’m going to talk about the expectations that were set up from a young age, what it was like the first few times I went, and how I eventually lost my faith in temple worship overall. I grew up in northern Utah. My parents were LDS, so I was a child of the covenant. I was baptized at eight and raised in church culture—Boy Scouts, Young Men’s, seminary, a mission. Basically the typical path you’d expect from a Mormon boy. The point I want to make is that the decision to attend the temple wasn’t just a spur-of-the-moment choice. You don’t just wake up one day and decide to go. At least not in my experience. I was born into the church, started attending Primary, and from that point on, I was told I’d get baptized, receive the Aaronic priesthood, receive the Melchizedek priesthood, and go through the temple. That message was repeated over and over from the time I was in Sunbeams until baptism at ...

In a formal statement released this morning, the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced that, as of today, the Church is officially and fully true. “For nearly 200 years, the Church has moved forward through continuing revelation,” said President Russell M. Nelson. “That process has brought us to this moment. As of 8:46 a.m. Mountain Time, we affirm that the Church is now doctrinally complete, organizationally aligned, and spiritually whole. The Church is true. Starting... now. ” President Dallin H. Oaks emphasized that the announcement does not deny or discredit the teachings of earlier prophets. “Everything that came before should be understood as part of what we already understood was a continuing restoration,” he said. “Today marks the point at which the gospel has officially been restored.” The Church's official newsroom confirmed that all prior doctrinal contradictions, historical complexities, and structural inconsiste...