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A review by zoenikos
Leaving the Saints: How I Lost the Mormons and Found My Faith by Martha Beck
5.0
This book had a long history for me. Years ago I read Expecting Adam and loved it. A friend I loaned it to was skeptical however, and did some research. In retrospect that must have been about the time Leaving the Saints was hitting the Mormon community like a flaming bag full of poo. There were plenty of people to be found online claiming that Martha Beck was a compulsive liar who'd made up half of the details in a book she explicitly labeled a true story (Expecting Adam), and that much of the content in Leaving the Saints had been refuted by everyone from her ex-husband to her hairdresser. I was a tiny bit crushed and bitter because reading Expecting Adam I felt like I'd gotten to know her and felt betrayed, like a close friend had lied to me. After that I forgot about Martha Beck for a while and became obsessed with the wacky Mitfords.
Recently something that had to do with Beck piqued my attention (damned if I can remember what) and I found myself putting this book on hold at the library. Before I started it I revisited some of the online controversy about the book and Martha in general. I was determined not to be taken in this time so I wanted to make sure I had as much of both sides of the story as possible. All this to say that I went into this book with a somewhat cynical attitude. I kind of didn't want to believe her, damn that fibbing Martha Beck!
However, after reading the entire book, I'm pretty sure that Martha is an intelligent, kind, honest person who was a victim of a smear campaign by the Mormon church. She had the dubious luck to be part of a famous Mormon family. Her father is revered as an apologist for the faith by the Mormon church & community and unfortunately her book is the story of how she dealt with the aftermath of being sexually abused by this man as a young child: Cue the shouts of "Heresy!!"
After reading Under the Banner of Heaven, everything Martha writes about just confirms my certainty that although the vast majority of Mormon people are good, sincere (I've only known a few Latter Day Saints, but they were all just... nice*) people, the Mormon church leadership is the typical religious establishment with a hefty dose of rabid paranoia, propaganda, and barely subdued violence. Beck lays out a lot of the basic Mormon beliefs which, she says, the average Mormon is not even fully aware of. Mormons are encouraged not to think too deeply about their faith and even the academics are at BYU are suspiciously watched and distrusted by the church authorities.
The fact that her family had publicly denied and even ridiculed Beck's claims of abuse was one of the things that made me leery of her claims in the first place. However, knowing that denial and mocking of the victim is a common trait in dysfunctional families, and that her siblings are all still deeply involved in the Mormon church, along with Beck's loving and understanding descriptions of her siblings in spite of their lack of support made me fairly certain that Beck is the one telling the truth here. Her father died shortly after the book was published, still refusing to acknowledge her claims.
I enjoyed this book quite a bit and found I identified with Beck in a lot of areas, especially the matter of growing up in a repressive (though less so, in my case) religious atmosphere and then finding my way as an adult to my own beliefs. She occasionally goes too far off the wacky spirituality spectrum for me to follow, but in general we have very similar outlooks on life.
*And I don't mean that in a negative way. I mean genuinely kind and well-intentioned.
Recently something that had to do with Beck piqued my attention (damned if I can remember what) and I found myself putting this book on hold at the library. Before I started it I revisited some of the online controversy about the book and Martha in general. I was determined not to be taken in this time so I wanted to make sure I had as much of both sides of the story as possible. All this to say that I went into this book with a somewhat cynical attitude. I kind of didn't want to believe her, damn that fibbing Martha Beck!
However, after reading the entire book, I'm pretty sure that Martha is an intelligent, kind, honest person who was a victim of a smear campaign by the Mormon church. She had the dubious luck to be part of a famous Mormon family. Her father is revered as an apologist for the faith by the Mormon church & community and unfortunately her book is the story of how she dealt with the aftermath of being sexually abused by this man as a young child: Cue the shouts of "Heresy!!"
After reading Under the Banner of Heaven, everything Martha writes about just confirms my certainty that although the vast majority of Mormon people are good, sincere (I've only known a few Latter Day Saints, but they were all just... nice*) people, the Mormon church leadership is the typical religious establishment with a hefty dose of rabid paranoia, propaganda, and barely subdued violence. Beck lays out a lot of the basic Mormon beliefs which, she says, the average Mormon is not even fully aware of. Mormons are encouraged not to think too deeply about their faith and even the academics are at BYU are suspiciously watched and distrusted by the church authorities.
The fact that her family had publicly denied and even ridiculed Beck's claims of abuse was one of the things that made me leery of her claims in the first place. However, knowing that denial and mocking of the victim is a common trait in dysfunctional families, and that her siblings are all still deeply involved in the Mormon church, along with Beck's loving and understanding descriptions of her siblings in spite of their lack of support made me fairly certain that Beck is the one telling the truth here. Her father died shortly after the book was published, still refusing to acknowledge her claims.
I enjoyed this book quite a bit and found I identified with Beck in a lot of areas, especially the matter of growing up in a repressive (though less so, in my case) religious atmosphere and then finding my way as an adult to my own beliefs. She occasionally goes too far off the wacky spirituality spectrum for me to follow, but in general we have very similar outlooks on life.
*And I don't mean that in a negative way. I mean genuinely kind and well-intentioned.