I left The Church of Social Justice for the same reasons I left Mormonism

Fundamentalism is an immoral application of good intentions

Apple bite and photography by E.H. Image by Natasha Coulis.

Note: I use “wokeness,” “cancel culture,” and “The Church of Social Justice” interchangeably and as different from “social justice.” Keep reading for further explanation. Imagined audience are white social justice activists.

At age 30, I felt devastated and violated to learn that at age 16, I’d put too much trust in adults I assumed knew more than I did. I tentatively accepted, then wholeheartedly believed, lie upon lie about Mormon church history and their supernatural claims.

I rocked back and forth, sobbing on the floor of my apartment bedroom. Months prior, I had left my husband and home with my children in it. I now clung to my faith like a cartoon coyote clings to a cliff-side branch, wondering what I still believed to be real and true. I felt like Descartes. Was I even real? What was real? What even was life if everything I believed about our origins (the “Pre-existence”), our eternal destiny (the “Celestial Kingdom”—for temple-married Mormons), and what human beings even are (gods-in-progress) was not true? If I couldn’t pray or get a priesthood blessing to get answers about what to do in my life, how could I make serious decisions confidently? If my entire belief…