#Brandon Sanderson Mormon

[the-weed-and-read]

FINISHED MISTBORN.

Ok I get the hype. This was worth all the praise. Honestly, this had me way more invested than Throne of Glass… am I becoming a Sanderson Girlie?!? Can I get over him being Mormon? This was good enough for me to try. Onto the next!

[victoriadallonfan]

I don't agree with a lot of Sanderson's politics - and they aren't, in fact, based in Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints doctrine, but rather Utah culture - but it also makes me pretty uncomfortable to hear you badmouthing the church I'm part of?

I badmouth religious organizations in general, Catholic Church included (in which I was raised) because they tend to be overwhelmingly corrupt and abusive towards their own church members (and especially towards people outside of them)

Mormonism in particular is especially bad for how being part of the church requires “tithings” from paychecks plus their treatment of women, minorities, and even men in ways that are almost so explicitly manipulative and cultish that it feels like it comes out of parody.

(For example, I simply declared, “I am no longer catholic” and that was it. Done. You cannot generally do the same in LDS without incredible backlash and slander by its members)

And it’s very obvious when it shows up in fictional books by a lot of Mormon writers, because it’s so conservative that it’s a step or two behind the times.

It’s not as bad as Westeros Westboro Baptist Church or Scientology, but that’s not a high bar to clear.

If your time in the church was different, I’m happy for you, because it means you likely avoided the worst parts of their abuse.

Still, if you have the time, I’d suggest watching these videos (in no particular order):

Why I Left Mormonism - Video covering the creation of the channel “Cults to Consciousness” and her abusive home life under the church

The BITE Model - Simple PowerPoint explaining the reoccurring factors of cults

Ex-Mormon Cast Reacts to Mormon Debates -Cast of ex-Mormon members react to a Mormon debate and highlight various lies and falsehoods presented, as well talk about teachings/history Mormon Church does not want revealed publicly

How the Mormon Church ‘Help Line’ Hid Child Abuse - Exactly what it says. Survivors speak out and the church has done nothing for them or worse.

If you don’t want to watch these videos, if you can’t stomach the testimonies, ask yourself and others these questions:

- How often are you allowed to preach about Heavenly Mother?

- How often do you see women in power within the church, as in, deciding doctrine and not just playing piano or making food for the men?

- How often do you see minorities in power within the church, as in, deciding doctrine or being treated as a token?

- How often does your church talk about the incredibly high suicide rates for children and how it’s associated with its practices?

- How come when a racist, anti-Semitic, misogynistic etc Prophet speaks its “the word of God” and doctrine, but then another Prophet can simply claim it was mere “policy”. Was ‘God’ lying to the prophets? Were the prophets lying about God? How can you trust what is their words and what is God?

- How come the church hid $30 Billion dollars from the public and even its own lower members?

- How come the founder lied about what was on the Egyptian papyrus, claiming it was a translation from God, but people who can actually read Egyptian pointed out he was lying?

- How come you get treated differently for asking these supposedly easy to answer questions?

I do not go after Brandon or you because you happen to be religious. I think belief in a higher power is one’s own choice and prerogative.

I instead care far more about the religious system that is using well-intended people like pawns for goals that pretty much boil down to money and power.

[dearherondale]

I've seen a lot of bingos for Wind and Truth but none I mean NONE of them could have guessed today's chapter confirmed Syl has a monster pussy

[evapillar]

Are Wayne and [redacted] the only couple in the cosmere who have extramarital sex or am I forgetting someone?

[cessreads]

Am I the only person who squealed when a queer person was introduced in Oathbringer? And it was such a cute scene. Kaladin knew there was a gay man among his bridgemen all along and he was like “oh you didn’t know??????” (or something like that) to Sigzil. Gossip kings. <3

but will there be more?

[ultimateinferno]

If you want to criticize him, at least be right. He's a Neoliberal.

[bewires]

it is kind of funny that tumblr has these in-depth death of the author conversations about whether it's moral to consume works by people who've done shitty things

when none of us will every kill the author as comprehensively as the fantasy nerd who has simply never thought to look their favorite authors up online

the amount of conversations I have had with avid readers where I point out things like that I find it, hm, shall we say interesting, that lifelong mormon Brandon Sanderson keeps writing fantasy epics where the third act twist is "the thing your culture has raised you to believe was a lie all along"

and the other person is just like "oh is he? huh. didn't know that. I just liked the book."

[bookish-bi-mormon]

So many of Sanderson's books hinge on the idea "what if there was an apostasy (a loss of/straying from truth and divinity) and then someone had to restore the truth?" and that is so Mormon of him I love it.

Mistborn OG trilogy -- there was a prophecy that was misinterpreted, and a false God was put in place. Many old records were no longer reliable because they had been changed, and therefore could not be interpreted correctly. It wasn't until the chosen person came along that the truth could be understood and things could be set right.

Elantris -- There was a way of doing things for a long time, but then something shifted, and the magic was lost. New revelation was necessary in order to bring the magic back.

Stormlight archives -- Knights Radiants existed forever ago, but the interpretations of history are all wrong. Dalinar has visions where he talks to God and is commanded to re-establish the old order. Truths and powers that were forgotten or dismissed as myths are rediscovered.

Like obviously all of his worlds are unique and his books aren't preachy or anything but that essential mormon idea of apostasy and restoration is tied into a lot of them.

[probablyevilrpgideas]

*Learns about the eye color caste system in Sanderson's stories*

"Gee, yeah, his mormonism totally doesn't affect his fantasy writing at all...... *eye roll*"

[aesudan-kholin]

most of the people in this fandom on this platform know jack shit about mormonism and will only bring it up when they want to make a potshot about sanderson's beliefs in what are usually wildly inaccurate ways. like come on if we're gonna point out the mormon influences in his work why don't we point out the allusion to anything not written in metal not being able to be trusted to the golden plates, or the similarities of kabsal to a mormon missionary, or the parallels between the belief that those in the celestial kingdom will ascend to godhood and get their own planets to run and the shards, or the exmormon influences of jasnah? but no its that mormons think gay people go to hell and sanderson is a mormon so he must believe that. fam they don't even believe in regular hell. go google search outer darkness. existing being gay is not a sin anymore in the church, even though gay sex is sin still on the level of masturbation. but does anyone care to look at the full picture of it? there is so much to be said and so many stories to tell and so many queer people who have suffered under the mormon church and how high the suicide rates are and the homophobic attitudes and polices that affect the day to day lives of those still in and those who leave the church. no one assuming they know what mormons believe so they can make a post on tumblr dot com for clout actually cares about those people though, do they? it's posturing, putting someone down to make themselves look better in comparison. thats not love. thats not helping.

did you guys know that the mormon church recently used BYU to launder hundreds of millions of dollars from canada to the U.S. ? So you guys know about the massive boy scouts of america abuse lawsuits going on right now? Do you know the name of Sam Young? do you know what the CES letter is and its impact? do you know the list of things that can get you excommunicated from the church, of which a sex change surgery and murder and talking trash about the church on the internet are side by side? do you know of the temple oaths of silence, that you might slit your own throat and disembowel yourself before speaking of the things said in the temple? do you know of the horrors of all but compulsory missionary service?

do you know about the cult tactics the church uses to keep its members from leaving? did you know the church is centered around making the member feel never good enough, never as perfect as they need to be? do you know about the honor codes at BYU and that you can get removed from the school or fired from your job for leaving or speaking against the church?

like, does literally anyone talking about mormonism here care about any of that?

and if we're going to hyperanalyze sanderson's beliefs, which i really think is someones personal business unless they specifically state otherwise, especially if saying the wrong thing (particularly as a public figure) can come with severe consequences, from my own opinion and perspective as an ex-mormon, i really dont think he holds hate in his heart for the marginalized groups he is attempting to portray. i think he genuinely cares about doing a good job and having diversity in his books and doesnt think its against god to do so. obviously the environment of his upbringing prevents him from having as honed of an instinct when it comes to diversity as some of us might prefer, but let's not pretend that it's malice or disgust driving unpreferable decisions when thats not what we have evidence of. a nevermo reader might not pick up on it, but sanderson constantly writes themes and narratives contrary to the teachings of the church (looking at you cytonic). he is not bound to the beliefs of the church, as such is the case with many members especially nowadays with all the cultural shifts happening.

so when someone who knows nothing about mormonism takes a narrative decision they find unfavorable and claims its a result of the mormon influences, really consider if its because its actually related to mormon attitudes or if its because mormonism is a convenient scapegoat of which people dont seem to care to know the real truth and problems behind. like, asking the question "how might sandersons religious views and upbringing impact the way he wrote the narrative here?" is such a good and interesting question, but you can only get real meaning from it if you actually know a thing or 2 about mormonism to begin with. hey, watch some john dehlin, i met the guy once, he's great, and the mormon stories podcast is always interesting and informative. or like browse the exmormon subreddit. idk. i feel like actually learning about these things and doing what you can to support victims in this hell church does so much more good than complaining on a website that an author didnt write the story how you wanted and blaming it on his faith in a way that's not even accurate or adding anything to the conversation

[portuguesedisaster]

I'm laughing so fucking much at Daniel Greene slowly losing his sanity at the weirdest opinion article ever and like...what are u even reading Daniel? The fact that the title is "Brandon Sanderson is your God". I'm just expecting someone to jump out of the somewhere and explain this is a joke.

[furiousfinnstan]

HELLO

[obstinatecondolement]

Try though I may not to get invested in people who are Perfect Strangers to me just because they have an affable online persona, I do find myself very endeared to Brandon Sanderson. I have read none of his books, but I think his YouTube videos are very enjoyable and I am much relieved that he has both vocally affirmed his support of LGBTQ+ people in general, and trans people specifically, and has apologised (in a way that seems very sincere and earnest to me) for clumsy and unintentionally homophobic things he has said in the past. Which is, like, more than can be said of some fantasy authors.

[kaldwins-bridge]

Disaffected Brandon Mull fans should read The Stormlight Archive immediately

[ardri-na-bpiteog]

"Adolin grinned. Kaladin looked like a man trying to wear his childhood suit; he'd never button that coat across his broad chest"

oh my god just fuck already!!!!

[kaftan]

Messaging someone from a dating app is going through the five stages of grief as you realize you still want to fuck them after they say the damnedest things