Disaffected Mormon Underground
New Order Mormons Retain Membership; May Not Believe in the Church
Any group with a large enough member base is likely to have members who see things differently. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which claims 12 million members worldwide, is no exception to this rule. There are faithful Mormons that can be liberal or orthodox in the interpretation of the faith. There is also a growing movement that has come to be known as the Disaffected Mormon Underground or DAMU.
Members of the Disaffected Mormon Underground congregate on blogs written from the perspective of dissatisfied church members, message boards like the Further Light and Knowlege forums. Zarahemla City Limits is a website that contains artciles and discussions on many issues facting the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This group of disaffected Mormons know about the more controversial aspects of church, including aspects of Mormon history that they believe differs from what they had been taught in Sunday school.
Which Members Comprise the Disaffected Mormon Underground?
Many DAMU Mormons choose to remain in the church even if they do not believe. The reasons for this vary and are individual. Some members choose to remain in the church for social or family reasons. Others may find value in some of the teachings of the church, and other Mormons who no longer believe in the Mormon faith stay in the church because a spouse would divorce them if they left the church.
Many members of the DAMU also belong to a group called New Order Mormons and in some cases the terms can be used interchangeably, according to the Motley Vision blog. Technically, though, New Order Mormon describes a type of Mormon. The term Disaffected Mormon Underground names a movement of dissent within the church. This movement of dissent differs from the liberal morons who read Sunstone and Dialogue, because they do not believe in Joseph Smith as a prophet, the Book of Mormon, or that the church is being led by divine authority.
The Effect of New Order Mormons on the Church
Currently, this group is a small percentage of active members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Many New Order Mormons pay tithing and hold temple recommends, although the church does not keep statistics on how many church members do not believe in the religion. People who consider themselves to be part of the Disaffected Mormon Underground discuss the issues they face on like-minded message boards and blogs under aliases to prevent church leaders from finding out their true beliefs. If the views of New Order Mormons were found out, the fear is local church leaders would cause them to face church discipline.
Resources:
