So I\u2019m thinking about this issue after having watched Netflix\u2019s documentary on Jodi Hildebrandt, \u201cEvil Influencer\u201d: what\u2019s up with Mormons doing criminal and immoral things under the belief they are inspired by God?<\/p>\n
Such acts, of course, are pretty rare, but at this point it\u2019s feeling a little disconcerting for it to appear that a seeming high percentage of such concerning cases happen among the Mormons.<\/p>\n
I wrote a post<\/a> in response to chat around Under the Banner of Heaven<\/em> that it\u2019s pretty clear from the historical record that those willing to make great personal sacrifice to follow the spirit have been a tremendous force for good in human history, so let me just say right off the bat that claiming to fix these problems by rejecting all spiritual promptings doesn\u2019t appear valid to me. The atheist communists killed around 100,000,000 people in the 20th<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n But some of the cases of Mormon inspiration having gone bad are truly horrifying. Not only Hildebrandt, but Chad Daybell and Vallow killing Vallow\u2019s kids under the belief they were demon possessed is really hard to fathom. I note some other cases in that post like the Laffertys.<\/p>\n In the many discussions over Mormon uneasiness over Nephi being commanded to kill Laban, I remember an old BCC post encouraging anyone feeling such a prompting to seek psychological help. I did a post on the question of \u201cother impulses<\/a>\u201d related to the spirt, noting this can be tricky, but what happens when the psychologist IS the one getting problematic promptings like Hildebrant?<\/p>\n I also recall an old post from Lynnette at Zelophehad\u2019s Daughters noting a session where the therapist gave the patients permission to be angry at God and Lynette writing in the post something like, \u201cIsn\u2019t it problematic for therapists to make such claims of religious authority?\u201d<\/p>\n Either way, I don\u2019t think such advice to seek therapy would have stopped Daybell\/Vallow, and again, Hildebrandt WAS the therapist. Lots of us I\u2019m sure are happy to have religion AND the mental health industry, but many religious people would balk at replacing religion with that profession.<\/p>\n