Why do Ex-Mormons Appear So Angry? John Larsen/Carah Burrell @JohnLarsen1 @nuancehoe | Ep. 1660

Why Ex-Mormons Appear Angry: The Psychology Behind the Rage

Ask a faithful Latter-day Saint why ex-Mormons seem so angry, and you will likely hear something about bitterness, sin, or spiritual rebellion. Ask an ex-Mormon the same question, and you will hear about shattered families, decades of identity built on a foundation that cracked overnight, and the particular loneliness of grieving something that most people around you still consider sacred. The gap between those two answers explains more about the Mormon faith transition experience than almost any doctrine ever could.

On a September 2022 episode of the Mormon Stories Podcast (Episode 1660), host John Dehlin sat down with Carah Burrell to tackle this exact question. What followed was less a therapy session and more an honest dissection of a social wound that the LDS community has largely refused to examine.

Background: The "Angry Ex-Mormon" Trope Has a Long History

The caricature of the furious apostate is nearly as old as the church itself. Critics who left in the 1840s were called enemies of God. Critics who left in the 1970s were called bitter. Critics who leave today get the same label with a social media megaphone attached.

What the trope conveniently sidesteps is the question of what, exactly, these people are angry about. Larsen and Burrell make a distinction worth holding onto: there is a difference between anger and hatred. The accusation lobbed at ex-Mormons is usually the latter, which carries a much heavier charge.