Last night I received an unsolicited text message from “Morrow.” It arrived while I was texting a message to my 18 year-old son. The lengthy spam, complete with dozens of links to news articles, chronicled ostensible Mormon “hate crimes,” listing incidents of vandalism, graffiti, assault and battery and arson over the past decade or so, committed against LDS property and some Mormon individuals. It appears that a formal organization has been created to deal with this ‘problem.’ Morrow writes: “The society for the Prevention of Anti-Mormonism tracks instances of vandalism, violence and persecution against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members.”

This latter-day saint then writes that: “Few people outside the Church have any appreciation of the level of hostility that is leveled at the Church.” Among the extensive list of crimes in the text message is the notation: “19 November, 2008, South Park creators announce “Mormon Musical,” which ridicules latter-day saints.” Morrows spam list, is an attempt to include legitimate literary and artistic criticism with crimes against Mormons. It is an excellent example of the logical fallacy known as hasty generalization. Morrow implies that all the activities he lists must be criminal, hateful or despicable. His error is in his premise, and his implied conclusion is without sufficient foundational evidence. To equate legitimate statements, articles, blogs, publications, and even Broadway musical parodies, with criminal activity is simply sloppy thinking. Such a broad, over-reaching, inclusive grouping of activities, done without considering all of the variables attendant to each incident, induces the conclusion that all statements against Mormons are criminal. Morrow has failed to make critical distinctions among the activities he enumerates. His analysis is patently absurd.

Morrow correctly claims that vandalism and violence are criminal; however, he then mistakenly lumps the broad and subjective term ‘persecution,’ together with the crimes. What the society for the Prevention of Anti-Mormonism might not appreciate is that the actions or speech they term ‘persecution,’ are not necessarily criminal; indeed, what is characterized as “anti-Mormon,” when limited to statements, publications or even Broadway musicals, is usually the mere exercise of a constitutionally protected right to freedom of speech. Those who exercise this first amendment right, which includes theatre, dance, song and all other forms of expression, and yes, graffiti (the crime is not in the content, but in the trespass to property) are not criminals, but critics. Critical thinking is never a crime—it is a requirement for the improvement of society; otherwise we stagnate in the status quo.

Even the substance of graffiti is not illegal; it is the trespass and damage to property that is the crime, not the content of the words written on the side of the chapel. He lists a case where a Book of Mormon was burned on the doorsteps of a chapel. Again, the right to burn a Book of Mormon is absolutely within the parameters of free speech. It is only where the burning was done (on LDS real estate) that made it criminal. Merely criticizing Mormonism, without more, is not a hate crime. As enlightened minds can appreciate (but those who remain in the dark will never acknowledge) those who speak truth to power are voices of clarity and reason to those who have ears to hear.

Criticizing Mormonism is no different than criticizing Nazism, communism, ethnocentrism, elitism, pessimism, or any other sort of “ism.” Those who were influenced by Hitler, claimed Christianity as their guidepost, believing they were in the right, contemporaneously with the horrible atrocities committed by Nazis. Now, in the 21st-century, most have rejected Hitler’s belief system.

Communism too, has lost its adherents and its appeal. In the Cold War Era of my youth, the U.S.S.R. , East Germany and the political framework of most eastern European countries were communist—but the wall fell and freedom is now more widespread. The exceptions, those countries that remain under communist rule, can be listed on one hand: North Korea, Laos, Vietnam, China and Cuba. Was communism good or bad? Depends on who you ask. It was useful for those in power in the 20th century. However, the recent history of global political science has shown that more enlightened minds prevailed and now communism is on its deathbed.

Mormonism will also die. Like the political system that supported the Berlin wall that fell, Mormonism is being exposed for its corruption and will also deconstruct. It is corrupt to its core– its misrepresentation of its own history, its calculated and manipulative theology, its racism, sexism and active homophobia–all these negative belief systems are being exposed by truth-seekers of the information age. Mormonism will implode. It is just a matter of time.

In Support of Resignation – One man’s point of view.

Not long ago I happened to find myself in a discussion with an ex-Mormon woman who said she was discouraging her husband from resignation from the Church. She apparently considered herself an ex-Mormon, never having resigned, and so, was actually someone who the Church would have considered to be an inactive member. Her husband, she said, struggled deeply over his realization that the Church was not true, and felt he needed to resign, formally, but was deeply conflicted over that step as well. She, rather casually, shared her opinion that the resignation served no real benefit, but rather was an illusory and meaningless thing. I respectfully disagreed.

Some of us, I explained, particularly those of us who are former members of the “Holy Melchizedek Priesthood” see this a little differently. As former members, some of us took our oaths and covenants very seriously. We were true believers. Such was my case. We not only believed in the doctrine and ordinances and covenants of the Church, but also believed that the underlying philosophical and social principles behind them were sound. We actually believed that it was our moral obligation to share the truth of the “Gospel” with others and we did, quite seriously. This because of the underlying spiritual perception, that I still believe to be true, that the cosmos is interconnected on all levels and that our welfare in the universe is directly and inseparably connected to our respect for the welfare of others. The sharing of fundamental truths that impact on our perception and grasp of reality in a healthy and life affirming way is an inherent obligation that, while exploited egregiously by the Mormon Church’s fraudulent representations that we were naive enough to believe for a time, does in fact continue on as an important and relevant aspect of actual social and spiritual welfare, apart from and separate from the lies and misrepresentations of a false and exploitive priesthood.

We, former members of the Holy Melchizedek priesthood, whether that priesthood was a false construct of manipulative masterminds for personal gain, or some warped and twisted karmic wave of social obedience with real cosmic impact, did, in fact, testify to others that things that we now know to be false, were true. We did this. This is not an insignificant thing to do. The fact that we might have been mistaken, does not exonerate us from the cosmic ramifications of contributing to a karmic wave of obedience to false prophets and false doctrines that exploit faith and hope, corrupt epistemology and the reasoning process, and contribute to a subtle yet deadly social cancer that is contributing profoundly to the social blindness behind the greatest potential political force on earth. We supported, encouraged, and contributed to this wave. This social wave is very, very real. We had a hand in this.

For my part, I believe that it would have been dishonorable for me to slip away into quiet inactivity after having boldly testified to others that the Church was true and having personally baptized more souls than I can recall, into the Church. The excruciating point of realization that I had been deceived and that I had contributed to the deception of others was not a time to cower quietly in shame over my mistake, but rather to make restitution and take meaningful steps to separate my karma from the wave that I had attached myself to. What we find dishonorable and disgusting about a certain Mormon politician’s public behavior, is his complete incapacity to admit that he is so often and arrogantly wrong. His psyche continues to bear publicly the fruits of the epistemological instability and corruption that is inherently ingrained in the social and doctrinal culture of the Mormon Church. Shall we be so cowardly? We, former members of the Mormon Church vastly outnumber the current members, and yet the current membership, because of our silence, passes itself off as one of the most powerful political forces on earth and contributes to the social blindness that accepts the exploitation of faith as an excusable act solely on the basis of a public veneer of good works. The philosophical attitude that makes up this duplicity infects every aspect of culture. The naivete’ that supposes that we will somehow navigate the remnants of our society out of the destructive social rocks of an Orwellian culture of double-think, without calling the underlying philosophical corruption that masquerades as this religion that we once promoted out for what it is, is a dangerous social disease.

I believe that we owe it to our fellow beings to be honest about our mistakes and former testimonies, by setting ourselves right, formally, as conscientious objectors to a social ill with serious ramifications. To set ourselves right, we must formally resign our former covenants, however false and fraudulent they might have been, as an acknowledgement of that fraud and our unwillingness to allow our stale and out of date membership records to be touted by the Church as one of 14 million members. Let us not allow anything that we have any control over to be further misused or misrepresented by the Church to promote illusions about its strength, vitality, and legitimacy. Let us renounce, and announce that we have renounced. This begins our restitution. This is not an insignificant thing. It is profound. Please support, if you are able, the group resignation gatherings and invite others to do so.

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Park B. Romney, a second cousin to presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, is author of The Apostasy of a High Priest – The Sociology of an American Cult now available on Amazon.com.

For information about Park Romney see parkromney.com

The Apostasy of a High Priest -
The Sociology of an American Cult
by Park B. Romney

Buy Now!

A Book Review by Kay Burningham

This is a short, but well-written book by a distant cousin of Mitt Romney who shares his thoughts on why he chose to leave the LDS Church after a lifetime of service. In middle age, Park Romney realizes that LDS truth is manufactured through emotion and that LDS priesthood authority is no more than a group of men who try to lead as they feel they should, many times without regard to making just decisions in their callings by reviewing evidence, but by making decisions that validate their feelings or their agenda. This process, known as confirmation bias, is endemic in Mormon theology and practice.

Romney deconstructs Mormon epistemology, exposing the fraud of the religion, with its own scripture as evidence. His book examines the false methods used to determine `truth’ in Mormonism and instead speaks to the process of determining Truth with a capital “T.” This book will make those who want an easy, “feel good” answer to life’s questions uncomfortable–as it should.

As another reviewer has written: “The epistemology of Mormonism is its most profoundly relevant device in accomplishing the psychological repression that is essential for its survival. Park Romney not only exposes this device, but painstakingly documents its doctrinal roots in Mormon scripture and then walks the reader through the intricate application of the philosophical and psychological and sociological mechanics of this device throughout the Mormon missionary process and subsequent cultural experience.”

Additionally, Park Romney’s analysis can be applied with interest to the dizzying political spin of Mitt Romney’s candidacy for US. President. Mitt Romney changes his position when it is expedient and many times, it appears, for no other reason. Thus, Mitt follows what has been historic protocol in Mormonism, and other “isms,” since their inception–a pragmatic approach to truth: don’t fix it if it ain’t broken. However, if one is the leader of a dearly held belief system and you encounter social or political pressure to change, then and only then, change, but deny the change and expunge the change as in Orwell’s Animal Farm. If all the great books exposing Mormonism’s fraudulent underpinnings were one baked into one desert, then Romney’s book is the cherry on the cake. An understanding of Mormonism would not be complete without it.

But the principles Romney explains in The Apostasy of a High Priest are not necessarily unique to Mormonism. They are applicable to an analysis of organized religion and other business institutions on a global scale; these principles have broad application to the understanding of Truth. Many readers who know little about Mormonism might well find Park Romney’s book an enlightening and provocative read as it applies to the universal deception by any powerful elite governing group over its governed. I highly recommend the book not only as a view into Mormon epistemology, but as a hard look at what passes for Truth in a world that increasingly manipulates its consumers.

“Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is.” MK Gandhi

I read an essay yesterday that made me cry. “Losing my Religion for Equality,” was published on July 15, 2009 in the National Review. The fact of its publication received little press. An opinion piece about the article appeared in the UK Observer and a reference to the Observer’s reporting was mentioned by CBS. But no significant mainstream U.S. coverage was afforded this historically important declaration of personal choice and integrity. The man who wrote the article was familiar to me; his worn, but still handsome face is well-known by admirers worldwide.

Jimmy Carter, President of the United States from 1977 to 1981, had been a deacon and a bible instructor in his Church. This globally-respected, Nobel Peace Prize recipient, broke tradition and what had been until then, a very personal commitment, by renouncing his boyhood religion. At the age of 84, President Carter formally disassociated with the Southern Baptist Convention. Baptist teachings have always been and remain at odds with Carter’s personal philosophy—that women are men’s equal. Carter, together with a group of like-minded Elders, proclaimed: “The justification of discrimination against women and girls on grounds of religion or tradition, as if it were prescribed by a Higher Authority, is unacceptable.”

Carter is not alone in this effort. He describes those behind the goal as a group of elders, global leaders, religious and political, brought together by Nelson Mandela, who advocate human rights, including the right of half the world to equal treatment under the law, whether religious or secular. Carter’s essay explains that he severed his affiliation with the Southern Baptist Convention because it refused to ordain women to the ministry and because it continued to teach that, per Eve’s original sin, wives should be subservient to their husbands. With the following statement, President Carter articulately identifies specific acts of female oppression, endemic throughout world history.

“At its most repugnant, the belief that women must be subjugated to the wishes of men excuses slavery, violence, forced prostitution, genital mutilation and national laws that omit rape as a crime. But it also costs many millions of girls and women control over their own bodies and lives, and continues to deny them fair access to education, health, employment and influence within their own communities.”

Carter goes on to clarify how this pretextual oppression, done in the name of the Almighty, has had a centuries-long global influence over both the civil and criminal laws of all nations. “Male religious leaders have an option to interpret holy teachings either to exalt or subjugate women. They have, for their own selfish ends, overwhelmingly chosen the latter. Their continuing choice provides the foundation or justification for much of the pervasive persecution and abuse of women throughout the world.”

I wanted to refresh my recollection about the important contributions that President Carter had made to this country. I looked him up on Wikipedia. I found nothing about his 2009 decision to leave the Baptist Church. Although there are several paragraphs on his Wikipedia biography under ‘Faith Family and Community,’ no mention is made of Carter’s decision to abandon his faith in 2009.

Last year approximately 1,100 pieces of GOP-sponsored legislation proscribing women’s rights were introduced in various state legislatures and in the federal congressional houses. Legislation sponsored by Senator Roy Blunt of Ohio, proposed a mandatory, intrusive, vaginal ultrasound probe as a precondition to abortion. Other proposed legislation aimed to further circumscribe a woman’s right to privacy as set forth under Roe v. Wade and/or her access to contraception. The following site details the massive amount of legislation that passed in 2011 as it relates to women’s rights. http://www.politicususa.com/the-dirty-thirty-march-2012-edition/ The sheer number of bills introduced on these key constitutional issues is staggering, especially when compared to prior years.

Pundit Rush Limbaugh made horrible comments about law student Sandra Fluke’s thwarted attempts to testify in Congress against the Blunt Amendment. Dozens of advertisers pulled their ads from Limbaugh’s radio show. However, KTTH 770 AM Seattle, Washington, owned by the LDS Bonneville International Corporation, supported and even endorsed Limbaugh’s right to free speech about the matter. Notice to Rush Limbaugh: calling Sandra Fluke a ‘slut,’ is libel per se.

Thank you, President Carter, for your brave and timely decision standing up for women’s rights. We love you. Now I need to learn how to edit Wikipedia.

July 10, 2012
From: Drew
I just wanted to say thanks for writing your book. I just finished it and found it to be a great read. I wish that my wife and all of the other believing members would read it too! Hopefully someday the church will be widely revealed as the fraud that it is.

 
July 8, 2012
Kay, I just finished your book. Thank you for your insight. I was impressed by how thorough the information was. How long did it take to write? Have you had much backlash from church friendly organizations? My wife is now reading it. FYI we are SLC born and raised Mormons who are now in transition out of the faith. It is very liberating to worship God outside Mormonism. Thanks again.

 
July 8, 2012
From: Fred
Just read stuff on the net about you and Park Romney, god bless you and he..I have learned that it’s all false and won’t have any thing to do with it.

 
July 1, 2012, from a former broadcast journalist, news director and political reporter:

“I found your book online last week and couldn’t put it down. Bravo…
I hope many people will read your book.”

 
June 30, 2012
Hi Kay! I just wanted to take a minute to let you know that I am half way through your book & I think it’s wonderful! Great job. Can’t wait to finish it! Keep up the good work!

 
June 29, 2012
I’m really enjoying your book, Kay. Over the years and during my exodus from Mormonism, I read many books on the topic, but yours is very unique in its legal perspective. Thank you!

 
June 26, 2012
I’m reading [An American Fraud] now and delighted to see that KB had all those “gut feelings” for many years as did I. And they add up. Many bury these thoughts for yrs. People leave the Morg for various reasons. Hurt feelings, history, to [sic] confining, etc., but her story validates to me that you need to listen and respond to your inner voice. Not easy, as the Morg takes that away at a very young age. She states in the book “OMITTING THE FACTS AND TWEAKING THE TRUTH—A TRAIT MORMONS ACQUIRE.” We can surely relate to that. Would be wise to consider that fact when considering potential Mormon president to. IMHO

 
June 24, 2012, From a Scandinavian professor emeritus of architecture:

Kay,

Your book An American Fraud has been important for my family and for many of our friends. Thank you for your book.

We feel that your and also Park Romney´s book should be much more widely known.

So we wish that you take the shy Park with you to some good discussions e.g. MSNBC etc to promote your two fine books.

Please, do something like that around the mass resignation day end of June – or in the autumn.

Frank and family: We need you, Kay and Park. Go on writing!!!

 
Hi Kay:

I just finished reading your book this weekend. I was flattered that you referenced a presentation that I gave at the ExMormon Conference (Lying for the Lord). By the way, I worked for the Church Education system for 27 years.

Thank you for adding another excellent source for those who are interested in reading the truth about Mormonism. I especially liked the trial attorney’s perspective. It was great. Thank you.

I think my daughter (grown, single-mom) who left the church about 10 years ago, will love your book.
 

 
I downloaded the Kindle version and was so mesmerized by Burningham’s
narrative that I couldn’t turn away from my computer screen all
weekend. I subsequently posted a review on Amazon this morning:

http://www.amazon.com/review/RZR7Y3YH9VUA

I hope other forum members will do the same. She deserves our hearty
applause and sincere thanks for having the integrity and courage to
write this book.

 
Hi Kay,

When I saw you are a member of post-mo I had to send you a thank you. I read your book (American Fraud) last August and it spurred me into sending my resignation letter. I had planned to resign my membership at some point, possibly this year. But after reading your book I knew I couldn’t continue to be associated with the church one day longer.

Best wishes to you and thank you so much!
 

 
Dear Kay,

First, let me say, Thank you!” for taking the incredible stance of
calling out the Mormon Church for what it is ─ “A Fraud.” I
ordered your book and it got here yesterday. I could not put it down!

I’m so glad you have come forward with your book to tell your most
personal story. It is compelling! It touches the human heart! Thank
God there are people like you!
 

 
Kay,

I have complete respect for what you had the courage to write.

I am glad you enjoyed South Africa (it’s where I live).

The more the truth is exposed, the less the innocent will suffer under the yoke of LDS tyranny.
 

 
Kay,

Your book is a great read. Thanks for writing it, and telling your story.

There is no question the church knowingly deceives its members and rakes in billions of dollars for doing so. I see no difference between the church and the Benny Hinn style hucksters on sunday morning TV. Both of them are stealing.
 

Holy cow girl, holy cow. I LOVE that you have written this and I have to say there are TONS of facts that haven’t read anywhere else like the fact that the Kinderhook plates were actually accepted as authentic for years and that (I can’t remember who at the moment) actually thought the translation was going to be some sort of Book of Mormon sequel!?! You’ve also given the reader a really honest look into the (frankly speaking), the shadows of the Smith family. I had no idea that Alvin was involved in the whole glass looking charade before Joe did it!! Dang, the whole family were degenerates! Why didn’t they actually farm or make a living honestly? What was in Smith Sr. character that prevented him from supporting his family and teaching them ethics? If their life was miserable before Joe started the church, they certainly became accustomed to misery afterward.

I’m still reading your personal story. It is fascinating. The forward of your book about your friend who killed herself strikes such a deep chord in me. I’m sad to say I know SEVERAL people, good honest people who have either killed themselves, or literally allowed themselves to fall in to such a deep depression because of the church that they no longer resemble themselves.

You are a very, very courageous woman. Thank you so very much!

Kay,

Loved your book, read it cover to cover on my way to Hungary and back from Prague this summer. You did your research and backed everything up! I have done lots of reading on the Mormon church, including 27th wife and a book by Carolyn Jessop, an escapee, from the Texan fundamentalists. I have always thought that Joseph Smith was no different than Warren Jeffs. Growing up in Utah as a non-mormon in Bountiful was a painful experience in many ways, but it did teach me to develop critical thinking skills in anaylizing religion and also teaching me to be tolerant of minorities (because of my own status there). I remember as an adolescent, not understanding how a teacher I admired so much for his brilliance could actually believe the teachings of Mormonism and not see what a fraud it is. It was truly puzzling.

I was just drying my hair and realized that I no longer have that “sick”
feeling on Sundays!

This thought just lifted me up a bit higher and thought I’d share.

I’m finishing up “An American Fraud: One Lawyer’s Case Against Mormonism”.

It is a fantastic read. I wish I could slip this book under the door of all
my female family members……..

I wanted to contact you as I just finished reading your book and thought it was wonderful, amazing, thought provoking and insightful! in other words, I loved it…I can tell from the way you write that you’re a terrific lawyer. I also think you’re a bold and brave woman who deserves HUGE kudos…on many levels.

I just read An American Fraud. Thank you! So well researched, articulate, convincing! Its a must read for anyone intimate with or on the periphery of Mormonism.

 
 • Review by Park B. Romney
 • Peer (attorney) comments

Kay Burningham, author of  An American Fraud: One Lawyer’s Case against Mormonism, is a civil trial attorney with over 25 years experience in California and Utah, representing both corporate defendants and individual plaintiffs. She has litigated cases involving misrepresentation and fraud in the context of product liability warnings, health care disclosures, insurance coverage and employment and real-estate contracts.

Ms. Burningham has tried a variety of civil cases in San Diego Superior Court. In the early nineties she served as a San Diego Superior Court judge pro tem/civil settlement officer and arbitrator where she assisted in the resolution of a variety of civil cases. Since returning to Utah, she has tried cases in Utah District Court and has successfully argued before the Utah Supreme Court: Daniels v. Gamma West 2009 UT 66, 221 P.3d 256

The Author was born and raised in Bountiful, Utah and was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for most of her life. In 2001, she officially resigned from the Mormon Church. Ms. Burningham is an active member of the State Bar Associations of both Utah and California and practices in both jurisdictions. She is the mother of two sons, ages 26 and 18. In her spare time, Kay enjoys downhill skiing, rollerblading and dancing.

“Each of us has to face the matter—either the Church is true, or it is a fraud. There is no middle ground. It is the Church and kingdom of God or it is nothing.”
—LDS President Gordon B. Hinckley, April Conference, 2003.

Many Mormons assume that this and other similar proclamations by LDS leaders are rhetorical statements. But what if the Mormon leaders meant something else?

Historically, Mormonism has made vast and significant changes to its theology. Likewise, Mitt Romney, a life-long Mormon who has served as an LDS leader, tweaks, equivocates and refuses to acknowledge inconvenient, facts. Romney has the most documented campaign flip-flops of any politician in recent history, yet he seems unaware that his pattern of public contradiction is problematic. After reading An American Fraud, the reader will understand the nexus between growing up Mormon and Romney’s innate inauthenticity.

It is estimated that more than 1-1.5 million Mormons have resigned from the Church since 1995. Some claim there are more ex-Mormons than Mormons. An American Fraud explains why there is such a recent, formal abandonment of Mormonism by, in many cases, previously devout members.

The Book of Mormon is not a translation of ancient American history engraved in “reformed Egyptian,” on golden plates buried by an early American prophet. Instead, this key Mormon scripture has been shown to be a 19th-century work of fiction authored by Joseph Smith and perhaps others. Historically, most members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints rarely read outside their scriptures and Church-approved literature. However, Mormons have recently begun to discover facts about LDS history that had previously been known to very few, mainly scholarly historians of Mormonism. Through the discovery of these primary historical sources, now available on numerous internet sites, intelligent and curious Mormons have reached a critical point. If they read, they have become disaffected and disoriented. Many are experiencing crises of faith.

The first third of An American Fraud. One Lawyer’s Case against Mormonism, chronicles the Author’s journey out of the Religion. The second part of the book is an exposé, including an analysis under the law. The Author, an experienced civil trial attorney, places the activities of Mormon leaders over almost two centuries in their proper legal framework, analyzing not only the misrepresentations, but the resulting damages: political, environmental and especially psycho-social.

The fraud committed by generations of Mormon leaders is that they have consistently misrepresented the facts surrounding the source of their scriptures. Neither the golden plates, nor writings by the Old Testament prophet Abraham, claimed to have been inscribed on purchased Egyptian papyri, ever existed. Furthermore, the claimed visitations by biblical apostles to restore lost priesthoods to Smith and his colleagues never occurred. Yet for decades LDS leaders have at least ignored, if not suppressed and grossly misrepresented, what has been proven to be the true facts surrounding Mormonism’s origins, reworking and re-packaging the founding facts and the theology as necessary.

Billions of U.S. dollars and other currency, donated by worldwide faithful members, have been used to expand the global commercial holdings of this corporate conglomerate. Meanwhile, deserving beneficiaries of the donations, the poor and distressed, admittedly receive just a small percentage of the Church’s gross income. Those who joined or continued on in the Religion reasonably relied on LDS leaders’ misrepresentations about its origins to their significant detriment. Given what has been proven about its sources, the Mormon Religion cannot continue to be defended under any pretext as a religious organization for the good of its members.

Peer Comments (attorney reviews)

I had this book downloaded in my Kindle for three months before I opened it, but then I couldn’t put it down once I started it. I rolled my eyes when I realized I had to endure the first third of the book as Kay Burningham’s personal history, before I got to the meat of it; only to find myself wanting to understand more about her life and those she has loved along the way. Kay’s honesty, and forthright style, captivated my imagination and gave me greater insight into my own circumstances.

Interestingly, I graduated from BYU Law School in 1979, the same year, I learned from this book, that Kay commenced law school there. We had the same civil procedure professor, and for 30 years I could find no one at the law school to tell me what happened to cause his “disappearance” a couple of years after my graduation. Thank you, Kay, for clearing up this mystery. I laughed at your expense for several days over our professor’s hubris, while mourning the pain and loss you suffered. Having said that, this anecdote serves as a small illustration of life’s random, uncaring, almost perverse indifference to us. Any dignity we can cut out for ourselves seems to have to be wrestled away from the institutions that want to own us. For those of us raised as Mormons, it’s the Mormon Church that wants to determine what level of dignity one may be entitled to. This book is a beautiful declaration of one person’s independence, and as such, it is quite inspiring.

For anyone interested in a shorthand book on Mormon history, its foundations, the evolution of its doctrines, and the consequences thereof, this is a great book for you. I’ve been a missionary, bishop, and a strident student of Mormonism my whole life, and this is the only book on the subject I’ve taken the time to praise, and I’ve read all of them. No doubt this book resonates with me because of our similar legal backgrounds, and my former intense religiousity and its demise based upon a simple regimen of study and personal commitment to be responsible for my own beliefs and actions.

Still, for anyone who reads Mormon apologetics, you need to take Kay’s book and compare. First, she’s honest about her actions, character, mistakes, warts and all. She’s about as authentic a person as you can have, at this point in her life, anyway. It’s just refreshing to witness a person raised in Mormonism capable of such authenticity. I’m not there yet, and I’ve worked at it everyday for years. Then she just lays out the facts and her argument, without resorting to ad hominen. She does call the general authorities down at times, because it is the nature of a treatise where those in control make effort to limit access to or obfuscate the facts. When Lying for the Lord is easily documented, it is not ad hominem to provide the documentation to prove the case.

A case in point is my old Trusts professor, Dallin Oaks. There is so much to admire about this guy, but when he tries to justify a lack of candor for the good of the Church, it is as though, for that moment, he has no understanding of ethics. When he intimates that truth may not necessarily be shared so that a corporate mission may be better accomplished, failing to consider that people have a right to make their own decisions based upon total disclosure, he publicly displays a lapse of judgment and ethics that he may only be able to correct if he is called on it. Even then, his investment is so high, how could he ever see it for what it is? It would take an “exceedingly” great and humble person to so sacrifice himself in implementing his ethical duty. I have such high hopes for Elder Oaks; it’s painful to have to witness his mental gymnastics. Kay does a respectful and artful job of calling him on this sort of thing, which indeed is repugnant to Anglo-American jurisprudence. When we mammals know we are right, we can harm so off-the-cuff.

I highly recommend this book to any student of Mormonism, or to anyone who may wish to take legal action against the Church for tortiously inducing people to stay in the fold by knowingly teaching an unhistorical, fantastical version of its origins. 

 
Ms. Burningham, as a California attorney, I compliment you for this excellent book. Your presentation of materials are extremely persuasive… This writing is entertaining, effective and clear.

As a male, I was moved by learning of the decades old mal-treatment of the wonderful women of LDS who (along with their families) have for so long endured false and, yes, evil representations and conduct by religious tyranny detailed. 

 
I just finished reading your book, An American Fraud. Brilliant. I thoroughly enjoyed your writing, background, and analysis upon a topic that is very personal to me. Thank you for sharing your experiences and insights.

I am an attorney practicing in Salt lake City at [named redacted for privacy], and I am a graduate of BYU law school. I am also a former Mormon. Not long ago, I was talking to a friend, also a lawyer and former Mormon, and I was telling him that I wanted to bring a fraud claim against the LDS Church. He told me that he just read your book and recommmneded that I read it. You articulated many of the thoughts and arguments that I have been kicking around for some time.

I would love to talk with you, as I have a number of questions to which you likely have given some thought…I hope to hear from you soon.
 

 
From an Arizona Attorney:

I really enjoyed reading this e-book because it was entertaining, insightful, hard-hitting, and accurate. It was enjoyable and funny. I also learned a lot of factual information about the LDS church that I hadn’t heard before. Inaccuracies abound in many books written about the LDS religion. The title of the book begs for a legalistic approach, which it eventually provides. But not until after the author discusses her youth and own personal experiences in an open and comical way. So it didn’t really get boring for me at all. The book discussed controversial aspects of the LDS religion in a lawyer-like manner, with facts to back up each statement. This approach was very refreshing, because it provided references for each item, yet was very readable because each topic was condensed to an understandable point. The author obviously has a rich background in the religion as a devout follower in her childhood and college years. I really enjoyed how she was able to intertwine personal experiences growing up in the Mormon religion in Utah, with her spiritual awakening as she traveled to Africa with a group of B.Y.U. student performers. This book would be a very good media guide for someone in the media who is trying to get a basic understanding of Mormonism, from an objective viewpoint. There are many very good people who belong to this religion who have unfortunately been shielded from an objective study of their church’s true historical beginnings. So their knowledge base is limited to personal experiences and heresay. This book should be read by the general LDS church membership so that the shortcomings of the religion are better understood. This would make it easier to converse with members who typically react emotionally to criticism, in a much more positive rational way. The religion produces many very good quality citizens. Mitt Romney is a good example. The book is very useful given our current Presidential race, and is a handy guide to understanding what has been a very mysterious church for many outsiders. Thanks to Ms. Burningham for writing such an enjoyable, original book on such a controversial topic as the Mormon religion.
 

 
Well, the discredited lies of the LDS / Mormon Church have been exposed once again.

Kay does an excellent job of exposing the lies and destructive nature of a hyper-orthodox church/cult which absorbs all its members time, focus and money. Oneday these charlatans will hopefully be called to account for their defrauding of their little flock.

Most mormons are inactive (most leave the church or become inactive) , most mormons are lower middle class struggling to make ends meet, and the fat cat leaders who sit in luxury in Salt Lake City create an image of success and growth and so forth.

This book helps to reveal the rotten history of this greedy cult.

As a former mormon who knows the church, its doctrines, policies and practices all too well, i can confirm that Kay is accurate in her writing, and that any good which comes from the ‘church’ comes from individual members doing good, often against the policy and discouragement of their so-called leaders who prohibit any free-thinking, quash any dissent and punish any individuals who dare to not conform.

The mormons still believe in a literal global flood, Noahs Ark, and every tale in the Old Testament as literal history. Even though such things have long been discredited by archeology, science, and common sense.

The #1 book to read about the REAL origins of this cult is “Insiders View of Mormon Origins” By Grant Palmer – former director of the Church’s Education System. It’s a easy to read well documented expose’ of the real origins. Very eye-opening.

Just google the facts and you will find REAMS of revelations written by FORMER members who expose the lies and nonsense of this dangerous fraud-based cult. Google the “wives of joseph smith” and learn how he hijacked the young wives of married men, or had affairs with his 14 year old housemaids. Google the “Smithsonian Institution and National Geographic Society statements on the Book of Mormon” to learn how multiple experts from all disciplines have junked the bogus ‘historical’ scripture of the mormons (it’s inspiring fiction – not historical). Google “Book of Abraham fraud” to learn how Joseph Smith fabricated scripture out of thin air (possibly plagiarizing Josephus) or use amazon to find the dozens of books written by former leaders, teachers and professionals who all expose the lies and fraud of this bizarre cult. Google “Farewell to Eden” which is an excellent analysis of the bizarre doctrines of the church. Or Google “The keystone of mormonism” by Arza Evans which reveals more about this cult.

Google “recovery from mormonism” to read the hundreds of testimonies of former members on how they escaped this cult.

It’s all available on Amazon and via Google.

The truth shall set you free…..it set me free.
People should be warned about religious fraud. And hopefully the charlatans who enrich themselves and their family dynasty using religion as a business vehicle, will oneday be called to account.

The mormon church has ZERO transparency of its finances and refuses to be audited by any independent/external auditors.

Thanks Kay. I highly recommend this book to readers – perhaps not as the first book to read on your journey to enlightenment (read Grant Palmer’s book first “Insiders View of mormon origins”), but along the way, it is packed with information.
 

Kay Burningham Bares Her Soul
in
An American Fraud: One Lawyer’s Case against Mormonism
by Park B. Romney

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An American Fraud: One Lawyer’s Case against Mormonism, by Kay Burningham, is, in my sincere opinion, a courageous and historically significant contribution to the literature on Mormonism and American cults presented with a rare and refreshing spirit of sincerity, authenticity and candor. While one might expect a rather dry and painstakingly detailed presentation by a trial attorney of 25 years, intent on articulating her case in a compelling way to jurors, rather, Kay Burningham bares her soul in her book. She is a former Mormon who struggled through her youth and adult years with the dichotomies and conflicts inherent in the clash between her keen sense of personal, intellectual, and spiritual integrity, and a corrupt system of exploitive precepts masquerading as the only legitimately authorized Church of Jesus Christ on Earth.

In the first six chapters of her book, the Author unwittingly reveals, to those insightful enough to perceive the significance of the presentation, the indomitable spirit of a young woman, “Muffin,” to her father, who was raised to examine her own soul as an integral part of navigating her course through life. Kay begins the unfolding of her spiritual journey by sharing the intimate moment of cathartic self-reflection that brings her to the point of full acknowledgment and reconciliation with the reality that she has swindled her younger sister unfairly in a financial exchange that took advantage of her sister’s ignorance, as a young child, about the relative value of larger and smaller coins. Kay doesn’t make it successfully through the night without being harrowed by the call of her own disquieting sense of integrity. She must make it right at the next opportunity. Taking strength from the quiet wisdom and sustaining love of her father at sharing her guilt with him, she makes full restitution to her sister, who would have never been the wiser had it not been for Kay’s loving sense of integrity.

And so begins the journey of a child who never relinquishes her soul, in the quest for mature womanhood, to the corruption of compromise. Things must be right. They must make sense to Kay. Her values cannot be compromised. Her sense of truth cannot be bought or sold. She will not subordinate that which should never be subordinated for the sake of peace or social compromise at the unacceptable price of surrendering her soul. Inevitably, the orientation of Kay’s spirit is on a collision course with Mormonism, the faith of her cultural roots, long before the fundamental reality of the clash rises to the cognitive clarity of her own increasingly sophisticated and perceptive intellect.

Significant parts of the back story behind this conflict are not shared, no doubt due to Kay’s inherent humility, or perhaps, insecurity, misunderstood by those who see her confidence as pride, but known to her closest friends. Kay is not the average person. Like Ellie Arroway, the child turned scientist-astronomer played by Jodie Foster in the 1997 science-fiction film, Contact, Kay Burningham was nurtured by the cosmic connection between the love of her father and her own innate love of philosophical harmony, into the path of human pursuit that demanded that she both experience and understand. Kay developed over the years into a keen observer of the paradoxes of her own life, while at the same time the star of her own life drama in which she excelled in art, dance, and drama, while pushing her own mind into the intellectual territory of sociology, history, philosophy, and law. As a young woman, Kay was a high school leader who excelled in debate. In college she performed with an international variety show tour and represented her own community as Miss Bountiful in the Miss Utah scholarship pageant. She graduated with a BA in History, and went on to complete her Juris Doctorate at J. Reuben Clark School of Law. Kay has litigated hundreds of civil cases and holds the distinction of winning a precedent setting case before the Utah Supreme Court. She engages the creativity, artistic flair, and soulfulness of a right-brained woman, while in full command of the left brain traits of the demanding logic, consistency, and intellectual discipline that would easily intimidate most men. No small wonder then, the irony that Kay Burningham should become, in this former Mormon’s opinion, one of the most historically significant critics of Mormonism of our generation.

Generally, it is a departure from unwritten professional protocol for an attorney to publish an articulation of legal issues involved in an untried case of national significance and potential class-action certification. Understandably, attorneys, as professionals, might feel uncomfortable with the arguments of potential future cases aired out publicly in the absence of paying clients and outside the procedural control of the judiciary. The risks include broad influence of public opinion that can give rise to a certain amount of social and political pressure brought to bear on future judicial decisions while, at the same time, impacting on the expectations of the public about the subject matter. In effect, some would argue that legal advice is being offered up in the public domain in the absence of paying clients. Neither attorneys, nor doctors, nor a variety of other professionals, are particularly enthusiastic about the prospect of their clients or patients being well informed on the subject of issues that might come up in paid consultations. A well informed public does not necessarily contribute to the dependency and related economic advantages for the professional that is supported by the ignorance of potential clients. Attorney Generals are not anxious to be confronted with the complexity of the expectations of an increasingly well informed public that pressures them to address the evils of those who are commonly found among their most substantial political allies. Politicians are not particularly enthusiastic about public expectations that they address the evils of some of their most powerful political supporters. Generally, professionals seek to remain in good favor with their colleagues and are disinclined to break protocol for fear of social and professional isolation. Here, we have a case where a philosophical difficulty gives rise to a moral conflict for an attorney whose heart still responds to the call of social justice amidst an awareness of certain fallibilities within the profession that give rise to a longstanding inequity with gross ramifications to countless lives.

Kay’s youthful and formative years reflected the emerging, but unresolved awareness that something didn’t add up to her satisfaction with the Mormon culture and religion. It seems clear from the beginning chapters of her book that, for the most part, she suspended final judgment on the recurring emergence of the dissonance between a religion that often seemed irreconcilable with the realities of life. Then, in chapter six of her book, she finds herself confronted with the philosophical gauntlet being thrown down before her once and for all. Life has a tendency to move some increasingly toward the acid test of their philosophical convictions. Kay lived out the drama of watching her economic stability and accumulated life investments crash as her Mormon husband, confronted with difficult choices in an employment controversy, abdicate intellectual responsibility for reality based decisions in favor of a superstitious belief in the dubious prophecy of a Bishop’s priesthood “blessing” as he believed it related to his career complications.

For Kay the facts of the situation warranted a conservative approach which, while involving some sacrifice, would have left their accumulated nest egg strong and viable, even if more modest than they hoped. Her husband, convinced that his Bishop’s prophecy obviated the concerns that seemed apparent to Kay from the evidence at hand, chose a course that ultimately wiped out substantially all that they had accumulated. In Mormonism, wives defer to the priesthood authority of their husbands. This social protocol, embraced by true-believing Mormon women, contributed considerably to the pattern of paradoxical pills that became increasingly distasteful for Kay. She was physically abused by her first husband, who clearly seemed annoyed and intimidated by her superior intellect. Now she would ride the emotional roller coaster of watching, from the subservient sidelines of Mormon wives, her latest “priesthood holder” wreck the family fortunes in defiance of her thoughtful input, that of other relevant professionals, and a preponderance of compelling evidence, in deference to the inspiration of a Mormon Bishop. Amidst the emotional fog of this drama, Kay is informed of the death of a dear friend from law school who struggled for years with what she perceived to be her personal failure to measure up to the Mormon model of womanhood. She died from an overdose of Vicodin. Suicide seemed likely to those who knew her well.

What, for Kay, had previously been a certain ambivalence about her faith, now became a serious life question. This life question was punctuated by the curious timing of a letter from a nephew, currently serving a proselytizing mission for the Mormon Church. Filled with the “spiritual enthusiasm” of his service as a missionary, Kay’s nephew shared his fervent testimony as to the truthfulness of the Mormon Church with her and declared that if she studied her faith out diligently and prayed sincerely and devoted herself to obedience to the Lord’s “commandments” her questions would be displaced with a knowledge of the truthfulness of the Church. Kay had from time to time increased her active participation in Church activities in an effort to feel more reconciled to her faith, but to date, had not thoroughly examined the religion with the depth of her accumulated intellectual, spiritual, and philosophical faculties. Her nephew’s letter struck a deep cord within her as its contextual relevance to the perplexities of her life became apparent. Kay had to know the truth. Too much of her life had been invested in a philosophical approach whose serious ramifications impacted heavily on her existence without being scrutinized appropriately. Appropriate scrutiny, however, would now involve more than her nephew bargained for. Over the next year Kay would apply her intellectual prowess to the question at hand with the earnestness of someone who knew they were lost in a philosophical cave and running out of air, and the wisdom and diligence that her professional maturity had armed her with. Kay, a history major who preferred to approach history from a sociological perspective, and a trial lawyer experienced in the successful pursuit of her client’s interests amidst the most intimidating and well financed legal challenges, instinctively sought to prepare herself for the inquiry that would settle the matter.

Over the course of the next year she studied everything that seemed relevant to the question at hand, including her own self imposed curriculum of prerequisites. Kay studied Mormon doctrine and Mormon history while expanding her perspective of theology and philosophy in general. She frequented university libraries and read everything she could find “tangentially related to theology”: The Tao of Physics, God and Religion in the Postmodern World, The Denial of Death, Existentialism from Kierkegaard to Sartre, Irrational Man, multiple works on metaphysics and non-duality, consciousness and the subconscious, neurology and thought processes. She was committed to a thorough and thoughtful inquiry that would lead her to a conclusion that she knew would be the basis of settling, once and for all, the underlying philosophical question that haunted her life. At stake was not only the rest of her life, but her heartfelt concern for the philosophical darkness that haunted the lives of so many Mormon women. She thought of “Teresa,” her law school friend whose life was consumed in despondency. Even today, on occasion, she has been seen to be reduced to tears when confronted with the perplexing paradox of young Mormon women struggling to reconcile their lives with their faith. And so it is that An American Fraud: One Lawyer’s Case against Mormonism grew out of the nexus between one woman’s intellectual and spiritual integrity, her rebellion against philosophical tyranny, her disgust for mendacity and misogyny, and disregard for the social and professional pressures that would censure her. She recognized a higher calling, and was willing to make the sacrifice.

Kay’s painstaking studies unfolded for her, and now her readers, the details of a grotesque fraud of cosmic proportions masquerading under a charitable façade of public spirited nobility. In her book, Kay demonstrates for the world to see, how a reasonable application of the law should be applied to the “affinity fraud” of Mormonism, whose very continued existence employs the quiet acquiescence of government officials and judicial officers whose canons of ethics demand of them a higher standard than to allow this fraud to continue unchecked. An American Fraud: One Lawyer’s Case against Mormonism, is, in this former Mormon High Priest’s view, an historically significant work that calls out the most insidious fraud of American culture for what it is. It is a timeless masterpiece, and will be associated with the beginning of the end of Mormonism in years to come.

Park Romney, a second cousin to the 2012 Republican candidate for the US Presidency, Mitt Romney, is the author of The Apostasy of a High Priest: The Sociology of an American Cult, a groundbreaking discussion of the epistemology (doctrinal theory of truth and knowledge) and sociology of the Mormon Church and culture, also available on Amazon.com. For more information about Park Romney see parkromney.com

by Park B. Romney
parkromney.com



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The inescapable questions that we are left with, as they relate to the campaign of Mitt Romney, are not whether we are comfortable with Mormonism as our President’s religion; not whether Mormonism is a cult; not whether Mormonism is compatible with Christianity; not whether Polygamy is good or bad; not whether the average lay member of the Mormon Church is a good citizen who we are reticent to offend; but rather, whether Mitt Romney, a current High Priest of the Mormon Church, and former regional church leader, is aware that his religion is a demonstrable contemporary fraud in which the leadership of the Church are exploiting the faith of the lay members in extracting countless millions of dollars in tithing receipts, a significant portion of which being invested in world-wide commercial enterprises controlled by the Church, and real estate development in down town Salt Lake City, and all over the world? Is the man in whom so many hope to place all of their hope and faith for a brighter future for America, and in whom they will rely for the assessment of intelligence briefings that are the basis of world-wide military action, aware of the unmistakable, and incontestable evidence that his Church is a fraud? If he is aware, how do we escape the conclusion that he is a party to this fraud, as a High Priest of the Mormon Church, and a party to the oath and covenant of the Holy Melchizedek priesthood of the Church, and a party to the oath of obedience to the Church Leadership, that is part of the sacred Temple covenant to which I have personal knowledge that he is a party. If he is not aware that it is a fraud, amidst glaringly unmistakable evidence that makes what Secretary of State, Colin Powell, presented to the United Nations, in justification of the invasion of Iraq, look like an inconclusive pack of lies by comparison, (perhaps a bad analogy, since it did anyway), then shall we not have profoundly serious questions about his judgment?

I could go on, and get into a discussion of his notion of human rights, as evidenced by his infamous “double Guantanamo” position, and on about the actual conflict of interest that his Priesthood covenants do, in fact, present him with. But what would be the point? If we can’t grasp the questions that are clearly before us, already exposed, what difference does any of the rest make? Then we are, in fact, the nation of arrogant fools that the rest of the world sees us as, and we will need to continue to tell people we are Canadians to avoid ridicule when we travel overseas with American passports.




This is an excerpt from a more complete discussion in response to a question about how Park Romney really feels about his cousin, Mitt Romney’s campaign. For the full article, click here

Park B. Romney is the author of The Apostasy of a High Priest: The Sociology of an American Cult, a thoughtful discussion of Mormon epistemology (doctrinal theory of truth and knowledge). For valuable insight into the mental processing and psychology of would-be President of the United States, Mitt Romney, a good understanding of why Mitt finds no problem with his flip-flops, and how the Mormon Church influences the decisions of its members, it is mandatory reading! More info…