Anyone who has fallen out with the LDS Church can identify to a certain degree with Steve Benson. On the other hand, most of them have no idea what it is to be Benson. Grandson of the former president of the LDS Church, Benson grew up in a family that enjoyed the blessing or burdened with the curse, depending on your perspective, of being closely related to the highest levels of leadership in a controversial religious movement.
Benson became an inspiration for disillusioned Mormons everywhere when he dared to question the competency of his grandfather to govern the LDS Church as the man slipped off of this mortal coil. LDS leaders defended the ability of President Benson to continue to lead the Church, but there was a growing sense that others were actually governing the LDS Church in the president's name and with his electronic signature.
Benson then went on to become one of the more prominent personalities of the ex-Mormon movement. I was personally intrigued with his account of a meeting with members of the Quorum of the Twelve, who had invited Steve and his wife in to discuss problems with LDS doctrine, history, and practice. Benson discovered that in spite of the awe most Mormons have for these leaders who counsel with the 'Lord,' they were just men who had no more special insight into the difficult issues of Mormonism than anyone else.
For any of us who grew up believing that these men were actually experiencing literal visitations with heavenly beings who were instructing them in how to run the affairs of God's kingdom on earth, this information was world changing. I was grateful that Steve Benson chose to share this information with the rest of us, since the LDS leadership, while not explicitly encouraging the popular LDS impression of their near-divinity, nevertheless benefits from the aura it confers on them. I became aware of all of this long before I quit attending the LDS Church, but the information certainly helped smooth the ride on the way out.
So, I am grateful to Benson, as many doubters, liberals, ex-Mormons, and future ex-Mormons should be.
Not long ago I started lurking and the Recovery from Mormonism bulletin board hosted by the Ex-Mormon Foundation. I thought it would be really cool to watch these ex-Mormon heroes at work--people like Steve, Tal Bachman, and Bob McCue. At first this is what I saw, and it was often quite cool. Tal has a wicked sense of humor, and it was clear that Bob was on quite a journey of exploration as a former Mormon.
Then there was Steve. Steve was quite an unpleasant surprise in his RfM board persona. Reading his posts was like seeing the rational and sensitive guy of his exit stories morphed into Dan Peterson's more childish, ex-Mormon, and equally evil twin. If someone disagrees with Steve, he starts a campaign of maligning inference, confusion, and red herrings that would make any unscrupulous LDS apologist proud, if only he were on the other side of the argument. It doesn't matter to him that many of his interlocutors agree with the most basic premise upon which he operates--that the Mormon Church's claims are bogus. If you don't agree with Steve to the full extent of his bile and vitriol, you are aiding and abetting the evil cause of Mormonism.
Sadly, one gets the impression that Steve in leaving Mormonism has found and now promulgates a new form of rigid orthodoxy and authoritarianism aimed at insulting his former Church without reason or restraint according to his own narrow vision. In the horror movie of Steve's ex-Mormon imagination Joseph Smith is definitely a con-man and a pedophile. Anyone else who imagines the worst when it comes to things Mormon is definitely on the right track as far as Steve is concerned. He stops short of supporting outlandish conspiracy theories about Mormon plots to take over the world, but I fear only just.
