Jensen, the church's official historian, would not provide any figures on the rate of defections, but he told Reuters that attrition has accelerated in the last five or 10 years, reflecting greater secularization of society. Many religions have been suffering similarly, he noted, arguing that Mormonism has never been more vibrant.I think that what is interesting is that where mormonism is thriving (supposedly Africa and Latin America), people have less ready access to information about the church whereas in America anyone can read about the sordid past of mormonism at will. Unlike Christianity which has nothing to hide, no secretive doctrines that no one talks about, mormonism takes great pains to gloss over issues like racism and polygamy and hides major areas of doctrine like their sacred garments, the nature of God and man and the temple ceremony.
"I think we are at a time of challenge, but it isn't apocalyptic," he said.
The LDS church claims 14 million members worldwide -- optimistically including nearly every person baptized. But census data from some foreign countries targeted by clean-cut young missionaries show that the retention rate for their converts is as low as 25 percent. In the U.S., only about half of Mormons are active members of the church, said Washington State University emeritus sociologist Armand Mauss, a leading researcher on Mormons.
Sociologists estimate there are as few as 5 million active members worldwide.
In Africa and Latin America, however, Jensen said that interest in the LDS was so strong that the church has cut back baptisms in order to better care for new members.
Mormonism simply cannot face serious investigation and the article makes that clear. When you claim 14 million members but only 5 million are active, what you have is not a vibrant and thriving church, it is a house of cards.
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