By Robin Schumacher, Exclusive Columnist Monday, September 22, 2025Washington, D.C., temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | Unsplash/Joshua HoehneWhen it comes to the countless false religions and “isms” out there, I don’t think you can find one that’s more of a head-scratching, how-could-you-fall-for-this belief system than Scientology.With Scientology, you’ve got a guy who’s a science fiction writer — L. Ron Hubbard — who brazenly tells the world he’s going to create his own religion. Not shockingly, it resembles something out of a pulp sci/fi novel, with the core teaching being that you and I are actually immortal spiritual alien-like beings called thetans who originally created the universe but are now trapped in it physically and have forgotten who we are. The good news is, through Scientology, we can get “clear” of our many reincarnations and past experiences (engrams) that are obscuring our true selves, eventually becoming an “operating thetan” who is completely free.It’s only going to cost each of us somewhere in the neighborhood of six figures to make that happen through their training, though.Oy vey.Although Scientology takes the top spot in my list of demonstrably false religions on the planet, Mormonism is right on its heels in my number two spot. And in the same way, Scientology has had a rough go of it in the past 10 or so years, with documentaries like “Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath” calling attention to the bizarre beliefs and corruption of the “church.” Mormonism is having a particularly bad moment right now.A recent Wall Street Journal article showcased the fact that Mormonism is facing a 21st century reckoning of sorts, which is being driven by social media and an army of people calling themselves “Exmos” — ex-Mormons. Being somewhat digitally sucker-punched by all the testimonies of those fleeing Mormonism, the Church of Latter-Day Saints is now racing to counter their online narrative and momentum.“Ex-Mormons used to be their own secret society,” said Alyssa Grenfell in Texas, who started questioning her faith about nine years ago and now has more than 1 million followers across her social-media accounts. “To become public about this — it’s like ‘Oh, my God, she went there.’”Grenfell’s YouTube video, “The Day I Realized I Was in a Cult,” has gotten over 2 million views. Grenfell and others like her have poured fuel on the fire of the broad membership crisis Mormonism has been battling for a while. The WSJ’s article speaks to the fact that, after a long time of expanding its American base by 4% a year, official church rolls are now growing less than 1% annually in the U.S.: “The portion of people in the U.S. who identify as Mormon has almost halved from the 1.8% they represented in 2012.” Justin Turman, a former member who conducts church attendance surveys, found that approximately only 21% of the 17.5 million official members worldwide are actively involved in the church.In years past, the Mormon church and the internet had managed to somewhat peacefully coexist, although there’s plenty of content by Christian apologists and secular skeptics alike who have challenged the validity of Mormonism. But now, #exmo TikTok and Instagram’s Reels serve #exmo content to more people than they intended.These “short-form videos challenging church doctrine and culture have supercharged the speed with which many young people are deciding to leave the church,” according to writer Georgia Wells. Unfortunately, we don’t know where the exmos are going. Are they turning agnostic/atheist, exploring other faiths? According to Pew Research, the fastest-growing religion from 2010 to 2020 was Islam, so let’s hope they’re not barking up that tree.One thing we do know is that more of us today are living out what Blaise Pascal said: “People almost invariably arrive at their beliefs not on the basis of proof but on the basis of what they find attractive.” And when you base your test for worldview validity on feeling and comfort, you’ll eventually end up miserable, as C. S. Lewis observed: “In religion, as in war and everything else, comfort is the one thing you cannot get by looking for it. If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end: if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth — only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin with and, in the end, despair.”That’s because living a lie always catches up to you.And as well know, avoiding the lies of both bad lifestyle choices and fake religions requires mature, honest, and detailed thinking as the writer of Hebrews says: “Solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil” (Heb. 5:14).Thankfully, despite what critics say, Christian faith results not from the absence of honest thinking but the presence of more honest thinking. The Bible and its claims have proven time and again that they’re the anvil that has worn out every hammer that’s come down on them.There are 17.5 million people still out there who adhere to Mormonism and need the solid food that the Hebrew’s writer mentions, and that’s a lot of souls in jeopardy. Let’s pray that all the exmos fleeing Joseph Smith’s Mormonism will find the reality of God’s truth and the true Savior who’s waiting for them with open arms.And if any of you out there has been told you’re a Scientology thetan, you’re more than welcome too.Robin Schumacher is an accomplished software executive and Christian apologist who has written many articles, authored and contributed to several Christian books, appeared on nationally syndicated radio programs, and presented at apologetic events. He holds a BS in Business, Master’s in Christian apologetics and a Ph.D. in New Testament. His latest book is, A Confident Faith: Winning people to Christ with the apologetics of the Apostle Paul.
Mormonism is having a (bad) moment
