This web page is dedicated to the accomplishments of Steve Bloor and his dealings with the Mormon Church.
Steve Bloor is a member of the LDS Church who resigned as a serving Bishop in the UK in January 2011 after discovering the uncomfortable truths about Church history and origins which even after 47 years as a member he was not fully aware.
Steve was Born in the Covenant, attended Primary, Sunday School, & studied seminary & institute. He served faithfully as a full-time proselytizing missionary in the England Manchester Mission gaining over 20 converts.
After finishing his mission he trained as a Podiatrist whilst being called on the Stake High Council as a 21 year old returned missionary full of enthusiasm for the gospel.
Steve has served as a High Counselor several times, been a counselor in the Stake Mission Presidency, Counselor on Stake Young Men's Presidency, Ward Young Men's President, Ward Mission Leader, counselor on the Bishopric & finally served faithfully for almost seven years as Bishop which he considers was the most rewarding & happiest time of his Church service.
He is married with four children ages 12, 15, 18 & 20.
He is currently still a member of record for the sake of his extended family who are all currently active members apart from his younger brother David, & his wife & children.
His journey of discovery started a couple of years earlier when his wife discovered that the husband of one of her friend's (Chris Tolworthy) had left the Church, having previously been a Branch President in Scotland. Steve's wife discovered the website which Chris made detailing the historical issues he discovered which had led to his apostasy - (Link is here.).
The information she read disturbed her so much she approached Steve about it. At the time, as a faithfully serving busy Bishop, Steve just dismissed it all as satanic deception & reassured his wife the Church was true & they both continued to serve faithfully.
After about two years his brother David started to ask him questions to stimulate his rational mind into thinking analytically. David was interested in neuroscience & psychology, so the questions were around the topic of positive psychology & the optimal conditions for human flourishing & well being. David understood that the Church belief system did not foster the best psychological conditions for promoting happiness & psychological thriving, which is partly why there is so much depression in the Church.
The crux came when David posted on Twitter a public criticism of the Church regarding its treatment of homosexuals. Stephen was angered by what he perceived as David's outright hostility to the Church he loved, so as Bishop he felt a responsibility to chastise him & warn his brother to desist in his public criticism of the Church. At the same time, Steve didn't want to spoil the good sibling relationship he felt they had, after being estranged from him for a while following David's initial apostasy from the Church three years earlier. So Stephen sent a short message saying, "Why be so critical of the Church in public Dave?"
The response Steve got back from David surprised him because it was so compassionate, & demonstrated so much altruistic concern for the suffering of others that Steve was inspired to find out for himself if this could be true.
One of the first things Steve did was check on the suicide rates for 16-25 year old homosexuals in Utah, and was rightly shocked at how many people are indeed suffering due to the strong anti-gay stance by the Church.
He then checked if Joseph Smith did indeed have child wives, by searching on Chris Tolworthy's website.
To Steve's horror he discovered the terrible extent of Joseph's polygamy & polyandry by cross-checking on familysearch.org.
It then became almost a full time job to try to prove that all this uncomfortable information about the Church was false. Steve wanted to believe in the beautiful fantasy of the Church belief system, but the more he studied, the more his belief system crumbled.
The studying became compulsive night & day. Work became a chore & seemed to obstruct his more important priority of proving the Church was true.
Steve's recently re-awakened rational mind would no longer accept truth based on feelings alone, he needed firm evidence. He bought many books by current Church authors & ex-members including Grant Palmer's 'An Insider's View of Mormon Origins', Todd Compton's 'In Sacred Loneliness', Lyndon Lamborn's 'Standing for Something More' & many others. As well as studying from many different Mormon websites including MormonThink, FAIR, & FARMS (Maxwell Institute). Some of the source materials are included on Steve's Personal Blog in the links page - (Link is here./).
What hurt him the most was discovering that the Church leaders he loved, including President Gordon B Hinckley, had repeatedly lied to him & the rest of the Church about various aspects of Church History, & doctrines, by changing the facts to sound more faith-promoting & leaving out important details.
Having been taught all his life to value truth & avoid deception, this new understanding about the Church practice of 'Lying for the Lord' seemed alien to him.
He was most upset to see President Hinckley obfuscate & lie on camera when interviewed about the doctrine of 'God being once a man, & men having the potential to become Gods'.
Honesty & integrity were & still are his guiding principles in life.
After just over a month of incessant studying & praying he came to the painful realisation that he could no longer continue to serve as Bishop whilst doubting his testimony, without being a hypocrite, despite his love for the members of his Ward .
So in January 2011 he resigned as a Bishop. Link is here./
The week prior to his resignation he presented a talk in Sacrament meeting on 'Compassion For Those Who Leave'. It was his attempt at softening the blow for the Ward members by helping them to understand the thought processes & emotional turmoil of those who leave the Church. Link is here.
Having resigned as bishop he agreed, under threat of excommunication, to avoid speaking about the difficult issues for the Church. Since either resignation from the Church or excommunication would have hurt his extended family, who are members too, he agreed to keep quiet.
However, after a period of time which has allowed emotional adjustment & some hurts to heal, he feels the time is right for him to unseal his lips which the Church forcefully closed several months ago.
Steve's personal blog, which recounts his discovery & struggle with the uncomfortable facts about Church history and origins, and his resignation as bishop because of coming to terms with the truth, is now public.
Last April 2011 it was viewed over 14,000 times in a week & had to be password protected to safeguard family members feelings. There is a tremendous need in the Church for honesty & candid talking, and his resignation letter as bishop seemed to resonate with thousands of members hearts & minds as they desperately look for the courage to face their own epiphanies.
Steve says, "Time has healed hurts & allows me to open my lips once more. I do not intend to Mormon Bash. I love Mormons. The majority of my extended family are all active True Believing Mormons. My Mormon family & friends are some of the nicest, kindest, most compassionate & generous people you could meet."
"My intent in writing my thoughts down is initially to gain personal insight into my own neurology in the context of previous Mormon thinking and my evolving belief system. I post some of those personal analyses and introspections on my Personal Blog in an effort to reach out to others who are going through a similar transition, to offer hope and inspire courage to other disaffected & questioning Mormons."
"Please feel free to publicise wherever you feel would be helpful & appropriate.
Best regards, Steve"
Email: bloorsteve@gmail.com
Steve's Personal Blog: Link is here./
Steve's Resignation Letter as Bishop:
Link is here.
Steve's Sacrament Talk 'Compassion For Those Who Leave':
Link is here.
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