Criticism of Mormonism - Criticism of Response To Internal Dissent

Criticism of Response To Internal Dissent

See also: Academic freedom at Brigham Young University and September Six

The Ostlings say that the LDS Church retaliates against members that publish information that undermines church policies, citing excommunications of scientist Simon Southerton and biographer Fawn M. Brodie. They further state that the church suppresses intellectual freedom, citing the 1993 excommunication of the "September Six", including gay LDS historian D. Michael Quinn, and author Lavina Fielding Anderson. The Ostlings write that Anderson was the first to reveal the LDS Church keeps files on LDS scholars, documenting questionable activities, and the Ostlings state that "No other sizable religion in America monitors its followers in this way".

The American Association of University Professors, since 1998, has put LDS-owned Brigham Young University on its list of universities that do not allow tenured professors sufficient freedom in teaching and research.

Richard Abanes lists the following as church members excommunicated or censured for views unacceptable to the church hierarchy:

  • Journalist Deborah Laake, for her book Secret Ceremonies: A Mormon Woman's Intimate Diary of Marriage and Beyond
  • BYU English teacher Cecilia Konchar-Farr, for her views on abortion laws
  • Writer Janice Merrill Allred
  • English Professor Gail Houston
  • Anthropologist David Knowlton

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