
The resignation of Bob McCue
as a
bishop of The LDS Church

Sponsored link.

On 2004-MAY-30, the Calgary Herald newspaper
in Alberta, Canada published an article about Bob McCue, (1958-) a former
bishop of the LDS (Mormon) church. 1,2 McCue is a tax lawyer
in Calgary. His Mormon ancestors helped settle southern Alberta. He had a
great-grandmother who was the fourth polygamous wife of a William Paxman, a
high-ranking church leader in Utah. Although he was rich, she died in poverty
after her husband's death, because his first wife refused to share his estate.
McCue served as bishop for a local ward for five
years. He became distressed after a study of Mormon history. He
developed a number of concerns. In his opinion:
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The senior Mormon leadership had misled him
about the origins of Mormonism, "and thence what it was." The Church
has suppressed many events in its history. Only versions of Church history
which are "faith promoting" are taught. Leaders, from the founder
Joseph Smith onwards, intentionally deceived both their membership and the
public in important matters. |
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He was forbidden to speak about any of the
deceptions that he had found, outside of his immediate family. |
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He found Mormon teachings inferior to those of
other religions and to scientific findings. |
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Mormon teachings are liable to impair the
intellect of young people. |
He found that a book by James Fowler helpful in
understanding his spiritual journey. It describes six stages of spirituality
that some people can experience. Fowler describes a follower's belief during the
third stage as: "my faith is the best or only true faith." In the fourth
stage, which most people do not attain, the individual realizes that many aspects of their faith do not agree
with reality. They often reappraise their beliefs and sometimes reject their
faith group. 3
He has concluded:
"...that once the evidence is
considered, it is highly probable that most of Mormonism's foundational
claims are false and that Mormon leaders have given and continue to give bad
advice in many respects. But I remain open to the possibility that I am
wrong..."
Having been frustrated by what he felt was the 'stifling'
reaction of denominational leaders, he resigned as bishop in 2002-DEC. He stated
in his resignation letter:
"I deeply regret that the church's
position respecting freedom of speech and the suppression of intellectual
inquiry has reached its current low ebb."
Since breaking with the LDS church, he has
conducted a study of ex-Mormon members on the Internet. He has tentatively
concluded that people who exhibit certain of the Meyers-Briggs personality types
[I (introverted), N (intuitive), T (thinking)] are more liable to question their
faith. 4
He has established a web site to help others
through the process of leaving the LDS church. He participates in a number of
post-Mormon bulletin boards and carries on an extensive exchange of information
via E-mail. 5 He writes:
"The single most common comment I have
received from people who have read material on my website is that I have put
into words what they have felt, but could not quite articulate."
He concludes:
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"Mormonism's highest leaders demand,
receive, and violate, the almost complete trust of faithful Mormons." |
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"Mormon leaders promise put their
followers' interests first, but instead often protect the LDS Church and
so harm those who have trusted them." |

References:
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David Hedley, "Leaving the fold: Former Mormon bishop walks away from
the faith of his ancestors in protest of church leaders 'stifling' his
freedom to ask troubling historic questions," Calgary Herald,
2004-MAY-30, at:
http://www.canada.com/
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Bob McCue, "Calgary Herald Interview - May 30, 2004; 'Uncut'
version,"
at:
http://mccue.cc/ This appears to be a broken link. However, there is a
great deal of McCue's writing at
http://mccue.cc/bob/ that contains similar material.
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James Fowler, "Stages of Faith : The Psychology of Human Development,"
Harper SanFrancisco, (1995).
Read
reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store."
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"MeyersBriggs.org," at:
http://www.myersbriggs.org/
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"bob mccue's website" is at:
http://mccue.cc/

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Copyright © 2004 to 2006 by Ontario Consultants on Religious
Tolerance
Originally written: 2004-JUN-1
Latest update: 2006-NOV-12
Author: B.A. Robinson 

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