I don't want to expand on this point very much at all other than to say that I didn't want this person to be suspected of even the slightest participation in MormonLeaks. I can honestly say this person had no idea about my involvement with MormonLeaks until yesterday, September 24, 2017. This by far was the biggest reason for my anonymity and the following two reasons were only minor considerations compared to it.

I work in the high-in-demand industry of cyber security and absolutely love it. I am paid to protect sensitive, confidential, and private information and undergo extensive background checks before starting a new job. Initially, my suspicion was that it would not adversely affect my career because Mormonism is so small when compared to the rest of the United States, but I wanted to err on the side of caution on this one and consult trusted colleagues on the matter. After doing so, the overwhelming consensus is that it would have minimal impact on my career and in some cases would even bolster my resume. After all, despite being a digital forensics professional, I have learned quite a bit more in the practice due to the different perspective and niche MormonLeaks has placed me in.

The potential adverse effects that it could have on my relationships with family and friends still active in the Church.

I touched on this quite a bit almost a year ago here, but I'll summarize for the sake of consolidation. There is a phrase that is common among active Mormons that says "People can leave the Church, but they can't leave the Church alone." I myself am guilty of having said it about my extended family members who had left the Church back when I was still active. The phrase implies that everyone who leaves the Church obsesses over finding every opportunity they can find to point out the Church's faults or shortcomings, which, if you spend 30 minutes on r/exmormon you will see is simply not true. It also implies that the opinions, statements, and actions of anyone that has left are hostile and malicious towards the Church. This is an unfair assumption that immediately puts all ex-Mormons at odds with their loved ones that remain in the Church, and is typical of the black and white worldview that most religions promote. Both of these assumptions are what make it so terrifying and nerve-racking to publicly admit to a loss of faith.

In January 2017, an article entitled The Alarming Truth Behind Anti-Mormonism made its rounds through Mormondom and to date has over 77,000 shares. The article itself, and its circulation, are testaments to the incredibly vast misunderstanding that exists between active Mormons and ex-Mormons. In it the author implies through his rhetoric that all those who leave the Church are anti-Mormons, or at least go through a phase of anti-Mormonism. His analysis and understanding of the term ‘anti’ contains absolutely no nuance. I have had many conversations with my believing family and friends who make similar implications that all who leave are anti and they too typically fail to see the nuance.

Most ex-Mormons have left the Church at least in part due to a feeling of betrayal when they realize that the version of Church history which they grew up learning -- and in some cases taught to others on their missions -- is whitewashed, altered, and misleading. The Mormon Church itself instills and promotes a desire to spread truth by sending tens of thousands of missionaries around the world to baptize as many people as they can and with mantras such as "every member a missionary". Not to mention the fact that this desire is fairly natural of humans in general. So when the claim is made that Joseph Smith used the Urim and Thummim to translate the Book of Mormon and an ex-Mormon corrects it by saying Smith really put a stone that he found at the bottom of a well in a hat and claimed the words of the book appeared on the rock, it's not because they can't leave the Church alone. It's because the Church changed the narrative and they're simply setting the record straight. An active Mormon would do the same thing if what they knew to be true was inaccurately represented. The stone in a hat story, by the way, is a fact that even the Church has recognized is true.

Admittedly, I am being quite a bit more proactive in my quest for truth than simply correctly faithful family members when they misrepresent historical facts. That is because I hold the controversial opinion that there is corruption and abuse that happens within the Mormon leadership. I am not looking to argue that opinion, but everything that I have seen in the past year as a part of MormonLeaks simply reconfirms that opinion. So imagine, if one is written off as nonsensical for simply correcting a false claim, the much larger effects that my participation in such an endeavor as MormonLeaks will undoubtedly have on my relationship with my believing friends and family. It is truly terrifying.

I'm not anti-Mormon. I still love my friends and family who remain active in the Church. If they are happy, I truly think that they should stay. Leaving the Church was the hardest thing I've ever done, and I don't wish the pain that ensues on anyone. No, I'm not anti-Mormon. I'm for exposing corruption in an organization that tithes its poorest members while its leaders make higher-than-average salaries, rejects those that are different, degrades women, and influences its membership to censor their own thoughts. I am pro-transparency. I am pro-truth.