Recently a blog post claims:

It then insults people who get their Statistics degree from “The University of Reddit”.

The article fails to cite even a single source for its claims.

The number of folks applying for rebaptism far and away outnumbers the resignation requests.

And where does our blog poster get this fantastic number?

My source told us over family dinner one Sunday that the perception that social media gives about the “exodus” is simply not representative of the Church not just globally but even within the US.

Well who could ever doubt a source you had over for dinner. The problem is that mathematics isn’t hard and it doesn’t lie like a friend over for dinner might. Here is one post from Reddit that simply uses the Church’s own published numbers to draw the conclusion of lowered church growth.

If we go back to the previous membership count on Dec 31, 2012 it shows 14,782,473. So 15,000,000-14,782,473= 217,527 increase over a period of 38 weeks. With a little math, we can turn this into an annual growth rate of 1.388%. Compare this to past growth rates on this wiki page. Notice the steady decrease from 8.74% in 1989. (- painted_red)

Notice there are cited sources. A person can follow the calculations and come to the same conclusion. No matter how much people want belief to equal truth, truth is independent of your personal wishes and aspirations.

As far as number of people leaving the church, I think that the number of times LDS leaders mention “Do not leave the church” in their talks is a good indication that things have shifted. From “Stay in the Boat” talks (There have been multiple now) to an increase in youth firesides focused on retention one can do a quick comparison to years prior to 2012 and see that even in the last three years there is an acceleration in “Just stay” rhetoric in talks.

I’d challenge the individual, S. Stevenson, which isn’t his real name, to come forward with a source that can be cited, rather than adding to “Faith promoting rumor”

No need to spread false rumors to make people feel better about their beliefs. Oh and as to my degree, it’s from BYU, included Statistics, and I work with statistics all day every day professionally for at least 6 years. And I post on Reddit. Given the lack of sources or even understanding of basic math, I think Mr. S. Stevenson probably doesn’t have a stats degree at all. Glass houses, throwing stones.

I hope the author at HolyFetch.com adds this one to his pile of faith-promoting rumors from the start.