new letter-writing campaign: letters to the brethren

A Mormon named Chris Wei is organizing a letter-writing campaign called “Letters to the Brethren,” encouraging anyone affected by the LDS faith—either active members, inactive members, or non-members—to speak up and tell their stories.

The campaign mentions that “the LDS Church [has appeared to make] cultural shifts towards fundamentalism.” Asked what he means by fundamentalism, Chris cited a few main catalysts which had moved him to action: “multiple excommunications in recent years [like Marisa Calderwood, Rock Waterman, Kate Kelly, John Dehlin, and Jeremy Runnells],” and the Church’s “policy changes (and subsequent commentary) with regard to LGBT members in recent months.” He also cited “the Church’s general rhetoric lately emphasizing obedience and loyalty while demonizing doubt, exploration, and expression.”

Chris added that while these are critical issues for him, other issues may be more critical to others, and it is not his intent to have “Letters to the Brethren” zero in on any one topic in particular. “What you write,” he says, “is entirely up to you.”

You can read more about the campaign at www.letterstothebrethren.com, which links to a Facebook event page. The event is scheduled for the first half of March, during which its participants will send their letters all at once. The stated purpose of having this as an organized, coordinated event “is so that we can feel a sense of community as we share our individual stories with the Brethren.”

The campaign’s Facebook event page concludes with this call to action: “Paul called the Church ‘the body of Christ.’ If one part of the body is in pain, then the other parts need to be aware. So let’s speak up.”