In a gripping interview, Megan Conner unpacks the chilling details surrounding Chad Daybell’s guilty verdict for murdering his wife and children, tying it to the dangerous offshoots of Mormon teachings. With raw emotion, Conner condemns the LDS Church’s silence which enabled Daybell’s doomsday cult beliefs like “blood atonement” and gathering the 144,000. She issues an impassioned call for the church to explicitly denounce these doctrines before others are radicalized, arguing its past condoning of violence has harmed thousands and its current silence harms both sides.
2 Responses
I take issue with John being called out about mentioning the possible connection with autism traits relating to the Chad Daybell case. While John is absolutely correct in pointing out that caution must be taken when superficially assigning traits to motives, my experience has been that individuals on the spectrum may struggle to connect their behaviors to harmful consequences. John simply allowed a conclusion his highly educated mind arrived at in the moment to be exposed to his audience. The link between autism and razor-sharp IQ provides ample opportunity for those diagnosed with the disorder to prey on others. This, of course, refers to individuals in the high-functioning range of the spectrum. The tendency for high-functioning autistic persons to gravitate into grandiose and extreme behaviors is not uncommon. There may be subdued versions of autism in all of us. The spectrum may be much wider than we are willing to accept. Most individuals on the spectrum are of no threat at all to anyone and indeed, are the sweetest people you will ever meet. It is the small percentage of those who use their high IQ to abuse and manipulate others that cause me concern. Chad Daybell seems to possibly fit this personality type. His affect is a major give-away.
I understand the need to have a focus for your mission, and you are certainly entitled to limit political topics, but I think it’s unreasonable to say you NEVER want to address politics on Mormon Stories Podcast. The church has undue influence, and occasionally corruptive control, over politics in Utah and among church members everywhere. It is a feature of the church and should not be ignored.