Around 25 years ago, my local County Library had a section devoted to Mormon Journal of Discourses--mainly from sermons of Brigham Young. Then, before resigning my membership in the Mormon Church, I felt I had to really delve deep into what my former Mormon church taught and them pit that information against the Bible and my new-found Faith in what I found to be God's Only Word.
I had heard about the Blood Atonement practice and although the Mormon Church mostly tries to minimize it---it was very much a practice in the late 1800's. And, it still is somewhat practiced today as Ted Bundy and Gary Gilmore, of course chose the firing squad for their methods of execution. It is the only State that gives one that option-btw.
As I had heard from my Mormon mother that if I had lived back in the 1860's, that I might have suffered the Blood Atonement for leaving. So, God led me to investigate as Mormons do not look kindly on someone who becomes, what they refer to as an "apostate Mormon".
What I found back then and what I researched lately is basically the same. There is a reference to spilling of the blood of an apostate in the link below.
www.utlm.org/onlinebooks/changech20.htm
Although the control factor of Mormons is a lot less now, and if you live in a predominantly Mormon area, like I do, you will suffer a lot of what is referred to as "shunning". That shunning has gotten way less over the years. I was blessedly asked to give the Eulogy at my Mormon mother's funeral after assuring the Bishop that I would not speak on anything that could be construed as doctrinally controversial. I spoke from the Bible, of course. Interesting twist on that, is that God allowed me to be a part on my own mother's finding the True Christ about a week before she passed on after 91 years of being a Mormon.
I no longer get Mormon missionaries at my house as they must have realized it would be futile to try to bring me back. Had a few encounters over the years where the missionaries left frustrated. A lot of Mormons locally that I call friends will talk to me on the street and I generally initiate a conversation. Sometimes that friendliness and love will do more than debating the Bible.
