Had a fascinating chat with my high-school senior cousin (who is 20 years younger than me) about her plans after graduation next year. Obviously BYU is not on the table.
For her, it’s sooooo different than it was for me.
Mr Millennial here first got upset over doctrinal issues. Went through a whole “the church lied to me” phase. And eventually came around to injustices in LDS doctrine and culture.
But that’s not how it works for her and her peers. She feels the church is a tiny club with rules so non-inclusive that almost nobody qualifies. So why would anyone want to join it at all?
Furthermore, her short life has seen a church so focused on anti-LGBT that there was little else positive to glean from Sunday. She actually views the church as an immoral organization.
We (older crowd) fell away from the church. They had us. They lost us.
But for her… the church never even got close to winning her over to begin with.
Anyway, it was a fascinating observation
My kids are a similar age. I believe they feel the same way, but you described it better. One of them told me, “I believe it, but I don’t like it,” specifically because of the stance on LGBTQ+ people.
I feel this. I’m a few years older than OP’s sister. Back when I did believe, I constantly battled the cognitive dissonance between a God of love and a church against LGBTQ+ people. I desperately held onto the hope that the policies would eventually change.