Martha Beck: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 08:45, 22 October 2006

Revision as of 08:51, 22 October 2006

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Before her break with the LDS church, Beck co-authored ''Breaking the Cycle of Compulsive Behavior'' with her husband, John, in [[1990]]. A large portion of the book dealt with overcoming [[homosexuality]] (the two have since divorced and both are now openly gay). Beck is the mother of three children, one of whom inspired her to write her [[1999]] [[book]] ''Expecting Adam''. Her son Adam has [[Down Syndrome]]. She has since written ''Finding Your Own North Star'' and ''The Joy Diet''.

Her most recent book, ''Leaving the Saints: How I Lost the Mormons and Found My Faith'', (released in [[March 2005]]) is a narrative in which Beck describes memories of [[sexual abuse]] by her father [http://www.azcentral.com/ent/arts/articles/0225Mormon-Memoir-ON-CP.html], prominent [[Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints|Mormon]] academician [[Hugh Nibley]]; her sexual relationship with her husband; [[Feminism]]; [[religiosity]]; her experiences teaching at [[Brigham Young University]]; cultural dissonance and anomalies in [[Utah]]; her spiritual journey leaving [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]; and her research and use of controversial [[hypnosis]] and [[self-hypnosis]] methods to [[recovered memory|recover repressed childhood memories]] (including the alleged abuse). The book was originally conceived as a [[novel]], loosely based on her life (with the main character being male), but was changed to relate her personal experiences at the encouraging of her publishers, according to a review in the Mormon magazine ''Sunstone''. Beck has been criticized for failing to mention her current sexual orientation in the book, which purports to explain her sexuality; for her portrayal of Latter-Day Saints and Utah culture; and for her accusations against her father and others, allegations which are not only serious in nature but which in at least some cases appear to be provably false- for example, that sex abuse in Mormon families far exceeds any other group, and; that Brigham Young University systematically removed all mention of [[Equal Rights Amendment]] activist [[Sonia Johnson]] from its huge campus library.

On February 24, 2005, weeks before the scheduled release of ''Leaving the Saints'', an article in the ''[[New York Times]]'' reported how Beck's memoir had already become controversial in Mormon circles. Hugh Nibley's family and many of his associates had denounced the book, and praise for it from Oprah Winfrey on her website and in her magazine had prompted 3,500 protest emails. Beck's seven siblings had denounced the book's accusations against their father as "false". Beck claims that a relative who supported her version of events spoke "only on the condition of anonymity after receiving threats of physical violence because of her support of Dr. Beck."