Secret ceremonies is the story of the awakening of deborah laake. Yet after a brief and explosive emergence to a national readership, these works are. Consider converting to mormonism to score yourself a. I began to feel like somebody was pulling back the curtain in oz, lynn k. I first learned about the temple and what happened inside from deborah laake. When romney and i first went through this ceremony, it was a. A candid, often startling memoir of the author s life as a mormon wife. A mormon womans intimate diary of marriage and beyond by deborah laake. Many remember these stories and their subsequent press coverage as both sad and sensationalistpainful accounts of repressed, victimized, or unrealized lives. Jun 18, 20 paperback potboilers and memoirs like deborah laake. Seven years before my colleague deborah laake slaughtered herself, she wrote a famous mormonbashing book, secret ceremonies. The book, published in april 1993, spent 15 weeks on the new york. Secret ceremonies by deborah laake author laakes heartfelt account of her strict mormon upbringing and two disastrous mormon marriages includes new material. The book secret ceremonies makes for a fascinating case study and not just the one that the author was aiming for.
Aug 27, 1993 whether or not youve ever been curious about why mormons dont drink coffee, the church secrets promised in deborah laakes title dont disappoint. Buy secret ceremonies book online at best prices in india on. A mormon womans intimate diary of marriage and beyond, a candid and critical account of her experiences growing up and marrying as a member of the. Oct 31, 2002 my motherinlaw, then in her 70s, read deborahs book in salt lake on the sly. The inherent stepfordness really come across when in their company. Deborah laake is pretty darned flabbergasted by the way her book, secret ceremonies, is being received.
A member of the mormon church describes the voodoolike rituals and behaviors revealed to her on her wedding day and the male dominance, strange teachings, and. I imagine my motherinlaw in salt lake with laakes book, secret ceremonies, smoking a joint and laughing out loud. Deborah laake audio books, best sellers, author bio. As of last sunday, deborah laakes book secret ceremonies sat at no. Laakes book became a sizzling new york times bestseller at least in part because it provides readers titillating access to shocking insider information about mormon temple ceremonies and the. For example, margaret toscano, married to paul toscano and leader of the independent feminist mormon womens forum, said that laakes book portrayed a picture of mormonism she did not recognize. It may also result in some improved services without layoffs. In her book, secret ceremonies, first published in the us last summer, she tells of the misery of donning the hideous undergarments she was supposed to wear, as protection from the devil, for the. The book is written in first hand experience of deborah laake s journey from innocents in the mormon culture to awareness of how the mormon culture is really ridged against women. This book landed in my lap via my husband who heard it mentioned in a crime podcast and was aware that i recently read several memoirs within this genre. A devout mormon, she attended brigham young university, received good grades, was popular but most of all, she found the one, the man who declared that his claim to her was a matter of divine revelation. She was famous for her 1993 book entitled secret ceremonies.
Its a very informative book about the mormon church and the way women are treated within the. Mormons believe that joseph smith had a vision in 1820 in which he saw god and jesus first vision depicted in a sculpture above. Rites and ceremonies mormonism is generally considered to be a liturgically simple faith because it lacks complex and ornate public rituals. A mormon womans intimate diary of marriage and beyond is a 1993 autobiographical book written by american journalist and columnist deborah laake. Oct 27, 2000 terry greene sterling october 27, 2000 11. Secret ceremonies by deborah laake overdrive rakuten. A frank yet compassionate depiction of the culture of the mormon church, this compelling riteofpassage story describes the mystery of the churchs rituals and the beauty and rigor of its theology and traditions set against the backdrop of one womans life. A candid, often startling memoir of the authors life as a mormon wife. Mike norton, an ex mormon known online as newnamenoah, has been out to expose the church he says is weird, creepy, culty, and based on fraud last month, he was key in spreading a viral video of a mormon 12yearold girl named savannah who came out as lesbian to her utah congregation.
Deborah laake is the author of secret ceremonies 3. Jul 10, 2017 secret ceremonies, by deborah laake 1993. As i read the section where she described the pre1990 temple ceremony which i had gone through years earlier i realized that my pulse was racing, i was gasping for breath, and i felt like lightning would strike me at any instant. Laakes book of which more than 500,000 copies were printed in 1993, rose to number eight on the best seller list and remained there for fifteen weeks. A mormon womans intimate diary of marriage and beyondbecame a sizzlingnew york timesbest seller when it was published in 1993. Sep 28, 2014 with pros and cons, and the latter prevail, but regina tries to be fair. A mormon womans intimate diary of marriage and beyond by deborah laake isbn. Secret ceremonies zoomed up bestseller lists, around the country, hitting the. According to this story, they told him that all religions existing at the time were abominations. Jan 05, 2012 i read the late deborah laakes secret ceremonies years ago and she talks about how, even though she had left the church a couple of decades before, she was still shocked that her close friend who was still a member was going to use a fake id to get into the temple for her brothers wedding because, for her friend, attending her brothers. The book is written in first hand experience of deborah laakes journey from innocents in the mormon culture to awareness of how the mormon culture is really.
Christianity and its sects in the statehousegovnr marriage. In her book, secret ceremonies, first published in the us last. Laake is executive managing editor of the new times, inc. Buy secret ceremonies book online at low prices in. Secret ceremonies by deborah laake at a time when her generation was protesting a war and transforming national headlines into a saga of campus violence, she was instead a typical mormon girl who experienced her college years at peaceful brigham.
These are actions i read in deborah laakes book secret ceremonies. The book is written in first hand experience of deborah laakes journey from innocents in the mormon culture to awareness of how the mormon culture is really ridged against women. Likewise, my introduction to mountain meadows came from. Heretic 1981 and deborah laakes secret ceremonies 1995. Those from the last few decades include sonia johnsons from housewife to heretic 1981, deborah laakes secret ceremonies. Writing in religion news service, jana riess characterizes secret ceremonies as a goforthejugular expose typical of the exmormon memoirs of her era. A mormon womans intimate diary of marriage and beyondbecame a sizzling new york timesbest seller when it was published in 1993. I was loaned this book by a friend who wanted to help me understand why i was treated as i was on the job. I think its when i discovered about the secret underwear i always wondered what else was hidden from me. After being turned down by 12 publishing houses, the memoir she wrote about her mormon. Deborah laakes book secret ceremonies answered quite a few of my questions. This is a reasonable assessment, but the private temple.
Although deborah laakes selfanalytical tell all about mormonism, titled secret ceremonies, ended up being more revealing about her own sex life and hangups than an expose on the temple ceremony, she still hinted at an overt sensuality in the washings and anointings and other parts of the ceremony. During the late twentieth century, two mormon womens autobiographies gained widespread attention in the united states. Laake is a staff writer for new times and an executive managing editor for the five cities in which new times has newspapers, though for nearly a year she has been on medical leave. I cant believe so many people care about mormons, ms. A mormon womans intimate diary of marriage and beyond hardcover april 1, 1993. Deborah laake grew up believing that her passport to the higher levels of. As deborah laake put it in her autobiographical book, secret ceremonies, new york 1993. Due to former mormons who have published transcripts of the temple ceremonies like jerald and sandra tanner of utah lighthouse mission and in the film the godmakers by ed decker and jeremiah films the secret mormon temple ritual is no longer really a secret or at least a wellkept one. Search for library items search for lists search for contacts. As a book that states the unspeakable the official and unofficial secret ceremonies that underlie the lives of mormon wives it is a triumphant act of selfaffirmation. Secret ceremonies is the story of the awakening of deborah laake, who came of age in the early seventies in a manner that would have appeared outofstep but certainly not tumultuous to an outsider. Fortunately for exmormon deborah laake, author of a sudsy new autobiography, secret ceremonies 240 pages. In article, patrick the mormons have lost millions since deborah laakes book secret ceremonies was published.
The mormon church is furious about an exs hidden videos. Seven times mormon womens memoirs changed the conversation. A mormon womans intimate diary of marriage and beyond 1993, and, more recently, martha nibley becks leaving the saints. Title summary field provided by blackwell north america, inc. Laakes story offers readers access to shocking insider information about mormon temple ceremonies and. This nice contrast from secret ceremonies and deborah laakes hysteria is a huge asset of this book. Ms laake is now an ex mormon, living in phoenix, arizona, and the author of a book in which she breaks the most sacred of the churchs vows by revealing the marriage rites at the core of the faith. Most mormons, including liberals, dismissed her as sensationalistic. A mormon womans intimate diary of marriage and beyond.
Secret ceremonies by deborah laake at a time when her generation was protesting a war and transforming national headlines into a saga of campus violence, she was instead a typical mormon girl who experienced her college years at peaceful brigham young university as the fulfillment of all her dreams. Only mormons know the secrets, and theyre not going to tell. A mormon womans intimate diary of marriage and beyond by deborah laake 874 ratings, 3. Ever since the execrable roosh valizadeh decided hed rather be a patriarch than a pickup artist, he and the writers on his return of kings garbage site have been singing the praises of tradi. Laake, 47, was best known for her bestselling book secret ceremonies. A mormon womans intimate diary of marriage and beyond, a candid and critical account of her experiences growing up and marrying as a member of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints lds church. Secret ceremonies a mormon womans intimate diary of marriage and beyond by. As deborah laake put it in her autobiographical book secret ceremonies, new york 1993. A mormon womans intimate diary of marriage and beyond audiobook, by deborah laake. These citations may not conform precisely to your selected citation style. Deborah laake 1953 february 6, 2000 was a columnist at the dallas morning news in the 1980s and later a staff writer, columnist, editor, and executive at the phoenix new times. At one point, i found myself sitting in the public library reading deborah laakes book secret ceremonies.
It is a true autobiography that she was excommunicated from the church for. A question to long time exmos fear of leaving recovery. A mormon womans intimate diary of marriage and beyond deborah laake author, meredith macrae narrator, phoenix books publisher. Laake didnt know that her mental illness would return or that she was developing breast cancer and that she would eventually take her own life february 6, 2000 when she was putting the finishing touches on this book back. An account of the secret rituals that surround mormon marriage as experienced by the author. Number of german priest ordinations plummets to new low. A christian professor and evangelist said that after 30 years in the mormon church, she came to a unique realization the bible is more accurate than the book of mormon, and god is bigger than the transcendent man worshipped by the latter day saints lds. First you have to understand that devout mormons never, ever talk about temple ceremonies outside the templeits considered a defilement. Deborah laake is pretty darned flabbergasted by the way her book, secret. In this book, deborah laake, a former member of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints, chronicles her experiences with mormonism and the various rituals performed in their temples. For instance, when talking about her almost promiscuous sexual activity she takes the full responsibility of her actions instead of blaming brigham young and his dog. May 22, 20 my nonmormon friends and i responded to the everpresence of mormonism within our lives by reading a lot of antimormon literature. Deborah laake secret ceremonies is the story of the awakening of deborah laake, who came of age in the early seventies in a manner that would have appeared.
Many of the authors of references used in this book have completed their works at great risk to their employment, as well as being able to remain in the good graces and respect within their. How i left the mormon church memoirs are a substantial subcategory of mormon womens memoirs, including such classics as ann eliza youngs wife no. Second, while there are a number of outsider accounts of mormon weddings, most of these describe the ritual as it took place prior to 1990. In 1984, ron and dan lafferty murdered the wife and infant daughter of their younger brother allen.
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