How do I curb my daughter's interest in the Mormon church?

[SD_Mom]

My almost-16-year-old daughter has befriended a number of Mormons (boys and girls) at school and has fallen hard for one of the boys. We have been quite active in our own Catholic church, but now my daughter, who is usually very levelheaded, has expressed an interest in the LDS church, and has attended a number of their church activities with one of the girls. Until we started to find out more about the Mormon faith, we were letting her attend. But now we are limiting her interaction with the boy and other Mormon friends to social activities only. However, she is persisting in her request to participate in their church activities. How do I gently dissuade her from this “religion” without pushing her towards it or alienating her?

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

Why is it that many parents seem actually afraid to take firm stands with their children, apparently concerned that their children are glass figurines that will shatter the moment a parent says anything the child might not like? When I was growing up in the '70s and '80s to parents who were oftentimes more than a decade older than the parents of my peers, I had the benefit of parents who had been raised in a generation where parents were comfortable with their authority and knew how to use it.

I say this because I fear you are setting yourself up for failure by being so concerned about not “alienating” your daughter that you fear taking the strong stand she needs to protect her from the danger she faces of apostasy. And, yes, since the LDS church is non-Christian, if she joins that church due (in part) to your failure to catechize her properly, she would commit apostasy and you might hold some culpability for that since you allowed her to become involved with the LDS and did not take a strong stand against it once you understood how dangerous it was for her to be involved.

I can only recommend that you remove your daughter from the LDS influence. Mormons are aggressive proselytizers and many of them are not above “missionary dating” and “missionary friendship” to lure vulnerable young people into their church. I strongly urge you to seek to find a Catholic youth group in your diocese for your daughter and to involve her in Catholic activities with Catholic young people, in addition to catechizing her in her Catholic faith. For more information, see the resources linked below.

Recommended reading:

How to Wolf-Proof Your Kids by Gary G. Michuta
Search and Rescue by Patrick Madrid