Sandra Tanner is a warm, understanding, and intelligent person, who has dedicated her life to educating us on the ills of Mormonism. This is a post from an anonymous FB associate…

“Sandra Tanner, I owe you an apology.

“Years ago, I fancied myself an amateur Mormon apologist. I found a cool thing on the Internet newsgroups called Alt-Religion-Mormon or the ARM for short. I spent hours each day there and thought I was smart enough to defend Mormonism.

“During that time, you were often the foil for our apologetics. We lumped you into a derogatory group known as ‘The Tanners’ – you know, those apostate anti-Mormons who twist and turn everything. You were in the company of Ed Decker and his Godmakers crew.

“But my naïve focus back then was focusing on arguing miniscule doctrine and things like: does Jesus being born “at Jerusalem” (BoM) really mean ‘in Bethlehem?’ Does ‘My house has many mansions’ refer to the three Mormon kingdoms? There were never any real answers to those questions.

“I don’t remember exactly what I knew about you back then – other than that I knew you must be evil and in Satan’s power. I never really read any of your stuff because I knew it would just be rubbish. If I had painted a picture of you, it would have been dark – you as an evil demon sucking people’s souls.

“Last year, I heard your interview with John Dehlin on Mormon Stories. To my surprise, you were nothing like my caricature. You were kind, articulate and caring. You were intelligent. You were thoughtful…And you were right.

“My journey out of Mormonism has allowed me to open my eyes and my heart to many new things. And I want to thank you for being a pioneer in post-Mormonism.

“I humbly admit that I am a child among men when it comes to Mormon history. I knew nothing about the real history of the church and its foundations. All I knew was the Pablum I had been taught. The more I learn now, the more I realize how little I knew then.

“So, I want to apologize for what I thought of you. I want to apologize because I would have shunned and avoided you at all costs if I had been in the same room. I would have told others that you were full of lies and deceit. I’m sorry that you have had to live with people like me thinking bad things about you.

“I was wrong.

“Thank you for being true to yourself. I hope that someday I can meet you and thank you in person. I would like to hug you and, tell you that you have a loving spirit and that you are a beautiful child of God.

“Someday, I’d like to call you my friend.”