Mormon at West Point Academy Questions Church & Military Service - Austin Wheeler | Ep. 1987

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  • Опубліковано 1 лют 2025

КОМЕНТАРІ • 75

  • @marysarao7435
    @marysarao7435 4 дні тому +65

    A never Mormon here…but a follower of your channel. The interviews are fascinating. I especially enjoy the interviews in which Margi participates. She asks the most insightful questions in the most compassionate way.

  • @AarmOZ84
    @AarmOZ84 4 дні тому +17

    I am a US Navy veteran (submariner) so love to hear from fellow vets and service members. 🇺🇸

  • @sacredfire2178
    @sacredfire2178 4 дні тому +12

    I just want to send my love, appreciation and gratitude for the courage and bravery that it takes every guest to share their stories. I also want to show my respect and compassion for the entire team and crew. As a once dedicated fully believing (albeit at times wayward prodigal son 😂) member of the church, I am fully familiar with many of the incredibly confusing and difficult challenges that learning....more of the story can present.
    I only recently started following your channel but sobfar there have only been one or two of the issues discussed that haven't directly affected me and many people that i love. There is TREMENDOUS value in the the loving, caring and truly compassionate way that you Dr Dehlin provide space for these sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes very heartwarming, but always enlightening stories to come to light.
    I want to thank you and Margi especially, but also each of your guests I have heard so far, y a Gerardo también muchísimas gracias for todo lo que traes al diálogo.
    I am currently working my way through some terrible things from my early youth that in great part were a direct result of the church, and its stance on certain issues, and ibdont think i would be in one piece today, had i not discovered this channel when i did. Thank you. I really do just love you all for what you do and i hope that you continue to help so many of us to so supported as well as inforning so many people about the really important issues that have all been baked into the cake that is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

  • @jessicaspencer3480
    @jessicaspencer3480 5 днів тому +22

    John, Margi, and Austin, I typically don't watch the traditional person sharing their story videos and like the LDS discussions style videos better BUT I was entertained the whole time and watched all nearly 4 hours of this video (on 2 times speed). Good work and thank you for your story

  • @FamSikLA
    @FamSikLA День тому +2

    Thank you, Austin. You are so thoughtful and insightful and young. As a Mom, your stories give me a lot to think about. Appreciate you!

  • @LordAmalthea
    @LordAmalthea 5 днів тому +32

    I was in the Marine Corps when I was Mormon. Mormonism kept me out of most of the after work camaraderie activities bc my wife at the time thought it too sinful, and then my unit viewed me as an outsider. The garments were also a huge source of teasing. Also, a bishop saying that all my kills were justified without knowing the circumstances showed me he had nothing to do with God.

    • @AskthePoolman
      @AskthePoolman 5 днів тому +4

      Thanks 🙏🏼 , my brother was Marine tunnel rat . 🐀 He took over his platoon because was 18 year old California surfer 🏄🏾‍♂️ street smarts. Already been to jail, took “Reds” and wouldn’t hesitate to frag his commanding officer. America 🇺🇸 hasn’t been any declared war since World War II. My wife’s dad was in Korea, which was a miserable tie. We got our asses kicked. We got our ass kicked in Vietnam because they’ve been at war for 1000 years, I live by little Saigon in Orange County, California and I love it. I’m learning a lot great vegetarian food and celebrating the Chinese new year I took on the religion, their folk religion, which was actually the main component of them winning the war we dropped more bombs on Southeast Asia and all World War II and where to get us ? nowhere!

    • @christinabeck9316
      @christinabeck9316 5 днів тому +5

      Your kills were blindly justified is a pretty shocking thing to hear

    • @somebodytookmyname1
      @somebodytookmyname1 3 дні тому

      That really sucks. I’m sorry that Gordon B Hinckley’s counsel for us to “be a peculiar people” harmed your relationships and reputation in this way. For you, the stakes are so high.. to know that you trust your team with your life.
      Personally I enacted the extreme judgemental wife position. At the time it seemed like holy sacrifice but now that I know better I have many regrets.
      For the moments of connection you missed with your team, I’m sorry

  • @tawnyachristensen7310
    @tawnyachristensen7310 5 днів тому +12

    Thank you Austin for telling your story. It was very interesting and enlightening. Really great interview! John and Margi are a great interview team, really thoughtful questions. (Love Margi's hair BTW)

  • @rileydosh1605
    @rileydosh1605 4 дні тому +3

    Hey Austin! '17 non-Mormon grad here. I loved your talk and related to much of what you said about the military culture there and in the broader country. Thank you for sharing your story!

  • @jobinsmith4116
    @jobinsmith4116 6 годин тому +1

    Great story Austin wishing you, your wife and baby a peaceful and joyful life!! You are perfectly imperfect just the way you are, just like the rest of us trying to be a good human!

  • @trishawilkins9375
    @trishawilkins9375 5 днів тому +8

    Thank you Austin. I am so sorry for the pain you went through alone. I wish we could turn back time…. But I’m so proud of you and your strength. So impressed with the life you chose to live and changes you made when you were able. You have a big sister in AZ now.

    • @AskthePoolman
      @AskthePoolman 5 днів тому

      Unfortunately, Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Florida are disgusting red state and their leader. Trump is a five to deferment loser coward that failed to fight in Vietnam. 🇻🇳

  • @BritteBjerga
    @BritteBjerga 3 дні тому +9

    I worked in wilderness therapy programs for aprx 4 years. Aprx 30% of the teens were LDS. Their reasons for being sent to an intense survival program were usually bad grades, masturbation, sexual activity, unwillingness to go to church, or smoking weed. When I decided to go inactive my parents contemplated sending me to a program. It is wildly common for parents to send their LDS teens away somewhere if they don’t or can’t tow the Mormon line. My parents wanted to send me to a program when I was kissing boys and drinking mike’s hard lemonade with friends at occasional naughty college parties. I can’t imagine sending my sons away if they’re struggling with their grades or dealing with peer pressure. Like, “Here, fix my underperforming kid for me strangers.” As a parent now it’s unfathomable to me.

  • @lizzieb19450
    @lizzieb19450 2 дні тому +9

    These mission presidents who think kids are sick bc they have sinned…is so neglectful, irresponsible and criminal! These men should be in jail! For shaming kids and make them and putting their own transgressions on children! It’s sick!!!

  • @cc-hk5ih
    @cc-hk5ih 4 дні тому +5

    Excellent episode.
    Amazing what one human being has to endure and yet survives to tell his story so well. Non Morman here. So much to think about. It is sad too that veterans once home and broken are not looked after. The system lauds those 'marching unto war' but conveniently forgets and discards those affected or broken from their service. A sad historical fact and a sad reflection of society and attitudes to mental health..
    Mormonismfrom what I've observed definitely messes with people's heads and not in a good way either! Brave guy to endure all and to overcome and survive both. Cc

  • @lizzieb19450
    @lizzieb19450 2 дні тому +7

    These adult men who “think they have been chosen by God” to pass judgement o these kids is so sick!!! Just gross!

  • @exmoextra13
    @exmoextra13 4 дні тому +4

    ive been saying the book of mormon is such a violent book and that i never understood how people felt the spirit reading it growing up. i am glad this conversation is finally happening

  • @joeschmo531
    @joeschmo531 3 дні тому +4

    I was in the MTC in 2004 and our district also started a fight club with some of the other floors in our building. We were on the top floor and there weren't any missionaries on the other side of the floor, so we had a large area with no one using it. Within a day someone had reported to leadership and 2 missionaries from my district were sent home. The MTC viewed having a fight club as starting Secret Combinations since the first 2 rules of fight club are, don't talk about fight club. This all happened in the first week of being in the MTC. For the next 2 weeks before we left, they took every large gathering as an opportunity to bring it up. We were constantly told the companions of the 2 elders sent home didn't love them enough to stop them, the the rest of the district also didn't love them enough to stop them, and that everyone should be less selfish and be their brother's keeper. We had other missionaries come to our mission for close to a year after that and told us that the MTC was still mentioning this fight club in meetings/devotionals.

  • @janetbrockman3729
    @janetbrockman3729 2 дні тому +2

    I can’t believe I never before realized the Ammon chopping off arms scene is soooo Monty Python.😂

  • @courtneybayley5408
    @courtneybayley5408 4 дні тому +5

    My son has EOE. It’s managed now but he used to vomit all the time. So glad you finally got help!

  • @kfaulknerstudio
    @kfaulknerstudio 5 днів тому +18

    Thank you for touching on Christian Nationalism. I have no interest in living under any version of theocracy.

  • @HecticLlama
    @HecticLlama 5 днів тому +5

    Really enjoyed this episode!! Thank you, Austin

  • @DeSwagg52
    @DeSwagg52 5 днів тому +11

    The recent military x Mormon hx of violence has been helping me a build a more nuanced understanding and connection to the generational and collective trauma of all people because of white supremacy. Beautiful work

  • @xochitlkitty
    @xochitlkitty 4 дні тому +3

    28:03 thank you so much for highlighting the violent rhetoric and pointing out the glorification of violence and sense of entitlement regarding religious righteousness.

  • @gloverbj1979
    @gloverbj1979 4 дні тому +2

    I spent 6 years on active duty in the Coast Guard after serving a mission. Thanks for sharing your story Austin.

  • @jaybeemaybe1
    @jaybeemaybe1 5 днів тому +4

    Austin, you are such a beautiful man with a beautiful soul. Thank you very much for your important story. Congratulations to you and your wife as you count the days until meeting your little baby 👶🏻🧸🍼 ❣️

  • @noctash
    @noctash 4 дні тому +5

    Austin gives me lot of hope that this generation can deconstruct the white christian nationalism that seems to be on the rise. What a compelling story, So happy Austin has gotten support and a new direction in life after so much trauma. Congrats on your degree and growing family.
    I would love to see more interviews with 'unknown' mormons.

  • @sun-ship
    @sun-ship День тому +1

    This was a great one.

  • @TravisCall
    @TravisCall 3 дні тому +1

    Army national guard veteran; joined at 17. The guard let me take 2 years off for a mission. Hearing this interview was very interesting. Living in limbo is a numbing experience.

  • @trishawilkins9375
    @trishawilkins9375 5 днів тому

    Thanks!

  • @christinabeck9316
    @christinabeck9316 5 днів тому +5

    I had no idea there was so much violence that is glorified in Mormonism! I’ve been watching your channel for years! How is this such a surprise!?

    • @truthseeker4286
      @truthseeker4286 44 хвилини тому

      Are you willfully ignorant? Where are your scorns and tears For the Spanish inquisition? The sexual abuse and s@d@my of children on a massive scale within the Catholic Church through the years? Et al.

  • @patriciafinn5717
    @patriciafinn5717 4 дні тому +3

    Lovely guy..so honest.❤

  • @letahamilton
    @letahamilton 5 днів тому +4

    Daughter of Navy Chaplain. Stationed overseas. The Mormons never participated in naval chapel activities. My sister did get pregnant by her Mormon boyfriend while abroad. Being in the military, the family was able to move to the next duty station & go on to do a mission & marry a Mormon girl & raise a Mormon family. One strong memory is Easter sunrise service at military park overseas….one corner for Catholics, one corner for Protestants & one for Mormons.

  • @marthashepherd341
    @marthashepherd341 4 дні тому +3

    Dear Austin, You are a True Hero!!! ♥️🙏♥️🥰

  • @Marenlauder1
    @Marenlauder1 4 дні тому +1

    My husband and I did a revolutionary war planning meeting at Fort Montgomery near West Point. And I remember the 20 seater bus coming to Stake conference.
    West Point had the best Mexican restaurant outside of Utah in 2010.

  • @xochitlkitty
    @xochitlkitty 4 дні тому +3

    2:38:09 wow- the absolute lack of empathy from the supposed leaders. It’s astounding. Authoritarianism has to crush empathy. This is what I’m seeing from the authoritarian Christians ( and authoritarian sects of other religions as well) it ties in with that idea of lethality being the best expression of manliness, and I guess empathy knocks people off the single minded/purposed track the organization wants them to stay on. I’ve just been asking myself lately what leads people to throw rocks at children trying to go to school (school integration post Brown) or feel gleeful that their neighbors are being rounded up at work while their kids are in school; knowing that they will suffer and not just not having empathy but feeling righteous about it- like the man berating you on the way home because you did something that very well may have saved that boy’s life- you were the real hero.

  • @lizzieb19450
    @lizzieb19450 2 дні тому +2

    These adult men who “think they have been chosen by God” to pass judgement o these kids is so sick!!!

  • @xochitlkitty
    @xochitlkitty 4 дні тому +3

    20:55 my Mormon neighbors across the street in Oakland put 19 signs in their yard after I put a small Vote no on 8 sign up. 🙄 years later one of the kids who was probably around 12 during the prop 8 thing, apologized to me.

  • @teacup.demitasse
    @teacup.demitasse День тому +1

    Oh man, the part about the Stake High Councilman colonel in his uniform berating Austin for being weak & selfishly taking up his time to chastise the congregation about fast offerings really got to me. Mormonism is entrenched in generation upon generation of my family history and although I have disassociated from the church the culture remains deeply familiar/familial to me. I cling to the good I saw and the love felt among the membership but then there were the pompous egotistical bad apples that I tell myself would still be massive jerks whether they were in the church or not, that some people are just fundamentally bullies. Those I would love to come face to face again to shove Mormonism down their gullet purely out of spite.

  • @xochitlkitty
    @xochitlkitty 4 дні тому +3

    41:01 drawing a parallel- in the Bible one of God’s commandments is “Thou shalt not kill.” Yet there he is afterward always egging his people on :”those people over there don’t believe in me. I want you to destroy every single man and boy, and take the women and girls as your sex slaves.” In the Constitution, the very first right includes freedom of religion and speech, yet the religious right insists that we all have to believe and be just like them. Talk about mixed messages. Maybe that’s why I never really believed (Episcopalian) because I read the Old Testament at 13 and along with the terribly bad deal women get in there, there was this glaring contradiction about whether or not it’s ok to kill people. My dad’s answers (apologetics) did not convince me.

  • @sacredfire2178
    @sacredfire2178 4 дні тому +1

    Also Apologies if i got Margis name wrong, or if i should be also addressing her as Dr

  • @AskthePoolman
    @AskthePoolman 5 днів тому +2

    Thank you , 🙏🏼 for removing my comments, I admit, I am too gnarly 😮😅😊

  • @austinhill1724
    @austinhill1724 День тому

    Who are the Paul brothers Austin mentions at ~41:30?

    • @rebeccacall7348
      @rebeccacall7348 День тому +2

      A couple of Marines John had on the show that were basically Mormon apologists in the making. Their blatant obstinance made it painful to watch.

  • @elizabethsmith2344
    @elizabethsmith2344 3 дні тому +1

    Not a totally accurate statement regarding mental health with AD. John, there’s a great article by Army psychologists who were embedded with units in the ground in Iraq. Their approach was to be there when trauma happened to help process it so it didn’t have time to fester into PTSD. I was fascinated because as a Vet, I had no idea there had been such experiments in the thick of OIF.
    What a story…glad he came out the other side. I can’t help
    But hear some echoes of another soldier whose story I’ve heard. I won’t say who to avoid folks jumping to conclusions they think I’m making, but there are parallels surrounding the underlying idea of what serving is.

  • @rociocastro9106
    @rociocastro9106 4 дні тому +2

    I love how deconstructing a religion almost immediately means deconstructing from the cult of the Republican Party 😅

  • @AskthePoolman
    @AskthePoolman 3 дні тому +2

    Just finished the podcast loved it. Awesome, I could discuss and talk and add all kinds of stuff. Both my wife and my family have fought and probably most of the wars and so-called wars for the United States going back to the revolutionary war.
    He was mentioning a disconnect between civilians and military that isn’t really accurate California Torrance, California Southern California by the beach actually has had the biggest longest oldest largest Armed Forces Parade in the country not Texas not Utah not Idaho, not Florida, what I’m getting, that yes are civilians but have a background the military because my brother is in Vietnam Three of my four of my uncles or maybe five so fought Canada some for the US fought World War II the last declared war for the United States. But that’s just one perspective and another one is the Mormons do not bode well in combat because they are authority driven and think they’re better than everybody and it’s a whole different world when your in platoon with an African-American from Compton California that has seen people killed as a child has maybe even handled and shot himself a handgun way before he got in the military so great talk again, but there is so much more to this and he exposed a lot of stuff and I didn’t Realize That the Mormons put all this money into the gay proposition in California which I’ve talked to everybody I mean, I work with gay people that are married and I live in Long Beach California, and no one even remembers that that’s how insignificant that Bill was and people have been gay and together forever in California.

  • @xochitlkitty
    @xochitlkitty 4 дні тому +1

    1:24:26 wow- what a thing for a teenager/20 year old to take on- not only his own “sins” but responsibility for who knows how many complete strangers. That’s heavy.

  • @xochitlkitty
    @xochitlkitty 3 дні тому +1

    3:42:24 it might help us asa country to start talking about authoritarianism vs. democracy rather than left vs. right. It seems to me like extremists- authoritarians - come in different flavors. I think we can see that our democracy is being threatened by extremists whether they are in politics or in a militia. I have Republican friends who are staunchly against the extremist trend.

  • @xochitlkitty
    @xochitlkitty 4 дні тому +1

    2:02:43 omg- I know you were in agony being sick and blaming yourself for it- but this has me in agony worrying for you. This need they have to believe that if you do everything according to their rules you’ll never get sick or have difficulties in life. Similar mentality to the administrations initial reactions to COVID. 🤬

  • @millie6129
    @millie6129 4 дні тому +2

    God is just playing Plinko with our souls.

  • @valerismith9929
    @valerismith9929 3 дні тому +1

    Raw bull testical! Made me laugh out loud and vomit at the same time. Lol

  • @clydeLedford
    @clydeLedford 5 днів тому +2

    Amazing that Ve e

  • @truthseeker4286
    @truthseeker4286 49 хвилин тому

    Hey everyone , Be careful. Though Dehlin has offered great info about problems within the LDS Church, His ultimate and more important conclusion is his atheism, and the denial of the Christ. He has fooled and decieved himself, his family, and many listeners.

  • @fredlarge8209
    @fredlarge8209 4 дні тому +1

    Austin, you are the victim of the training. The training was successful. You did dodge a bullet.

  • @xochitlkitty
    @xochitlkitty 4 дні тому +2

    2:41:55 hilarious John😅

  • @aaronhawkins1541
    @aaronhawkins1541 3 дні тому +1

  • @kheim2000
    @kheim2000 4 дні тому +1

    ASD?

    • @millie6129
      @millie6129 4 дні тому

      Autism Spectrum Disorder

  • @robertloewen7268
    @robertloewen7268 4 дні тому +1

    Very interesting episode, aa a 72 tr old Mennonite.