The large billboard in downtown Salt Lake City features a diverse group of people with the caption "You are not alone" and the Web site www.postmormon.org.
It is sponsored by the Post-Mormon Community, made up of people who have voluntarily left Mormonism.
"We choose to no longer base our lives, and the lives of our children, on so-called truths dictated by others," organizers say in their mission statement. "We endeavor to help those like us who also feel the need to explore meaning, purpose and life beyond Mormonism."
They may no longer affiliate with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but Post Mormons do not see themselves as Mormon antagonists. They readily acknowledge the "good that came into our lives through Mormonism," and try to retain a cordial relationship with family and friends who remain in the church.
The billboard will remain up for the next 30 days, timed to coincide both with LDS General Conference and with the upcoming meeting of the Ex-Mormon Foundation, "Transitions - Unlocking the Secrets of a Post-Mormon Life," at Salt Lake City's Embassy Suites Hotel on Oct. 12-14.
The Ex-Mormon Foundation takes a more aggressive stance toward the LDS Church. It sees its mission as warning members and potential converts " of the harm [the church] causes, the families it devastates, the methods it uses to control minds, and the half-truths and deceptions by which it deludes the public," according to its Web site, www.exmormon foundation.org.
The foundation reviews and critiques "the church's propaganda" so it can be "a counterforce to the massive Mormon missionary and advertising effort."
For more information about the conference, go to Ex-Mormon Foundation's Web site.
