Today we are continuing our series of interviews with LDS Church Education System employees. Today’s guest is extra special, as he resigned from his seminary teaching position just days before the filming of this episode! Riley Davis was born into the church and grew up in a very traditional Mormon family in Utah. As the son of an LDS bishop, Riley struggled with depression due to religious scrupulosity in his youth, but found healing and growth through church youth programs like the Boy Scouts of America—an experience that inspired him to continue working with youth for the rest of his life. After serving a mission in Buenos Aires, Riley eventually became a math and science teacher but was soon presented with an opportunity to work for CES as an LDS seminary teacher. Riley also shares with John insights into the current state of the CES program and where it may be headed in the future. Content Warning: This episode discusses self-harm. Please listen with care. Show notes can be found on the Mormon Stories blog here: https://www.mormonstories.org/mormon-seminary-teacher-resigned-last-week-tells-us-why/ Timecodes: 00:00:00 Introduction 00:06:30 Typical Mormon upbringing 00:17:25 What is religious scrupulosity? 00:26:37 What activities was he involved in as a teen? 00:35:40 Firehose story - “the church starts the fire, then gives the solution to put it out” 00:47:26 Strong testimony by the end of High School 00:55:00 Serving his mission in Buenos Aires 01:08:18 Became a math and science teacher 01:16:00 Married in the temple in 2018 01:21:12 Riley became Elder’s Quorum President 01:26:55 Assigned to try and bring back missionaries that had left the church 01:29:24 What was the church education system like for him? 01:35:20 What is release-time seminary? 01:41:23 Being hired as a full-time seminary teacher 01:51:00 The church has “lowered the bar” so you no longer need a degree to teach seminary 02:20:10 What was his starting salary? How did it compare to teaching high school? 02:22:27 What was it like teaching seminary in 2020? 02:27:32 Does CES try to inoculate the students to not be as shocked when learning church truth claims? 02:33:28 His wife’s faith begins to be challenged - issues with polygamy 02:52:23 Riley struggled after learning about the true history of racism in the church 03:07:44 Disturbed by Joseph Smith’s translation 03:18:50 His wife stops attending church - can be a reason to get fired from CES 03:28:36 Learning about the issues of abuse reporting in the church 03:32:11 “I’m a mandatory reporter, and they are telling me not to report” 03:45:30 Riley felt gaslight by the church 03:48:30 Felt liberated to speak out because he was already on his way out of CES 04:00:00 Seminary students asking him hard questions 04:17:40 Why hasn’t the “restore” approach worked for him and his wife? ___________________ At Mormon Stories we explore, celebrate, and challenge Mormon culture through in-depth stories told by members and former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as scholars, authors, LDS apologists, and other professionals. Our overall mission is to: 1. Facilitate informed consent amongst LDS Church members, investigators, and non-members regarding Mormon history, doctrine, and theology 2. Support Mormons (and members of other high-demand religions) who are experiencing a religious faith crisis 3. Promote healing, growth and community for those who choose to leave the LDS Church or other high demand religions 🤝Help us continue to deliver quality content by becoming a donor today One-time or recurring donations: https://donorbox.org/mormon-stories?default_interval=m Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mormonstories Venmo: https://account.venmo.com/u/mormonstories Paypal: https://paypal.me/mormonstories Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx6OgmoqJbOVRq-Lv1P7SzA/join Our Platforms: 🌐Mormon Stories Blog: https://www.mormonstories.org/episodes 🎙️Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mormonstories ✳️Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4sDzk7dRjODTSEqzZKZJzk?si=148b0efc1ccc4404&nd=1 🍎Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mormon-stories-lds/id312094772 🖼️Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mormstories 📱TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mormonstoriespodcast 🎮Discord: https://discord.com/invite/kuX5p6yyjF Contact us: 📧 MormonStories@gmail.com 📬PO Box 171085, Salt Lake City, UT 84117