Content Warning: This content may be disturbing and triggering. Viewer discretion strongly advised.

On November 23rd, 1981, in Logan, Utah, 26-year-old Rodney Lundberg placed his 11-month-old son Justin on a table, raised a butcher knife, and waited for God to intervene—just like in the story of Abraham and Isaac that he'd been taught his entire life was the "gold standard of faithfulness." God didn't stop him. Justin bled to death over two hours while family and neighbors prayed instead of calling 911.

This isn't a story about one man's mental breakdown. This is institutional analysis of how an entire religious culture enabled, validated, and ultimately protected a child killer—and then quietly sent him home after just 3.5 years.

In this episode, we dissect the Mormon theological framework that made this tragedy inevitable: the doctrine that priesthood blessings can heal any wound with sufficient faith, the teaching that Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac represents ultimate obedience, the authority structure that makes challenging male spiritual leaders psychologically impossible, and the cultural programming that prioritizes faith over medical intervention. We examine how the insanity plea allowed everyone to avoid examining the beliefs themselves, how mental health treatment within the same religious framework can never provide real accountability, and why the woman who enabled her son's death remained in a temple marriage to his killer for 28 years.

We trace the systemic protection at every level: The Mormon community that validated Rodney's "spiritual experience." The legal system that accepted an insanity plea to avoid putting doctrine on trial. The mental health professionals who shared their patient's worldview and had every incentive to diagnose individual pathology rather than institutional problem. The family pressures that made leaving impossible. The neighbors who were celebrated as faithful servants despite watching a baby die.

This case reveals the blueprint for how high-control religions handle violence committed in their name: diagnose mental illness to avoid examining doctrine, provide treatment within the same cultural framework that enabled the violence, then quietly reintegrate with minimal accountability. No jury. No cross-examination of church leaders. No public reckoning with dangerous theology. Just institutional cover at every turn.

The real question isn't "Why did Rodney do this?" It's "What theological and cultural systems made it possible for everyone around him to enable his actions?" And more urgently: How many children are currently at risk in communities where these same teachings, authority structures, and protective mechanisms remain fully intact?

How does the Mormon Church consume every aspect of members’ lives? Through unpaid labor, constant meetings, financial control, social surveillance, and the threat of eternal consequences. We break down the control mechanisms that keep members obedient—from cleaning chapels for free to sitting before disciplinary councils, from mandatory tithing to information censorship. Plus: why Utah has some of the highest antidepressant and youth suicide rates in the nation.

Whether you're questioning your faith, supporting someone who's left, or just trying to understand how high-control religions operate, this episode explains the mechanics behind Mormon obedience culture.

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Sorry for what we said when we were Mormon.

In this episode of Postmormon Postmortem Foundations, Jess and Hannah break down Mormon gender roles as a system of control rather than a set of benign religious traditions. They examine how women are taught that motherhood is their primary divine purpose, while men are granted exclusive religious authority through the priesthood.

The episode traces how these roles became entrenched, from the loss of early Mormon women’s authority to the modern, male-controlled Relief Society, and how modesty culture, body policing, and surveillance shape girls’ development from a young age. The episode also connects doctrine to lived experience, showing how teachings about eternal gender and polygamy continue to shape marriage, power, and mental health long after official policies changed. This is an education-first analysis for anyone trying to understand how Mormon gender roles function in practice, not just in theory.

Perfect for: Ex-Mormons, former LDS members, religious deconstruction, cult recovery, religious trauma survivors, and anyone questioning high-demand religion.

Hosts: Jess & Hannah | Postmormon Postmortem

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