Religious Trauma
Four Signatures
What if the pressure to remarry quickly after divorce is the same operating system that produced the wrong marriage in the first place?
Faith & Dating
Navigating dating after a faith-based marriage
Dating Skills
April 3, 2026: Is Your Dealbreaker Actually a Dealbreaker — or Just Fear with a Bumper Sticker?
A post in the LDS Dating — Midsingles Facebook group earlier this month asked a simple question: "Can we, or should we, pursue relationships with those who have opposing political or religious beliefs?" 39 people reacted. 348 people commented. That ratio tells you something. When a post gets 10
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The Checkbox and the Covenant
A woman I know recently went on a date with a man who, somewhere between the appetizers and the entrée, made her an offer. "Look," he said, "at our age we'll keep our finances separate anyway. So if it doesn't work out, no
advice-column
March 26, 2026: He Loves His Mom. But Did He Ever Leave Her?
A post in the LDS Dating Midsingles group last week lit up the feed in a way that felt very familiar. A woman posted a pointed, plainly worded question: why are so many men hitting 40 still choosing their mothers over a potential wife? She cited scripture. She named the
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The Wedding Everyone Wanted Except the Two People in It
There is a version of this story that plays out quietly, without drama, in thousands of LDS homes. No affairs. No cruelty. No villain. Just two young people who got married because everyone around them made it feel like the only reasonable next step, and who then spent the next
advice-column
March 24: Which One Are You? The 5 Types of People in Every Mid-Singles Dating Group - And Why Only One of Them Is Actually Moving Forward
Scott Turing and Laurie Pascal, Unchaperoned Life We've been reading the LDS Dating - Midsingles group for a while now. Thirty-five thousand members. Hundreds of posts every month. Thousands of comments. Posts about what men want. Posts about who should text first. Posts about shallow dating pools and
advice-column
March 23, 2026: Everyone in This Group Is Looking for the Same Thing. Nobody Will Say What It Actually Is.
Scott Turing and Laurie Pascal, Unchaperoned Life In March 2026, someone in the LDS Dating - Midsingles group asked members to describe their current dating life using an 80s song title. The post got 361 reactions and 360 comments. It was the single most engaged post of the entire month
Faith & Dating
March 17, 2026: The Three Answers to "Why Get Married?"
In the Facebook group, a man named Aaron posted a simple red image with five words on it: "If you want to get married, why?" That's it. No story, no setup. Just the question. Nearly 200 comments followed. And what emerged wasn't one answer.
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Part 1: Why the Fear of Being "Not Enough" Is Killing Your Dating Life
Impact of Religious Trauma Series: The Unchaperoned Life | Post 1 of 6 I was five years old when I learned I was trash. Not metaphorically. Not as a passing frustration someone immediately walked back. I was told I deserved to be thrown away — and to make the lesson stick, I
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Part 2: When Her Values Are Real — and Still a Red Flag
Impact of Religious Trauma Series: The Unchaperoned Life | Post 2 of 6 She was everything the church ever told me to look for. Faithful. Devoted. A mother who clearly adored her kids. A woman whose social media feed — over six years of staying loosely in touch — told a consistent story
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Part 3: When Intimacy Leaves You Feeling Used — And What's Actually Going On
Impact of Religious Trauma Series: The Unchaperoned Life | Post 3 of 6 She stopped letting him hug her. Not because she didn't want to be held. She was desperate to be held. But every hug had become a down payment on something she hadn't agreed to
Faith & Dating
Part 4: I Wasn't Ready Either — And That's the Part Many of Us Have a Hard Time Admitting
Impact of Religious Trauma Series: The Unchaperoned Life | Post 4 of 6 I want to say something that men in this situation almost never say. I wasn't ready. Not for what she needed. Not for what she was asking. Not for the thing she had every right to