Audio Version for Accessibility – English (PROGRESSIVE REVELATION AND THE OMISSION OF INFORMATION IN THE PROCESS OF JOINING THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS: INFORMATION OMITTED FROM DIGITAL RELIGIOUS MARKETING AND DOOR-TO-DOOR MISSIONARY PROSELYTISM, LACK OF INSTITUTIONAL TRANSPARENCY, AND LIMITED ACCESS TO ESSENTIAL INFORMATION PRIOR TO RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION)

The international expansion of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) has been driven by intensive proselytising activities, historically characterised by door-to-door missionary work and, more recently, reinforced through digital religious marketing. This article examines the contrast between the public image of the religion and the accessibility, prior to religious affiliation, of the historical, doctrinal, ritual, and institutional information essential for a comprehensive understanding of the religious organisation. The study adopts a qualitative, bibliographical, documentary, and historiographical approach, complemented by a case study based on the author's experience as a former member of the institution, the results of which were systematised in the book A Seita Mórmon: Danos Irreversíveis à Vida, às Famílias e à Humanidade (Narrativa de uma História Real). The analysis demonstrates that information potentially decisive for an informed decision—including matters relating to the Book of Mormon and the institution's other canonical scriptures; the conduct and teachings of Joseph Smith Jr.; temple ordinances, including proxy work on behalf of the dead; the doctrine of exaltation; Masonic influences; and significant historical and institutional controversies—is generally not presented clearly or comprehensively during the initial process of religious affiliation. Individuals approached through missionary proselytism or digital religious marketing are initially introduced to a message centred upon Jesus Christ, a connection reinforced by the denomination's official name, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, together with the restoration of the Church through Joseph Smith Jr., the Book of Mormon as "Another Testament of Jesus Christ", and the doctrine that families may remain united throughout eternity. At this initial stage, the distinctive features of Latter-day Saint Christology are generally not fully disclosed. By contrast, information essential to a proper understanding of the religion—and capable of substantially altering that understanding—is absent from the initial doctrinal presentations and typically becomes known only after baptism or through independent investigation. This article proposes the concept of religious information asymmetry to describe the disparity between the historical, doctrinal, ritual, and institutional information available to the religious organisation and that actually disclosed to prospective members before they decide to join. It is argued that the selective disclosure of such information, together with the manner and timing in which it reaches prospective members—most often through their own independent investigation—constitutes central elements in evaluating institutional transparency and in safeguarding a religious decision that is free, conscious, and properly informed.

Institutional Research Project: This work was developed within the scope of the institutional research project "Interdisciplinary Studies on Abusive Practices by Religious Structures, Institutional Interference in the Private Sphere of Members, Criminal Practices, Mechanisms of Institutional Cover-up, Violations of Personality Rights, Human Rights, and Legal Liability," registered in the Integrated Research Management System (SIGPESQ) of the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Espírito Santo (IFES), Brazil.

The results and conclusions presented in this work are based on bibliographic, documentary, and historiographical research—complemented by a case study—and reflect the author's critical interpretation in light of the specialized literature, documentary sources, and historical records analysed.