The Disemboweling of Tim Ballard

Rumors of excommunication, courtesy of John Dehlin

John Dehlin of Mormon Stories is now reporting that “multiple credible sources” have informed him that the LDS held a disciplinary council for Tim Ballard on Monday night, and that Ballard was notified of his excommunication on Wednesday at 9:45 p.m.

It’s a bit unprecedented to first effectively excommunicate someone via press release to Vice News, then formally excommunicate them two weeks afterwards, but the LDS is apparently-allegedly-updating to the 21st century cancel culture.

Attorney Suzette Rasmussen of Draper, Utah held a press conference claiming to represent an unspecified number of women making non-specific allegations of “sexual harassment, spiritual manipulation, grooming, and sexual misconduct.” 

Rasmussen told assembled Utah reporters that she couldn’t comment on the exact number of women making allegations, but that VICE News’ reporting that at least seven women were involved was “pretty close to accurate.” She said she could not comment yet on the exact nature of the sexual misconduct, whether the women have gone to the police, and what her next steps as their attorney will be. 

Sources with knowledge of the situation have told VICE News that Ballard is alleged to have invoked his own personal connection to the divine and the authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to persuade women who worked for and with OUR that testing their sexual chemistry with him was in essence approved by God. 

The non-specific allegations aside, the more specific allegation is that Tim Ballard consulted a psychic for intelligence on OUR raids, which if true, would be grounds for excommunication by itself.

Satan can imitate the gifts of tongues, prophecy, visions, healings, and other miracles. Moses had to compete with Satan’s imitations in Pharaoh’s court (see Exodus 7:8–22). Satan wants us to believe in his false prophets, false healers, and false miracle workers. They may appear to be so real to us that the only way to know is to ask God for the gift of discernment. The devil himself can appear as an angel of light (see 2 Nephi 9:9).

Satan wants to blind us to the truth and keep us from seeking the true gifts of the Spirit. Mediums, astrologers, fortune tellers, and sorcerers are inspired by Satan even if they claim to follow God. Their works are abominable to the Lord (see Isaiah 47:12–14; Deuteronomy 18:9–10). We should avoid all associations with the powers of Satan.

-From the Gifts of the Spirit

IRA has seen documentation where Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings has alleged that he had 10,000 pages of psychic readings OUR paid for with donor funds. If that is true, Tim Ballard violated any number of gospel principles and the clear teachings of the LDS, not to mention biblical tenets on mediums, astrologers, fortune tellers, and sorcerers. There is simply no excuse for consulting a psychic, because no consultation would fit with the boundaries of Scripture.

If Tim Ballard was willing to depart from Scripture on the issue of psychic readings, that increases the likelihood that he was willing to depart from Scripture on other points. The key word is if, because in 75 pages of documentation there was no clear proof. There were allegations, but the 75 pages of documentation constituted a small, clearly selectively excerpted bit of Troy Rawlings’s investigation.

What is also troubling is that two weeks after the allegations first broke, we still do not have a single accuser who has come forward on the record. We do not have a single specific allegation from an on the record accuser.

The only credible source on the matter who is within the LDS or right wing sphere is Eric Moutsos, who claims to have spoken to four women.

Conservative libertarian personality Eric Moutsos, who says he's spoken to at least four women accusing Ballard of misconduct, has said Ballard invoked both his relationship with President M. Russell Ballard, a powerful figure in the LDS Church, and psychic readings from Janet Russon, OUR’s in-house medium, to back up claims he made to persuade women into sexual situations. Moutsos has also said "multiple marriages have been broken up." His claims are consistent with VICE News reporting. 

Moutsos would have no apparent reason to lie, but the allegations are just that: allegations.

IRA has reached out to individuals in a position to know about Ballard’s alleged excommunication, but not a single source has responded on that point.