“Isn’t the main difference between a cult and a religion (other than longevity and acceptance) the fact that in a cult you cannot leave without repurcussions? Can Mormons leave without repurcussions? Perhaps they can.”
If someone wants to leave the church, all they have to do is send their Bishop a letter requesting it in writing, or join another church and inform their Bishop.
If someone leaves the church and then goes on some personal vendetta to attack the church and pull as many other people out of it as they can, I wouldn’t be interested in being around them. Not because they left, but because of their behavior. If someone fell into sin to the point where they do something that requires their excommunication but they are repentant, or they just became ambivalent about it or decided to leave without starting such a crusade it wouldn’t change my relationship with them much, if at all.
It is absolutely false that members are told to divorce if their partner leaves the church. Anyone who believes in their faith will encourage others to not leave, or to come back. Those joining us face the exact same kind of encouragement from the members of their former church and from family members who did not convert.
AGAIN, Grig with the convenient, partial answer. Mormons were NOT allowed to "resign" until after a lawsuit was brought against the church to force the church to allow resignations. I know from personal experience that prior to that if you told your Bishop, "I quit", he would say, "You CAN'T quit you HAVE TO BE FIRED!.
This involved what was called a "Court of Love" to which the person wishing to leave was "required" to attend.
I personally don't know what happens at the "Court" since I refused to allow anyone that kind of authority over me. I was informed by letter that I was excommunicated. The letter promptly went into the trash.