Dan Reynolds gave up Mormonism as he came to believe the religion was "harmful"
The Imagine Dragons rocker, 36, was raised in what he says was a "really conservative" Mormon household and served a two-year Mormon mission in Omaha, Nebraska - but it has been several years since he quit his worship and he's now spoken out to slam aspects of the church.
10 July 2024
He told People: "There's obviously parts of the Mormon religion that I feel pretty strongly are harmful, especially to our gay youth.
"At times I feel pretty isolated from my family, but I also love them and am close to them and see them, and there's no animosity there.
"I'm on a different path. I have to love myself enough to follow my truth."
Dan founded the LOVELOUD Foundation in 2018 in support of the young LGBTQ+ community and added he has "always struggled" with religion.
He added he spent his 20s and early 30s "really angry" at religion, as he felt he'd been "duped" by the Mormon church.
Dan said: "I saw a lot of the harm that came from it for me personally, but it also seemed to work incredibly well for my family, and they're all healthy, happy individuals.
"As I've gotten older, I'm not angry about it anymore. If something works for someone, that's really wonderful and rare, and I don't want to mess with it."
Dan has chosen not to raise the four children he has with his ex-wife Aja Volkman - daughters Arrow, 11, Gia and Coco, 7, and son Valentine, four - in the church, as he does not want to play with how their minds work.
He said: "My greatest goal every day is to not manipulate my kids. I really don't want to try to tell them what their spiritual path should be.
"I give them my thoughts and obviously try to protect them and take care of them, while also making sure they have freedom and agency to choose whatever they want."
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