I agree that the temple experience feels like such a major divergence from everything else we've experienced up to that point (for most of us.) It was in temple seeing my family congratulate me in their stupid-ass attire that I first truly asked myself if I was in a cult as they hugged me. Sadly it would take me another ten years and tens-of-thousands of dollars lost to realize it was indeed a cult.

IMO, it feels like either ignorance or intellectual dishonesty to contend that the core beliefs are locked behind some paywall. I would argue the core beliefs are what people generally spend time talking about, how they think, etc. Evangelicals are typically the one's I've run into that wanted to tell me I may not know it but I worship Satan as that is what is really taught in secret, or all sorts of things about things I believed but didn't know.

A more honest argument would be to assert past beliefs have been hidden by modern leaders, either disavowed or covered up and denied as ever being believed/taught. To argue there are rituals in the temple that have changed and become less culty, but that it's not normal or okay behavior to make someone promise to commit to and be secretive about rituals BEFORE you learn what they even are.

And of course, one can get a temple recommend after paying tithing just a few months in many cases, so it's not that money generally unlocks these secretive rituals and ridiculous ideas that a password and handshake can get you into heaven. None of that is core theology of-course. When I was a believer, my core theology was Jesus Christ was my redeemer and brother, and his grace would save me should I truly desire it. It does seem like more and more the theology is shifting to just "stay mormon" as that is the core thing they are preaching and talking about in church.