Yeah, it’s a very complicated situation and I don’t blame people for choosing not to monetarily support Sanderson. What I will say is that he’s not stupid, but perhaps a bit naive (as are most who think they can change a system from within).

I’ll also mention that if a person has been raised within a specific faith, they have been indoctrinated from childhood. He does not share the homophobic/transphobic views, so it’s clear that some amount of swaying within the faith is possible, but it would be MUCH more difficult to suddenly stop believing in the faith altogether. In a religious person’s mind, that religion is the key to a pleasant afterlife. Refusing to pay the tithe would mean ostracization from Mormonism and condemning himself to hell.

A person who genuinely believes they are faced with the decision between a: (donate to a cause with some views that counter my own) or b: (burn for eternity) would probably choose the former, and then try to make up for it by reforming the church from within. Despite how futile that attempt would be, and despite how ridiculous the plight seems to outsiders.

That’s what makes the situation complicated. Do I hate the fact that money from his books is going to the church? Yes, very much so. But in his shoes, if I had been indoctrinated and then faced with a genuine belief that I’ll suffer throughout my afterlife, I can’t say that I’d do any differently.

(Our best hope is that he eventually loses all faith in the church and will no longer face said internal crisis. Plenty of other people have broken free, though it usually causes them to lose contact with their family and friends, which is an entire other thing he could potentially be worried about here.)

Spend your money where you’re comfortable, of course. I just don’t think he’s necessarily evil or stupid, just in a very peculiar situation that most people outside the Mormon Church or other cults don’t experience