New York magazine says America is in a second Mormon moment, and this time the church didn't do a thing — the influencers did it for them. This week on What Do You Know Wednesday, Jess puts Hannah on the spot with a phrase neither of us grew up with: the dry Mormon.
A dry Mormon lives the lifestyle without the theology. No alcohol, no coffee, clean eating, modest fashion, community-first values, and none of the belief. Some were never Mormon at all; they found the aesthetic on TikTok and stayed. We trace the term through dirty soda culture, the rise of influencers like Hannah Neeleman of Ballerina Farm and Taylor Frankie Paul of Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, and the Pew data showing devout traditionalists shrinking while cultural Mormons and the PIMO crowd grow. The church gains the wholesome branding while losing the believers, the tithing, and any control over the word it spent years trying to retire.
Find us at postmormonpostmortem.com and on the socials @postmormonpostmortem.