NEWSKidnapping Victim Elizabeth Smart Reveals How Captors' Disturbing Claims Reshaped Her 'Very Rigid' Faith
Elizabeth Smart explained why her religious beliefs changed over the years.
May 21 2026, Published 12:23 p.m. ET
Elizabeth Smart revealed how her captors' claims that God pushed them to kidnap her ultimately changed her faith.
"In the spiritual sense, I would say before, it was just very rigid, very, 'This is what was said, so this is what I’m going to believe,'" Smart, 38, told a news outlet in an interview published on Thursday, May 21. "And now it’s evolved more, like, this makes sense to me, my heart. This resounds in my heart. For me, this is truth, and I believe in this."
Elizabeth Smart Recalled Her Captors' Saying 'God Commanded' Them
Elizabeth Smart was 14 when she was captured from her Salt Lake City home.
Smart was 14 when she was taken from her Salt Lake City, Utah, home by religious fanatic Brian David Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Barzee, in 2002. The teen was held captive for nine months before police rescued her.
Smart, who is now a mother-of-two, recalled her captors "constantly being like, 'God commanded us to do this. God commanded us to do that.'"
Elizabeth Smart Was Raised in the Mormon Church
Elizabeth Smart was rescued by police nine months after she went missing.
"That was kind of the beginning of me being like, 'No, He didn’t. No, He didn’t. God wouldn’t tell you to hurt someone else. That’s not the God I know,'" she continued. "That was kind of the beginning of me recognizing that just because somebody says something does not mean it’s necessarily true."
Smart was raised in the Mormon church but has since stepped away from some aspects of its modest culture, as she appeared in a bikini during an April bodybuilding competition.
Elizabeth Smart competed in a bodybuilding competition in April.
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Elizabeth Smart Recently Stripped Down to a Bikini for Bodybuilding Competition
Elizabeth Smart had a 'fear' people weren't going to be 'positive' about her competing in a bodybuilding competition.
"I think the wonderful thing about this, in regards to my post, is that the overwhelming majority of people were so positive about it, where I had the fear that it was going to be the opposite," she told Us Weekly. "I feel like that was very hopeful to me and encouraging that society is changing. I think if I had done this 100 years ago, I would not have gotten that reaction. I think it is inspiring and hopeful that society is changing, that women can step on stage and feel supported instead of judged."
Elizabeth Smart Is 'Not Sorry' She Was Abducted
Elizabeth Smart said her abduction taught her to be a person who doesn't 'judge what they see on the cover.'
Smart revealed she's "not sorry" about her past, as it led her to become an advocate for crime victims.
"I’m grateful for the person that it helped me be, because I do have such a passion for speaking out for victims and for being involved in this work," the Detours author added. "It's really given me a passion and a purpose in life. It’s [also] taught me compassion. It’s taught me empathy. It’s taught me to not just look at someone and judge what you see on the cover or how they’re acting in that moment."
