Smart emphatically answered, "No, my faith helped me survive what I did, but when people justify everything they do through religion it makes me wary."While Smart has providedpowerful insights into how some common object lessons in the Church create an inaccurate and even harmful view of what chastity and purity mean, lessons that can harm a member's self-worth and make them feel further from God's love, she did not openly criticize the teaching of abstinence before marriage.Instead, she writes, "I think it’s fine if it’s your belief to teach to wait to have sex until marriage; however I think it is imperative that no analogy like ‘chewed up gum’ be used, because no matter what your sexual orientation, preference, or when to have it is, it will not detract from your worth as a human being. So, yes, change needs to happen in the way it is taught."In fact, throughout her journey, Smart has always been adamant about her faith's role in providing healing and strength."There wasn't a single day I didn't pray," Smart shared in a BYU-H devotional. "It was the hardest time of my life, without a doubt, but at the same time, it was one of the most spiritual times of my life because I felt my Savior's presence so strongly in my life.", Recently, on Reddit, Elizabeth Smart opened a forum where people could ask her "anything," a fact that caught the attention of many news sites. But some media outlets have taken Smart's words out of context, claiming she is wary of religion and critical of Church teachings. You'll also like: Elizabeth Smart Shares How Teaching Chastity the Wrong Way at Church Has Harmful, Lasting Effects, I'm pretty sure she's still active, but I don't think I've heard it explicitly stated. For awhile, the Elizabeth Smart Foundation teamed up with Tim Ballard and OUR to help trafficked victims recover from their ordeal, but the partnership didn't last long before Ed Smart issued a public statement about why it ended..