God and Being Gay

Cross-posted over at Virginia Beach Progressives and Our Own Online. This is somewhat a lengthy post on how my sexuality affected my faith in God. It’s also a brief account of my entering into and coming out of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. From July 2004 to June 2006, I served as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as the Mormon Church. I had converted to Mormonism in 2002. Prior to that I was a pretty active evangelical, attending Read more [...]

Posted by Joel McDonald on September 8th, 2009 | 8 Comments Posted in Homosexuality, Mission, Mission Field, Prayer

Sustaining Church Leaders…or Not

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Posted by Joel McDonald on August 15th, 2008 | 10 Comments Posted in Humor

What the Mormons (and others) don’t understand about freedom

It’s not religious. It’s not moral. It’s not even about family values. Gay marriage is a constitutional issue, but not in the same way that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (The Mormon Church) views it. It wants an amendment defining marriage as being between one man and one woman based on their beliefs. Not only is this an encroachment of religion into state matters, the entire idea of creating any law or amendment to deny a right or privilege to a group of people is unconstitutional! Read more [...]

Posted by Joel McDonald on July 16th, 2008 | 13 Comments Posted in Family, Freedom, Marriage, Politics, Values

Returned Missionary’s Political Conversion

In the past, as an Evangelical Christian and as a Mormon, I voiced a lot of support for the Republican party. For me, at that time, it wasn’t a matter of fiscal, domestic, or international policy; it was a matter of emotionally supporting the imposition my accepted morality on the nation as a whole. My service as a Mormon Missionary changed my political leanings, and really helped me understand that opposing viewpoints and different lifestyles were not only something that we should embrace as a nation, Read more [...]

Posted by Joel McDonald on February 20th, 2008 | 10 Comments Posted in Community, Politics, post-Mormon

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    Lists of Brodie award winners:

    X-Mormon of the Year 2012: David Twede

    X-Mormon of the Year 2011: Joanna Brooks

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    X-Mormon of the Year 2009: Walter Kirn