Awards
Lists of Brodie award winners:
X-Mormon of the Year 2012: David Twede
X-Mormon of the Year 2011: Joanna Brooks
X-Mormon of the Year 2010: Monica Bielanko
X-Mormon of the Year 2009: Walter Kirn
A Community for Anyone Interested in Mormonism.
Which is your favorite song from “The Book of Mormon”?
Which is your favorite song from “The Book of Mormon”?survey software Chino put a link to the cast recording of God’s Favorite Musical in our sidebar a while ago, but I didn’t take the time to listen to the songs until people here started discussing them. My new advice: don’t wait!! Listen first and vote, before reading my opinion. … OK, done? A lot of them had me going “Wow, fantastic! And so true!” But it was listening to “You and Me (But Mostly Me)” that made my whole Read more [...]
Posted in God's Favorite Musical, Humor, Nostalgia
Moral Nostalgia and the Movies
This post was inspired by A teenager speaks on new movie standards. In her recent discussion of the current state of movies, and particularly award winning movies, Camila B. states that she is concerned about “movies throughout the decades and the negative changes that I have noticed.” She then goes on to lament that “the corruption viewed daily by millions of people is disgusting.” The remainder of her post is pure nostalgia for the “good old days” when “movies portrayed beautiful messages, Read more [...]
Posted in Arts, Nostalgia, Sex and Gender, Violence, Youth
Happy Birthday, Deutschland!
On a sunny winter day of 1985 or 86, I was waiting in the entrance of the Nuremberg train station when an elderly gentlemen with an Austrian accent addressed me: “When I see how beautifully Nuremberg has been rebuild, I feel encouraged that one day our Germany will be united again too.” That was an extraordinary thing to say in 1986, especially to a perfect stranger. Clearly, the gentleman had been a supporter of the Nazi regime and yet I couldn’t hold the sentiment against him. He was so sincere, Read more [...]
The Day I Sang about the Latter-Day Glory with the C of C and with the Polygamists
Wherever people talk about Mormonism, you always hear about the fundamentalist Mormons: the polygamists. On the LDS-interest Internet there’s tons of discussion of modern-day polygamy usually in a hand-wringing what should be done about them kind of way. Naturally, I was glad when I finally got the opportunity to meet some real-life fundamentalist Mormons, and listen to their perspective. I was at the Sunstone Symposium, and merely attending the panel by/about the polygamist community was already Read more [...]
Posted in Fundamentalism, Joseph Smith, LDS History, Meetings, Nostalgia, Polygamy, Sunstone, Women
Emil, Is It You?
My mother Gudrun Bachmann was born on June 9, 1939. When World War II begun with the invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, she was less than three months old. When Germany surrendered on May 9, 1945, she was one month shy of her sixth birthday. Besides a treasure trove of family stories from aunts, uncles, grandparents, parents and older siblings, my mother possesses remarkable childhood memories reaching as far back as before her second birthday. Tonight, I want to tell you about my granduncles Read more [...]
Oldies but Goodies: Testimony of a Dissident
A while back another blogger asked me to submit an essay about my Mormon experience. Probably, for good reasons he changed his mind and never published it. Since it is already written and might shed some light on my argument at Times and Seasons, I might as well publish it myself. It might help some people to understand where I am coming from. Testimony of a DissidentWhen I grew up in the seventies and eighties, Church was a liberating experience. My mother converted when I was six. My Read more [...]
Posted in Abuse, Appearances, Bloggernacle, Book of Mormon, Boyd Packer, BYU, Callings, Christianity, Depression, Divorce, Epistemology, Ethics, Europe, excommunication, Family, Freedom, Germany, LDS History, Moving On, Nostalgia, Obedience, Philosophy, Power, Prophets, Science, Sunstone, Theology
Walk With Hellmut
Some of you might enjoy a virtual tour of the city of Saarbrücken, my last home before I came to the United States: Max Ophuels Preis_Trailer_2009 from LICHTFAKTOR on Vimeo. Located at the French border, my father’s house was literally five minutes walking distance, and the high and low German language border, Saarbrücken has had a tumultuous history. For centuries, it has been a hot spot of Protestant-Catholic and Franco-German conflict. Saarbrücken used to be the capital of a Nassau Read more [...]
Reasons
There is a reason why retention approaches zero. There is a reason why people can study their way out of the Church. There is a reason why a large percentage of non-American return missionaries seem to leave Mormonism. There is a reason why the United States remains the only western democracy that does not grant equal constitutional status to women. There is a reason why our gay children are more likely to harm themselves than our straight children. Views: 905
Posted in Nostalgia, Obedience, Sex and Gender, Violence, Women
The Reality of It All
I don’t watch a lot of t.v. When I do watch t.v., I don’t watch a lot of reality shows. In fact, the only one I watch with any regularity is The Biggest Loser on NBC. American Idol, Survivor, Big Brother–can’t stomach any of those. Lately, though, I’ve started watching snippets of Dancing with the Stars. This season especially so because Marie Osmond is one of the stars. Growing up in Provo and Orem, Utah, the Osmonds were huge for so many of us. They added a level of glamour to Mormon culture Read more [...]
Conference, Ex-Mo Style
I know this image was posted on here earlier. But I had to use it again. I don’t know why, but this image spoke to me as I thought of my post for today. It takes the edge off of the nostalgic ennui that I feel in the fall when I think about the upcoming LDS conference. I remember what I left and why when I look at it. I am attending the 2007 Ex-Mormon conference this year. I am looking forward to the social interaction as well as the presenters and their talks. I am mostly reminded of LDS Read more [...]
Posted in Community, Culture, Family, General Conference, Moving On, Nostalgia, post-Mormon
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