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.
The Church vs. The Gospel
When I began questioning mormonism, my Dad explained that there was a difference between the church and the gospel. The church was made of people who were human, and the gospel was the kernel of truth within the church. He said that the mormon faith was the closest to being “all true” that there was. I heard this from other members as well. It was part of the push for people to distance themselves from saying “I know the church is true” in their testimonies. This answer was okay for awhile. Read more [...]
Posted in Christians, Mormon Culture, Mormon Doctrine, Prayer, Reason
Do you believe in Priesthood Blessings?
In the July 2012 edition of the Ensign, there is an article by Elder Dallen H Oaks. http://www.lds.org/liahona/2012/07/the-importance-of-priesthood-blessings?lang=eng&query=blessings+comfort In the article, he talks about the different kinds of priesthood blessings. For this post, I would like to focus on Blessings of Comfort or Counsel. The article describes them this way: “Persons desiring guidance in an important decision can receive a priesthood blessing. Persons who need extra spiritual Read more [...]
Posted in Authority, Dallin Oaks, Family, General Conference, Health, Holy Ghost, Jesus Christ, Obedience, Objectivity, Parenting, Patriarchy, Power, Prayer, Priesthood, Revelation, Rights, Testimony, The Spirit, Uncategorized, Values
National Day of Prayer – bye bye!
My crazy uncle (who I really like) just send me one of his amazing emails. Here’s the email with some comments I couldn’t help but add included in blue: HOORAY, HOORAY, HOORAY for Andy Rooney (hilarious that they think Andy Rooney would write this!). I myself have been grumbling and wondering how a handful of people have been able to take our right to pray in public places away from us (I’m assuming they mean the recent court case that determined a National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional). So, Read more [...]
Posted in discrimination, Establishment Clause, Evangelicals, Law, Politics, Prayer, Religious Right, Rights, Supreme Court, Tolerance
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 in Homosexuality, Mission, Mission Field, Prayer
How Mormon values gave me courage to leave
I have thought of my “exit” story as boring. Boring, but different. Rather than a narrative of the Once-Happy-TBM who unwittingly came across a troublesome theological or historical issue and lamented as it gobbled a once easy faith, my story has from early on featured something amiss…but what I’ve thought to be amiss was something about me. And so, my story was not finding some troubling history or troubling scripture. Even when younger, I looked at odd parts of history or scripture with incredulity. Read more [...]
A Post That’s Not About Gay Marriage (except it totally is)
I have a question for you believing Mormons out there (there are some of you who read this, right??? I hope). First, some exposition: With one (brilliant) exception (me), my immediate family members are all active Mormons. They are, however, split pretty much down the middle: my mother and sisters are conservative, and my father and brothers (and I) are liberal. My father always taught us, by word and deed, that all people are equal and deserve the same rights. Think of the most accepting, Read more [...]
Posted in discrimination, Ethics, Family, Homosexuality, Politics, Prayer
Mormons don’t like prayer in schools, either?
Does anyone remember this case: Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe, 530 U.S. 290 (2000)? I was reading a book about the political views of Mormons and came across it. Turns out one of the “Does” in this case was a Mormon family, “The suit was filed by a Mormon family and a Catholic family who felt their children were being discriminated against in the overwhelmingly Baptist town of Santa Fe, Texas. Students and teachers alike allegedly mistreated them at school because of their religious Read more [...]
Posted in discrimination, Law, Politics, Prayer
Does it matter that prayer doesn’t work?
Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? –God, as played by Morgan Freeman I read this quote in a movie review on Friendly Christian, and didn’t leave a comment because the author really is making a sincere effort to be a “friendly Christian” so the last thing I want to do is be the jerk atheist who goes over to his blog to pick a fight with him. But some part of me really wanted to point Read more [...]
Posted in Christianity, Prayer
part 1: the Holy Ghost
I remember the first time I felt one of my prayers was answered. How old was I? After baptism, but still a pre-teen. I had just learned to really love reading novels, and I picked one up from my parents’ library. It was a Tony Hillerman book, a murder mystery. The first scene–a description of the mangled victim of a murder–scared the shit out of me. Of course, that’s what the author wanted; it was a thriller, after all. I felt that thrill of horror, and wanted to get rid of it, because it didn’t Read more [...]
Posted in Holy Ghost, Prayer, The Spirit, Youth
-
-
Other Cool Sites!
Podcasts and Video Channels
