These days, I don’t talk religion that much with people offline that much, and even when I do, I keep my religion/lack thereof cloudy until someone asks outright (it’s amazing how many people will talk and talk presuming you’re Christian and never ask you if you feel otherwise…but maybe that’s…
Month: February 2009
By the Provo River (OH continues…)
On Saturday the weather was strangely warm for late October. It was like Summer again all of the sudden. I had nothing to do, so I called up Sam and Joe’s house. Joe was home all by himself because Sam was at football practice and his parents had decided to…
Why Mormons Are Not Conservatives
Andrew Sullivan makes an interesting point: Most Americans have a healthy respect for religious teaching but in their lives give greater preference to common sense and practical experience. That includes almost all religious groups as well – Catholics, in particular, show conservative tendencies. The exceptions? Evangelicals and Mormons and Jehovah’s…
Seeking First to Understand
After years of talking with current and former mormons, I am well aware that the reasons for people leaving and becoming disaffected are as different as snowflakes. Everyone has a different story and takes a unique path. I didn’t get a chance to listen to John Dehlin’s mormon stories podcasts…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: Lifestyles Edition!
The good folks of Outer Blogness seem to be having some mixed feelings about facebook lately. But nobody seems to be opting out completely. Like cell-phones, facebook eventually gets adopted by everybody… In the interfaith relations department, Runtu has resolved to play nice with the faithful, and not paint them…
Celebrating African Americans in Europe
Although Europeans suffer just as much, if not more, from racism as Americans, accomplished African Americans have traditionally received more respect on the old continent than in their home country.
The church: not spiritual enough?
So, when I was checking through the list of scheduled posts at Mormon Matters, I was excited because I saw a post about the “Role of the Church in the Pursuit of Righteousness: Why it works for some and not for others.” And oh boy, I was so excited, because…
And where did he serve his mission? (O.H. begins…)
Sam was pretty lucky that his cousin Joe had come to live with him. The three of us were all in the same math class together, which meant that Sam got free help with his math homework every night while I only got help when they invited me over. I…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: Lifecycle Edition!
This week Magic Cicero asks: What Does It Mean to Recover from Mormonism? And he comes to the same conclusion as so many of us here on Main Street Plaza: But there’s a lot of who I am that can’t be disconnected from that Mormon past. For better or worse,…
Warning for “Orem High”
I’m afraid this next segment (Orem High, beginning this Tuesday!) is probably the section that most needs a disclaimer. I’ll divide the warning into two parts: (1) the name, and (2) the sex. the name Why did I call this segment “Orem High”? I’ve never been there — I’ve never…