Sunday in Outer Blogness: America Edition!

I hope those of you who are American had a lovely holiday yesterday. My kids and I had fun joining in the pyrotechnic celebration with the rest of the family, as you can see from the photos my sister posted. And — true to blogging form — the other folks of Outer Blogness had plenty to say about America this week! Let’s see:

Jana enjoys a picnic with friends, but is less enthusiastic about the fireworks, and here’s why. Then, of course, there was the Governor Mark Sanford scandal. Normally I’m not that interested in political sex scandals (owing to my French side), but the commentary on this scandal is too hilarious to ignore!!! The prize goes to UTI for Um, Governor? Dude, shut-up, but Gen. J. C. Christian’s helpful 10 non-sexual acts for Gov. Sanford’s favorite ladies is right up there, as is VJack’s observation that Mark Sanford has given us a fabulous new euphemism for cheating! Sarah Palin’s resignation also sparked a bit of commentary, but wasn’t nearly as funny as Sanford’s (no offense to those of you who chose to write about that scandal instead). And Kerfuffler reports on an Oklahoma legislature resolution that might be funny if it weren’t real…

In religion news, Christopher Smith wraps up his interviews with three prominent and articulate evangelicals about their approaches to the Mormon community with some thoughts on Mormon-Evangelical dialogue. Living with Mormons reports on a highly uncomfortable visit back to church. Marcus tells his deconversion story — with themes that echo Andrew’s post here — about how his Mormon-inspired values sparked his “first mental break from the doublespeak and controls presented by the Church.” And Evolutionary Middleman proposes a debate question:

Any factual claim unsupported by empirical evidence can justly be treated as a product of the imagination.

I don’t really agree — I think it can often be treated as a working hypothesis (if not disproven by empirical evidence) — but you can go see the discussion for yourself.

Now for culture: Chino provides a thought-provoking review of “Nobody Knows: The Untold Story of Interracial Mormon Marriages”, and Andee posts a book from the 70’s that is so jaw-droppingly sexist that you have to read it to believe it! Lastly, Emily Pearson provides some great girls’-camp nostalgia with a real-life Mormon girls’ camp song about eternal marriage and the virtues of the holy priesthood of God — to the tune of Baby Got Back!