After criticizing the lack of content in Mormon meetings, let’s have a look at the things you can learn while wandering around Outer Blogness!
Several people have posted about how their own ideas have changed. Probably the biggest change of this week was when the InMOMniac made a very personal decision to leave the LDS church. She’d been writing quite a fascinating blog as a liberal Mormon, and I hope she’ll be interested in joining the discussion in our little community here. Chandelle has also had a crisis of faith — regarding her beliefs about vegetarianism. Froggey is making a change by going green. Marcus explains how a single book changed his life — and it’s a bit of an unexpected one… (In other books, Obi wan Kolobi reviews The Greatest Show on Earth.)
We’ve had some interesting philosophical and theological questions posted this week! Curmudgeon explains that skepticism doesn’t just question religion — and discusses another important application. The Faithful Dissident discusses the LDS church’s claims of exclusive truth — what precisely do they mean in terms of excluding truth from other religions? In a similar vein, SimplySarah was struck by the parallels from one religion to another. The Urban Koda contemplates the paradox of omnipotence. Andrew asks whether it is reasonable to expect total doctrinal recalls of harmful doctrines. MoHoHawaii requests such a recall of the the theological justification for rejecting gay family members.
On to the connections among us! Madame Curie, building on Cr@ig’s discussion of inter-faith marriage, adds a number of interesting examples to discuss. The Urban Koda is personally dealing with how the LDS church affects his family relationships.
In social media, greenishblue is looking for podcast co-hosts. Emily was caught singing on YouTube! Leah made the BlagHag list of awesome female atheists! On the faithful end of the social media, the exmormon Reddit site discovered a new site for LDS Youth to share their testimonies. And Reuben discovered an even more interesting site: Hopefully Mormon, where Mormons can send in Post Secret-type postcards “with real reasons for being members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”
There, I think that’s an interesting set of ideas to chew on for this week! Happy reading and posting!
p.s. Speaking of ways of learning something, try reading at least one book, from cover to cover, that goes fundamentally against everything you believe in. Hemant the Friendly Atheist has some suggestions!
I’m telling you, the book you least suspect can get the wheels turning in your head. As a friend of mine once said, “I don’t read, it poisons the mind.” 😀
Whoa! I don’t think I’ve ever been honored with a link on MSP before. Thanks!
Chandelle, I loved your comments and ideas. Though I once was a vegetarian, I never had the gumption to go vegan.
Chanson, thanks for pointing out the great reads out there!!!
Chandelle — I probably would have highlighted a post from your blog earlier, but the last time you updated your URL, I somehow missed it. So for a long time I didn’t have your current blog in my RSS reader.