The highlight of this week has been the series by Invictus Pilgrim on the subject of being gay and Mormon (especially the experience of men who are in, have been in, or are thinking of getting into a mixed-orientation marriage). He has not only discussed his own experience, but has gathered up a number of different perspectives to share. And be sure to read all of the comments to get the range of experiences and insights. Oh, and don’t miss a gay Mormon boy’s second puberty. And, speaking of being gay in Mormon family, please read Olive’s heartbreaking reasons why she can’t come out to her parents yet and Scot’s terrifying experience with the anti-gay zombie apocalypse. (OTOH, those scary gay couples are plotting stuff like the Muslim Homosexualist Mexican Assault on our Homeland, infiltrating the GOP, and gay-straight alliances in Utah!)
Of course, being gay isn’t the only way to be different! You can believe differently! Andrew is still thinking about whether belief is a choice, and Kiley is thinking about how being wrong affects your need to be “right”. Speaking of diverse beliefs, Ms. Jack is agnostic! (about motherhood — gotcha 😉 ). She also seems to believe that ordering your husbands undapants should not be anywhere near this complicated — don’t know where she’s getting that idea from. Meanwhile, Kullervo believes some interesting things about the Tarot, while Tired Road Warrior is a little leery of the CoJCoL-dS’s anti-science beliefs.
And speaking of differences, I can relate to a lot of the items on this list, but this list of “Funny Things People Do After Leaving the Mormon Church”…? I never did any of those things or anything remotely like them, did you? I guess your mileage may vary…
Speaking of diverse families, BiV analyzes the economics of sustainable polygamy, and Poly Mom gives practical advice on finding a poly partner. In interfaith families, Lisa is finding a compromise between her own feelings about Christ and her atheist husband, and Beautiful Pencil is just getting started on preparing for her family’s reaction to her apostasy. Lifelongguy is trying to figure out what this whole “forever family” thing even means, and Woah-man gives an insightful look at how being different affects your family’s assumptions about your “personhood.” And Justin gives a grand overview of how all of these cultural differences are really variations on archetypical human themes.
(This is unrelated, but did you see these WTF rings?)
The other big topic this week, obviously, is awards!! If you haven’t nominated your favorite sites/posts for a Brodie, you’d better get cracking — because you have less than a week! And you might want to set aside some time for reading the nominated items because we’ve had an absolutely fantastic year of posts!!
In other awards, don’t forget to vote for Mormon of the Year (I have a sneaking suspicion that it may be this guy). William Law X-Mormon of the Year is also coming up — we’ll start nominations after we’re done with the Brodies, so start brainstorming. In other fun things to vote for, have a look at this sacrilicious commercial, and don’t forget to vote for Most Influential Female Atheist of 2010!!
So, it looks like I’ve given you guys a bit more homework this week than usual. Sorry about that. But it’s all fun stuff, and reviewing the best of last year is a great way to start the new one! Happy 2011, everyone!!!
p.s. and the good stuff just keeps coming! Look at this story of caring and empathy from the straight, Mormon half of an MOM.
Hey, thanks for the shout-out! Looks like we’ve got a lot of stories and musings this week.
yay thanks for my shout out chanson 🙂 looking forward to hanging out with all y’all
Olive Tree — tough deal. it sucks having such a huge communication chasm with our families of origin, huh? 😐
It really does. You have no idea how much beating around the bush we had to go through just to get my mom to tell us she had cancer in the first place. Too many walls in my family, no one likes sharing with anyone else. Which makes my position infinitely harder.
Whether or not a belief is a choice depends on whether you believe that your belief reflects reality.
For example, if you believe that your testimony is from God then that’s not something you can change. However, you have to make a choice about what you will accept as evidence.
Those choices may result in a method that can empower you to adapt your views about the nature of the world but it probably has to be an indirect approach.
As always, thanks for the linkeous bounty. And a very Happy DAMU Year to all! 🙂
I was surprised by the number of different versions of the bible. I thoughr there was just one, or just one that most people used.
Also, I remember an afternoon I spent a good couple of hours in the deserted basement of my college library looking at books on mormonism. To show my age, this was before websites on mormonism were readily available. I was shocked and surprised by all the information.