Skip to content
Main Street Plaza

A Community for Anyone Interested in Mormonism.

Main Street Plaza

A Community for Anyone Interested in Mormonism.

Sunday in Outer Blogness: The Power of the Book of Mormon Edition!!

chanson, May 5, 2013

From Deseret News, my favorite news item of this week:

“My mom will sometimes say, ‘I can’t believe I brought you to that show. None of this would have happened.’[…] While the musical has been called irreverent and crude, some of the lyrics still have special, sentimental value to Morong. The words, “If you believe, the Lord will reveal it. And you’ll know it’s all true — you’ll just feel it,” from the show’s song “I Believe,” still resonate with Morong because she feels that’s what happened for her.

Well, considering that the song is a paraphrase of Mormon beliefs and scriptures; considering that the portrait of Mormons is sympathetic; considering that the musical delivers tons of free publicity that gets people interested in looking more closely at the CoJCoL-dS — I’d say the most surprising part is that a conversion story is rare enough to make the news when it happens. I can’t wait to see the show myself!!

In other fun and funny, check out the apps for Mormons! This graphic made me laugh. What if women made the modesty rules? More proof that government regulation is the root of all evil. A timely new merit badge! Steve Wells won a scripture chase and Andrew S described the “John Dehlin Drama Life Cycle”. And we have two new posts this week about the connection between Mormonism and Judaism!

Speaking of the church, it seems the GA’s have only so many things to tell you. Here’s an interesting discussion of how denying women the priesthood denies them agency. Mormon Expression discussed the connection between Mormon culture and passive-aggressive behavior, and Bookus discussed the connection between religion and abuse. And, in case that’s not heavy enough, what about modern genocide?

In personal stories, Ren replaced her prejudice about Muslims with curiosity. A polygamist refused to give up his family when ordered by Warren Jeffs to leave. And here’s a poignant story that many can relate to:

And my life is good, mostly. But, there is still that ‘but’. That very big ‘but’.

Who could I have been had I known that I had choices? That I could be anything, and anyone, that I wanted to be? That I could have had dreams beyond marriage and motherhood? That my life was mine to mold into whatever form fit me? How far could I have gone? This is the ‘what if’ that haunts my dreams, and exposes the hole in my center. I didn’t fill that hole as a young adult because I wasn’t aware of its existence. Some would say that I have no one to blame but myself, that I wasn’t attentive and mindful of the options available. And they would be right. To a certain extent. But, the culture in which I was raised, with its Mormon ideals and notions of what it is to be female, this informed my life choices as well.

Plenty to think about… Please visit these posts and join in the discussion!!

Sunday in Outer Blogness

Post navigation

Previous post
Next post

Related Posts

Sunday in Outer Blogness: Another day, another excommunication edition!

May 24, 2015

This time it’s Marisa and Carson Calderwood: We have received the decision from our Stake Presidency about our disciplinary court and it states that we are apostates. This is a title we wear with honor! Yes, we are apostates! We are proud to have been kicked out of an organization…

Read More

Sunday in Outer Blogness: Quick break edition!

November 28, 2016

Hi folks, I have been too depressed about the state of the world to do SiOB this week, sorry. SiOB will be back next week, and we have an exciting awards season coming up soon! In the meantime, I’m taking a pause for some less-stressful activities: drawing my comic book,…

Read More

Sunday in Outer Blogness: The Easter after Conference Edition!

April 8, 2012

As usual, the interesting conference stories trickle in during the week after General Conference (though many in our community have stopped taking an interest in it). The best part (aside from the amazing food) was when Russell Nelson trashed the Big Bang — something apparently no one has done in…

Read More

Comments (2)

  1. Ren says:
    May 5, 2013 at 10:02 am

    The John Dehlin Drama Life Cycle is humorous in that I see shadows of my own foibles with friends, religion, etc. People get frustrated with him and criticize but I can’t help but be endeared to John because I relate to the struggle. It must take a tremendously thick skin to be (in)famous in any subculture.

  2. chanson says:
    May 5, 2013 at 10:39 am

    @1 So true!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Mormon Alumni Association Books

Latest Comments:

  1. Cara B. Klein on My conspiracy theory #2April 26, 2025

    Wow, I had never thought about it in that way before You have really opened my eyes to a new…

  2. chanson on LDS vs LGBTQ:  Nathan Kitchen sheds false binariesApril 16, 2025

    The haiku at the end is lovely. Sounds like a great book!

  3. Donna Banta on LDS vs LGBTQ:  Nathan Kitchen sheds false binariesApril 14, 2025

    I imagine anyone who has tried to change the church from within will identify with Kitchen's story. I especially like…

  4. Johnny Townsend on LDS vs LGBTQ:  Nathan Kitchen sheds false binariesApril 14, 2025

    This was a painful review to read. For many years, I held the same hope, that the LDS church would…

  5. LDS vs LGBTQ:  Nathan Kitchen sheds false binaries – Main Street Plaza on It’s Time to Vote for the 2024 Brodie Awards!!!April 14, 2025

    […] sincere acceptance is not a priority. Fortunately, this is what he exemplifies in his memoir, the Brodie-nominated Boughs of…

8: The Mormon Proposition Acceptance of Gays Add new tag Affirmation angry exmormon awards Book Reviews BYU comments Conformity Dallin H. Oaks DAMU disaffected mormon underground Dustin Lance Black Ex-Mormon Exclusion policy Excommunicated exmormon faith Family feminism Gay Gay Love Gay Marriage Gay Relationships General Conference Happiness Homosexual Homosexuality LDS LGBT LGBTQ Link Bomb missionaries Modesty Mormon Mormon Alumni Association Mormonism motherhood peace politics Polygamy priesthood ban Sunstone temple

Awards

William Law X-Mormon of the Year:

  • 2023: Adam Steed
  • 2022: David Archuleta
  • 2021: Jeff T. Green
  • 2020: Jacinda Ardern
  • 2019: David Nielsen
  • 2018: Sam Young
  • 2017: Savannah
  • 2016: Jeremy Runnells
  • 2015: John Dehlin
  • 2014: Kate Kelly
  • 2013: J. Seth Anderson and Michael Ferguson
  • 2012: David Tweede
  • 2011: Joanna Brooks
  • 2010: Monica Bielanko
  • 2009: Walter Kirn

Other Cool Sites!

WasMormon.org
©2025 Main Street Plaza | WordPress Theme by SuperbThemes