You may have heard that a lost civilization was discovered in the jungles of Honduras. Evidence for the Book of Mormon? Sadly, no. Simon Southerton gave an overview of the main apologist strategies for dealing with the problem, and Mithryn made an excellent point about the central problem with Book of Mormon archaeology. (He also wrote a an interesting review of Ryan Cragun’s religion and science podcast.)
Now that the CoJCoL-dS has stopped working against it, marriage equality is gaining ground (three states and a country in the last week or so). J G-W wants to understand those who don’t share in his joy, and perhaps encourage them to think differently:
It has been the frequent inarticulateness of the opposition that has most frustrated me in the past. Part of me has always really wanted to understand. Occasionally during the Amendment 1 campaign last year, I would ask an opponent of marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples to explain why they felt the way they did. Sometimes, just before loudly slamming the receiver down on the phone, they would explode, “I don’t want to talk about it!”
Here’s a really good analysis of what’s wrong with the CoJCoL-dS:
We claim a pedigree of priesthood, traceable in its authority to the very source, but our rules and edicts and practices seem to rise from the murk of a passive-voice nightmare of untraceability and a mutt-and-mumble lineage of plausible deniability. […] We deify our ignorance, of our own history and the evolution of practice especially. We don’t know why we do things just this way, we don’t know exactly how things evolved to be this strict, this fear-based, this rule-based, this law-hedgingly Pharisaical, and if we don’t know, then it must be from God. Things are a particular way, God didn’t stop it from turning out this way, so it must be from Him. We seem so able to justify our past and our present by invoking God that we give no thought to learning from the mistakes they contain.
It boils down to lack of real leadership — so people are stuck doing Kremlinology to try to figure out what the church is teaching. Oxymormon girl has written a great discussion of what she believes in now.
Other discussions about church issues include teaching modesty to toddlers, the dignity of the missionary program, separation of church and state, and an image so controversial that they had to add a little disclaimer explaining it was staged!
In Mormon life experiences, Molly and Dick shared the story of how Mormon teachings on sex affected their marriage. Just Jill enjoys the companionship of the holy roast. MyrtleJoy has learned that it’s often better to plan to be surprised than to plan ahead. Alex is exhausted by keeping up appearances. The Mormon Child Bride has apostatized from the idea that we can be “too tolerant” and fall into “tolerance traps.” Leia described how atheism has affected her mothering, and duckiethemonkey shared some difficult experiences with motherhood under duress:
My in-laws would always remind me how a mother at home is the best thing for my child and how the prophets have suggested that to have a healthy home. They always encouraged me to talk to my father-in-law (bishop) about how I was feeling and letting him help me work through my feelings. But in reality they just wanted me to stop trying to work toward things the church doesn’t stand for. It’s amazing how much control the church really has over a person. I was willing to give up all my hopes and dreams when I was pregnant. But 9 months later I was in a living hell, and the only church related response I got was it’s best for my child.
Well I’m here to tell any mother going through a situation even remotely close to this that’s not true. Being a homemaker because your told to is like telling you child to dream big but never plan on letting that happen. Don’t stay home and be there for your child if you’re unsure if you really even want to be alive. It’s not healthier. Your child will not benefit from this at all. You may be physically there for your child but mentally and emotionally your dead, and they will sense that.
Now let’s see those handicrafts I promised in the title!! (If this imagur embed works…)
Other fun hobbies include gardening and collecting movie music.
In case you’re wondering why Sunday in Outer Blogness was saved for Monday this week. It turns out that today is a holiday! Yes, it is Pfingstmontag!
So, since I knew I had an extra day this weekend, I decided to spend Sunday (a) organizing my basement, and (b) playing with my kids. In retrospect, I could have done those things on Monday and kept SiOB on Sunday. But that’s the magic of procrastination for you. At first I have all day, and then when evening arrives, making some popcorn and watching a pirate movie with the kids seems so inviting. I hope you had a nice Sunday as well, and thanks for your patience!