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

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!!