I’m sensing a lot of discouragement out there in Internet-land. In the United States, it’s easy to become demoralized by the fact that no matter how grotesque the problem of daily gun violence becomes, it still seems somehow politically impossible to begin to address this problem. And in our sweet little Mormon microcosm, many people who want to maintain their faith — or at least not feel ashamed of their Mormon heritage — are also feeling demoralized by “the policy“, its history, and the lack of options to deal with it, not to mention other inequalities.
But life goes on! Personally, I spent the whole morning (and a big chunk of yesterday) clearing all the clutter out of my apartment so that I could bring up my boxes of Christmas decorations up from the basements. Then I spent some pleasant family-tradition time with my kids, decking the halls. So I’m emotionally fortified enough to have a look at the news of the past week. Let’s dig in!
Utah has a new fad of taking sugary soft drinks — and adding more sugar! It makes you think twice about the Mormon health code…
Miraculously, the CoJCoL-dS toyed with the idea of making church a little shorter.
Since chances of actually making a good impression are now in the toilet, looks like the CoJCoL-dS has decided to go with its strength — real-estate development. FAIR, by contrast, has gone with a strategy of erasing its own history.
In philosophy/theology, Heath Workman made a very good point about the Mormon technique of determining truth:
You cannot claim that a method for learning truth can easily give convincing false results (whether by Satan or by self-delusion) and also claim this is a high-reliability method for determining truth. Those two claims are mutually exclusive.
Jay has coined a new term “Cluster-Fact”:
I coined this term with the Mormon culture specifically in mind, and the euphemistic quality of it is not tongue-in-cheek. In fact, they’re real issues that exist within the Mormon culture for some not-so-obvious reason to the unobservant chapel Mormon. Ranging from defacto ostracism to institutional racism and homophobia, these “cluster-facts” permeate the very fabric of this very young American religion.
And what about the term “so-called”…?
In scripture study, well, we get the usual nonsense:
They rejoiced in their God and they esteemed Nephi as a powerful prophet. Do these people not realize that God and Nephi were both responsible for their suffering? Nephi asked for the drought, and God made it happen. These guys are cruel and manipulative. They don’t deserve the accolades of the masses. You don’t get to soak in the admiration of your peers for solving a problem you deliberately created in the first place. Especially if the cure is worse than the disease. After all, that had to have been an extremely, insanely, absurdly corrupt government for the Nephites to have been in worse shape under the Gadianton puppet regime than they were when everybody was on the verge of death from malnutrition.
Now let’s look at the bright side!! The Mormon Therapist has some upcoming intimacy workshops. Can you name these smoothies? Dad’s Primal Scream has had some positive experiences with his Mormon kids discussing the policy, and we can always have a little fun with it!!
In personal stories, So Says Me is doing better after surgery, Invictus Pilgrim is continuing his memoir, Darth Bill left after his child was bullied at church, and Ren recounted her big gamble:
I think I’ve said this before – the turning point of my faith occurred while sitting in the temple. I was doing initiatories as my husband sat in jail. I looked at those names and listened to those words and thought about this emphasis on FAMILY to the exclusion of self. Of course, families can be great. They can represent love, security, and comfort. But they can also represent abuse in many forms, heartbreak, loneliness, failure, and fear. I sat there thinking about my family of origin and the family I’d attempted to create.
I wondered how much more was I willing to endure for this better next life that I had no proof existed? I realized it was a bet. For me there was a very real cost now, in the present. plus I’d been paying in for years. When your present isn’t good, all you have to cling to is the next life. Endure til the end. And then?
With gift season coming up, many of you ex-Mormon wine novices may want some gift tips for what to buy your new-found drinking buddies — check out this list! Of course you can’t go wrong with a tapir t-shirt and these other post-Mormon Christmas tips!
In podcasts, Rational Faiths discussed minority religions, and Brother Jake has given a merry two-minute year in review!!
In books, Meg Stout has turned her Joseph-Smith-didn’t-really-cheat-on-Emma series into a book! (counterpoint.) Scott Hales has extended the deadline for essays for his Mormon Lit criticism anthology.
In music, here’s an interview with Hive Riot.
And in not-Mormon-related, Chelsey Sidler-Lartey posted an art preview, and Froggie has some beautiful bird photos!
Let’s hope for a turnaround in 2016 — until then, happy reading!!