We’re right in the heart of awards season!! You have until this Friday, January 22, 2016 to get in your votes for X-Mormon of the Year — and the voting for the Brodies will begin the same day! Tomorrow I will post the last call for nominations, along with the final list of categories — stay tuned!!
Also note the Wheat & Tares blog is wrapping up their award nominations as well. You may notice a non-trivial overlap with the Brodies — basically W&T is more oriented towards the faithful and we’re more oriented towards the heathen/apostate. It seems we all play better together if we have our separate home bases — but feel free to participate in both, regardless of where you’re at with respect to Mormonism.
The big Mormon news for the week is that the CoJCoL-dS has decided to hitch its wagon firmly to the disastrous policy change, now claiming it was a message they received for reals on their hotline from God. This move raises a lot of questions, such as Do you really think this is a good idea? and Are you sure you’d rather see all the young people defect (and profoundly hurt the LGBTQ ones) than admit you were wrong? and Does this really align with doctrine?
Here’s my favorite observation:
FAIR argues that external pressure makes revelation even less likely to come. That it somehow “invites resistance” … It’s truly incredible how much power we dissenters hold over passive-aggressive Mormon God.
The policy is so wrong, even Daniel Peterson agrees it’s wrong. Meanwhile, offering words of comfort for the afflicted, there’s a new “Dear Queer Cousin” project.
Also those loony traitors in Oregon are still trespassing. At least they’re providing some comic relief.
In other Mormon teachings, we have the amazing nit-picky rules for mishies, the problems with unanimity, and a good treatment of the problems with the usual object lessons:
After this lesson in YW, I realized I was dirty, that I was already so far damaged that no one would want me, so when I was 16 and my high school boyfriend wanted to go further than is recommended, I didn’t see a problem with it. After all, I was already damaged. What was the problem with more damage? Elizabeth Smart relates that this same type of lesson was the reason she didn’t immediately identify herself when she was recognized and rescued. She’d had the same type of lesson in YW, hers was illustrated by a piece of chewed up gum.
Since when did Daughters of God become consumable items? No matter what we do in our lives, our worth remains constant.
[…]
We are bars of gold! What can you do to a bar of gold to diminish its worth? Does it become worth less if you lick it? Smear it on a plate? Bite it? What if you kick it down the stairs or run it over with a car? You can handle it with dirty hand. The value of the gold remains the same even if you chop it into tiny little pieces.
In LDS-related personal stories, we have tales from the Indian Placement Program, the awesomeness of Heather, and a faithful Mormon who reached across faith lines for the love of family!
In random stuff, the Expert Textperts are starting a film blog, Chelsey Sidler-Lartey is launching an art store, and I wrote my yearly state-of-the-me address!
Happy reading, and thanks for helping build recognition for people in our community through your participation in our awards!! 😀
I would also like to note that none of these calendar items are matornday – as you so passively infer – all these items listed are opportunities to attend if so desired. As an active family in the church, there is probably one or two of these things my wife or I would attend. Two nights out of one month – wow. True, our kids are young so eventually we will have mutual one night out of the week. Again, mutual is a common attendance, but it is not matornday. Monday night as the calendar shows is commonly assigned as family home evening. This is not a church meeting. This is a family activity to spend time together – how awful – It is on the calendar to prohibit scheduling any other activities to allow families to have time together. Except for my mom making me go to my scouting events – which I’m now glad she did – I have never felt obligated to attend. Each ward is different. We have basketball night each week, which is on the calendar. I go when I can because I enjoy playing, but I probably go once every 3-4 months when I feel it won’t be a burden on my wife. My wife has gone a couple times to play volleyball or to the monthly relief society function to have some social interaction with people she wants to get to know better. Do you see the difference between what you post and reality? We go to these events or meetings because we want to, when we are able to – not because we have to. There is no demanding – just opportunity. Opportunities to uplift, educate, reach out, serve, and have social interaction – often times as a family – thank you for enlightening us on all the great opportunities the church provides for teenagers, young adults and families through out the world –
Note: I have just received a series of comments (such as the above) that seem maybe Mormonism-related, yet not quite relevant to the post they’re posted under. Are they spam? Thoughts?