Usually in this weekly round-up I like to focus on exit stories (like this one, this one, and this one), and other personal experiences with Mormonism. But it seemed like blogspace was dominated by world news and politics this past week!!
Can it be because of what’s happening in Egypt and the rest of the Middle East? Apparently the US bears some responsibility, yet the US media, strangely, has more pressing news to cover. What’s wrong? Money’s tight, and it looks like a showdown between schools and churches. Maybe it’s time to take a look at economic theory and practice, at history, at statistics, at rhetoric, at education and religious freedom. The BYU atheist community is hoping there’s safety in numbers — I hope for their sake they’re right! Meanwhile, the Utah State Legislature is having an interesting session, but can they compete with Arkansas?
Now, let’s take a walk on the lighter side with a round-up of fabulous Mormon/Utah culture and media! We have tales of attending Sundance and some preliminary discussion of the upcoming Mormon musical! (They don’t have any real news about the musical yet, so they got some quotes from the Mormon media‘s favorite go-to quote guys. đ ) In related news, Sunstone got some due cultural recognition in a plot-line of Big Love! Exmos are doing stand-up, and check out this map of the twelve colonies of Kolob! (er.. Kobol…?) Where’s the Bloggernacle going these days? Still mired in boundary maintenance? And what is the Reddit up to? Here at MSP, this discussion appears to have spawned a bit of follow-up!
There were some interesting tidbits Mormon History this past week, like this podcast about the Kirtland temple. And I noticed this amusing old political advertisement lumping Mormons in with the feminists, the socialists, and the I.W.W. (for promoting female suffrage)! Hard to believe when you think about it… Not entirely Mormon, but these tidbits about the New Testament are quite interesting.
Have a great week, and if you haven’t voted for the 2010 X-Mormon of the Year, be sure to have a look! There are some amazing folks on the fringes of Mormonism, and they deserve some recognition!
The Mormon blog I usually read had a similar article to the one profxm talked about.
Orson Scott Card had his own article titled “Be careful claiming inspiration”.
I keep waiting for a TBM to roll out the Civil War prophecy (D&C 87). At BYU I knew of a couple of people who believed that verse 4 (about the slaves rising up) also referred to the fall of the USSR and such. It seems ready-made for any violent revolution against a totalitarian government or dictatorship.
Maybe verse 4 only applies when it’s our enemies who are getting overthrown. đ
Check this out before the link goes dead (I have a screen grab in case it does, but just sayin’): The Mormons are mobilizing against marriage equality in Oz. The letter to members was read in church this past Sunday (January 30th, 2011).
It’s dj vu all over again.
Openminded — An amusing point from Card’s article:
So, it’s revelation if it’s right. I see some tremendous potential for circularity…