Hey folks! I’m back from Sunstone and had a fantastic time!! If you want to know what you missed (or a review of what you saw), here are some recaps. I met lots of very very very cool people and posted my presentations. John Dehlin explained why he stays and presented some interesting data on LGBT Mormons. Plus there were some people I sadly missed, because they were either not there or I didn’t find them. The Mormon Alumni Association book distribution co-op is off to a good start — we sold a few hundred dollars worth of books during the three-and-a-half-day symposium, one of our authors was interviewed by City Weekly, and another is doing a book-signing event at the King’s English Bookshop. If you’re also getting over a relationship with the church (and maybe you’re liberal or feminist), you might want to go next year!!
Now let’s get back to the rest of the Internet! There are some interesting updates in LDS-interest podcasting. John and Zilpha (who organized the mass resignation) have a new project: the White Fields Educational Foundation. Some folks are putting together a huge Mormon Quote Database. Also, a cool, new all-over-the-belief-map blog was announced: Worlds Without End (actually, I met a lot of these cool bloggers at Sunstone as well…).
One theme in Outer Blogness this week was goodness. Hackman lists Christians he likes, William Kempton lists positive things about Mormonism, and Froggie writes a beautiful creed. Paul Senzee talks about the humanity of missionaries, and Kevin Dudley the gift of sight through organ donation.
Meanwhile, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is not smelling so rosy, embarrassing financial questions and unhelpful advice for families. And it turns out that the Amish are the fastest growing religion in the US. Can you really will yourself to believe?
To counter the invisibility of men’s service to the CoJCoL-dS, the sisteren of fMh remind us that “LDS Men are Incredible!” (with a little help from the Children’s Friend).
Then there was this crazy dust-up with Chick-fil-a — where you can support anti-gay political actions with the purchase of fast-food. The Boy Scouts have a similar problem. Why is same-sex marriage the “moral issue” so often singled out for this stuff?
Now that my Summer vacation is wrapping up, I’d like to get this weekly feature back to normal — that is, move “Sunday in Outer Blogness” back to Sunday. Of course this coming Sunday is only a few days away, so the next SiOB will be on the 12th. See you then!! 😀
For future reference (for the X-Mormon of the Year Awards): Who Knew? 10 Celebrities Who Are Former Mormons (PHOTOS).
Why is SSM the moral issue so often “singled out for this stuff?”
Ask Mark Krzos.
http://www.getreligion.org/2012/08/when-hating-on-chick-fil-a-try-to-hide-it-better/
The joys of the modern media, reporting on what other reporters “like” on Facebook…
SSM is so often singled out because being gay is not a protected category and discrimination against LGBT people is often legal. You can’t discriminate against someone because of their race or age or health or religion, but you can legally discriminate against someone because of their sexual orientation, for any number of reasons, unless you live someplace that has specifically legislated against it–say, in terms of housing or employment. Now that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is gone and LGBT people can serve openly in the military, SSM stands in for homophobia in general.
Chanson, thanks to you I finally attended my first Sunstone! It was very fun.