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Main Street Plaza

A Community for Anyone Interested in Mormonism.

Main Street Plaza

A Community for Anyone Interested in Mormonism.

Author: chanson

C. L. Hanson is the friendly Swiss-French-American ExMormon atheist mom living in Switzerland! See "letters from a broad" for further adventures!!

Sunday in Outer Blogness: Religious Diversity Edition!

chanson, November 1, 2009

Religions are so different, yet so full of parallels! Andrew has found his mirror image in the world of Scientology! And speaking of another defector from Scientology, Jim Downey observes: he was willing to go along with their bullshit requirements and commands, including watching his own family suffer from “disconnection,”…

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A great missionary memoir in the New York Times Modern Love Column!

chanson, October 30, 2009January 15, 2011

All I Wanted Was a Hug. The story explores the crazy rules of homo-vs-hetero public displays of affection among missionaries — and it was written by one of the stars of the last Sunstone Symposium! check it out!

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Even if the church is perfect, the people aren’t

chanson, October 27, 2009

Elder Beaverton and I didn’t say anything as we walked northeast along the side of the Jardin Public. When we got to the corner, I suggested that we turn northwest and continue going around the park. I knew that the girls were still inside. I couldn’t help but feel like…

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Sunday in Outer Blogness: Media Edition!

chanson, October 25, 2009May 17, 2011

This week we’ve seen a bit of the overlap between Outer Blogness and the rest of the media! First off, it turns out that Emily Pearson was involved in the production of 8: The Mormon Proposition (and she recommends this article about it). Also in the media spotlight (or rather…

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And so it gets worse instead of better…

chanson, October 23, 2009August 9, 2011

Spray-paint vandalism of other people’s symbols is wrong when one side does it, and it’s wrong when the other side does it: (hat tip Friendly Atheist) Billboards and bus ads with innocuous messages like “Millions are good without God” have appeared all over the world, and the one that gets…

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I’ll bet you and Spencer met in the pre-existence

chanson, October 20, 2009October 20, 2009

On Wednesday morning we were having about the same luck as Tuesday morning. We were wandering around the Place Gambetta, thinking about finding some lunch, when we heard a familiar voice: Read the rest of the story

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Sunday in Outer Blogness: Sunny Day Edition!

chanson, October 18, 2009November 9, 2011

OK, so I’m totally done with all of the righteous indignation I can handle for this week, what with that scary little lecture we had earlier. Fortunately, we’ve also had a bunch of positive ideas and feel-good stories in Outer Blogness and beyond! I’d like to start by highlighting some…

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A brave new definition of “free speech”

chanson, October 16, 2009May 17, 2011

All of the levity over Mormon being the new black is a bit of a sideshow — obscuring the meat of what Elder Oaks is proposing: Those who seek to change the foundation of marriage should not be allowed to pretend that those who defend the ancient order are trampling…

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“I’m rubber and you’re glue!”

chanson, October 15, 2009November 9, 2011

It has got to be the most popular rhetorical trick in the bag these days! It goes something like this: Someone criticizes you (accusing you of, say, “X”), but you don’t want to have to answer the charge. You don’t want to even have to think about whether the charge…

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All the good gossip

chanson, October 13, 2009

Between buildings we passed by a pharmacy that had in its display window a large poster advertising some sort of mysterious medication. The image on the poster was a soft black-and-white shot of a nude woman looking off into the distance with her breasts completely exposed to view. Read the…

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Brodie Awards!!!


X-Mormon of the Year!!

  • 2025: Rebecca Bibliotheca!!
  • 2024: Nemo the Mormon!!
  • 2023: Adam Steed!!
  • 2022: David Archuleta!!
  • 2021: Jeff T. Green!!
  • 2020: Jacinda Ardern!!
  • 2019: David Nielsen!!
  • 2018: Sam Young!!
  • 2017: Savannah!!
  • 2016: Jeremy Runnells!!
  • 2015: John Dehlin!!
  • 2014: Kate Kelly!!
  • 2013: J. S. Anderson & M. Ferguson!!
  • 2012: David Twede!!
  • 2011: Joanna Brooks!!
  • 2010: Monica Bielanko!!
  • 2009: Walter Kirn!!

  1. chanson on Thanks Gloria!September 20, 2026

    @Donna -- I wouldn't say you were one of the "dumb girls". You were a young starry-eyed convert who thought…

  2. chanson on New church schedule! Good? Bad? Inspired?September 19, 2026

    @Holly -- yes, I have absolutely felt that parallel in my life. I was fortunate enough to be able to…

  3. Holly on New church schedule! Good? Bad? Inspired?September 16, 2026

    You're no doubt right. Living in Trump's America right now feels to me the way I felt about the church…

  4. Donna Banta on Thanks Gloria!September 15, 2026

    There were years of cognitive dissonance, at least in my case. I told myself that the church was a compassionate,…

  5. chanson on New church schedule! Good? Bad? Inspired?September 14, 2026

    I can't help but feel like in today's church you wouldn't even have had the opportunity to mention Santa's not…

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