Some of my closest family members treat me badly because their church tells them to. I long tried to excuse them because I remembered when I was deceived by the LDS church as well. Then I remembered I Corinthians 10:13, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is…
Category: Ethics
City Creek Center – breeding cynicism
I’m an alumnus of the University of Utah. As an alumnus, I get their alumni magazine, Continuum. With all of the other stuff I have to read, I rarely read the magazine all that closely. I typically just skim through the articles, looking for anything that might seem interesting. The…
The 8 things I’d like to ask
I know…I have resigned my membership. So why do I care about the new Mormon church policy update that impacts LGBT Mormons? Why bother stressing about it if I don’t even belong or believe? Because this was my faith community for 46 years. Because it was how I was raised. Because…
Obligatory Violence and the Book of Mormon
Like so many people, I have spent the past two days convulsed with grief and horror at the events in Charleston. Also shame: America’s latest accused mass murderer claimed he had to kill black people because they “rape our women,” and it’s as repugnant to me that anyone would murder…
“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a sociopath’s dream”
Read this deeply bizarre cover story from Psychology Today. Entitled “Confessions of a Sociopath,” it tells the story of a female Mormon law professor with an undergraduate degree from BYU. Here’s the most relevant part about the church: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a sociopath’s dream….
Just for kicks, how long will this clip stay up before it gets pulled?
Ever wonder why it’s OK for Mormons like the Marriotts to profit from porn? Now you know. As someone elsewhere noted: “I think this new PSA from the Mormons is much more helpful than some of their older, more boring stuff.”
The Ethics of Speaking Up
Hi everyone, I’m honored to join the Main Street Plaza crew. My name is Mike, and I chose the nickname Saganist because Carl Sagan has been a big influence on my thinking. Just a bit of background on me: my religious history is long and complicated, but I joined the…
Oldies but Goodies: Testimony of a Dissident
A while back another blogger asked me to submit an essay about my Mormon experience. Probably, for good reasons he changed his mind and never published it. Since it is already written and might shed some light on my argument at Times and Seasons, I might as well publish it…
Motivations for altruism
Why act ethically if not out of (self-interested) thoughts of your own eternal reward? According to the LDS-Freemen (hat tip TBBB), you wouldn’t: Is it okay for me to admit that the reason I have faith and hope in an afterlife is because I am interested in myself? Is that…