I project that my real-life schedule should lighten up sometime, but unfortunately it won’t be this week or next week. Fortunately, all the other bloggers of Outer Blogness (and beyond) have come through with tons of great posts! Here are some highlights: Non-believers can’t seem to win — non-belief can…
Category: Testimony
Symbolic beliefs can counter cognitive dissonance, but at a cost
Flirt to deconvert: Therese Doucet’s “A Lost Argument”
Marguerite has a problem. She loves the structure and purpose that Mormonism provides, and — like every good BYU co-ed — she’s dying to land a man. Unfortunately, instead of being a perky blonde out of a shampoo commercial, she’s a shy, nerdy bookworm — and hence practically invisible to…
Protecting the Word of Wisdom
Jason Chaffetz, Utah Congressman, is sponsoring the Community Alcohol Regulatory Effectiveness Act. The proposed legislation will allow states to prohibit consumers from ordering wine from out of state wineries. In this article, the author and the respondents discuss local versus interstate commerce and to what extent whether Chaffetzs legislation is…
The Community of Christ: Some Brief Thoughts
While I have decided to stay LDS, I have in recent years gained a great love of the Community of Christ, formerly known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Community of Christ advocates global peace and social justice without apology. Being a liberal member of…
FSM Help Me, But I Liked Grant Hardy’s Book… A Lot.
Originally posted at exmormon.reddit.com. Much of the faithful bloggernacle is currently talking about Dr. Grant Hardy’sUnderstanding the Book of Mormon, published by Oxford Press. I was intrigued by the premise when it first came out a few months ago, but have been quite reticent about posting anything about it to…
Why are Ex-Mormons So Angry (and other questions)? Part II
This is the second part of what has turned out to be a surprisingly lengthy two-part series on the perception of ex-Mormons as being angry and causes and reasons for anger that may exist, originally posted at Irresistible (Dis)Grace here and here. Please read part I (if you haven’t already)…
Why are Ex-Mormons So Angry (and other questions)? Part I
A while back on reddit, aMormon stumbled into the popular (and still growing) ex-Mormon reddit to ask the ex-Mormon denizens a few questions. Many of the questions were quite patronizing (despite the poster’s stated desire to “support whatever [our] beliefs [were] in a non-patronizing way”), and the proceeding conversation was…
Valerie Hudson Explains Polygamy, An Exception to the Law
Since it is too hot here in the Southeast to do much of anything, I was piddling around on the WEB and came across this article in the Deseret News about the recent Fairs conference. Valerie Hudson, a BYU political science professor, presented, according to the article, her interpretation of…
My Happy Mormon Life
A few days ago a friend of mine gave me a copy of a thesis she had directed for a young woman pursuing an MFA in non-fiction writing. My friend mentioned this student months ago, telling me that she was a Mormon writing about her life as a Mormon. She…
missionary mauled, but saved through god’s will
In case you didn’t see it, a Mormon missionary was mauled in Guatemala by a couple of lions. However, as you read the article, it makes it sound as though: (1) Paul Oakey wasn’t doing anything wrong when he was attacked by the lions and (2) he was saved through…