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A Community for Anyone Interested in Mormonism.

Category: Testimony

Symbolic beliefs can counter cognitive dissonance, but at a cost

The Gospel of Misery

Johnny Townsend, February 23, 2020March 1, 2020

by Johnny Townsend “Man is, that he might be miserable.” Mormons are moral ascetics, demanding secular bans on alleviating misery whenever possible. Could the state of Utah or the U.S. federal government afford to provide healthcare to its citizens? Yes, but that would improve everyone’s quality of life. Could the…

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A Mormon By Any Other Name

Johnny Townsend, March 17, 2019March 18, 2019

by Johnny Townsend A Mormon by any other name would smell as sweet. Or, more accurately, a Mormon by any other name would smell as saccharine. I don’t mean to sound offensive. That’s always the trick, isn’t it? Not sounding offensive. It’s perfectly okay to be offensive, though, right? “I…

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Beware the False Gods of Capitalism: A Letter to My Son

Leah, December 31, 2018

“The gods of capitalism and the gods of Mormonism are nothing but different faces of the same lie. And I would have you serve neither.” Adapted from a letter written to my fourteen-year-old son. Dear Son, A few weeks ago, I texted asking for ideas for Christmas gifts for you….

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Mormon Erotica: Banta’s Third Book Delivers Heart and Humor

Leah, January 24, 2018

I’ve been a Donna Banta fan since 2010, when I discovered her blog “Ward Gossip.” Oh my god! This woman is The Onion of Mormonism, I thought, as I instantly recognized Banta’s fictional ward as a mostly-accurate reflection of my own Mormon experience, with just the right amount of exaggeration…

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Sunday in Outer Blogness: Towel girls edition!

chanson, December 26, 2017

Thanks to everyone who has been contributing nominations for X-Mormon of the Year! I am planning to start collecting nominations for the Brodie Awards this weekend, and then the following weekend, I’ll post the polls to vote for X-Mormon of the Year. So, the Mormon community got some exciting news…

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Sunday in Outer Blogness: Books edition!

chanson, December 10, 2017

Yay, Mormon Alumni Association Books is finally taking off! I just got the first proof copy of our first book in the mail: Now I need to do some work on updating the website — the current list of books there is a list of recommended titles from other publishers…

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The Ignorance of Defensive Mormons

Donna Banta, December 1, 2017

The last time I attended a Mormon sacrament meeting was around two years ago. The principle speaker was a stake high councilman. Boasting success in his professional life, he credited his accomplishments to his compassionate approach toward the “less worthy.” “When I mix with my worldly colleagues,” he explained, “I…

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A Truth Universally Acknowledged: Two LDS Romance Reviews

Donna Banta, October 4, 2017October 5, 2017

A DATE WITH DANGER By Kari Iroz 256 pp. Covenant Communications, Inc. $15.99 PRIDE AND POLITICS By Britanny Larsen 272 pp. Covenant Communication, Inc. $16.99 As I was adding finishing touches to my upcoming LDS romance novel, I picked up a couple of Deseret Book titles, curious to see if…

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Trump and the Rise of the Uninformed Expert

Donna Banta, August 16, 2017August 16, 2017

I got some hate mail last Thursday. It was a voicemail, actually, from an old friend. He said he’s cutting his ties to us because of my husband Mark’s recent suggestion that Syrian refugees be admitted into our country. Boasting an extensive knowledge of Islam (he owns a Quran), this…

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The Mormon Way to Get Rich

Donna Banta, July 26, 2017July 26, 2017

Thanks to some of my believing Mormon friends, the blog post, “Will Your Child be Rich or Poor? 15 Poverty Habits Parents Teach their Children,” has been hovering on my radar, popping up repeatedly in my Facebook feed and even landing in my inbox via mass email. When I finally…

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Latest Comments:

  1. Johnny Townsend on Collecting Nominations for the 2025 Brodie Awards!!December 4, 2025

    LDS (ex-LDS) fiction: Murder at the Jack Off Club by Johnny Townsend Both main characters are gay ex-Mormons. One is…

  2. Collecting Nominations for the 2025 Brodie Awards!! – Main Street Plaza on Collecting Nominations for William Law X-Mormon of the Year 2025!!!December 3, 2025

    […] Nominations are still open for X-Mormon of the Year 2025 — add your nomination here!! […]

  3. Collecting Nominations for William Law X-Mormon of the Year 2025!!! – Main Street Plaza on Congratulations 2024 X-Mormon of the Year: Nemo the Mormon!!!November 27, 2025

    […] he needs to do is make the news by getting excommunicated, like “Nemo the Mormon” did last year. […]

  4. Collecting Nominations for William Law X-Mormon of the Year 2025!!! – Main Street Plaza on Congratulations 2024 Brodie Award Winners!!!!November 26, 2025

    […] ask: “When is RFM going to win?” Well, he has won — plenty of Brodie Awards (see 2024 for…

  5. Donna Banta on A pox on the PoX policy, ten years onNovember 5, 2025

    If Oaks meant to imply anything by picking a counselor with a gay brother it was, "See, we can hate…

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