Today the First Presidency announced that the Saturday evening sessions to the semi-annual general conferences will be discontinued. Traditionally, a Saturday evening session was held for priesthood holders in April and then women in October. Also traditionally, the priesthood session featured a lineup of male speakers, while the women’s session…
Category: Testimony
Symbolic beliefs can counter cognitive dissonance, but at a cost
The Brodie Awards and X-Mormon of the Year
Main Street Plaza has hosted the Brodie Awards and William Law X-Mormon of the Year for a full ten years. It all started in 2009 when exmos were explicitly excluded from the Bloggernacle’s “Niblets” — a set of awards that fizzled out a few years later. Check the sidebar for…
The Gospel of Misery
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…
A Mormon By Any Other Name
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…
Beware the False Gods of Capitalism: A Letter to My Son
“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….
Mormon Erotica: Banta’s Third Book Delivers Heart and Humor
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…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: Towel girls edition!
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…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: Books edition!
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…
The Ignorance of Defensive Mormons
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…
A Truth Universally Acknowledged: Two LDS Romance Reviews
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…