Did anyone else catch the latest change to proselytizing in the US? Mormon missionaries are now surfing the web looking for people. Baptism numbers must be way down if the LDS Church is allowing missionaries to spend time online searching for converts (of course, with a companion looking over their…
OK, who all is going to the Sunstone Symposium this year?
Of course we can read the nearly final program, but — if you’re presenting — please feel free to tell us a few enticing words about your presentation. Note: Mr. Deity will be there!! (Also, feel free to tell me what you think of the ad on page 40. 😉…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: Hard Facts Edition!
Wow, everybody is talking about this new study that suggests that misinformed people rarely change their minds when presented with the facts — and often become even more attached to their beliefs. Why are former Mormons so interested in this topic? What’s the connection? Oh, yeah, this. This whole topic…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: World Cup Edition!
That’s my excuse for getting this done so late today — along with another billion people, we had some important watching-the-world-cup-final to do at our house. It was very exciting, especially after it went into extra innings and everything. (And Andrew thought one needs an ulterior motive to post about…
Do people leave the church for greener grass?
I was just reading a fascinating new post at Times & Seasons — Wanted: Greener Grass. I won’t lie; part of what amused me was the link to a study of children’s drawings that captured their preconceived notions of what kind of person a scientist is (with implications as to…
Mormon and Queer at the Crossroads
I’ve been active on this blog since chanson reviewed my gay, Mormon novel Ockham’s Razor last October. I will be presenting a paper about my novel at this year’s Sunstone Symposium titled “Two Paradigms for ‘Gay.’” (Half of my presentation will also concern Jonathan Langford’s novel No Going Back–also reviewed…
Studying the Original
I recently saw the documentary “Who the #$&% is Jackson Pollock” about Teri Horton, a woman who may have purchased a Jackson Pollock painting at a thrift store for $5. It was a fascinating documentary, with a clear perspective. The crux of the film is that Teri cannot prove that…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: Independence Day Edition!
Yes, Britta has declared her independence from the CoJCoL-dS! I found her blog through her Irreligiosophy interview — along with a couple other exmo blogs that I hope everyone will welcome to the Outer Blogness community! Andrew S has written an interesting series comparing this community to other blog communities….
Knowledge, Community, and Relationships
Over at the faithful Mormon blog Faith-Promoting Rumor is a discussion enticingly titled “Do Relationships Make the Church True and False?” This post is a short enough one that you should just go over there and read it, but I guess I will still highlight some points here…when I was…
Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff calls on LDS HQ to take a position on US immigration policy
No theocracy going on here … Deseret News promptly weighs in with a response on Thomas S. Monson’s behalf.