When I read a lot of ex-mormon accounts, some of them turn me off. I know there’s ill will and perhaps downright hostility to an entity you feel has essentially lied to for years of your life, but I’ve always felt that it would be counterintuitive to react so hostilely….
Sunday in Outer Blogness: vacation’s over edition!
Hi ladies and germs. Last night I just got back from a lovely vacation visiting family and friends in Paris and Maastricht. Since I had only a few minutes of Internet here and there the whole time, naturally the Outer Blogness folder of my personal reader was overflowing with several…
Latter-Day Protest? Proposition 8 and Sports
By Dave Zirin x-posted from Edge of Sports with permission. As supporters of Gay Marriage have discovered, it’s never easy to be on the Mormon Church’s enemies list. The Church of Latter-Day Saints backed the anti-Gay Marriage Proposition 8 in California with out-of-state funds, and gave the right a heartbreaking…
Dobson Caves to Evangelicals Who Call Glenn Beck a Cultist
Admittedly, I got busy with the holidays and fell behind in my reading at some of my favorite websites. I figured I could bookmark, spend a couple days getting reacquainted with the wife and kids, and then catch up later. Later was apparently too late: No longer available? Now that’s…
Argumentative
Over the joyous holiday season, I’ve had time to think about some less-than-joyous things. I hate getting into arguments. It makes my heart sink to get into yet another argument. Some days, I just don’t want to check the blogs I read because I fear that there will be a…
Christmas Story Tradition!
In my family, growing up, we had a tradition that on Christmas Eve, we’d sit together in the living room beside the Christmas tree and read a Christmas story or two. Sometimes it would be something explicitly religious — like the Christmas story from the New Testament — or semi-religious,…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: Holiday Nibbles Edition!
Since I’ll be setting off on vacation soon, I just thought I’d gather up a few light and amusing tidbits from Outer Blogness this week. Some Outer Bloggers didn’t follow my secret plan (writing about such serious topics as modern-day slavery and shock therapy). But most of the rest did….
Sure, I’ll tell you why there is no god…
So, I’m minding my own business being an atheist and not talking to anyone about it when I get a note from my TBM sister-in-law. Here’s what it says: I have a question for you. I have to do a presentation on “does God exist?” I have to use both…
Following or Pioneering
Whenever I talk with my father, I get a rush of feelings. I feel somewhat embarrassed because of his unorthodox beliefs and exploits. At the same time, I feel somewhat grateful that he’s not orthodox (I can’t say I would prefer him to be a standard ho-hum Mormon instead of…
The True Meaning of Christmas…
After reading the news this morning, it dawned on me that I should really write a short blog post about “The True Meaning of Christmas.” While other people have put similar ideas on paper before, I wanted something I could refer back to easily for future reference. I also wanted…