Yay, Baring Witness got an honorable mention in the Association for Mormon Letters Awards! Rachel Whipple wrote about her anxieties as a contributor to the collection. As a contributor myself, I’m pretty happy about the award. In Mormon news, Utah liquor laws have added a new twist, and Mormon History…
The CoJCoL-dS: A little bit of nothing for everyone!
When you picture the Mormon mishies pitching the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to a random Never-Mo, it’s hard to imagine who would find the pitch appealing. Yet it had to have been appealing at some point in the past. In the 19th century, whole congregations were converting….
Sunday in Outer Blogness: Easter Edition!
Did anyone listen to General Conference? I hear there wasn’t anything particularly scandalous this time, but it again highlighted the absence of women in positions of influence and authority. The doctrine of eternal gender roles is actually a little dodgy: I have often said that the gender roles described in…
What Does the CoJCoL-dS Offer?
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sends tens of thousands of enthusiastic young adults — carefully trained in sales strategies — all over the world. Why don’t people want what they’re selling? On the flip side, if the prospect of joining Mormonism is so obviously unappealing to the…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: Reboot edition!
So, the first installment of my new rebooted version of SiOB is only a day late, so we’re off to a great start! you’d think that since the Pokémon Go servers have been rarely reachable this past weekend, I’d be more on the ball, but the thing is that I’ve…
New Projects for Main Street Plaza and Mormon Alumni Association Books!
I have some exciting news for the readers of Main Street Plaza, Outer Blogness, and Mormon Alumni Association Books: We’re planning to become a publisher!! Our awesome first book should be appearing… at some date to be announced, hopefully not to far in the future. In anticipation of this new…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: Women’s Edition!
I hope everyone enjoyed International Women’s Day, a.k.a. “Why isn’t there an International Men’s Day? — oops there is!” Day. There was an international strike (A Day Without a Woman), and we just got around to celebrating here in Zürich this past weekend with another Women’s March. The Women’s March…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: Finally something Mormon edition!
Last year it seemed like there was a new LDS-related scandal or news item almost every week, but it looks like “the Mormon Moment” is starting to fizzle. It seems the CoJCoL-dS can’t compete with the level of irrational/wacky/terrifying that’s coming out of the White House these days! But this…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: Personal stories edition!
Here’s a charming little story of making a connection across cultural boundaries: A moment later it spoke back in Chinese. His eyes widened. I showed him the button to press on my phone. He spoke into it, and a moment later it said “Yes, I am sad.” “Why are you…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: Still not over edition!
For yet another week the CoJCoL-dS hasn’t done anything quite scandalous enough to overshadow the dumpster fire that the White House has become. Mormons are among the people swept up in this catastrophe. Utah Representative Jason Chaffetz came home to quite a crowd: I am generally a fan of the…