First, I’d like to post the polls for X-Mormon of the Year on the 27th of December, so please add your last-minute nominations in the comments below. Here’s who we have so far: Ryan Gosling (for his role as a TK smoothie!) Jessi Hildebrandt (for speaking out about abuse) Adam…
Collecting Nominations for the 2023 Brodie Awards!!
It’s finally awards season again! As always, the objective of the “Brodie Awards” is to give a bit more recognition and signal boost to creative works by ex-Mormons (or any liberal Mo’s willing to hang with us) that have LDS-interest subject matter. And as usual, I’ll review the guidelines, then…
Collecting Nominations for X-Mormon of the year 2023!!!
It’s that time of year — awards season once again! And — as usual — we start with nominations for William Law X-Mormon of the Year!! As always, the X-Mormon of the Year award goes to the X-Mormon who made the biggest public splash in the year in question (2023…
It’s the Community, Stupid
It was over thirty years ago but I remember it like yesterday. Our daughter was sitting with us in the pews, watching the administration of the sacrament, when it dawned on her: Only boys were participating! That same day she asked her Primary teacher why girls weren’t also permitted to…
In My Day it was Paul H. Dunn
Recently Mormonland has been crowded with stories about Tim Ballard, the LDS founder and former CEO of Operation Underground Railroad (OUR). Once a model Latter-day Saint and possible candidate for Romney’s senate seat, Ballard is now excommunicated and facing charges of sexual assault. Reports also reveal he frequented bars and…
#ThinkRespectful: the Talk I Wish Had Been at General Conference
Sometimes inconvenience bring insight. Earlier this week, the San Francisco Public transit system made my best option for getting from Point A to Point B a 40-minute walk, almost enough time to listen to a podcast episode titled “What do I do if listening to Conference hurts?” It was the…
How Mormonism goads fiction writing
Sometimes, for family home evening, we brainstormed about the end of the world. That’s the first thing I thought when I saw an article in the New York Times on why Mormons have such a prominent place in YA fantasy fiction. Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series and Orson Scott Card’s…
Leaving the Mormon machine, I struggled to find community without conformity
Years ago, on a cross country road trip, an LDS friend of mine broke an axle in the middle of Nebraska. He found a payphone, called his father in Utah, got the phone number of the region’s stake president, and called the man, a stranger. Then the Mormon machine…
Mormonland!
Saw Barbie the other day. What a delight. It was cute, sparkly, hilarious, deliciously subversive, inspiring, relevant, and above all, PINK! Plus it made me nostalgic. Not so much for the doll. Although I did have a Barbie, also a Ken, a pre-pregnancy Midge, and a Skipper (flat-chested model). But…
Personal Responsibility for Conflating Love with Cruelty
Some of my closest family members treat me badly because their church tells them to. I long tried to excuse them because I remembered when I was deceived by the LDS church as well. Then I remembered I Corinthians 10:13, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is…