We’ve been having a lively discussion of some quotes from The Crucible of Doubt, and on the same day that that came up in my reader, some other ‘Naccler managed to link to something even worse. Take a gander at this article. The author lists off a bunch of positive…
Creative new dimensions in victim-blaming!
It is a truth universally acknowledged among Mormons, that church meetings are boring. Painfully boring. But that if you see that as a problem, the solution is to change your own attitude — and if you are unable to convince yourself that you are in some way edified by these…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: Losing control of the story edition!
If you’re a faithful Mormon, there are a lot of possible ways to rationalize the various sticky issues of the CoJCoL-dS. Take the problem of Joseph Smith “marrying” a bunch of teenagers and married women, and lying to his wife and everyone else about it — it can be explained…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: Books Edition!
There was a bit of a convergence of book posts this week! Adam Lee reviewed an LDS-interest book that I was not aware of — I need to get a hold of it. Knotty reviewed one of our MAA Books: Sacred Road. And did you know that John Gustav-Wrathall wrote…
What should I do?: Johnny Townsend’s “Behind the Zion Curtain”
With all big problems in this world, it’s easy to feel small — like there’s nothing you can do to make a dent in any of them — and wonder whether your life has any value. Religion to the rescue, right? Well, not exactly. The CoJCoL-dS can provide answers to…
Knowing Emma and Joseph’s History: A Response to the Speculative Essay on Early Polygamy– Alison Udall
It was really enjoyable to work my way through this. This is the first response I’ve done with these new church essays since I had read enough to be able to notice things that I recognized were missing, or implications that were being made that felt incomplete or inaccurate. As…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: Polygamapalooza Edition!
Wow!! The anonymous-yet-official mysterious oracle of the CoJC0L-dS has just officially admitted that Joseph Smith married multiple women, including teenagers and other men’s wives! And other interesting stuff about Mormon polygamy! This is big news because bringing up any of these fact (true and well-established as they are) has traditionally…
Have something to say about “The Book of Mormon” musical?
For the past few years, a colleague and I have been working to compile a collection of scholarly essays about “The Book of Mormon” musical. We’ve got a signed contract with a press and some really great essays, but there’s room for one or two more. If you have an…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: Women’s Session Edition!
This week’s Mormon news of the weird was the confusion over whether the women’s session was an actual session of General Conference. Some GAs said yes, some no, until the invisible hand of correlation swept away the statements it deemed to be wrong. You might notice that the same logic…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: Meet the Mormons Edition!
It has been a big week for shameless astro-turfing, as the new infomercial on Mormons hit the theaters! Members were encouraged to go see it or at least buy tickets — tithing deductible!! Despite the star power of the Mormon elite and the church’s famed information control, they haven’t convinced…