What an exciting two weeks it’s been!! But before digging into the links, I’d like to remind everyone that 2013 is drawing to a close, which means that it is awards time!! On New Years Day I plan to open the nominations for the William Law X-Mormon of the Year…
Merry Christmas!!
Folks, I am really sorry to have missed doing SiOB the other day — especially considering that it was going to be the gay polygamy issue!!! From the minute I finished work on Friday evening, I had a million things to do to get ready for Christmas! So, even though…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: Who’s driving this train? edition!
True to his name, Profet anticipated this weeks hot topic in his piece highlighted last week!! In a nutshell: The CoJCoL-dS posted an article about race on its official website, and everybody is super-happy to learn that racist doctrines (like curses or restrictions based on skin color) aren’t LDS doctrines…
LDS.org posts Historical Context for Ban on Black Ordination
It’s been brought to my attention that, last Friday, LDS.org posted a page on their “Gospel Topics” section called “Race and the Priesthood.” I’m not sure what was there prior to this article, but it seems that some of the more contentious church issues are slowly receiving revamped attention. For…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: Family Christmas Survival Edition!
Those Christmas family gatherings can bring priceless joy, but can sometimes also involve treading in dangerous waters. Some have boundary problems deciding what to say (for example the first comment here is fascinating, but perhaps wouldn’t be helpful in some family Christmas Eves…), and some have still-open wounds. And even…
Unweaving the tangled web: Michael Oborn’s “The Complete Mystery of Matthew Alcott”
Do you ever wonder what’s in the secret vaults of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? Have you ever imagined what you’d do if you had access? Matthew Alcott was a humble archivist working for the church when some previously undisclosed documents caught his eye, including Joseph Smith’s…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: Happy Thanksgivukkah Edition!
In a surprise move, the first day of Hanukkah fell on Thanksgiving this year! The Highchair Travelers provided some ideas on how to celebrate Hanukkah — and don’t forget to read the Hannukah story from the Bible! I assume you already all know how to celebrate Thanksgiving: You think about…
What do specialists think of Mormonism’s claims?
On August 11th, 2013 I posted a compilation on the exmormon subreddit. I worked every day for many hours during a 3-4 week period. The compilation consisted of responses from university professors who specialize in the fields of Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica Archaeology, Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica Anthropology, and Egyptology. Their responses were directed…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: Doctrinal Jello Edition!
I learned an interesting thing this past week in the comments of Reddit: Apparently the General Authorities of the CoJCoL-dS are discouraged from keeping journals. Why? Well maybe this tale of one of Joseph Smith’s revelations getting edited before canonization may shed some light on it. In other news of…
My Favorite Rules!
Ever since Donna Banta posted this old LDS Living article to facebook a few weeks ago, I’ve been thinking about all the rules that define the LDS lifestyle, and how they change. Specifically, the article is about how Mormon families should forbid their kids from sleeping over at friends’ houses….