From the YouTube description: Eldest Osmond brother Alan says in a new interview that the Osmond Brothers’ dancing was too effeminate, so they brought in Chuck Norris, who basically taught them how to add karate-style moves to make it more manly. Says Osmond: “Chuck, we need to toughen up our…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: Happy Halloween Edition!
I assume most folks here see nothing wrong with the Mormon Missionary costume, yet would agree with Adrienne that “Pocha-hottie” and company are offensive costume ideas (H/T). Feel free to discuss the difference in this week’s comments. Speaking of Halloween and racism, well… let’s start with racism. As much as…
Building on a Religious Background
The following is an article I wrote for the October / November 2011 issue of Free Inquiry (the magazine of the Council for Secular Humanism), reposted here with permission from the editors. The Oct/Nov issue is a special issue on Mormonism, and one other MSP regular also contributed to it….
Is North Star Sending a Bad Message?
North Star is a Church-affiliated organization that serves as “a place of community for Latter-day Saints dealing with issues surrounding homosexual attraction who desire to live in harmony with the teachings of Jesus Christ and the values and doctrines of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” Since it…
The Moth Presents Elna Baker
Yes Means Yes? Catch The Moth and Elna at Town Hall, NYC on November 2nd.
Sunday in Outer Blogness: Ladies First Edition!
Fortunately someone came up with a satirical response to that awful tree (among other worthy targets). Unfortunately, it wasn’t the only nonsense the women had to put up with this past week — from minor slights on women’s music to major concerns about women’s health and safety. But women have…
Hot Halloween Idea – Mormon Missionary
Apparently the Mormon missionary look is in this year for Halloween, making Time’s top ten topical costume list. Anyone planning on dressing up? I’m out; too many bad memories. If we were smart, we’d start selling customized name tags here at MSP to make a profit off the interest in…
Heaven Ain’t Close in a Place Like This: Mormon.org and Maxwell Institute
“Hi, I’m Brandon. I’m a Mormon.” So begins Mr. Brightside’s somewhat perfunctory Mormon.org profile: Brandon Flowers is the frontman of the rock band The Killers. In 2010, he also released a solo album entitled Flamingo. In late 2001, Brandon Flowers responded to an ad that Dave Keuning had placed in…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: The “C” Word Edition!
What a wild week! Somewhere in the Republican–Christian world Mormonism got called a cult, and since then people have jumped in to analyze (or write stories about) every aspect of the cult question! Just how cultish is Mormonism? Some explain why Christians don’t consider Mormons Christian, others encourage Christians to…
Would you vote for a Mormon for president?
An article in Slate argues that anti-Mormonism is part of the next frontier of prejudice in this country. While the Republican presidential candidates have been quick to condemn anti-black prejudice (such as the word “Niggerhead” painted onto a rock at Perry’s family’s leased hunting camp) — because it’s easy to…