This week Rob explained one reason outsiders have trouble understanding Mormon experiences: others don’t always get that Mormons have a different idea about boundaries. Take, for example, a Mormon mom who got angry that someone politely declined her kid’s proselytizing effort (because — if it’s a kid then politeness dictates…
Oh how racism haunts Mormonism
You remember the whole Brandon Davies basketball debacle a few weeks ago? You know, the situation where a black BYU basketball player was suspended for having sex with his girlfriend? Yeah, so, it turns out someone did a little digging and found out that:Of the 70 athletes suspended from BYU…
We’ve got their attention!
LDS, Inc. is hemorrhaging members, particularly young people, and they are trying to adjust their organizational structure to stem the tide. The recent change in ward structures in Salt Lake is a direct response to the mass exodus of young people out of LDS, Inc. When I saw the initial…
Sunstoning: The Borderlands
I recently had occasion to make a business trip, and one of the things I took with me to read on the plane was the current issue of Sunstone. Most readers of this blog will be familiar with this publication, but for those who are not, Sunstone is the closest…
Easter Sunday in Outer Blogness!
I’ve never quite committed to memory the algorithm for figuring out the date of Easter each year (other than “look on my calendar”). Anyway, it appears to be Easter here in Switzerland today, and probably elsewhere. Also, many people celebrated Earth Day as well. In the holiday spirit, it has…
Orientation, Selfishness and Female Ordination
Many Mormons understand their orientation to be to their spouse. This is commendable, because it demonstrates dedication and fidelity. However, a spouse for Latter-day Saints means someone of the opposite gender. Homosexuality gets compartmentalized as an affliction that can lead to selfishness if not kept in check. This selfishness is…
Link bomb #6
I had planned to write a review of this latest General Conference, but I couldn’t muster up the interest. This conference was particularly dull for me as a nonbeliever, and by that I mean it was controversy-free. Well, almost. Monson’s admonishment to young single men to get married received some…
Facing East: Thoughts on (Dis)Orientation
I was talking with a friend the other day who was feeling uneasy about his life. Like me, he has known since he was a boy that he is gay, yet (because he was a faithful Mormon boy) he married and had children, then eventually came to a point where…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: Gender Equality Edition!
When LDS spokesman Michael Otterson decided to describe what Mormon equality looks like, which led to a fair amount of commentary. (On a related[?] note, there was some new interest in the question of why people don’t like Mormons and problems with LDS PR stragegy.) The General Conference commentary isn’t…
“Nobody actually believes in a man with a beard in the clouds.”
A friend of mine said this recently as we were discussing whether the god that New Atheists dismiss is too simplistic. All I could say is, “Well, I did.” Okay, maybe not in the clouds exactly, but from his first appearance with his Son to Joseph Smith to the affirmation…