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…
Finding God in a Gay Bar: Why I Blog
I have recently had occasion to reflect on why I began blogging and why I continue to blog. I am not an expert on anything – except my own feelings and experience. When I began blogging, I decided that this would be a guiding principle for my writing. As I…
Moral Nostalgia and the Movies
This post was inspired by A teenager speaks on new movie standards. In her recent discussion of the current state of movies, and particularly award winning movies, Camila B. states that she is concerned about “movies throughout the decades and the negative changes that I have noticed.” She then goes…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: Other People’s Opinions Edition!
This week’s journey through Mormonism covered the ground of caring or not about others’ opinions and possible reactions. Sometimes it’s fun to make a big stink and a smackdown. And Simply Sarah and Andrew S are simply examining and expressing their own place in the X-Mormon journey. Some nevermos get…
On Terry Tempest Williams
I believe I have read everything Terry Tempest Williams has written. I have followed her as she has contemplated and worked through the tangled relationship that exists between family and the LDS Church, and the heavy right leaning philosophy of both, as she has moved in an opposite direction. In…