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 since 1993, 54 of them ...
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 announcement about the reorganization, my ...
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 thing there is to a ...
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 been a great week for ...
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 understood to “disorient” a person ...
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 attention, as did Packer’s statement ...
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 he could no longer continue ...
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 quite done, especially with regards ...
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 in Doctrine and Covenants 130 ...
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 began my journey out of ...
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 on to lament that “the ...
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 into the game: curious about ...
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 the current issue of The ...
Citing a Feminist Mormon Housewives conversation, Mohohawaii recently wrote about how LDS women are made responsible for LDS men’s sexuality. The Mormon woman is expected not to inflame male passions by underdressing or being overly flirtatious. “Female modesty” he writes, “affirms the existence of male sexuality only.” He quotes a Mormon women who felt guilty ...
I also learned that the great stories of the world have second acts. This may seem like a silly thing to say, but so many stories set up the problem (the job of the first act) and then resolve it (the job of the third act) with little to no struggle in between. I’m here ...