I’ve been humming “A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief” the last few days. Singing was always one of my favorite parts of church, and one of the things I really missed when I left, though I’ve found other groups to sing with now. I still love many of the hymns though, feel a catch in ...
According to a Mormon Times report of BYU Education Week, that first bit of litter that misses the trash can is the beginning of the slippery slope to divorce court. That’s right. Littering, among a litany of other behaviors, is a form of selfishness, and selfishness destroys marriage. The list included not wanting to have children, ...
Urban Koda’s thoughts on “Riding” made me reflect on a lot of my hang-ups that can be traced directly back to teachings of the Church. Imagine a 13-year-old girl who believes she will be eternally cut off from the presence of God unless she repents by confessing to her middle-aged male bishop that she masturbates. And ...
A few months after my husband and I moved from Arizona to North Dakota, but before we had officially resigned our membership, the Mormons tracked us down, as they are famous for doing. (FSM help any Mormons who need to enter the witness protection program.) I wasn’t home when they came calling, but my husband ...
The final chapter of ExMormon will be posted here in less than a week! Here‘s the tale of where this tale came from! ...
That’s what I kept thinking while I was reading this article about a Catholic mom who was devastated at not being able to attend her son’s LDS temple wedding (hat tip Life Beyond x-Mormonism). The couple got married in the Mesa Arizona temple! At least one or two of the twelve temples in Mexico must ...
One of the more difficult things that came with recognizing that the Mormon Church wasn’t 100%, literally “True” was that this paradigm shift introduced incredible levels of uncertainty into my knowledge of God and the purpose of life. ...
Something one hears quite frequently in the LDS Church is that inactive Mormons “just left to sin,” “were offended,” “intellectualized themselves out of a testimony,” and “just need to regain their faith”. On behalf of less- and inactive Mormons everywhere, I would like explain just why these assumptions are so painful, and why they do ...
PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE EMAIL: Press@mormonproposition.com DAVID v. GOLIATH PRODUCTIONS announced this week that their new and highly anticipated documentary, 8: THE MORMON PROPOSITION, a film by Reed Cowan & narrated by Oscar-winning writer of MILK, Dustin Lance Black, will debut its world premiere at the world renowned SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL in January 2010. ...
This is too hilarious!!! Have a look at Nailed ‘Em – Mormon Church Trespassing from Colbert Nation. (Via Sterkworks) ...
All I Wanted Was a Hug. The story explores the crazy rules of homo-vs-hetero public displays of affection among missionaries — and it was written by one of the stars of the last Sunstone Symposium! check it out! ...
Elder Beaverton and I didn’t say anything as we walked northeast along the side of the Jardin Public. When we got to the corner, I suggested that we turn northwest and continue going around the park. I knew that the girls were still inside. I couldn’t help but feel like if Elder Dickhead was going ...
Between buildings we passed by a pharmacy that had in its display window a large poster advertising some sort of mysterious medication. The image on the poster was a soft black-and-white shot of a nude woman looking off into the distance with her breasts completely exposed to view. Read the rest of the story » ...
The next morning, after Elder Beaverton and I had done our usual personal study and companion study, we set off to go out tracting. As usual, no one wanted to let us in. To break up the tedium and frustration of it, we played little games to vary our door approach such as picking a ...
By Karen Ocamb, News editor, Frontiers in LA Reposted (with permission) from Dirigo Blue and Daily Kos. “God has no grandchildren,” the evangelical ex-Marine father of my late friend Chip Howe said, explaining how he surrendered judgment and came to accept Chip’s homosexuality. Chip, a Lieutenant in the Navy during the Vietnam War, was supposed ...
I’m often torn when I think about religion. As aerin noted last week, sometimes religion does seem to be authentically helpful for some people. But then there are people like the Copelands, of Texas, who preach the “prosperity gospel,” which is basically fraud (promising something you don’t deliver to get someone’s money). Here’s where my ...
A while back, I heard a rather innocuous story about honesty at stake conference (ok, so it’s not as prestigious as general conference…). I didn’t care much about the choice of story he used, since it seemed trite (it was some Chinese feel-good fable), but as I read a passage in the scriptures today (and ...
Dan Savage devoted this week’s column to gay people with religious issues. So, as with cheating and partner-letting-self-go, let’s decide whether Dan got it right! Here’s an excerpt from the question: Religion has been for me a source of strength in my times of weakness, a rock in the times of storm, and above all ...
I woke up on the floor. I felt really thirsty and had to pee. The T.V. was still on but not making any noise. Someone must have muted it at some point. I stood up and looked at Tanya lying there asleep on the couch. I felt confused and wanted to go home. Read the ...
On Monday I was really dreading going to my French class. I waited until the very last second before the bell to go to the classroom. It was natural to arrive a little later for that class anyway because it was the class right after the period when I had seminary, which was in a ...
On Saturday the weather was strangely warm for late October. It was like Summer again all of the sudden. I had nothing to do, so I called up Sam and Joe’s house. Joe was home all by himself because Sam was at football practice and his parents had decided to go with him in order ...
On the morning of the wedding, we determined to sleep in a little bit. We were planning to meet April and Susan at the Hobbs’ house, and we wanted to wait until we were sure that Brother and Sister Hobbs were gone to avoid crossing them and dealing with whatever wrath was the consequence of ...
Via Prez Vid. ...
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Once Grandma and Grandpa’s new business was cleared off the table and put away, I started showing everyone how to fold the little silver slips of paper into birds. I figured that it would be better to keep it simple and have everyone fold the same animal. With so many people, it went pretty quickly. ...
Friday morning April dropped off Rex to visit his family and dropped me off at Matt’s parents’ house to see if I could help with any of the preparations for the reception. April and Susan and little Judy set off to do some picnicking and nature-walks in the canyons. Read the rest of the story ...
I’ve been reading a very good book on religion and found some quotes that are worth sharing. But I thought it might be fun to make this interactive. So, here’s the first quote, but you have to fill in the blanks. If anyone correctly fills in all of the blanks, I’ll send them their very ...
The interview was in the administration building, which was a funky 60′s-style building which had the shape of a narrow X, like a chromosome, when viewed from above. I handed my letter to the receptionist and took a seat in the waiting room. Some other kids were also there waiting, undoubtedly for the same sort ...
Hi kids: I’m just wondering who’s gonna be at the exmo conference in October? For one, I will be. And I’m traveling a couple thousand miles to be there. I’m really hoping to meet some of you fine folks! ...
I visited my parents last week with my twin two year olds. I live around four hours away from my parents, so we are not able to see them very often. My parents live in the U.S., outside of the Utah, Idaho, Arizona region. I realize that people have different experiences and relationships to mormonism ...