This is my first post on Main Street Plaza. I’m grateful for the opportunity to share some thoughts with you, and hopeful that I can contribute something to a community which has been a huge support to me over the past few years. That almost sounds like the way I would have started a sacrament ...
Frederick Mark Gedicks Brigham Young University – J. Reuben Clark Law School William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal, Vol. 18, pp. 901-914, 2010 God of Our Fathers, Gods for Ourselves: Fundamentalism and Postmodern Belief: ” … there is also an ethical reason for wariness. One should pause at imposing absolute truth on those to ...
All of the levity over Mormon being the new black is a bit of a sideshow — obscuring the meat of what Elder Oaks is proposing: Those who seek to change the foundation of marriage should not be allowed to pretend that those who defend the ancient order are trampling on civil rights. They shouldn’t ...
My mother Gudrun Bachmann was born on June 9, 1939. When World War II begun with the invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, she was less than three months old. When Germany surrendered on May 9, 1945, she was one month shy of her sixth birthday. Besides a treasure trove of family stories from ...
Todd Whitaker recently bore his testimony. The video of Todd testifying to his ward has now gone viral. As you may have seen, it was not your typical Mormon F&T meeting fare. I caught up with Todd by email and he agreed to answer a few questions. ...
A while back another blogger asked me to submit an essay about my Mormon experience. Probably, for good reasons he changed his mind and never published it. Since it is already written and might shed some light on my argument at Times and Seasons, I might as well publish it myself. It might help some ...
So Cleve Jones wasn’t joking when he thanked the LDS church! Now Lisa Duggan (of The Nation) explains why Salt Lake City’s LGBT community is an inspiration for the whole country: At the Pride Center, a broad range of local activist groups and LGBT individuals actually talk to each other–in stark contrast to the balkanized ...
When we were members of the church, we knew very acutely how many rules and laws and words of wisdom and commandments we had to follow. Why did we keep up with it then…and why do we do what we do now? What motivates us to act? For the past few weeks, I have been ...
I’m not someone who is particularly good at following the rules, at least some rules. And believe it or not, depending on who you talk to, Mormonism had a lot of rules. What type of soda/pop to drink, what kind of music to listen to, etc. What always astounded me was the insistence on following ...
Although Europeans suffer just as much, if not more, from racism as Americans, accomplished African Americans have traditionally received more respect on the old continent than in their home country. ...
By Dave Zirin x-posted from Edge of Sports with permission. As supporters of Gay Marriage have discovered, it’s never easy to be on the Mormon Church’s enemies list. The Church of Latter-Day Saints backed the anti-Gay Marriage Proposition 8 in California with out-of-state funds, and gave the right a heartbreaking victory this past election cycle. ...
Andrew pointed out the irony of Gary Lawrence’s advice to “just be yourself” (reported here): Gary’s son being himself (gay) + Gary being himself (raging homophobe) = family catastophe. As backwards as it is to call Proposition 8 “pro-family,” Lynnette explains that it’s disingenuous to pretend that gay marriage has no effect on straight families ...
Today is the day for (U.S.) nationwide demonstrations for equality (see Join the Impact). A number of our friends here in Outer Blogness have been covering the protests live, such as John R. at the Irvine protest, and many others I gathered up last Sunday in Outer Blogness. Chino has gathered up some more coverage ...
“If [the media] convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations,” Palin told host Chris Plante, “then I don’t know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by ...
Intellectually, one can only sustain the orthodox position against marriage equality if one assumes that gays are not fully human or somehow defective. Unfortunately, biology contradicts that notion. The Church is correct in asserting the freedom for the organization and its members. However, our liberty ends where it begins to take away the liberty of ...
In the wake of the reformation Europe was torn by religious wars for almost two centuries. France had the Huguenot wars, Britain the civil war between king and parliament, and in Germany, there was the 30 year war, which killed one third of the population. My home town was the seat of a Nassau principality. ...
Thank you, Barbara Young. Mormons owe you: I am very passionate about this issue and Steve is completely supportive of me and my work for eqaulity,” Barbara Young said in a statement to the Mercury News after midnight. “We both love our Church and are grateful that our Church encourages us to vote our conscience. ...
I have been miserable at Church ever since my mission. I still couldn’t get out because I had to act on my testimony even though I experienced Church as toxic every Sunday. To me, the mission experience was dehumanizing and sacrilegious reducing converts to trophies and missionaries to tools. Any amoeba will leave an inhospitable ...
Wry Catcher’s question whether the notion of spirit world addiction reminded me of Jean Paul Sartre’s Les Jeux Sont Faits, which is particularly interesting to Mormons because Sartre’s description of the afterlife happens to coincide with commonly held notions of the spirit world. Les Jeux Sont Faits is a wonderful drama by Jean Paul Sartre ...
On the occasion of Ronan’s remembrance of the Coventry bombing, I am exploring theodicy with Jon and Right Trousers. I would agree with Right Trousers that the choices of the survivors can give meaning to the suffering of the victims. At least, we are taking responsibility for our actions. But since our choices cannot undo ...
As a child, I admired Brother B. He was a member of our ward. Back then Brother B. must have been in his fifties. He was naturally self-confident and projected authority in an understated sort of way. Late in life, Brother B. had switched careers to become a natural healer. My mother who had been ...
At Times and Seasons, today’s discussion is about citizenship and Mormons’ obligation to vote. One of the respondents argues that Convince the Democrats to stop pandering to the radical elements in the abortion debate and I guarantee you we’d see more members voting Democrat. This has nothing to do with certain Saints being brainless – ...
Via Andrew Sullivan. While the Brethren raise millions, I can only give pennies. But nothing leverages money better than love. That’s why our dollars go farther. Everybody who worked on this ad did it for free. By contrast, our Evangelical opponents are enriching themselves at the expense of their Mormon donors. If you want to ...
For myheadhurts and Everyone Else Who Is Looking for Meaning Beyond the Confines of Fundamentalism Celebrating the resilience of children despite parental pathologies, Wir Sind Helden has recorded another song that asserts humanity while facing life’s nastiness. Kaputt‘s credo is reminiscent of a John Irving novel. Although parents are dented, broken, and borderline insane, the ...
It’s not religious. It’s not moral. It’s not even about family values. Gay marriage is a constitutional issue, but not in the same way that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (The Mormon Church) views it. It wants an amendment defining marriage as being between one man and one woman based on their ...
Robert Kirby, everyone’s favorite Jack-Mormon, just posted about a new policy of the LDS religion. Apparently the leadership of the religion are now disallowing object lessons in sacrament meetings. While Kirby humorously mocks this move, I have to ask two questions: 1) Is this true? No more object lessons? 2) WTF? I mean, seriously? Just ...
Carolyn Jessop puts the protest of FLDS mothers into perspective: I had eight children in 15 years, but I did not know what a miracle it is to be a mother. I had no way of knowing the deep gladness mothering gives. I didn’t know because in the FLDS, great emphasis is put on breaking ...
In disfellowshipping or excommunicating scholars (like Michael Quinn, Grant Palmer, and others) Church leaders create a theological paradox. Assuming that such actions are eternally binding implies that, regardless of researchers’ choices, it becomes impossible for them to obtain the benefits of the Savior’s atonement. ...
In light of the sensationalist press coverage of Mormon fundamentalism, the LDS Church is eager to disassociate itself from more traditional forms of Mormonism. Whatever the historical and theological relationship between mainstream and fundamentalist Mormonism may be, there is, of course, a big difference between the LDS and the FLDS churches: The LDS Church submits ...
My first reaction on hearing about the Texas raid was “Finally, the authorities have stopped ignoring the abuses committed by the polygamists!” Yet the more I hear about this story, the more reservations I have about it. The state took several hundred children away from their parents and put them in foster care on the ...