Have you heard Mormons justify seeing a given R-rated movie on the basis that the R-rating was “just for violence” (not nudity or sex)? I have, and I don’t think it’s just my imagination that Mormons see graphic (non-violent) sex as worse or less appropriate for entertainment than graphic violence. Orson Scott Card argued (with ...
At Sacrament Meeting, I wondered if perhaps I shouldn’t take the sacrament. It had been three days since the incident with Walter, and I hadn’t even started repenting yet. I knew that you weren’t supposed to take the sacrament if you had some big sin on your conscience that you hadn’t repented of. Read the ...
Recall we learned in part 1 that discrediting Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon and the Book of Abraham is a dangerous tactic since the Mormons who are swayed by such evidence have an annoying tendency to continue this same line of reasoning and ask hard questions about Jesus. The next obvious tactic — to ...
Today’s installment of Exmormon, Part 3: Saturday’s Warrior is the one that most requires the warning. If you’re okay with it, you may proceed to the story, otherwise skip this chapter and tune in next week! Views: 392 ...
Be sure to check out this fabulous interview! My favorite highlights: Views: 2413 ...
Normally I hate it when I see atheism accused of being just another religion (or worse: just another faith) because of, well, the usual “is bald a hair color?” (or “Is ‘not collecting stamps’ a hobby?”) argument that I won’t waste your time repeating here today. Yet I was perversely pleased to see atheists make ...
We got an interesting comment from Remeny the other day regarding the ‘Naclers (including us) who have criticized President Beck’s talk: The church has raised the bar for missionaries to serve. Since then the number of missionaries have decreased, but the quality of missionary has increased. So it should be with current members of the ...
Tuesday’s rehearsal passed like the previous Thursday’s, with no particularly special attention from Walter. I was getting desperate and felt like I had to do something. Read the rest of the story » Views: 450 ...
OK, I know I probably shouldn’t be posting my own personal complaint about the talk that has already been deconstructed all over the Bloggernacle. But all this debate over career vs. getting your whites whiter than white seems to have missed what (to me) was the most disturbing thing in the entire talk. Views: 1622 ...
As if our usual three-hour services weren’t sufficient, after dinner on Sunday Rex, Joy, and I had a youth fireside to attend at the bishop’s house. Logically Rex shouldn’t have been required to attend since he was eighteen and hence no longer in the youth program, but Mom insisted that she wanted him to go. ...
(Please review the caution.) During rehearsals over the course of the next few weeks, I had at least some individual attention from Walter essentially every time. I couldn’t really be sure that that meant I was making progress with him, though, since he seemed to take time out to talk to each of the girls ...
DMI Dave recently wrote a piece on how to be a good anti-Mormon. His first recommendation? “be a good Christian.” I have to agree with Dave on this one since — although atheists famously can’t speak for one another — I don’t think any self-respecting atheist would choose to be an “anti-Mormon” and pick on ...
The babysitting job that I was splitting with Joy was at the house of the Jensens, who were non-members. It was fun having Joy along for a job like this one since it was one where the kids went to bed right off the bat, and all we had to do was hang out and ...
It is cool to be a smart mom, and I hope I am one. So I’ve been trying to figure out precisely how to explain why I found the following quote “I think it would be cool to both be smart and be a mom—to be a smart mom†so disturbing in the context of ...
“Well, here it is — jumping-off point, and here we are one breath away from a sick world that’s been crying out for what we can give it: truth! freedom! salvation!” He was perfect for the part. I watched as Walter and Jake stood around the piano singing their number and Pinky played. Walter sang ...