Molly recently left a comment here that, I think, expresses a question on a lot of people minds: Must admit to having trouble understanding why Joanna Brooks is taken so seriously. Her work is very softball, and frequently skirts meaty issues or downplays legitimate problems completely. This was largely in response to the fact that ...
I wanted to get my two cents in on this topic, including the way the topic is being handled. Thanks to chanson for bringing together the links. A quick summary: Last month, Mitch Mayne, an openly gay man in a San Fransisco ward was called to be ward executive secretary, a position in the bishopric. ...
As we may all know at this point, the 2010 Church Handbook was leaked last week, and the first thing people went for were the changes regarding homosexuality from the previous handbooks. The Human Rights Campaign claimed that The new guidelines clearly show that advocacy efforts pay off with real change [...] We spoke out ...
I was at a conference on religion over the weekend and, over drinks one night, grooming behavior among the LDS came up. A never-mo in the group of people with whom I was chatting wondered whether there were formal grooming standards in the LDS Church. As various people chimed in, it eventually came out that ...
T’other day: during a jaunt through a simmering intellectual salon called Facebook, I learned that by adding a flavored pudding mix to one’s banana-bread dough, why, the resultant increase in relative moisture renders the final product altogether de-light-ful. Here I too strive by way of personal anecdote and even cultural analysis to add something like ...
Since Chris was lamenting the marginal role of liberty in Brighamite Mormonism, I might as well share some thoughts about Mormon authoritarianism. There appear to be three hypotheses about the authoritarian nature of Brighamist Mormonism. First, an orthodox Mormon might say that authoritarianism is the organizational manifestation of Mormon theology. Since the prophet reveals the ...
LDS anthropologist Daymon Smith has done some fascinating research on the history of correlation in the CoJCoL-dS and has written an entertaining and informative book about working at the Church Office Building (which I reviewed here). He’s also been kind enough to do an interview for us here at MSP. chanson: In your interviews and ...
The big news this week is John Remy‘s excommunication for apostasy!! And he’s not the only one who’s feeling the heat this week for disbelieving and/or criticizing the LDS church. The crap has hit the fan and set off a whirlwind of drama, accusations, and letters of condemnation from Hypatia’s mother. Daniel is also responding ...