I was going to call this one “surprises edition” since I’ve been on vacation in Italy — hence almost everything that happened on the Internet in the past fortnight was a surprise to me yesterday (when I finally sat down and read the 1000+ blog entries in my reader). But it soon became clear that ...
I’m not sure what’s up — maybe we’ve been too civil lately? — but it seems like the folks of Outer Blogness have been out to blaspheme (and otherwise offend the sensitive) this week! (Perhaps as Holly argues the entire world is kryptonite to Mormons, and helping them to fragilize their “spiritual immune system” isn’t ...
Wow, what a week! Chock-full of discussions revolving around the theme of differences among people. First, conformity within the community, defining it. Check out this Mormon Matters discussion on the doctrine of wearing a white shirt to church — (maybe I’m being insensitive so say this, but) the passionate debate over it is hilarious! It ...
Wow, everybody is talking about this new study that suggests that misinformed people rarely change their minds when presented with the facts — and often become even more attached to their beliefs. Why are former Mormons so interested in this topic? What’s the connection? Oh, yeah, this. This whole topic makes me want to question ...
That’s my excuse for getting this done so late today — along with another billion people, we had some important watching-the-world-cup-final to do at our house. It was very exciting, especially after it went into extra innings and everything. (And Andrew thought one needs an ulterior motive to post about soccer/football! — he finds an ...
Yes, Britta has declared her independence from the CoJCoL-dS! I found her blog through her Irreligiosophy interview — along with a couple other exmo blogs that I hope everyone will welcome to the Outer Blogness community! Andrew S has written an interesting series comparing this community to other blog communities. Can an online community be ...
This past fortnight Outer Blogness has been chock-full of personal narratives, especially about how each person’s relationship with the church has evolved! (OK, there were also some posts about the environmental catastrophe that is still ongoing — but for today, let’s stick with more cheerful topics.) Naturally, people who stopped believing can’t help but contemplate ...
This past week, Outer Blogness-and-beyond has been full of reports from all sorts of families on all sorts of family situations! To start with, we can hardly discuss Mormon families without hearing from the Polygamists! (Fascinating podcast — definitely worth a listen.) Eliza is no longer haunted by polygamy now that she no longer believes ...
This week turned up some great stories of participating in Mormonism! Who would want to miss the fabulous object lessons from Young Women’s? Don’t be afraid to admit that you connect emotionally with the hymns. And that hour of mental vacuum (sac. mtg.) can be put to very creative use! (As long as you’re not ...
When studying history, it’s hard to separate fact from interpretation. Chris Smith argues that it may not be possible. And even a simple question like when to use Obama’s middle name in textbooks has an ideological component. Meanwhile, faithful-LDS blogger DKL really gets it right in his defense of Fawn Brodie and No Man Knows ...
The fun this week centered around Everybody draw Muhammad Day! Quite a lot of people drew Muhammad or thought about it. I didn’t get around to it (or, perhaps, I was with free expression in principle, but didn’t want my own family killed on principle). Meanwhile, there was a fascinating parallel discussion of what expression ...
This has been a big week for the arts! I know, sometimes it’s too easy to mock really bad art, yet so deliciously fun!! Speaking (as Holly did) of religious/sexual imagery, check out some of the pastels by Sister Mary Lisa on her new art website. Dayle’s art is perhaps a bit less explicit (but ...
In honor of this special day, Outer Blogness (and the Bloggernacle) are full of touching tributes to mothers and cute pictures of baby animals. And adventures in motherhood. (Also, let me plug my own mom’s cool history blog.) Naturally, this holiday leads us to reflect on Heavenly Mother, with some standard criticisms. On to women’s ...
Is it just my imagination, or did the posts of Outer Blogness seem to come in pairs this week? I mean, just look at two of the goals that were posted. Since one of the points of this weekly roundup is to encourage cross-blog discussion, I hope this random pairing will lead to some fruitful ...
This week there have been some great opportunities for all of us — reading at home — to join in the fun!!! The funnest is, of course, boobquake! Mark your calendars for tomorrow because a Muslim cleric has blamed earthquakes on promiscuity and scantily-clad women — so Jen @ blag hag has proposed testing this ...