You may recall from last week’s episode that some commenter mercilessly sucked me into reading The Authoritarians, which has cut into the Sunday morning free-time that I normally spend finding intricate and obscure connections among the posts of Outer Blogness from the past week. And, sadly, it wasn’t one of those easy weeks with a big news item or an obvious recurring theme (though there were a few recurring dreams…). So, your reading assignment this week is either to read The Authoritarians so we can all discuss it (pro and criticism both welcome!) or — if that is too much work — just read Aerin’s post about some relative of ours accusing her of dissing “the moron church”, and discuss that.
Related Posts
Sunday in Outer Blogness: Mormon and Gay edition!
This past week the CoJCoL-dS launched a new website showcasing some personal stories of how it’s possible to be Mormon and gay — by living a life of celibacy or mixed-orientation-marriage. Well, sort of: I understand why the November policy wasn’t mentioned, but I couldn’t help but think about it….
Sunday in Outer Blogness: Conflicted Edition!
The big news is (as I’m sure I don’t have to tell you) Osama Bin Laden is dead. And reactions are all over the spectrum. My own reaction was like one of Leah’s commenters: I think that Due Process is a civilisatory achievement designed to remove bias and with it…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: Mental health edition!
Andrew S contrasted the attitudes of John Dehlin and Dan Wotherspoon using a quote that illustrates this week’s LDS topic: It’s not just these isolated positive emotional experiences that I had, that you have had, that others have had…it’s the fact that those are tied to an institution that brings…
What can I say? There’s no arguing with the logic.
You’re either with us, or against us.
And by against, I don’t mean a a subtle, quiet protest. It’s a no holds barred – throwing rotten fruit at what other people hold sacred, etc. etc.
I’m not going to change my behavior or my response. It’s just interesting to me that a religion that claims to be about family and a Christian (judge not lest ye be judged) seemingly encourages this type of black/white thinking.
That’s really too bad that this relative felt the need to send you such a message. I wonder how I’ve managed to avoid receiving similar missives…
Good question chanson! I don’t know. I personally think it’s random. Maybe the person gets out a family photo and shoots darts to determine who to e-mail….
In all seriousness, live and let live doesn’t seem to be a faithful LDS motto. Well, not for some faithful LDS. I think that this person takes my disaffection personally, as if they could have done something different that I would still be LDS. It is sad.
That is sad. Fortunately, I don’t think any relatives have taken my disbelief personally.
On a totally unrelated note, this edition is so lazy that I didn’t even bother to spell “Outer Blogness” correctly! Yet, considering that “Outre” is defined as “violating convention or propriety,” it seems like I didn’t miss the mark by too much. 😉