You may recall that the new edition of the super-secret fifth standard work was leaked. Naturally, many people have been parsing it in attempt to fathom what messages that old guys at the top are sending us. (I wonder what they think of gay deer…) Actually, the changes were kind of subtle (even boring), so people had to resort to making better stuff up, and analyzing questionable old talks instead.
Ah, the gerontocracy — what would we do without them?
Anyway, there were tons of fascinating personal stories this week! So you can see the effects of Mormon doctrine (even if it takes a Ph.D in Kremlinology to fathom the causes). Starting with the positive stories about Mormonism, there’s some wiggle-room in testimony meeting and seminary for those members who aren’t just reading from the church-approved manual, so to speak. (Making grown-up lifelong Mormons take classes from the novice manual is apparently pushing some members away.) Unfortunately, LDS church doctrine causes rifts and stress in a lot of families. Other families have misunderstandings that aren’t necessarily church related, and, OTOH, the LDS church isn’t the only one whose gay policy causes conflict. And sometimes — with a little help from your (Internet) friends — those conflicts can be smoothed out a bit!
There were also some great stories involving the wayback machine! Facsimilogos recounts his own past adventures as a judgemental Mormon kid. Dad’s Primal Scream explains how some moral judgements can be anachronistic. Jon Adams saved the transcript of the long-age IM chat session he had with a friend immediately after one of those infamous interviews with the Bishop about masturbation! Hellmut recounts his youthful thoughts on Berthold Brecht, while The Gay Dot writes the letter he would like to have sent to his past self, and a Gay Mormon Boy had a a childhood flashback.
Then, of course, this week’s exit stories! Foxy Pink Cheetah describes the end, and Becky sent in her resignation letter. Meanwhile Britta is still meeting with the mishies. (St. Pickle wants to encourage secular Mormonism — which I like — but I can’t help but think it will lead to mishie encounters like this one.) Others have had the fun of meeting fellow bloggers instead.
Have a great week, and don’t hurt your brain too much on the unfathomable mysteries of Mormonism! đŸ˜€
Hey – Joanna Brooks gave you a shout out (sort of) over at Religion Dispatches:
Of course, no way to be sure JB was actually referring to this post … since she didn’t include a link. Hey, JB, aren’t winks supposed to come with a nod?
Chino, there’s also this (which you may already have seen), from MoHoHawaii on October 13:
And his follow-up on November 10, Kremlinology, cont..
Thanks, SLK! If MHH deserves the nod, I’m glad to see him get it.
By the way, I just added your Street Prophets post to our del.icio.us feed. I’d sure like to see your Street Prophets posts show up in our Outer Blogness blogroll (better yet, it’d be great if you could x-post them here, but that’s your call), cheers!
I feel so ‘spatial.’
Chino, thanks for linking. As for the blogroll, I’d be honored to merit inclusion, if y’all think posts directed at a primarily non-mo audience wouldn’t stretch the definition of “Outer Blogness” beyond recognition. đŸ˜‰
(I’ve also added MSP to SP’s “Friends of the Blog” section of our blogroll.)
And I’d be glad to crosspost anything that might be appropriate here.
Back on topic, I suspect that “Kremlinology” has shown up recently in other places as well, which might explain JB’s failure to complete her wink with a nod to any single link.
p.s. I’d be remiss in not mentioning that I love Sunday in Outer Blogness and look forward to it every weekend.
p.p.s. MHH: I’m a fan. đŸ™‚