Skip to content
Main Street Plaza

A Community for Anyone Interested in Mormonism.

Main Street Plaza

A Community for Anyone Interested in Mormonism.

Sunday in Outer Blogness: Kremlinology Edition!

chanson, November 14, 2010May 25, 2011

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! 😀

Sunday in Outer Blogness

Post navigation

Previous post
Next post

Related Posts

Sunday in Outer Blogness: Memorial Edition.

June 19, 2016

Many of us have spent the past week remembering and grieving for the victims of the massacre in Orlando. Will this massacre be the one that finally gets sensible gun laws put onto the table in the US? Will it help people (and churches) rethink their anti-gay beliefs and rhetoric?…

Read More

Sunday in Outer Blogness: Hi, Mom edition!

May 11, 2014

In the US (and here in Switzerland) today is Mother’s Day!! Time for musings on parenthood! So, if you and/or your mom are living in countries that celebrate Mother’s Day today, don’t forget to write or call her! This is traditionally the most dreaded Sunday of the year in the…

Read More

Sunday in Outer Blogness: New essay edition!

October 25, 2015October 25, 2015

The CoJCoL-dS just released a new essay — this time on women’s roles and Mother in Heaven (u redd it first here) — and everyone is talking about it! As usual, not everyone is thrilled by it: I need a mother. I don’t need the notion of a mother, or…

Read More

Comments (6)

  1. Chino Blanco says:
    November 17, 2010 at 10:09 pm

    Hey – Joanna Brooks gave you a shout out (sort of) over at Religion Dispatches:

    Folks in some on-line LDS communities winkingly call it “Kremlinology.” (Not that the LDS Church is, well, the Soviet regime.)

    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?

  2. SLK in SF says:
    November 18, 2010 at 8:46 am

    Chino, there’s also this (which you may already have seen), from MoHoHawaii on October 13:

    Kremlinologists (and copyeditors) take note. Change is afoot. :- )

    And his follow-up on November 10, Kremlinology, cont..

  3. Chino Blanco says:
    November 18, 2010 at 9:13 am

    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!

  4. MoHoHawaii says:
    November 18, 2010 at 11:56 am

    I feel so ‘spatial.’

  5. SLK in SF says:
    November 18, 2010 at 12:22 pm

    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. 😉

    (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. 🙂

  6. Pingback: Sunday in Outer Blogness: Theology and Doctrine Edition! | Main Street Plaza

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Mormon Alumni Association Books

Latest Comments:

  1. termal kamerayla su kaçak tespiti on LDS vs LGBTQ:  Nathan Kitchen sheds false binariesJune 21, 2025

    termal kamerayla su kaçak tespiti Ekip çok organize, kaça?? an?nda bulup çözdüler. https://bence.net/read-blog/25188

  2. Cara B. Klein on My conspiracy theory #2April 26, 2025

    Wow, I had never thought about it in that way before You have really opened my eyes to a new…

  3. chanson on LDS vs LGBTQ:  Nathan Kitchen sheds false binariesApril 16, 2025

    The haiku at the end is lovely. Sounds like a great book!

  4. Donna Banta on LDS vs LGBTQ:  Nathan Kitchen sheds false binariesApril 14, 2025

    I imagine anyone who has tried to change the church from within will identify with Kitchen's story. I especially like…

  5. Johnny Townsend on LDS vs LGBTQ:  Nathan Kitchen sheds false binariesApril 14, 2025

    This was a painful review to read. For many years, I held the same hope, that the LDS church would…

8: The Mormon Proposition Acceptance of Gays Add new tag Affirmation angry exmormon awards Book Reviews BYU comments Conformity Dallin H. Oaks DAMU disaffected mormon underground Dustin Lance Black Ex-Mormon Exclusion policy Excommunicated exmormon faith Family feminism Gay Gay Love Gay Marriage Gay Relationships General Conference Happiness Homosexual Homosexuality LDS LGBT LGBTQ Link Bomb missionaries Modesty Mormon Mormon Alumni Association Mormonism motherhood peace politics Polygamy priesthood ban Sunstone temple

Awards

William Law X-Mormon of the Year:

  • 2023: Adam Steed
  • 2022: David Archuleta
  • 2021: Jeff T. Green
  • 2020: Jacinda Ardern
  • 2019: David Nielsen
  • 2018: Sam Young
  • 2017: Savannah
  • 2016: Jeremy Runnells
  • 2015: John Dehlin
  • 2014: Kate Kelly
  • 2013: J. Seth Anderson and Michael Ferguson
  • 2012: David Tweede
  • 2011: Joanna Brooks
  • 2010: Monica Bielanko
  • 2009: Walter Kirn

Other Cool Sites!

WasMormon.org
©2025 Main Street Plaza | WordPress Theme by SuperbThemes