As usual, the interesting conference stories trickle in during the week after General Conference (though many in our community have stopped taking an interest in it). The best part (aside from the amazing food) was when Russell Nelson trashed the Big Bang — something apparently no one has done in conference before. The funny part was that another apostle explained that not everything said at conference is doctrine, and people immediately pointed to Elder Nelson’s talk as an example.
The other interesting story was the kid who got pulled out by security for voting wrong (then posted about it on reddit). Actually, the exmo reddit was a great place for conference coverage, with lots amusing observations, as well as directing me to this video of a talk that should have been given. In the stats section, it turns out the CoJCoL-dS isn’t growing the way it would like to, see this helpful graphic attributed to John Dehlin and friends:
Things are getting better for GLBT students at BYU: just watch the video. Also this week, active Mormon Brad Carmack (who wrote Homosexuality: A Straight BYU Students Perspective and blogs at A thoughtproduct in the life of…) was profiled in the Salt Lake Tribune telling the CoJCoL-dS that it’s time for the church to embrace gay marriage. And Chris Smith reported on a not even standing room panel at BYU gay student panel:
Chris Smith’s photo went a little viral. Plus here’s another Mormon promoting gay rights in Uganda and another video about why Christians shouldn’t oppose gay relationships.
I am really looking forward to getting this next issue of Sunstone about Heavenly Mother!! I imagine it will have some discussion of how Heavenly Mother’s place in Mormonism is similar to that of other Mormon women. But look at some of the badass women!
(Too bad the white people have it so bad.)
In Mitt Romney news, Mitt refused to answer a question about Mormonism and race. Some argue that questions about his faith shouldn’t be off the table especially considering that he’s happy to talk about his faith in contexts where it might score him positive points. But at least Romney’s campaign is providing entertainment.
In this week’s slice of life, master chef Nephi Craig presents traditional Apache cuisine as a gourmet dining experience — wow, would I love to try this restaurant!! (I imagine Nephi has some Mormon heritage — I wonder how he feels about it.) Erin is learning the joys of parenting and paranoia. I like Kirby at least as well as I like Brooks. Steve Bloor (who is not happy about his son getting kicked off the stake facebook page) wrote about a subject familiar to many of us: Why Some Ex-Mormons Cant Leave The Church Alone When They Leave The Church. And Runtu’s blog received an interesting compliment!
So, what holidays did you celebrate this past weekend? At my house we ate chocolate eggs and reviewed the Easter story by watching the hair club for men episode. I hope you had a nice holiday weekend as well!!