Finally the Mormon news cycle has warmed up again! Some morons in Oregon apparently believe that launching a military assault, invasion, and occupation of a public building of the United States of America is a patriotic way of honoring (or defending?) the Constitution of… the United States of America. (Perhaps in the same universe as the one where Forbes reported that the Men’s Rights Activists’ boycott of the new Star Wars film was effective…?)
And guess what! These heavily-armed traitors are Mormons! One is even called “Captain Moroni”!
This situation leads to some obvious questions like “How dead would they already be if they’d tried this while black, Muslim, or Native American, as opposed to being heavily-armed right-wing extremist white people?” and “What makes Mormons so inclined to right-wing terrorism?” (Maybe Bill Shunn’s book has some insights.) And where are the Mormons speaking out about terrorism in their own ranks?
I’m no fan of Islam (or religion in general). I abhor particularly its sexism, propensity towards violence against those who leave or criticize, and general lackadaisical attitude for progressing human rights. But I find it incredibly hypocritical that many Christians lambast Islam for not doing enough to combat Islamic terrorism while simultaneously ignoring Christian terrorism, which is both frequent and deadly. Attacks against health clinics like Planned Parenthood are reprehensible, yet are largely ignored by right-wing conservatives in their war against Islam.
Personally, I think this world has enough problems already without the United States of America melting into a goo of violent ignorance mixed in shameless plutocracy. At least Utah’s not voting for Trump.
On the bright side, it’s awards season here at Main Street Plaza!! The nominations for the Brodie Awards have begun, and the nominations for X-Mormon of the Year are wrapping up, so get those nominations in. Also note that the Wheat and Tares blog is also currently collecting nominations for their Bloggernacle awards and Ziff has posted his annual round-up of funny Bloggernacle comments.
The second-biggest Mormon scandal of the week was this lovely infographic, helping young Mormon women learn their place. This whites-only Utah dating site also had some people scratching their heads.
In other Mormon stories, we have some interesting tidbits on mission visa tricks, a human-interest piece on the FLDS, a podcast on Mormonism and race, and Thinker’s thoughts on (not-?)cults explaining the word “cult”:
Every time you ask a cult “Are you a cult?†you will get one of the following answers:
- No. We are nothing at all like a cult.
- Well, the word “cult†can include any religion, so by that definition we are just as much a cult as any mainstream religion is.
Hey, have you seen that new Star Wars film? And can you count the ways Kylo Ren is unlike an exmo? As if to illustrate Mithryn’s point, the Woman at the Well offered up an astonishingly passive-aggressive list of every anti-social behavior she could think of, ostensibly presented as a helpful list of exmo offenses that might be the explanations for why TBM family members uninvited them from holiday gatherings.
In personal stories, Leia recounted a disturbing tale of having been molested by a missionary.
In media, Knotty has posted another LDS-interest book review, J. Cluster is reading No Man Knows my History, Diane Tingen has two new Hymn parodies, and Froggey posted some beautiful new photos!
Now it’s time to wish you a had a happy New Year! Jana and the infants posted year-end wrap ups, Gay Mormon Southpaw is looking forward to 2016 — and our old friend the Urban Koda has come back from the ashes!
In closing, I’m sorry for getting this out a little late this week. I was sick yesterday and didn’t feel well enough to do SiOB. I hope the recent irregularity of posting hasn’t kept people from following this feature. 😀
And I especially hope it hasn’t kept you from the Brodie Awards — please get out there and nominate! 😀
Interesting piece at CC, “Should A. Bundy be Excommunicated?” “No” is the answer. The arguments for “no” are so silly, that I can’t even label them specious.
In addition there is the presumption that logical rational thinking is what determines whether a person is excommunicated or not.
@1 you mean this one?
I saw that article and it really left me scratching my head:
So, the author doesn’t recognize that the CoJCoL-dS can legitimately excommunicate people…?
Apparently this is a thing now–#bundyeroticfanfic
I like this one–“”‘It ain’t snacks I’m hungry for, Trevor.’ Ryan’s heart was beating wildly beneath the quilted flannel of his shirt.”