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A Community for Anyone Interested in Mormonism.

Main Street Plaza

A Community for Anyone Interested in Mormonism.

Author: chanson

C. L. Hanson is the friendly Swiss-French-American ExMormon atheist mom living in Switzerland! Follow me on mastadon at @chanson@social.linux.pizza or see "letters from a broad" for further adventures!!

Sunday in Outer Blogness: Forget Mormonism edition!

chanson, June 4, 2017

Hey folks — I have at least one more article left in my series on what the CoJCoL-dS offers, but I’d like to save it for next week and just do a regular SiOB today. This is mostly because I finally got around to writing a post on my personal…

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Sunday in Outer Blogness: New exits edition!

chanson, May 28, 2017

A cool new blog appeared this past week, starting with a (perhaps familiar) story: In many ways, nothing about me has changed and yet everything has. The thing is, I’ve really only changed in the same way every other person reading this changes—subtly and over time. None of us are…

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Leadership monopoly, leadership vacuum

chanson, May 21, 2017May 22, 2017

One of the biggest selling points of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is its claim that it has “the keys” — the only source of authority on Earth today to speak for God and act for God. Basically the 15 guys at the top (especially the President…

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Sunday in Outer Blogness: Done with scouts edition!

chanson, May 15, 2017May 15, 2017

This past week the CoJCoL-dS has started decoupling its young men’s program from the Boy Scouts of America (and Canada)! They’re keeping the Cub Scouts and the beginning part of the Boy Scouting program (for now…), but for older teen boys (14+ in the US and Canada) the Boy Scouts…

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What the CoJCoL-dS offers: Testimonies!

chanson, May 8, 2017May 22, 2017

There are loads of possible reasons for wanting to join / stay in / participate in Mormonism, but the main official reason is that you know it’s true; you have a testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel, and that the current President of the Church is God’s sole mouthpiece…

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Sunday in Outer Blogness: May Day edition!

chanson, May 1, 2017

Yay, Baring Witness got an honorable mention in the Association for Mormon Letters Awards! Rachel Whipple wrote about her anxieties as a contributor to the collection. As a contributor myself, I’m pretty happy about the award. In Mormon news, Utah liquor laws have added a new twist, and Mormon History…

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The CoJCoL-dS: A little bit of nothing for everyone!

chanson, April 23, 2017

When you picture the Mormon mishies pitching the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to a random Never-Mo, it’s hard to imagine who would find the pitch appealing. Yet it had to have been appealing at some point in the past. In the 19th century, whole congregations were converting….

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Sunday in Outer Blogness: Easter Edition!

chanson, April 17, 2017

Did anyone listen to General Conference? I hear there wasn’t anything particularly scandalous this time, but it again highlighted the absence of women in positions of influence and authority. The doctrine of eternal gender roles is actually a little dodgy: I have often said that the gender roles described in…

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What Does the CoJCoL-dS Offer?

chanson, April 10, 2017

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sends tens of thousands of enthusiastic young adults — carefully trained in sales strategies — all over the world. Why don’t people want what they’re selling? On the flip side, if the prospect of joining Mormonism is so obviously unappealing to the…

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Sunday in Outer Blogness: Reboot edition!

chanson, April 3, 2017

So, the first installment of my new rebooted version of SiOB is only a day late, so we’re off to a great start! you’d think that since the Pokémon Go servers have been rarely reachable this past weekend, I’d be more on the ball, but the thing is that I’ve…

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Latest Comments:

  1. Holly on Feeling Spiritually Defrauded By Spiritual Fraudsters (Unrighteous Dominion)December 28, 2025

    The Augustine quote I think of most often is "Lord, give me chastity--but not yet." I think "proposing problems that…

  2. Andrew S. on Feeling Spiritually Defrauded By Spiritual Fraudsters (Unrighteous Dominion)December 28, 2025

    What's that quote from St. Augustine? "The wicked tell me of things that delight them, but not such things as…

  3. Holly on Feeling Spiritually Defrauded By Spiritual Fraudsters (Unrighteous Dominion)December 28, 2025

    Hi Donna-- Your quip about "real fun" reminded me of Russ Nelson's 2016 statement on joy: “If we look to…

  4. Donna Banta on Feeling Spiritually Defrauded By Spiritual Fraudsters (Unrighteous Dominion)December 28, 2025

    Holly, I love the cheese and crackers analogy! It amazes me that so many LDS -- including some former LDS…

  5. Donavan on Mormon Stories and John Dehlin’s Mystery CycleDecember 27, 2025

    COJCOLDS is tribalism, no different, no better than MAGA, built on repeating lies and aligning the worst aspects of human…

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