Hey folks, on Sunday I’ll be visiting Milan — hanging out with my sister who is on vacation in Italy — and I have a day-trip planned for next Sunday as well. So I’d like to do a middle-of-two-weeks edition on Wednesday to make up for missing these two Sundays….
Category: Testimony
Symbolic beliefs can counter cognitive dissonance, but at a cost
Why Mormon Spectrum?
When my husband went through a faith transition, in the Mormon church we were each raised in, we lost friends and a sense of community. Many of the people we had developed close relationships with pulled back from us. Some of our family members struggled to navigate this unexpected change…
Time to vote for X-Mormon of the Year 2014!!!
Thanks for all the great nominations, folks!! Now it’s time to vote!! Before we begin, I’d like to remind everyone that “X-Mormon of the Year” is not a lifetime achievement award — it’s for the X-Mormon who had the biggest impact in 2014. We might consider adding a lifetime achievement…
new survey on gender issues in the LDS Church
A research team made up of a mixture of scholars (see information about them here) is conducting a survey on gender issues in the LDS Church. Â They are interested in responses from both current and former Mormons. Â Here’s a link to the survey. Â And, if you can, please pass it…
Knowing Emma and Joseph’s History: A Response to the Speculative Essay on Early Polygamy– Alison Udall
It was really enjoyable to work my way through this. This is the first response I’ve done with these new church essays since I had read enough to be able to notice things that I recognized were missing, or implications that were being made that felt incomplete or inaccurate. As…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: Response edition
The big news this week is that Kate Kelly has appealed her excommunication. In her appeal, Kate wrote: I am, and have always been, a faithful Mormon. My only “sin†elucidated by you has been speaking my mind and pushing for gender equality in the Church. Far from being wrong,…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: Reflection Edition
Chanson asked me to fill in for SiOB this week – I think it’s been a quiet week. (Sort of like Garrison Keillor’s Lake Wobegon – it’s always a quiet week). But this week is quiet for many reasons – perhaps we’re all still reacting (or not reacting) to the…
New Church Survey
Mormon Open Letter has added a survey to their site in a new tab. The purpose of this survey is to gather information about any church action or threatened church action (such as excommunication) that Mormon church members have experienced due to their outspokenness or questions in regards to doubts,…
Why You Should Read and Sign The Mormon Open Letter
On February 7, 2014, we wrote the Mormon Open Letter addressed to Thomas S. Monson. The church had already started publishing essays in the Gospel Topics section of LDS.org. These essays introduced and attempted to explain some of the troubling historical events and doctrinal issues (e.g. translation of the Book…
Letting go
A very significant relationship in my life has recently come to a close. This relationship has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. It impacted every aspect of my upbringing and guided me in all the major decisions of my life up to this…