by Johnny Townsend I am baffled that so many Mormons support Donald Trump. At one point, the percentage of Mormon Trump supporters was the highest of any religion (61% according to a 2017 Gallup poll). While some Mormon opposition has existed from the start, the vast majority of Mormons heartily…
Climate Crisis Threatens the Mormon Church
by Johnny Townsend While the devastating effects of the climate crisis will help fulfill prophecies about the terrors of the “last days,” that’s about the only benefit the Mormon Church will receive from them. Virtually every other effect will weaken the Church. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of…
Woe unto Them That Are with Child
by Johnny Townsend If you were a Jewish couple in 1938 Berlin, would you choose to bring a child into the world? Groups like Conceivable Future and Birthstrike are among several that have formed recently as more and more young people watching weather reports every day face a question most…
A War on Religion
by Johnny Townsend Religious conservatives often accuse secular or inclusive people of conducting a “War on Christmas!” or “War on Religion!” or “War on God!” I would rephrase that. I and many others are anxiously engaged in conducting a war against ignorance, a war against bigotry and selfishness and greed…
Latter-day Saint Leaders Can’t Understand Why Teenagers Have Trouble Converting People to Their Church
Although the leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spent decades instructing their official teenage representatives to rush to challenge everyone they meet to be baptized, they are apparently baffled as to why their official teenage representatives have for decades rushed to challenge everyone they meet to…
Eyes in the Back of My Head
by Johnny Townsend In the life of every atheist raised in a religious household, there comes a moment when we encounter our first question that can’t be answered. For me, it was when as a young Mormon teen reading lots of science fiction novels, I encountered aliens with amazing abilities….
America’s Greatest Mystery Novel
Once you strip away all the Book of Mormon’s pretenses of scriptural import, what you have is nothing more nor less than a lusty tale of America’s favorite subject: families and murder…. Murder and ruin are written across the breadth of Joseph Smith’s pre-American panorama, and because violence always demands…
Call for Submissions
Mormon Alumni Association Books is seeking LDS-themed novels in all categories, including literary, commercial, and genre fiction. We will also consider short fiction and poetry collections. We are looking for completed manuscripts that explore the unique Mormon experience. Works may be critical of or sympathetic to the LDS Church and…
A Mormon By Any Other Name
by Johnny Townsend A Mormon by any other name would smell as sweet. Or, more accurately, a Mormon by any other name would smell as saccharine. I don’t mean to sound offensive. That’s always the trick, isn’t it? Not sounding offensive. It’s perfectly okay to be offensive, though, right? “I…
Congratulations 2018 Brodies Winners!!!
The results are in!!! Congrats to all the winners, and thanks to all who participated!! Year-long awards for people and groups: Best New Podcast: Marriage on a Tightrope Best New Blog/Channel/Site: Unrigeteous Dominion Best Podcast: Radio Free Mormon Best Humor/Satire Blog/Channel/Podcast: The Drunk Mormon Podcast Best Site of Images/Memes/Comics: Stuff…