My mother Gudrun Bachmann was born on June 9, 1939. When World War II begun with the invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, she was less than three months old. When Germany surrendered on May 9, 1945, she was one month shy of her sixth birthday. Besides a treasure…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: The “Natural Man” Edition!
The topic that bubbled up all over Outer Blogness this week was the “natural man”! For example, Bull asks about how to tell who’s really a man from who’s really a woman — just drop trou? Or is it not that simple? And what about the implications for “eternal gender”?…
Bruce C. Hafen, LDS Church’s official gaybasher
If you ever needed a reason to distance yourself from the LDS Church, Bruce C. Hafen of the Seventy has just given you one. Oddly, this talk was linked to from the blog of the PR Department of the LDS Church as though it is worth reading. I’m not sure…
Hey preacher, leave those kids alone!
I have a 6-year old daughter, and one issue that will start coming up soon is baptism. It’s not the actual baptism that bothers me; I basically see it as a rite of passage. I think eight years old is far too young to decide to join a religion, but…
the best use of tithing = hunting preserves?
In line with my earlier post about the LDS ranch in Florida, I just caught wind of this: The LDS Church owns two hunting preserves in Utah. Turns out the Deseret News has profiled the preserve and the missionaries who staff it. (Yep, you read that right – missionaries staff…
Johnny Lingo! Johnny Lingo!
Illustrations by Sister Mary Lisa Do you remember the first time you ever watched Johnny Lingo? I imagine if you’re typical of most of us that were raised Mormon from childhood, the memory of that first viewing has been lost, mercifully, in the bazillions of subsequent times you were subjected…
Skousen + Beck = Paranoid Fascism?
Salon.com is running a pretty fascinating article on the Cleon Skousen/Glenn Beck connection. It’s a pretty fascinating look into Mormon-laced, right-wing, ultra-nationalistic, paranoid, pro-theocracy, conspiracy theory, which also goes by the name “The Glenn Beck Program” on Fox News.
A quick Q&A with Todd Whitaker about that testimony of his
Todd Whitaker recently bore his testimony. The video of Todd testifying to his ward has now gone viral. As you may have seen, it was not your typical Mormon F&T meeting fare. I caught up with Todd by email and he agreed to answer a few questions.
Sunday in Outer Blogness: Truth and Consequences Edition!
The big news this week is John Remy‘s excommunication for apostasy!! And he’s not the only one who’s feeling the heat this week for disbelieving and/or criticizing the LDS church. The crap has hit the fan and set off a whirlwind of drama, accusations, and letters of condemnation from Hypatia’s…
An Open Letter to the LDS Church
I was riveted by the fascinating tale of excommunication from the Mormon church, over at Mind on Fire, told with great honesty and feeling, as well as by the reader community response. I have just one question, though, which I suppose should be directed to the Mormon church itself: Where’s…