Why act ethically if not out of (self-interested) thoughts of your own eternal reward? According to the LDS-Freemen (hat tip TBBB), you wouldn’t: Is it okay for me to admit that the reason I have faith and hope in an afterlife is because I am interested in myself? Is that…
Helping a Boy Recover from His Burn Wounds
Some of you might have noticed on Facebook that Jana Bouck Remy from Pilgrim Steps has raised money for HandReach, which is an excellent charity that helps Chinese children to recover from burn injuries. Jana and her friends raised enough money to pay for a girl’s prosthetic. The Main Street…
Niblets!
It’s time for the annual “Bloggernacle Niblet Awards” — and this time some of our regulars here at Main Street Plaza have been nominated!! So please go vote! 😀 Andrew S. (of Irrestible (Dis)Grace, among other blogs), is up for a number of them — including competing for the only…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: America Edition!
I hope those of you who are American had a lovely holiday yesterday. My kids and I had fun joining in the pyrotechnic celebration with the rest of the family, as you can see from the photos my sister posted. And — true to blogging form — the other folks…
Prophet v. Pope
My Mormon mother-in-law is staying with us for a week to help with newborn care. My wife, mother-in-law, and I decided to watch Angels and Demons last night while the baby slept. After it was over, my wife said, “I don’t understand why Catholics revere the Pope so much.” I…
How Mormon values gave me courage to leave
I have thought of my “exit” story as boring. Boring, but different. Rather than a narrative of the Once-Happy-TBM who unwittingly came across a troublesome theological or historical issue and lamented as it gobbled a once easy faith, my story has from early on featured something amiss…but what I’ve thought…
it’s okay to be Mormon and depressed?
I caught this article in the MormonTimes today: Mormons don’t get depressed? It’s an MD saying that it’s okay to be depressed, be on medication, and be Mormon. While I don’t think this is a stunning reversal of any official Mormon positions, I have to wonder if this is kind…
Nature’s Values
Our revulsion at the cruelty of the Supreme Leaders henchmen is a powerful refutation of the postmodernist credo that anything goes. After the enlightenment discredited the authority of tradition and religion, the notion that reason or civilization could provide an ersatz God has also collapsed. The efforts of analytical philosophy…
The Tragic Consequences of Legalized Gay Marriage
Yesterday we saw how the GLBT community in SLC has grown stronger in the face of adversity. Well, in today’s news item, we see what has become of Massachusetts. It’s a Mormon’s nightmare of a society, told in the words of “Mike Henkle, a devout Mormon from Provo, Utah”: Beth…
SLC: This is the place to be queer!
So Cleve Jones wasn’t joking when he thanked the LDS church! Now Lisa Duggan (of The Nation) explains why Salt Lake City’s LGBT community is an inspiration for the whole country: At the Pride Center, a broad range of local activist groups and LGBT individuals actually talk to each other–in…