Hey everyone!! As the title of this post suggests, I finally got the first draft done of the MAA Books website!! Many of you have no doubt clicked on the little sidebar button and found some strange, partially-functioning page. Well, now when you click on it, you’ll see a page…
The Curious Case of Mormons and LGBT Rights
If you haven’t already, check out my article published yesterday on Religion Dispatches!
anti-porn videos from the 1980s?
I’ve been working on a research project examining official Mormon discourse over the last 40 years or so and came across a reference to some anti-porn videos produced by the Church in the 1980s. Â Has anyone ever heard of these videos? Â And, even better, does anyone have copies they would…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: Ordination edition
chanson is on vacation this week, so I’m going to attempt Sunday in Outer Blogness. On the faithful side of outer blogness, things have been astir about female ordination. Not surprisingly, many faithful mormons disagree about this issue. Considering the last time feminists called for female ordination they were excommunicated,…
Points of agreement between atheists and Mormons
In my last SiOB, I highlighted a list of “things that both atheists and Mormons can largely affirm together” by Aaron Shafovaloff. Then Andrew S picked up the discussion and even attracted Aaron Shafovaloff himself to attempt to explain it. I had highlighted the list mostly because many of the…
Maybe Conservativism Is Hurting Religion After All….
Given that the “liberal churches are losing members because they’re liberal; conservative churches are growing because they’re conservative” argument is invoked every so often here at MSP, I thought people would be interested in this article from Religion Dispatches analyzing some of the problems with that claim. An excerpt: Hout…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: St. Patrick’s Day Edition!
Yes, today marks everyone’s favorite excuse for serving green beer and other Irish treats, plus some other important occasions such as my half-birthday (I guess that makes me 41 1/2), as well as the International day of action to defend apostates and blasphemers. In Theology, Roger D. Hansen made a…
Joseph vs. The Gold: Help me script it!
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08wRRff8x0k Ever since seeing this not so good version on youtube, I’ve been wondering what a good recreation of the Joseph Smith run with the plates might look like. Â It’s all based on Lucy Smith’s account: “The plates were secreted about three miles from home… Joseph, on coming to them,…
self-delusion; do they not realize it?
I know I’ve done a bit of rabble-rousing with my last few posts, but this is another one that was spurred by the ethnography I recently read about Mormonism. Â In it, the author talks about how Mormon parents think about their kids in discussing the life trajectory of Mormons as…
video found: J. Reuben Clark’s statement on keeping black blood away from white Mormons
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Racqdp5E0x0