I felt disheartened as I walked away from the restaurant. I had just had lunch with a former priesthood leader (whom I call John) who had responded relatively compassionately to a coming out letter I had sent to a few former close family friends. His response, among the few I…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: Pioneers and Polygamists Edition!
If it weren’t for the Internet, I probably wouldn’t have remembered that July 24th is Pioneer Day, commemorating the day Brigham Young uttered those famous words “This is the place” (or something like that). BiV asks what the holiday means to Mormons outside of Utah (growing up on the East…
Is Warren Jeffs really that different from Joseph Smith?
Jeffs, after staying quiet during his trial, opened up to the courtroom yesterday on the matter of his having raped a 12-year-old and impregnating a 15-year old. He blathered for almost an hour, like he was sermonizing. He said, You are now touching that which is sacred. This must cease….
“Sexual Purity” – What does that mean?
LDS, Inc. has a new multifaith video out talking about the benefits of “sexual purity.” If people want to not have sex, great. Don’t have sex. But what gets me about this video is that it frames sexuality as some sort of “impure” act. By associating “virginity” with “purity”, the…
Why I Left the Mormon Church
It’s been about a year now since I realized that the LDS Church isn’t all it claims to be.Having grown up completely devoted to the church, my transition out of it became a time of immense growing and learning for me.Yet despite all the changes, or maybe because of them,…
Link bomb #10
GQ magazine ranks Salt Lake City and Provo among the worst-dressed cities in the country. Our fashion sense aside, Utahns are still counted among the best looking people. Maybe its all that plastic surgery. Harrison Ames argues that the frequent use of corrective words and phrases like rather and in…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: I’m Back Edition!
Sorry to have been so scarce around the Internets of late! I just spent three weeks at German camp — and I thought (since it’s vacation and all) I’d have way more free time than usual, but it turned out to be quite the opposite. On the positive side, my…
Mormon Beards redux
There was a heated discussion here a few months ago about mixed-orientation marriages. What doesn’t feel resolved for me is how to assess the patriarchy gay Mormon men engage in when they marry women. A couple aspects that seem obvious are the fact that the power of the priesthood runs…
Update on Mishies in Switzerland!
You may recall that recently Switzerland recently stopped the practice of routinely issuing visas to [foreign] Mormon missionaries (i.e. mishies from outside the EU). And — if you’re like me — this may have left you full of questions like: What will the CoJCoL-dS do??? Do they have enough European…
Sunday in Outer Blogness: Bodies Edition!
There was quite a bit of discussion this week about our physical bodies! (Perhaps in honor of Suntone’s material culture theme? BTW, check out these cool Mormon artifacts! Did anyone else get awards like those?) Specifically, it turns out that (despite that whole modesty thing) Mormons can be sexy. Yet…