An Open Letter to the Infertile
Dear Rational Faiths, As an active, temple recommend holding member of the LDS faith, I was a bit shocked at your recent blog post about infertility (to be honest I didn’t read most of it…I stopped at the word “infertile,” lest the Spirit withdraw). It offends me that...
002: Color My World
We are excited to announce a collaboration with the podcast/blog: No Poor Among Them. In this podcast David Dixon interviews Angela Hughes founder of Color My World. Angela Hughes, her husband, and kids, are likely just as busy–if not more busy–than the average...
The Spirit of God
When I was in my early 20s, I got a priesthood blessing from my grandpa. I don’t remember why, some of the memory is fuzzy. But there are a few things I remember clear as day. One is the smell of my grandparents’ living room. The other is my grandfather saying, “you...
Why the Priesthood and Temple Ban Was Wrong
While reading the title of this post, people will say, "Well duh, of course it was wrong—you don't need to write a post about it!" It might be obvious to some, and even more obvious after the Church published a web page disavowing all racism. Let's get their exact...
Celestial Math
“Every last one of us will need the intercession of our Lord, not only to “atone for our sins” but to qualify for Eternal Life, which requires something substantially more than a zero sum. If we would become like God, we must be made partakers of the heavenly gift. We need saving GRACE. Our very nature must be transformed.” Jared Mooney tells us why leader worship is a waste of our time, unless that leader is Jesus.
Who Do You Say God Is? – Walker’s Womanism and Thoughts On A Black Christ
Well, us talk and talk about God, but I’m still adrift. Trying to chase that old white man out of my head. I been so busy thinking bout him I never truly notice nothing God make. [1] Since the inception of the word “womanist” in 1983, the term itself and its meaning...
How to Give a Baby Blessing Regardless of your Level of Faith
After my son was born I had a dilemma: how do I give a baby blessing while knowing that faith is much more complicated now than before? It’s not that I hadn’t given any blessings, or that I hadn’t given any in the recent past. I had given blessings of healing or...
Mormon Talk Writing 101
A Gallup poll was administered in 2001 that asked Americans what they feared most. Snakes topped the list, but public speaking came in 2nd. Many Americans writhe at the idea of getting in front of a crowd and speaking. In the LDS faith, members are asked to do this...
Bob Marley is Scripture to Me
**This is in no way exhaustive and is meant for discussion purposes** What is scripture? This question came up while I was reading weird stories from the Old Testament a few weeks back and I started to wonder. I pondered and studied the question privately and then...
A Letter to a Liberal Mormon
A LETTER TO A LIBERAL MORMON Dear Liberal Mormons, I have heard things and read things as they have come across my Face Book feed that are concerning and need to be addressed. There seems to be a rise among liberal and so-called "intellectual" Mormons to give science...
Doctrinal Drift on Book of Mormon Genetics
The church is quietly releasing articles on difficult subjects via their LDS.org website under the Gospel Topics section. The latest is titled, “Book of Mormon and DNA studies.” Similar to other subject specific articles, it acknowledges some modern viewpoints of LDS...
Joseph Smith’s Polygamy, Volume 2: History – A Book Review
NOTE: This is a review of only Volume 2. To read my review of Volume 1, click here. Joseph Smith's Polygamy, Volume 2: History - A Book Review "We obeyed [the command to practice plural marriage] the best we knew how, and, no doubt, made many crooked paths in our...
Infallibility of the Arm of the Flesh – Milgram part one
perceived level of authority is a powerful factor to ignoring one’s own conscience/morality and obeying, particularly when the authority convinces you that your actions are for the ‘greater good.’ If a scientist can be perceived at that level of authority, imagine how much more significant the authority of Bishop or Stake President will be for a member. Let’s kick this up several levels, how powerful is the effect of suspending one’s own morality when told to do something by a Prophet, Seer, and Revelator?
Nanawatai
NANAWATAI Note: This essay relies heavily on The movie, Lone Survivor. I'm not going to give a spoiler alert, because if you can't tell from the movie's title how the movie ends, um, I don't know what to tell you. The movie ended and I was speechless. Literally. I...
What is Love?: Lessons the Mansfields Taught Me
As a single almost 31 year old member of the LDS faith, it is safe to say that my opinion of “true love” has become a bit...shall we say….cynical over the years. I use to totally buy into the whole Saturdays Warriors concept of love and I fully believed that when the...
Infertility: Sometimes it hurts to be a Mormon.
As Mormons we are so focused on families. It's really a kind of beautiful thing. Children are wonderful. Families are wonderful. However this purpose becomes so singular it doesn't always leave room for any deviation from the ideal picture. As a woman motherhood is...
LGBTQ Mormon Crisis
Two Printable handout for bishops and stake presidents that talks empirically about LGBTQ suicides:
The LGBTQ Mormon Crisis: Responding to the Empirical Research on Suicide
Youth Suicide Rates and Mormon Religious Context: An Additional Empirical Analysis
The Barker Brothers’ Projects
These videos were created for Latter-day Saint parents and allies to voice their love for their LGBT brothers and sisters, sons and daughters. They want to give a message of comfort and support to other parents who are navigating the difficult conflicts that can arise in families around this issue.
“Cogito!” (“I think!”) follows the intellectual adventures of a recovering academic outside the walls of academia.
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