Seeing as how we are doing some restructuring at Mormon Matters, I am going to take advantage of this “space” to encourage communication around issues and questions that often come up on my blog. Because sexuality represents such a high percentage of what I’m being asked about by LDS members, I am currently working on my “sex therapist” accreditation. Although I am qualified to do sex therapy as a Marriage & Family Therapist, I am wanting extra training in this area. So please bear with my topic and join me in sharing your thoughts on these types of “Mormon...
Monthly Archives: September 2010
Looking for a Few New Collaborators/Writers/Podcasters
Mormon Matters is looking for a few new collaborators to re-work the design and purpose/mission of the blog. We are basically considering 2 things: Bringing back the weekly panel podcast format, adding in live calls from listeners to the mix (like we’ve done a few times on Mormon Stories), and Looking to turn Mormon Matters into more of a Huffington Post-like blog for Mormon issues
Mormon Therapist on Stress Affecting Marriage
My husband and I have been married for 15 years and we have 7 children. We obviously have had a healthy sexual relationship and we are best friends. We do everything together. I need to be a stay at home mom, with no options for childcare ($ + 7 kids). About a year ago, my husband lost his job. I know that many others are going through the ups and downs of this economy like we are.
What do you think of a Mosque at Ground Zero?
I posted this at my blog, but wanted to see reactions here at MM. Over the past few weeks, I have driven by a billboard titled “Remember 9/11″ with an image of the collapsed World Trade Center. In smaller print on the right, it said “Stand up and be heard. No mosque at ground zero.” You can see the sign on a video at this website.
Mormon.org FAQ: Modesty & Chastity
We’ve explored some of the answers members have posted on the mormon.org site in the church’s new profiles campaign. So far, we’ve discussed member answers to questions about polygamy, women& the priesthood, politics, parenting, prophets, and priesthood ban. Today, let’s see what members had to say about chastity & modesty.
God is a What?! Part Two
When you think of God, do you envision? a proper English gentleman a modernized Biblical patriarch an erudite English professor at a Ivy league university a tame Lion (returning to the C. S. Lewis reference)? Do you recreate God in your own idealized image?
Undo
This post has been removed, along w/ all comments. It was found to be totally objectionable by virtually everyone: believers and unbelievers alike….including most of the perma-bloggers on this blog. What a disaster. The Management P.S. For a first-hand account of the meeting w/ Elder Marlin Jensen, click here.
Best & Worst of Mormonism: Mission Experiences
Right up there with primary, this is a sacred cow for me – perfect for this series. I’ll list off my own best and worst experiences, and you can do the same in the comments! Worst: The MTC: For the first few weeks I didn’t want to be there, and for the last few weeks didn’t want to leave. Something about that doesn’t sit right with me. I also loved singing in groups in the dorms, but the men in charge routinely banned singing in the halls, which I never understood. People also got into arguments over vending machine...
Teaching From the Manuals
Mormon Heretic’s blog post this week, Comparing Correlation with the Supreme Court, inspired me to find out, or try to find, exactly what the manuals and LDS leaders say about teaching lessons from the church-provided lesson manuals. A survey of the manuals and talks as well as the Sunday School website will lead one to the following conclusion: It’s not that clear. Surprised? I didn’t think so.
6 Interpretations of Isaiah that Should Not be Perpetuated
OT SS Lesson #36 LDS Sunday School students will soon take a quick leap through 66 chapters of Isaiah in five forty-minute lessons. All too often, some uniquely Mormon interpretations are given to these chapters which merit a critical analysis. In this post I present six Mormonisms often used with the first few chapters of Isaiah which I believe hinder a deeper and more accurate understanding of these prophetic writings. Let us know if any of these interpretations show up in your Sunday School class!
Am I my brother’s keeper? Undocumented workers and illegal aliens
My general experience with illegal aliens is similar to the one called to mind by George Bush: people who at great risk and significant hardship have sacrificed and done what they could to provide a better life for their children. It is tempered by my wife’s experience providing anesthesia to family oriented young women who are proud to give their children “American” names and to become a part of life in the United States. I am aware that historically the risk and hardships were greater, the financial rewards of coming to America were much less. Political and religious freedom...
Mormon Therapist on Sexless Marriage
My wife never touches me… I am quite frustrated in my marriage and it stems from issues of sex and intimacy. I have been married for 15 years, and we have four children, the youngest just started Kindergarten. My marriage has devolved into almost a roommate situation. My wife has no interest in sex, and she never shows me any affection whatsoever.
Comparing Correlation with the Supreme Court
As I mentioned before, I am enjoying Greg Prince’s biography of David O McKay. Under the McKay Administration, correlation of LDS church materials made a great deal of headway. While correlation has cut down on duplication of church materials, it has become a bit unwieldy. I found a quote by Paul Dunn that discussed how correlation has had some unintended side effects, and he likened these problems to the Supreme Court. We are all familiar with “legislating from the bench”, and there seems to be a similar problem with correlation. Paul Dunn gave an interview in 1995 and said...
Mormon.org FAQ: Race Restrictions
We’ve explored some of the answers members have posted on the mormon.org site in the church’s new profiles campaign. So far, we’ve discussed member answers to questions about polygamy, women& the priesthood, politics, parenting, and prophets. Today, let’s see what members had to say about priesthood & race restrictions.
What if somebody is watching me?
Firetag has brought up some things that are dual** — that is they are contradictory things at the same time. The classic example is that light is both a particle and a wave. Some times in the scriptures when we see things like that we have a “blind men and the elephant” situation, but sometimes we have things that appear to be dual because there is no elephant.* Sometimes the act of seeing, the presence of an observer and how the observer chooses to look actually changes recordable reality. That is, depending on whether you look, and how you...
The Blog that Ate Religion
“The Blob” was one of those horror movies from the 1950′s that I, as a young boy, found right on the boundary of “too scary to watch”. The blob that consumed everything you saw as safe was scary, to be sure, but at least, at the end, a young Steve McQueen could save the day. (The scariest movie, because of its utter hopelessness, was “On the Beach”.) And so the “blob has come down to us as something that is scary only to the very young. A younger Christianity once found science very scary — although history shows the...
Your Opinion is Wrong!
Since I was a teenager, I noticed when people discussed an issue or topic that was contentious and heated, the typical style was to attack the person and not the topic. This is called argumentum ad hominem. As I became slightly more sophisticated, I realized that, in many cases, one was not simply attacking the character of the other person but simply dismissing their side of the argument by considering that what they were arguing was just not right. In respond to this observation, I coined the phrase, “your opinion is wrong.” My friends and I began to use...
Renee Olson just died
Her death was sudden and unexpected. For more about her: http://www.blacklds.org/renee-olson-full-testimony Her Facebook memorial page here: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Renee-Olson-memorial/158092054201230 She will be missed.
Even beyond idle speculation — the worst things you’ve ever heard at Church?
I still remember a meeting where the speaker said “I was never part of your organization and knew nothing about it until I was called to be in charge of it, now I appreciate how important it is” followed up by a couple tone deaf comments about the organization. She quite successfully got the point across that (a) serving in the organization was insignificant insofar as any leadership position in it mattered and (b) understanding the organization was not necessary either. The only worse thing that happened was when one of the women complained about it, an elders quorum...
Mormon Therapist on “Are two parents better for kids?”
I’d like to see your reply to this: http://www.cupblog.org/?p=742 Are two parents better for kids?