Let me be clear about a few things. First, I have been diagnosed as a liberal Mormon. Second, liberal Mormonism has been discussed before in the Bloggernacle, with one site devoted entirely to it. Third, I’m not talking about politics. Finally, this means some Mormons have problems with me.
Blog Archives
Imagine: An Honorable Release
General Conference, April 2008 President Thomas S. Monson steps to the pulpit and says: “Brothers and sisters, thank you for your prayers. They have sustained me as I have wrestled with the feelings of inadequacy which naturally beset one who is called to this office. After prayerful discussion with my brethren of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve, we have determined that out of consideration for the personal well-being of the individuals involved, those ordained as apostles will serve until the age of 85, at which time they will be given General Authority Emeritus status.
My Top Ten Cultural Sins, or Why I Don’t Mark My Scriptures
10. I don’t mark my scriptures. The last time I did was 12 years ago and it was to make it easier to find the key scripture passages I used to teach the missionary discussions. I still have my marked-up seminary scriptures. They are sadly disfigured from the brutal SoCal scripture chases I put them through on a daily basis in high school.
What Do Joseph Smith and Gladys Knight Have in Common?
When I was a kid in Southern California, it was obvious to me that there were two kinds of people in the world: Mormons and the rest. As I got older, the rest became more differentiated; there were Catholics and Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Baptists, Syrian Orthodox, Church of Christers, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventists and even some people who claimed to have no religion at all. I was puzzled at one family’s celebration of Christmas when they apparently didn’t really even belong to any particular religion that I could discern. As I attended high school and early-morning seminary, I began...
“It’s More Than a Religion”: Mormonism as Family
Story 1 From p. 102 of An Abundant Life: The Memoirs of Hugh B. Brown: (Brown addressing a group of 75 LDS servicemen during World War II): Upon assembling, I asked the men present how many of them had been on missions. Fully 50 percent of them raised their hands. I then designated six of them to come up and prepare and administer the sacrament. I appointed another six to sit on the opposite side of the stand and be prepared to speak. I looked at my minister friend, who was sitting on my right hand, and found he...
Mormon Superheroes
Dr. Deseret is the sovereign State of Deseret’s official superhero and defender. She takes performance-enhancing drugs to ensure her fighting prowess. She is part of Captain Confederacy, an alternate history comic series where the South maintains its independence, the Mormons and Indians break away and form their own states, etc.
Got Gender?: A Modest Proposal
Men don’t understand women very well. I understand them even less because I grew up with brothers. No sisters. This may have contributed to my girl-craziness in high school and college. Getting to know my wife better has helped me to begin to understand women and their motivations, but I’m still learning. I work with women. My boss is a woman. The majority of my co-workers are women. Such is a career in education. I really like it, because I’ve been able to see that women are no different from men in very fundamental ways. We are all capable...
Yet Another John
I don’t know what the prevalence of the name John on Mormon Matters says about this site or our parents’ predilection for monosyllabic British boy’s names, but here is yet another John weighing in on John Dehlin’s invitation to turn this site into the mother of all Mormon blogs: Great idea! In fact, I began thinking that perhaps John’s ground rules for participation might not be bad to extend to active LDS Church participation as well. Imagine a liberal Mormon as Gospel Doctrine teacher, a fundamentalist in charge of the food storage committee, orthodox Mormons as nursery leaders, ex-Mormons...
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