Archive for the 'Folklore' Category

The Mormon Urge to Glurge


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glurge (GLURJ) n. A sentimental or uplifting story, particularly one delivered via e-mail, that uses inaccurate or fabricated facts; a story that is mawkish or maudlin; the genre consisting of such stories.  Continue reading…

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The Amazing Adventures Of “The Mormon Answer Man”


super-ctr-shirt.gifLook up there . . . . who’s that emceeing the Ward Roadshow? Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s the Mormon Answer Man!! Faster than a missionary speeding downhill towards a dinner appointment. Able to pull three heavy-laden handcarts at a time. Behold his breath-taking adventures after the jump, if you dare . . .

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The Jagged Little Pill We Call Mormonism


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. . . . there I was writing my ex-wife a letter trying to explain what a Temple Marriage and Sealing is and what it means regarding our son. You see my current wife and I wanted her daughter, my older son, and our younger son, to all be sealed to us in the Mormon Temple. One of our many obstacles was my son was only 15 and needed the consent of both of his living parents. The other obstacle was my wife’s daughter was 18 and needed the same consent from her bio-father (even the Bishop had to look this one up. You have to be 21 to attend otherwise.) I was charged with the task of letter writing. In these letters I had to explain things to people who didn’t know much about Mormonism. I had give them enough information to make an informed decision about whether or not they wanted their children to be sealed to my wife and I. Continue reading…

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Lost Hemisphere: A Traditional Book of Mormon Geography


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When I was 6 and my sisters were 5 and 3, we read the Book of Mormon with my parents as a family. I was already very geographically minded and the book cries out for a map. So make a map we did.

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Peculiar People: Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses


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For a religious community that is often misunderstood and sometimes maligned or mocked, we don’t learn much from our experience. I can’t tell you how often I hear underhanded remarks about other religious groups. Its not a common topic of conversation, but when the subject turns to Jehovah’s Witnesses, and in almost any setting, you are bound to hear jokes. Like Mormons, the faithful really do stick out in a crowd. With my background in having studied with them, I thought it might be fun to examine the “peculiar” similarities between Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses. We may be more alike than you think. Continue reading…

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Bigfoot, the Three Nephites and the Lost Tribes of Israel


I would like to give a shout out to all the Ward crazies…Where have you all gone?

Every Ward has them and every Ward needs them for comic relief. You know who I’m talking about, that member of the ward who bears his/her testimony every month and always has a miraculous story about angels, the Three Nephites, Bigfoot, the return of the Lost Tribes of Israel, the building of New Jerusalem or some other end time event.

As a teenager my friends and I used to sit in the back pew next to the door laughing at many of the crazy things members would say and do during sacrament. Unfortunately today, I rarely hear these talks, lessons and testimonies. It could be that I’m too busy wrestling with one or more of my four children. However, I think it’s more likely that less and less of these people remain in the Church today. Continue reading…

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