BH Roberts predicted that if church leaders did not address the historical problems of church origins and possible anachronisms in the Book of Mormon, these problems would eventually undermine “the faith of the Youth of the Church.
Folklore
Homosexuality, Politics, and Looking to November 5th
On the eve of another election in the United States of America, many historic events are looming, both encouraging and daunting; Whatever happens, we will either elect our first person of color as President, or our first female as Vice President. We may see a 60-vote majority in the Senate for the Democratic party. But offsetting these historic events is great uncertainty and fear about an ongoing economic crisis unseen since the Great Depression, alarm due to serious conflicts with various nations overseas, even apprehension about possible irreversible changes in our environment. Yet, here we are again looking at...
The Theology of “Saturday’s Warrior”
Many Church members consider Johnny Lingo to be the zenith of kitschy Mormon culture (for the uninitiated, you can see it here). When I was at BYU 15 years ago, I often ran into “wild and crazy” RMs sporting “Mahana, You Ugly” or “Wanted: Eight-Cow Woman” T-shirts. But for me, while Brother Lingo and his island crew hold a special place in my heart — along with that kid from the “Cipher in the Snow” — they pale in comparison to the granddaddy of all Mormon cheese: Saturday’s Warrior. For the sake of brevity, I will refrain from a...
The Mormon Urge to Glurge
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.
The Amazing Adventures Of “The Mormon Answer Man”
Look 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 . . .
The Jagged Little Pill We Call Mormonism
. . . . 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...
Lost Hemisphere: A Traditional Book of Mormon Geography
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.
Peculiar People: Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses
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...
Bigfoot, the Three Nephites and the Lost Tribes of Israel
Today’s post is by SuperNerd. 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...
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