As far as I can tell, religion’s function, up until about Christianity, was basically to hold a culture together with a unified narrative. In other words, it gave meaning to workings of a group of people. No one thought to question it. That would be like questioning air. The people’s belief in the religion (or […]

Kottke.org, one of the best-known blogs out there, links to an interview of two Mormon teens in Idaho. It’s funny and a wee bit sad to see how much these girls feel stifled by their religious culture….
An excerpt:
What is the craziest thing about Mormonism?
The craziest thing about Mormonism is the garbage that supposedly […]

This comment by Chris Bigelow, about ‘texting’ during Priesthood session, made me think about all of the men that I’ve seen occupied with their PDAs during church meetings. I can’t say that I see the same phenomenon with women at church.
Of course one could assume that the PDA-ers are just reading the scriptures and […]

The 2007 Symposium was a great four days - if you missed it, you can begin downloading sessions soon on sunstoneonline.com
In the mean time we are going to be very nice and offer up a few sessions for free. Considering the interest in the bloggernacle, this one is a no brainer. We’ve been prepping for […]

When John and I started letting people know that we were no longer active in the church, many people replied that it wasn’t much of a surprise. They knew we were active in Sunstone, and in Mormon feminism, and that we didn’t believe in the version of church history espoused in church manuals. […]

I like reading Oprah Magazine better than I like reading the scriptures.
There, I said it. I find a lot of inspiration, motivation and truth in…..Oprah Magazine. My husband makes fun of me for it (lovingly, of course) and I’m sometimes a bit embarrassed at the confession of being a die-hard Oprah fan, but I guess […]

Some time ago I visited a web site for Mormon misfits (www.misfitmormon.com). As I read through the posts there, I wondered to myself, “What kind of eldritch creatures might these ‘Morms Out of the Norm’ be?”

In a recent series of interviews with John Dehlin at Mormon Stories, Richard Bushman made some comments about Sunstone and the Sunstone Symposium that strike at a number of challenges those of us in this community face. I don’t want this post to overshadow the significance of the content of these interviews, as the comments […]

Just a quick note to celebrate a neat development in Mormon studies and to help spread the word for potential job seekers. UVSC is a terrific school that is steadily growing a religious studies program that includes courses on Mormon topics.

When I encountered D. Jeff Burton’s inoculation metaphor in the September 2006 issue of Sunstone (“Coping With A Deadly Pandemic,” pg. 60), I admit to getting a little hot under the collar.
Burton tells the story of a man who has been a faithful member his whole life, serving in high positions. Then one day […]