The church needs more apostates

Why? So we can have more ex-apostates.

I’m not making this up.

Inside perception of the church

It’s so strange seeing blogs talking about the outcome of perception toward the LDS church post-Prop 8. Many insist that the church has ruined months and years of positive publicity (after all, we had our very own Olympics!) Others say that we already had publicity against us (Romney got Romney-fied in the Republican primaries and we had that whole fundamentalist thing in Texas), and still others say that by standing up for traditional values, we will appeal to those who truly stand for “Truth and Righteousness.” Once again, the Mormons are the innocent li’l ole church who The World prevails against but who still stands after repeated onslaughts and protests.

But forget all of that. Outsiders’ opinions of the church…who cares?!

Why Mitt Romney got Romney’d in the Election

OK, OK, the Republican primary is old news. It’s even older news than Prop 8 is now. After all, we got through the primaries and we even got through the election. We have our first black President, and people don’t know what to think about that.

But let’s not forget the past. Why did so many Americans dislike this face?

Presidential enough for me

Christians by action or by grace

I’ve seen two philosophies for proposed Christian ideals. I don’t know if it’s a doctrinal split (faith vs faith and works?), but this post isn’t about the rightfulness or wrongfulness of doctrinal points. ANYWAY, you have some that will insist that a Christian is someone who lives a Christ-like life. No one is perfect; people will agree to that, but this ideal is to move towards living better. So, one’s devotion is seen by how well they live and how quick they are to repent.

The other ideal (loaded vocabulary ahead) focuses on the aspect that people are all dirtbags, and are expected to be dirtbags. Christianity is recognizing that we are dirtbags, and pleading for grace…and even though we are utterly terrible people, we are saved anyway. I had a friend post a poem by Maya Angelou that I felt summed up this position:

Christians
By Maya Angelou

When I say…”I am a Christian”
I’m not shouting “I’m clean livin’.”
I’m whispering “I was lost,
Now I’m found and forgiven.”

When I say…”I am a Christian”
I don’t speak of this with pride.
I’m confessing that I stumble
and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say…”I am a Christian”
I’m not trying to be strong.
I’m professing that I’m weak
And need His strength to carry on.

When I say…”I am a Christian”
I’m not bragging of success.
I’m admitting I have failed
And need God to clean my mess.

When I say…”I am a Christian”
I’m not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible
But, God believes I am worth it.

When I say…”I am a Christian”
I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches
So I call upon His name.

When I say…”I am a Christian”
I’m not holier than thou,
I’m just a simple sinner
Who received God’s good grace, somehow!

Which culture pervades more: religious or national?

So, I was reading the Sunday in Outer Blogness weekly compilation (and not merely because Irresistible (Dis)grace was mentioned in it — , thanks guys!), and I was checking out some of the church resignation letters…and while it is true that some of these resignations were responses to Prop 8, this isn’t a prop 8 post — I promise! So, the resignation post was over zher, and that led me to a lengthy comment war over nar. And the comments section is where we set the stage.

A comment by Kullervo intrigued me:

…Even if you were raised Mormon, membership is voluntary. Yes, I realize that it is technically possible to expatriate yourself and renounce your US citizenship, but there are enormous differences of degree. It’s way more reasonable and more convenient to leave a Church than it is to leave a country.

Furthermore, as a Mormon, you raise your hand at least once a year to sustain your leadership. You can split hairs about exactly what that means if you want, but…the point is that part of being a Mormon is supporting the decisions made by the hierarchy. The fact that you voted against Prop 8 doesn’t absolve you from responsibility. This isn’t like post-colonial guilt by association: you’re not being blamed for the accident of your birth or citizenship. You actively and voluntarily support the organization that bears the overwhelming majority of the responsibility for passing Proposition 8.

This gave me a lot of inspiration for topics. At first, I wanted to talk about this idea of active and voluntary sustaining…because it meshes so well with a uniquely Mormon anxiety about following leaders you feel to be Prophets, Seers, and Revelators, even when you personally disagree with them. When you pay tithes and raise the right hand, then even if you voted the other way, you don’t necessarily absolve all responsibility. An accident of birth or citizenship, unchosen and unchangeable, is different…it would be ridiculous to punish you for Adam’s sins (take that original sin!).

Aiming for people’s hearts and hitting their stomachs

Upton Sinclair was actually kinda disturbed by the reaction to his “The Jungle.” As he puts it, he was “aiming for the public’s heart”…but as anyone will recognize now, he hit “the stomach” instead.

I guess people don’t care much about the plight of fellow human beings in destitute conditions, but they do care when it gets in the meat. Soylent green wasn’t a good idea even way back at the turn of the 20th century.

Maybe it was still good for him that he hit the stomach of America. After all, now he is part of classic American literature. English teachers across the country assign The Jungle as a book that highlights the particular situation that American business was at around that time.

So…if we accept our dear Stephenie Meyer, maybe we should analyze: where do we want her to aim and where is she aiming?

Stephenie Meyer – What did she do for us?

Stephenie Meyer, good, bad, or indifferent, seems to unwittingly hold a place in every Mormon’s heart. Some love her for being a successful author, while others hate her for being a being a successful author of such…pop vampire romance (I dunno…what kind of genre is that anyway?) But somehow, there’s this Mormon-dar that seems to draw all Mormon eyes to Ms. Meyer.

Twilight: the Book that started it all...

And really, Ms. Meyer has a lot going for her: A successful book. What’s looking very quickly at being a successful movie. Enough money to allow her to live very comfortably even after tithing. Yep. It’s a very enviable position.

But how will this help the church? How will this put Mormons on the map? As far as Mormon literature goes, we’ve had a few hits in the general public. Anyone ever read a little book called Ender’s Game?

But…I don’t know…I get this feeling that members aren’t quite so happy with these successes. They don’t really scream out Mormonism.

Zion’s Best Bastion of Conservatism

I have a special appreciation for deep thought about Mormon topics. That’s why I like blogs, talks by general authorities, and the like. Sometimes, I find ideas that I agree with. Other times, I find ideas I disagree with. It is to be expected. After all, I’m not a true-blue, and even if I were, then there’d always be Sunstone, Signature, and Dialogue to disagree with.

But sometimes, the ideas make me chuckle. They make me wonder if I haven’t entered a Bizarro Mormon Culture land.

One such place is this little collection of things called Zion’s Best. To be honest, it seems a bit…antiquated. Like a relic of the internet from a time before the Bloggernacle. When people actually communicated via emails and newsgroups. (The author actually has a more current blog, but if I link to it, then I might be opening myself up to some pingback conflict.)

Faith of my Father, part 1

My father and I have a good relationship. I guess I don’t want people psychoanalyzing me with crackpot theories. He was in the army, so he was often at work late or overseas (sometimes, he took the entire family too, so we lived in Canada and Korea for a bit, but we never went to cool military locations like Germany). He was still involved, and when he retired, of course my siblings and I spent a lot more time with him. Sure, he sometimes seems cold (it’s kinda depressing when you tell someone about your day and all they say is “So?”), but definitely, I cannot relate to my friends who say they hate their parents. If I had to say my parents were terrible, so-so, or awesome, I’d definitely put them in the awesome category (don’t tell them that!).

A morality/Amorality

One thing that always…got me…was people’s motivations…motivations to be moral. Or even bigger: their motivations to live.

I think, or at least I sincerely like to hope, that people underestimate themselves. It sincerely pains me when people ask, “How are you moral without a belief in god?”

Are you saying you would not be “good” without threat of hell or without prize of heaven?