The Best of 10+ Years of Mormons Blogging: Supplement

There was no way I could fit all the amazing blogs from the past 10+ years into the print feature in the Summer 2014 Issue so for a special treat for all online Dialogue readers, a supplemental featuring of more wonderful posts from the LDS blog world and beyond. Enjoy! – EmJen
2/16/2006: “God has given us different gifts and started us on different paths, and as long as the traveler is truly seeking God, I think I believe, essentially, that all paths DO lead to God. Because Truth is Truth and sincerity is sincerity. And I believe that God will not deny in any way those who sincerely seek Him–or, for those who do not know him, those who sincerely seek Truth and Goodness.” Artemis looks at the gifts of the spirit, including the “Gift of Faith” in this early Bloggernacle post that gives a different view of those who don’t believe. Click in for the full post.
3/12/08: Ardis E. Parshall recounts her time as a missionary in France and her exploration of a Catholic mass: “And I went. And as I sat in the comfortable waiting room of a private residence, for the first time I got nervous. Very nervous. Almost too scared to run out the door nervous. But at last the priest came to the door and escorted me into his office, and seated me … and his first words were “So, why do you want to become a Catholic?” I wish I had a picture of his face when I told him that actually I wasn’t there to become a Catholic, that I was a Mormon going to serve a mission in France, and I had some questions, and even though I had gone to church and taken instruction, nobody had ever given me a chance to ask my questions, so I hoped he would talk to me, and I was sorry if I was doing anything wrong or disrespectful, because that really wasn’t my intention, because I thought it was important enough to want to get it right by asking somebody who really understood, and … And when I finally reached the end of that interminable nervous introduction, he sat back, and smiled.” Click in to read the whole heartwarming story.
3/14/2008: Erin introduces readers to the amazing early Mormon woman “Romania Bunnell Pratt Penrose, M.D.” She explains “Romania was actively involved in improving the world she lived in. She was involved in the women’s suffrage movement. She was a part of a group of women that opened a community hospital for those in need. She regularly wrote columns promoting better hygiene in the Young Women’s Journal. I’m inspired by her determination, intelligence, and courage. Despite great personal cost, she followed the counsel of the prophet, and she used the gifts that God had given her to serve others. For you BYU grads who lived in Heritage Halls, you may recognize her name because she would eventually have a residence hall named after her. I think it is marvelous that her name lives on that way, allowing the students who live there to follow her example of excelling in education and using that knowledge for good.”
8/13/2008: “As far as I know, FPR has never had a SSM post, and I think that we are somewhat proud of that fact. Despite this record, I am so confused by the document that the Church put out today, called the Divine Institution of Marriage, that I simply must break the silence about this for the purposes of clarification. This document suggests that as a result of the court decisions in MA and CA (the legislative decisions legalizing marriage and civil unions in other states are not mentioned), ‘The institution of marriage will be weakened, resulting in negative consequences for both adults and children.’” TT continues his discussion of “Children and SSM: An Analysis of ‘The Divine Institution of Marriage.’” put out just a few months before the voting on Proposition 8.
9/29/2009: Read “Come ye Poets
of the Bloggernacle,” now
for funny haikus.
6/4/10: Vada discusses “How Presiding Works in My Marriage.” She explains “sometimes a decision has to be made even if we don’t agree on what the decision should be. So the arrangement in our marriage is that each of us presides over different things. Not that we’ve ever explicitly stated it that way. We have, however, divided many responsibilities in our marriage (explicitly and implicitly), and we both understand that whoever’s responsible for a certain thing therefore presides in that matter.” But she clarifies “There is simply no way that a marriage can be both a patriarchy (a hierarchical social system in which the men are in charge) and an equal partnership. The two definitions are mutually exclusive.” Check it out.
6/9/10: “I had a little brother and sister and I only found out about them today.” In this powerful post at Keepapitchinin, “As Arranged” is about how one guest blogger finds a family history story that begins with a death, traces back through some found documents and ends with a trip to the temple. Click in.
11/15/11: “Has the Mormon Church Truly Left Its Race Problems Behind?” wonders Max Mueller over at The New Republic. He explains “Still, for many black Mormons, church leaders do need to say more—particularly because LDS Church prophets, unlike most Christian leaders, can speak with claims to divine authority. (This can create additional complications: Church leaders are hesitant to challenge past prophets, which some would equate to challenging God.) In Sunday School classes, at missionary training centers, and during youth sleepovers, Mormons, black and white, continue to debate the quasi-institutional Mormon racist ‘folklore’ that perpetuates ideas of racially based spiritual inferiority.” Click in for a fascinating snapshot of this political intersection with Mormons and race.
11/21/11: Matthew Bowman visit the New Republic to discuss the relationship between progressive and Mormonism in “Mormonism’s Surprisingly Deep Affinity For Progressive Politics.” He begins “Most people do not associate the word “progressive” with Mormonism. From the conspiratorial libertarianism of the Mormon Glenn Beck to the church’s staunch stand on social issues like gay marriage (the Mormon Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid notwithstanding), Mormons have given Americans ample reason to reflexively associate them with political conservatism. But…” Click in for more.
5/1/2012: To get comfortable with the LDS world of blogging online, a good primer is this video featuring Editor Kristine Haglund and Jana Reiss speaking about “From Blogosphere to Bloggernacle: Digital Religion and the Public Face of the Church” from the 2012 Utah Valley University conference on Mormonism and the Internet. It is an hour well-spent as one learns about the ways people communicate online and how that influences the wider Mormon world.
6/04/2012: George Handley gives a beautiful retrospective of Lowell Bennion in this lovely post: “In the last few months I have had the privilege of meeting two sons of Lowell Bennion, a man who had a stronger influence on the way that I think (and hopefully someday act!) as a Mormon than anyone else. On the occasion of both of these encounters, I felt overwhelmed with feelings of tenderness and nostalgia for their father perhaps because they held such a close physical resemblance to him but also because they were living out their lives in ways consistent with who he was. I believe that Lowell Bennion was both the best humanitarian and the wisest intellectual the LDS church has ever produced. Sadly, he seems virtually unknown among the younger generations of the church and his many books are all, as far as I can tell, out of print.” Click for the full tribute.
8/1/2012: Max Mueller looks at the historical (and sometimes contemporary) practice of “Making Fun of Mormonism.” He explains “Sacred underwear, baptizing holocaust victims, gods of their own planets. When some of America’s most celebrated pundits and public intellectuals talk about Mormons, these are the images that are summoned. Ironically in this ‘Mormon Moment’—signaled by a hit Broadway musical, polygamous housewives on TLC, and of course two Mormon presidential candidates—Mormons, long considered quintessential “outsiders” to mainstream American culture, today find themselves at the center of the American zeitgeist. Yet it is the Mormons’ supposed theological weirdness that is the centripetal attraction.”
8/9/2012: Richard Bushman provides his picks for “The Essential Books on Mormonism.” Click in for the full list.
8/30/2012: Jana Riess looks at the hours-long clarification regarding “Mormons and Caffeine” and makes the astute observation that “But the small question of caffeine isn’t nearly as interesting to me as the larger questions of doctrine vs. policy and the possible impact of the media on LDS Church statements and clarifications. Although the LDS Newsroom offers the disclaimer that its own statements are not definitive (“The information here is reliable and accurate but should not necessarily be viewed as official statements from the Church”), they are the clearest enumerations of policy that Mormons and journalists have to go on these days, and as such they are significant.” Click in for more.
10/15/12: “Emotion overflowed as the group lingered. When someone reminded President Kimball of the earlier appearance of Wilford Woodruff to LeGrand Richards in the room, Spencer said he thought it natural: ‘President Woodruff would have been very much interested, because he went through something of the same sort of experience” with the Manifesto.’ The Brethren expressed their elation at the events, pleasing President Kimball by the depth of their feeling. They felt greatly relieved that the decision was made and pleased with the outcome. They had yearned for this change but had needed the confirmation of the Spirit to reassure them. After their experience–so sacred that some would not discuss it and the thought of it capable of bringing tears–every man stood resolute in support of the action.” This and more unpublished background to the 1978 Revelation found in the working draft of “Lengthen Your Stride” discussed in this post that explores “The Non-verbal 1978 Revelation.”
4/6/2013: In a pre-conference post right before women prayed for the first time, FMH Lisa exclaimed: “We must take our power, we must take our light and let it shine. We are finding our voices. We are giving each other a vocabulary. We are finding healthier ways to interact with each other as Mormon women. We are learning new ways to teach that make our faith stronger. We are building community. We are coming out of our shells and speaking our truths.” Read this powerful post about “Mormon Feminists: Finding Our Power in Ourselves.”
5/3/2013: Jupiterschild begins this post with a story of a bishop praising the priesthood bearers: “A bishop was teaching a sharing time lesson in Primary in which some Aaronic priesthood holders were present. Speaking of Joseph Smith’s restoration of the priesthood, he said that the priesthood is the power to act in God’s name, which is perhaps the most common definition of priesthood in the church. He pointed to one of the priests in the audience and said ‘Matt has the power to act in God’s name, isn’t it great that Joseph Smith restored it?’ I happened to be looking at my (9-year-old) daughter, and she was crestfallen.” Click in to read how “Priesthood, Women, and Non-Agency” correlates in this thoughtful post.
6/28/13: “Should Mormon women be ordained? Or are they already priesthood holders?” wonders Board member Joanna Brooks in this apt post sparked by the fervor around Ordain Women. She tries to find an answer: “But after studying scriptures, historical and contemporary writings by church leaders, church handbooks, and ceremonial liturgies, I find that the state of Mormon theology on gender is more complex.  It is not just that the theology of gender in Mormonism is too dynamic and popular to be pinned down. It is that Mormon theology on gender is incoherent.”
2/26/14: “There are people in the world who have sincere religious objections to taking their clothes off in public places while total strangers stuff money in their underwear. These people should not become strippers.” So begins Board Member Michael Austin’s thought-provoking discussion of “Religious Freedom in the Public Sphere.” Click in.