In light of the recent ‘Work of Salvation’ broadcast it appears that the missionary work of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is about to undergo a dramatic shift. The idea of door knocking Mormon missionaries on bikes, accosting dog walkers on the street, is about to be replaced with another kind of proselyting – the high tech missionary who spreads the gospel using electronic devices and WIFI. All of this is a very interesting development. With the... Read more
I’ve been travelling over the last three weeks and last night I found myself in Provo with a group of friends when the discussion turned to mission preparation in the context of this wave of new young things who are about to be unleashed, bright eyed, and bushy tailed onto the world. The thing about being in Utah is that you find out stuff if you hold your ear to the ground long enough. Someone is always ready to spill... Read more
I’ve been thoughtful recently about the cultural privileges that my husband has as a Mormon man in possession of his full male faculties. He is spared a tremendous amount of time thinking and wondering about what it means to be a woman amidst Mormon males. He is simply unburdened by the need to think everything I have to think about in order for this religion to make sense. For instance, a core Mormon belief that God has a body... Read more
I woke up this morning with a sigh. I don’t every morning. But today I did because it’s Sunday, and on Sunday I go to church, and sometimes church makes me sad. But I do recall one wonderful Sunday, when I was about 23. I was volunteering with a local disability support service and we were on a camp in South Canterbury that included a Sabbath outing to the Ashburton Trotting Club. This took place in my more orthodox... Read more
I once belonged to a ward where the personality of said ward was defined by a long standing rift between two women, then in their 80’s, who had, decades before, determined that they couldn’t stand the sight of each other. I shall henceforth refer to one of the women as Sister Stick (who was my particular friend) and Sister Zimmer (who was not). “Look at her, just look at her, Lady high and mighty!’ came the barely hushed objection of... Read more
After a one month summer hiatus its time to hit the New Year with more unwanted opinion from the antipodes! What better way to kick 2013 off than with a bit of serious silliness? Sitting around our dinner table last night was our usual contingent of diminutive masculinity, but we were joined by three young adults and together we put to work our collective minds in order to imagine what the church would be like if its cultural and administrative... Read more
Last week one of my readers invited me to participate in the ‘Wear Pants to Church’ Sunday campaign. She gave me a link to the Facebook page so I could get a sense of what this was all about. I smiled to myself and thought it sounded like a bit of a giggle. And then I clicked on the link to the Facebook page – and wouldn’t you know it, it felt like the night of the US Presidential Elections... Read more
A couple of weeks ago Joanna Brooks (via Skype) and I gave a public lecture at the University of Canterbury entitled ‘What if Popular Culture Changed Religion?’ in the ‘What if Wednesday’ series. While the title of this post is slightly tongue in cheek, we traced the relationship between Mormonism, the public, and the media and come to a rather fun conclusion! Below is a video of the lecture. Enjoy! (apologies – it seems to have been truncated by... Read more
Heterogamy: refers to a marriage between two individuals that differ in a certain criterion. Homogamy: a marriage or union between partners that match according to that criterion. (wikipedia) I grew up in a home managed by my Mormon mother and my Catholic step-father. While I have said before that this has given me a more nuanced Mormonism, I was nonetheless battered by a palpable sense of conflict in the home, primarily over matters religious. Not that this is anything unusual. ... Read more
American presidential elections are a bit bonkers but wonderfully diverting. I’ve looked on with keen interest as $6 billion dollars in campaign expenditure was gobbled up, and a searing ideological divide was created. And after months and months of vitriol and meteoric nastiness the President didn’t even change. But of one thing I am sure, the cultural ground has shifted significantly as a result, particularly for Mormons. To be perfectly honest I don’t think that Obama deserved re-election. I’ve... Read more
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