Utah! No other place outside of New Zealand feels more like home. A lot of this has to do with the relationships that I have here. Utah is where I have ‘family’ and soul friendships that have been forged through ‘real talk’ and shared spiritual yearnings. I’ve said that I have little loyalty left to the Church as an organization. It’s messy, confused, patriarchal and poverty-stricken in its theological and spiritual discourse. But I will always be loyal to its... Read more
For the last month, New Zealand has been in the grim, dim shadow space between a general election, vote counting and coalition deals. Tonight it was confirmed that New Zealand First has chosen a deal with the New Zealand Labour Party. This means that after nine long years of dudebros in suits; a rising tide of ugly neo-liberal politics; rising public debt; rising rates of homelessness; hospitals that are straining to actually care for the sick, and waterways that have been infected by... Read more
Reports are circulating that rogue Apostles are plotting the take down of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A group of three key individuals have been meeting weekly for several years on a sophisticated conspiracy that combines all of the worst public relations blunders, clangers and bangers in order to create an irrevocable brand scandal. Several email correspondences between the LDS church’s legal firm, Kirton & McConkie and the group have surfaced on MormonLeaks TM indicating that... Read more
On a hot late July evening, a group of us were gathered together at Little America in downtown Salt Lake City following the Sunstone symposium. Tony asked, “Where is God in all of this?” He was referring to Mormonism’s cataclysm when he said, ‘all of this’. It’s hard not to notice how the church is contracting from the middle, sending out shock waves of disaffection around the world. And so Tony’s question at Little America, about church and culture... Read more
Guest post by Ganesh Cherian, Wellington, New Zealand. On September 11th the LDS Church will mark the 160th anniversary of the bloodiest event in church history. In 1857 at the height of Utah pioneer hysteria from fear of government invasion, over 120 men, women, children and infants were massacred by otherwise devout Mormons. This event took place in a beautiful part of Southern Utah, fifteen minutes north of St George called Mountain Meadows. An Arkansas wagon train which ran into... Read more
Guest post by Ganesh Cherian. Wellington, New Zealand One of the greatest murder mysteries of the 19th Century is the martyrdom of Joseph Smith: Joseph and his brother Hyrum died at Carthage Joseph was a very charismatic man.[1] He drew people to him, and even those who disagreed with him often really liked him. He could be quite polarising because of this; it took a lot to hate him. So by all accounts (and many times in the past), he... Read more
Dirty laundry In 2012 I received a distraught phone call from a local church leader. He was concerned about my first few blog posts at KiwiMormon. “You are airing our dirty laundry,” he complained. “We don’t do that.” He’s right. Good Mormons don’t air the church’s dirty laundry. This habit of keeping our mouths shut goes right back to the church’s early Utah years when federal spies would descend on Salt Lake City and try and get Mormons to rat... Read more
Belonging is a big part of our validation as people. Our groupings give us a sense of security. They may even be the foundation of our economic and emotional wellbeing. Read more
For a lot of people, McDonald's is enough. They could eat McDonald's all their lives and be completely satisfied. Read more
These days the LDS Church is trotting out expert after expert on why people leave the church. From my own local pulpits I’ve heard the following solutions for dealing with people’s potential disaffection: You need to try harder, read your scriptures more, pray more and you’ll feel the spirit and all of these bad feelings will dissipate Treat your relationship like a marriage and concentrate on the good things about the church Have more faith Stay off the internet and avoid... Read more
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