The LDS church recently released an inspirational short reminding us that it’s not enough for us to slavishly follow rules or instructions, but that we need to feel into the reasons for our doing what we do. On the surface it makes a lovely point. However, the story was set in the context of a boy learning to the hear the rhythm of the music that accompanies a Navajo hoop dance. The LDS Church has a pattern of appropriating cultural... Read more
Dear Mormon Patriarchy, I hereby and absolutely revoke any consents taken or presumed that entitled you to the exercise of authority or dominion over me. I do not consent to your presiding over me. You may not summon me, compel me or interrogate me without my informed consent. Furthermore, I do not agree to your expectation of my obedience or my unquestioning loyalty to you. That being said, I will sustain you. I am absolutely in favour of... Read more
Over the years the LDS Church has used the labour and money of poor, brown folk to build temples and schools around the world. A couple of generations later it is shutting these same people out from the communities they created to make the Church property environs look beautiful. Here’s a case in point: Temple View is the village that grew up around the New Zealand Temple and Church College of New Zealand. In 2009 the College was closed and... Read more
My mother insisted I read The Book of Mormon before my baptism. It was a slow grind, but every morning I would jump into bed with her and snuggle up against her soft, warm body, and we’d make our way through eight verses at a time until it was done. Thinking about it now still arouses feelings of comfort and safety. I was less active for half of my adolescence, and when I went back to church at 16, I turned... Read more
By Gina Colvin & Thomas McConkie Preface by Gina: I think I’ve been in what some might call ‘faith crisis’ for at least 10 or more years. I don’t think its unusual for anyone pursuing a religious life to wonder at the incongruities between history, doctrine, policy and scripture. When I was a Young Women’s President and then a Relief Society President it hit me how rigidly the patriarchy held itself in a defensive posture against change, particularly changes suggested... Read more
It turns out that the General Authorities of the LDS Church are remunerated in six figures. By all accounts, in 2014, the base pay was $120,000. The reason we know this is the publication of a leaked letter notifying someone in the First Quorum of a pay increase. It’s important to note that this kind of information isn’t made public because the LDS Church is not financially transparent except in countries where it’s a legal requirement. I’ve tried to get... Read more
I’ve been asked on several occasions to bear my testimony. On one occasion I was seeking a renewal of my Temple Recommend from a counsellor in the Stake Presidency who announced: “I’ve heard your testimony of Jesus Christ often enough, but I haven’t heard your testimony of President Monson – would you bear that for me now please.” It was admittedly difficult to share a testimony on demand, but I did my best with little to recommend the conditions... Read more
The best thing I heard on National Radio this morning was; “This is a wake-up call for the rest of the world. America is foreign. They may talk like us and look like us, but it’s foreign.” Except if you are New Zealand Mormon where America is present everywhere. From our services to our dress, to our leadership, to our curriculum, to our religious training, to our books of scripture, everything about who we are as a religious community screams America,... Read more
The re-vamped Mormon and Gay website went live today. If I had discovered the website as a newbie I might give a wee yip of approval. But I’m not new to the Mormon church’s misguided and historically painful past on the matter, and anyone who has paid attention might be all too aware that the Church has made it NOT OK to be LGBTQ and Mormon – over and over again. In a thousand ways, in a thousand talks, in a thousand micro-aggressions,... Read more
I’ve tried and tried over the years to figure out why the LDS church needs so much money. Estimates are that LDS Inc. owns about USD$375B, debt free. That makes them a Fortune 5 company. It feels sketchy and inexplicably off to me. I know, I know – I’ve heard all about the church’s rainy day policy but the more I think about it this runaway corporate train just looks like a huge conceit for the suits who run these ventures.... Read more
KiwiMormon
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In