Daylight Atheism » Mormonism

You Call That Religion?

LeahAdmin — Sat, 28 May 2011 14:56:34 +0000

This is a guest post by Leah of Unequally Yoked. Adam is on vacation.

Spoiler Alert: the post below discusses the final number of the musical The Book of Mormon.

The Associated Press, in a review titled "Zany Musical 'The Book of Mormon' Will Convert You" said despite the sacrilege you might expect from a show imagined by the creators of South Park, the ... [visit site to read more]

The Mormon Test

LeahAdmin — Fri, 27 May 2011 21:50:42 +0000

This is a guest post by Leah of Unequally Yoked. Adam is on vacation.

When in argument with Christians, it can be hard to find a good way to explain why you doubt their precepts. John Loftus has a good idea with his Outsider's Test for Faith, but most Christians believe that their faith can pass the test; it's hard to show them how their ... [visit site to read more]

Open Thread: Secret Religious Teachings

Ebonmuse — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 02:23:40 +0000

This great comment by Rollingforest in another thread got me thinking:

When they go door to door, Mormons like to present themselves as Christians with minor but important improvements on Christian doctrine. These missionaries make sure to forget to mention or to gloss over the huge changes in dogma that becoming a Mormon requires (multiple Gods, belief that polygamy was Godly in the ... [visit site to read more]

Gender Desegregation Wednesdays

Ebonmuse — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 10:52:26 +0000

By Sarah Braasch

In loving memory of my baby brother, Jacob Michael Braasch (01/28/86 – 02/02/10)

Kat and I were working on an English translation of a section of the French website for the women's rights organization, Ni Putes Ni Soumises (NPNS – Neither Whores Nor Submissives). We were struggling with the word mixité. We toyed with "the mixing of the sexes". But, that sounded like one of those speed-dating events. We settled on "desegregation". But, then we ... [visit site to read more]

On the Morality of: Polyamory

Ebonmuse — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:51:20 +0000

The comments in a recent thread on same-sex marriage have been heading in this direction, so I thought I'd offer some thoughts about polyamorous relationships and how we can view them from a humanist standpoint.

The reason I (and others) advocate full marriage equality for same-sex couples is straightforward. Marriage is a civil ceremony which confers many legal rights on both partners, rights which are either ... [visit site to read more]

Baptizing the Dead Is Not a Big Deal

Ebonmuse — Thu, 07 May 2009 10:39:43 +0000

Americablog's John Aravosis is up in arms over the news that the Mormon church reportedly staged a "posthumous baptism" ceremony last year for President Barack Obama's deceased mother:

What else to call the Mormon's laughable statement today that their posthumous baptism last year of President Obama's mother was a "rare" mistake that might have ... [visit site to read more]

Anti-Gay Bigotry is Anti-American

Ebonmuse — Sat, 02 May 2009 14:07:57 +0000

The past few weeks haven't been good ones for religious bigots. First Iowa and Vermont legalized same-sex marriage in rapid succession; soon afterwards, the state legislatures of New Hampshire and Maine passed marriage-equality bills. (If you live in either state, ... [visit site to read more]

The Moral High Ground

Ebonmuse — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 10:40:27 +0000

It's common for fundamentalist Christians to think of themselves as the moral guardians of our culture, a bulwark against the rampant sex and violence in the mass media. But this self-flattering caricature runs up against inconvenient reality: there is plenty of evidence which shows that Christians as a whole are every bit as drawn to sex and violence as everyone else.

One of the best examples of this is Mel Gibson's film ... [visit site to read more]

Yes to Equality, Yes to Marriage: No on Proposition 8

Ebonmuse — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 22:19:09 +0000

I woke up this weekend to the extremely welcome news that the State of Connecticut has legalized gay marriage, joining Massachusetts and California as the only three U.S. states with full marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples. Although seven other states have civil unions or domestic partnership laws, as did Connecticut before this ruling, the state supreme court held that this was not enough.

I used to believe ... [visit site to read more]

Do You Really Believe That? (The Missing Pages)

Ebonmuse — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 12:32:28 +0000

Of all the major faiths in the world today, few surpass the bizarreness of Mormonism. The church was founded in the 1830s by Joseph Smith, Jr., who claimed to have been guided by an angel to a set of buried golden plates which he miraculously gained the ability to translate. These plates, supposedly, were the records of a lost American civilization, descended from a family of ancient Jews who had sailed across the Atlantic Ocean and founded a large, advanced society in the New World. After ... [visit site to read more]

Mitt Romney's Kennedy Moment?

Ebonmuse — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 15:59:12 +0000

Last Thursday, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney gave a speech in which he argued that his Mormon religious beliefs should not prevent Americans from voting for him.

I do not define my candidacy by my religion. A person should not be elected because of his faith nor should he be rejected because of his faith.

Let me assure you that no authorities of my church, or of any other church for that matter, ... [visit site to read more]

The Pretense of Superiority

Ebonmuse — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 12:40:10 +0000

Religion has always been used to sanctify inequality here on Earth, in the present no less than in the past. By teaching their followers that they are God's chosen rulers, religious authorities can accustom the flock to obedience and ascend to positions of power without the consent of the majority. The fundamentally oligarchic and anti-democratic nature of most established religions, in which the church leaders choose their own successors, testifies to this.

These anti-democratic beliefs are ... [visit site to read more]