Mormon time

He did a wonderful job, but as he was returning my plant to my custody, he explained "I watered her every other day, I gave her new dirt, moved her into the sunshine, prayed the rosary-"

"What?"

He looked at me, confused. "Isn't she a plant you pray with?"

"No," I said slowly. "She's a prayer plant. That's the... colloquial name of the plant."

Upon seeing his stricken face, I realized something went wrong. Turns out, this entire time, he's been including my plant in on his prayers and leaving her near icons.

Happy Pioneer Day! This is the day when we remember the brave pioneers who crossed the plains. They crossed mountains. They crossed the rivers. They crossed the US government. They crossed the vicious things in the thrall of the US government. They crossed them before and we will cross them again, if needs be.

You know...a broad, hostile generalization from one group about another group is harmful to the members of the population who identify as part of both groups. It dismisses any compassion or progress from either side as wild outlier and minimizes lived experiences. It alienates and others us in a harmful way and makes reconciliation seem unwanted and impossible.

The practices of the church have come so far in recent years. I remember dark, terrifying times growing up queer in the Church - and I am not alone in that dark, closeted history. But looking at how far we've come in just the past 15-20 years, I am hopeful for our future. One of the core tenets of modern Mormonism is that the Restoration is ongoing, and I believe that the LGBTQ+ members will receive enlightenment and acceptance in the years to come.

But to say to a queer Mormon that every member of this church is "inherently lgbt+phobic" is unkind and dismissive of the queer person's experience. There may be a number of reasons they continue to attend this church while disagreeing with the church's teachings about queer people.

For myself and other Catholics, because identifying as lgbt+ and also being celibate is the religious teaching, it makes dating within my own religious community difficult because many do choose celibacy, and it makes meeting people outside of my religious community difficult because of what they assume my views are.

It got me wondering if this Catholic teaching leads this to be an exclusively Catholic issue or if other traditions (see: LDS/mormons who have high visibility of people who identify as both lgbt and religious) have the same issues when dating or interacting with the wider community.

If you're like "bro wrote me an essay go away," please just don't answer and that's totally fine. I would rather not be yelled at in an answer unless you think I've truly done something wrong or hurtful, in which case I am sorry and please tell me. Thanks! - liturgicalrainbow

Imagine being a Catholic in Alabama. There are Catholics but they just aren't that plentiful. Then shrink that down to gay Catholics and it's a very small number. That's what it's like for me as a gay Mormon in Florida. So very similar to what you described.

The potential pool of Mormon gay men to date is miniscule. If they still go to church, they likely aren't dating or doing so quietly. Also, I didn't come out until my 40's, and most queer people leave the LDS Church so gay men nearer my age are nearly nonexistent. I sometimes date, but have never dated a Mormon, that just isn't a realistic possibility for me. I would need to move somewhere with a denser population, like Arizona, Utah, California, etc, somewhere out West.

Know what she says to me?

The lesson was Exodus 32, and this man is extra as heck, so he decided that it would be worth his time to make this prop:

A golden calf. You know, like Aaron made? Fun, right? Except once the lesson was over, he realized that he had no idea what to do with this thing. So it lived in his trunk for a while, until he was forced to abandon it on a stump in our neighborhood to make room in his car. He vowed to retrieve it soon and dispose of it properly.

However, when he returned few days later, he discovered a ribbon around the calf’s neck, a flower crown adorning its head, and more flowers laid at its feet alongside pretty rocks and other little offerings.

My guy thought, well, I can’t just throw this thing away now! It’s already become a beloved neighborhood icon!

In the novel, Stratt is a lot more no-nonsense, to put it very lightly. She is ruthless. At times, she even seems to be on a power trip. Until we see this interaction during a flashback about halfway through the book:

“I’m curious,” I say to Stratt. “Once we launch Hail Mary. What will you do then?”

“Me?” she said. “Doesn’t matter. Once the Hail Mary launches, my authority ends. I’ll probably be put on trial by a bunch of pissed-off governments for abuse of power. Might spend the rest of my life in jail.”

[…]

“Are you at all concerned about that?”

She shrugged. “We all have to make sacrifices. If I have to be the world’s whipping boy to secure our salvation, then that’s my sacrifice to make.”

We later learn that Stratt originally went to school to study history, when she posits that virtually every major conflict in history prior to the Industrial Revolution was motivated by food. I imagine this background is what makes her so willing to sacrifice herself. She knows that if she walks free after what she’s doing, she’ll be opening the door to future tyrants — ones who are actually power-hungry. Very Book of Alma, in my humble opinion.

Except, we don’t learn this about Stratt until after we see her order a guard to drag Ryland Grace off to a cell, where he will sit until they induce his coma early. Oh yeah, and she DRUGS HIM to induce temporary amnesia. That’s a thing they left out of the movie. Grace is screaming that she can’t make him do this, threatening to sabotage the mission when he wakes up. She’s almost certain he’s bluffing, but gives him this amnesia drug just in case. That way, the other crew members will fill him in when they all wake up, and he won’t remember to be angry at this betrayal.

At this point in the story, I thought, oh HELL NO. Even though this is unsurprising behavior from Stratt, who has proven that she is willing to do anything to save the world, it feels like the worst kind of violation. Yes, I see why she’s doing it, but to take away Grace’s autonomy like that?! To deny him his God-given personal agency?!

That’s when I realized that my Mormon Emotions were running high.

I may be digging my own grave, but it needs to be said. Spoilers for TADC episode 9

I just finished watching TADC finale, and I liked it! Was it rushed and had a lot going on? Yeah. Was it still enjoyable? Yes!

Except for one part.

During Ribbit’s confessional to Jax, she mentions that her parents were “devout Mormons” and she “…wasn’t”. She then said that she cut ties with them, but regretted it.

Now, I’m going to go ahead and say that I think this is one of the most nuanced and respectful mentions of my faith I’ve seen, even if it was slightly negative. I appreciate Goose for taking that approach.

However, I know the internet, and I know the TADC fandom. So I wanted to clear this up before people take it too far.

Latter-Day Saints, or Mormons, are not collectively bad. There are bad eggs and members who take the faith and twist it in a way to control and conquer, but that is with every religion.

Now, that isn’t do downplay anyone who has had religious trauma from their church experience. Every ward/branch, every leader, is going to be different and have different views, helpful or harmful.

However, I hope that people talk to members about the church and what they believe and get to know who they are.