#fundie

Watcherful Magazine

Why trust the watcher?

The Scotts are a family of six who recently welcomed their newest addition. Elliot, the fearless leader and head of the household, is a strong presence on the San Saq Hawks, often leading his team in prayer and devotions to the Watcher. His devoted wife Maci embodies grace and strength—six children in eight years of marriage would challenge anyone, but not her. The family has faced the lies and trouble caused by a disturbed fan in Willow Creek, yet they say they’re stronger than ever. Elliot shares, “We pray to the Watcher every night for his guidance and gifts. Our family, our bond, and our faith sustain us.”

They homeschool through a co-op centered around the holy book, and with so many little ones, they rely on a chore chart to keep things running smoothly. The Scotts love gardening together and take pride in growing their own produce. Maci hopes to inspire the children to pick up a violin or play the keyboard, though she’s still waiting for them to show interest. When asked how many children they hope to have, the couple smiled knowingly and said, “However many we are blessed with.”

There are “different versions” of Mormonism. Just like there are progressive Christians and Fundies. There are more progressive Mormons like Brandon Sanderson, and on the other side you have homophobic Orson Scott Card, also Mormon. Both very famous and prolific sci-fi/fantasy writers.

Sanderson teaches at Brigham Young University; Card teaches at southern Va University. Both private Mormon universities .

Sanderson may not be homophobic, but the fact that he still has a foot in the Mormon world teaching at a university notoriously harmful for gay students… it’s bothersome to people. Mormonism doesn’t hurt him but it hurts others. There could be an argument for changing a system from within but I’m not going to get into that here.

I’ve been learning a lot from this ex-Mormon YouTuber named Alyssa Grenfell. While I did not grow up familiar with the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS)…there’s quite a lot of religious culture i recognize from my own upbringing in an Assemblies of God church.

I grew up evangelical and many fantasy books were discouraged and sometimes banned. (C.S. Lewis and Tolkien were the exceptions). But in Mormon circles the fantasy genre is popular. Disney culture is popular.

And in fact, Mormon authors as it turns out are great at writing fantasy.

Look at the Mormon religion: there is magical thinking and mysticism and a in the afterlife people rule different planets etc

There’s magic underwear and secret handshakes and a magic rock in a magic hat that founder Joseph smith looked into to understand the secret languages to write the Book of Mormon etc etc….

(Believe me, I know magical thinking exists in mainstream Christianity. My point is, it’s a different “brand”. I grew up with the creation story being literal, and the coming Rapture )

The Mormon religion and lifestyle lends itself to fantasy writing.

Girls are taught to journal and be the record keepers of their lives and the events in her circle and the temple.

Side note: this is why there are many mommy influencers online/on YouTube; Mormon women are encouraged to be the record keepers of the family lore and they can do this through blogging/vlogging too. (See Ruby Franke and her 8 Passengers channel)

Girls are encouraged to only read romance (and not smutty romance but wholesome stories. For example, In Twilight, Bella and Edward wait for after the wedding to have sex.)

Boys are prepared for the mission field, and young Mormon men must go forth sometimes to a foreign land while his girlfriend at home awaits him “waiting for a missionary “.

Yes young women go on missions now (including YouTuber Alyssa Grenfell) but they are still not encouraged or even allowed to cultivate an adventurous spirit the way the young men are encouraged.

Girls stay home and write in their journal, writing a list of what she wants in her dream husband, and all the time yearning.

Boys look forward to the day they can be headship of a wife and then have as many children as possible, but first they can go roughhouse with the other boys. And then the mission field awaits and they might knock on your door. (Please note: be kind to Mormons at your door, they are very young and naive and trying to argue with them will only hurt them.) Sometimes they are assigned overseas, sometimes in say, Colorado.

Storytelling and writing is important for both boys and girls in the LDS church.

It’s interesting when you find out how much Mormon culture can blend into the mainstream. And it seems Mormon culture can give fantasy and sci fi authors a step up. And it’s pretty much always family friendly.

Duggar-related:

Duggar

Keller

Burnett

Wissmann

Dillard

Seewald

Vuolo

Caldwell

Swanson

Forsyth

Nakatsu

Spivey

Waller

Noyes (Rodrigues)

Hill

Coverett

Reber

Ballinger

Jackson

Kingery

Wikstrom

Dominguez

Haight

Bates-related:

Bates

Paine

Keyes

Webster

Smith

Romeike

Stewart

Balka

Clark

Manaraze

English

Landrum

Reith

Others:

Morton

Roberts

Bret Smith

Campana

Decker

Thomas

Campbell

Johnson

Barrett

Allison

Arndt

Staddon

Williamson

De La Motte

Anderson

Plath

LaBrant

Collins

Olliges

Baird

Collingsworth

Bowers

Bontrager

Helferich

Allen

Rogers

Derrico

Gradinariu

Jeub

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