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Young Stranger: May 2014
http://youngstranger.blogspot.com/2014_05_01_archive.html
Saturday, May 31, 2014. Intimacy and Human Need. Recently, the Salt Lake Tribune sponsored a live on-line discussion with a panel consisting of Kendall Wilcox, Ty Mansfield, and Karen Penman (the mother of a transgender son). Social unit through which individuals in our society (and as far as I can tell, individuals in any. I'm trying to imagine, for instance, how, if the Church prescribes celibacy for an entire class of people (namely, gay people. Invite them into their intimate family life as. The Book...
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Young Stranger: June 2015
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Monday, June 29, 2015. The news about the verdict in Ferguson, et al. v. JONAH, et al. Was eclipsed somewhat last week by the news about the Supreme Court ruling on marriage. But I think it was equally important, if not more important. At stake is the question of what, precisely, homosexuality is. Namely, is it a natural human variation like skin color or height? Or is it a disease that ought to be cured or contained? Or to pose this in theological terms: Did God make me gay? Then Don't Have One. That ha...
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Young Stranger: False Sense of Security
http://youngstranger.blogspot.com/2008/02/false-sense-of-security.html
Thursday, February 7, 2008. False Sense of Security. My laptop was stolen two nights ago. I was sitting on a bench at a bus stop, overburdened with numerous bags, and when the bus arrived, I got up and walked toward the bus without my laptop. I noticed literally within thirty seconds, but by the time I turned around to go back and pick it up, someone had already grabbed it and taken off. I won't say having my laptop stolen was a blessing. But maybe it was a sign. Sorry to hear about your laptop, John.
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Young Stranger: Doubt/Faith
http://youngstranger.blogspot.com/2010/12/doubtfaith.html
Friday, December 31, 2010. Tomorrow, I'm attending the baptism of my friend Mary. New Year, new beginning. It seems the perfect time for a baptism. I called my friend Candy and told her Mary was getting baptized, and Candy agreed that we both. I've been reading a book lately about the history of unbelief in America. An excellent book, by the way). It seems there are also (synchronicity! A crop of blog posts by Beck. The right way to go. Doubt is not a comfortable place to be. When in doubt, we lo...Even ...
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Young Stranger: April 2015
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Thursday, April 30, 2015. On Being a Gay Mormon Missionary. A talk given at the ALL Conference, Mesa, AZ, Saturday, April 25, 2015. Should I call my mission president and resign and go back home? How could I serve Jesus Christ, and still have these inappropriate feelings? In my distress, the Spirit comforted me. The Lord spoke to me. I did represent him, and I could do this. A sense of calm descended. The Lord accepted my offering, and had confidence in me. And he then made an impassioned plea for greate...
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Young Stranger: August 2014
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Saturday, August 9, 2014. God Would Never. (Fill in the Blank). I hear this phrase a lot, and interestingly enough, I hear it from liberals and. Conservatives, from Protestants, Catholics, Jews, Mormons, Atheists. It doesn't matter. Everyone (including folks who don't actually believe in God at all) has some idea about what God is about, what God has done, does, and will do, what God is capable of and what God is incapable of. I have been/am/will be guilty of this as much as anybody else. And if thou doe...
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Young Stranger: Somos Bendecidos (We Are Blessed)
http://youngstranger.blogspot.com/2015/05/somos-bendecitos-we-are-blessed.html
Tuesday, May 12, 2015. Somos Bendecidos (We Are Blessed). It feels extremely difficult to capture what I feel in words, but I will try. I just spent eleven days in Chile and Argentina with a group of LGBT Mormons and their families and friends. Four of us were norteamericanos. In Chile), two of us were from Mexico, and the rest of us were native Chileans and Argentinians. Oh, and one very special friend who is puertoriqueña. Our first night in Argentina, as we were sitting and sharing our stories, as we ...
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Young Stranger: Fundamental Rights
http://youngstranger.blogspot.com/2015/07/fundamental-rights.html
Sunday, July 12, 2015. A Facebook friend of mine posted on her Facebook wall a link to a web site in which a conservative commentator blasts the Supreme Court for eroding American freedom in its ruling on same-sex marriage. To define marriage. The question before the court is whether or not gays or lesbians should be granted access to marriage. And in arguing why they can reasonably be excluded from marriage, you must define. What piques them is that a majority on the court disagree with their definition.
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Young Stranger: February 2015
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Sunday, February 15, 2015. Religious Freedom. To Do What, Exactly? In ancient Palestine, a woman is taken in adultery. Those who have caught her. In delicto flagrante bring her, as the law demands, before the local elders who determine that, in accordance with the law, she is to be taken to the public square to be stoned to death. It is there, as the crowd gathers, preparing to implement the law, that a single individual set apart from the crowd crouches to the ground. Is he picking up a stone? I don't k...
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Young Stranger: October 2014
http://youngstranger.blogspot.com/2014_10_01_archive.html
Thursday, October 30, 2014. By Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage, Is the U.S. "Choosing Iniquity"? My scripture study today was Mosiah 29 (in the Book of Mormon). I can't resist commenting on verse 27 of this chapter, because of the frequency with which it is quoted (in conservative Mormon circles) against the legalization of same-sex marriage. Links to this post. Tuesday, October 28, 2014. Do Same-sex Marriages Fulfill the Law of Chastity? In relation to this question, I feel kind of like I imagine Gentile b...
