A century ago, when the carnival would come to town, many people would make sure they brought enough money with them to not only see the main attractions, but to also see the side shows.  These events often would have a loud carnival barker enticing people to come in and see the two headed man, the bearded lady, or some other freak of nature (real or faked).

Over the last 30 or 40 years, we’ve seen the side shows move to Hollywood and television, as MTV first introduced us in the 1980s to New Wave performers that dressed in strange garb (Culture Club, anyone?). As time moved forward, and society went from 4 television channels to 20 to 200, the side shows came into the average home on a daily basis. People with no or little talent were able to get hit series, because of a fixation on the side show atraction. MTV’s Jack Ass series showed men with no talent doing stupid things in order to get ratings.

To be noticed, people with great talent found they had to add more and more of the side show into their own acts, just to keep up. Madonna went from singer to stripper, opening wide the door that would make the whorish careers of many former Disney former.
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BYU-I professor Andrea Radke-Moss has come forward with an account that Eliza R. Snow was gang-raped by eight Missouri men.

The original account was recorded in the 1930s by Alice Merrill [Horne] (b. 1868), grand-daughter of Bathsheba Wilson Bigler [Smith] (b. 1822) apparently based on discussions of former times shared in the 1880s, when Alice was a teen or pre-teen.

Alice’s account is given significant credence because Bathsheba was particularly close to Eliza R. Snow. Though Bathsheba didn’t ascend to the presidency of the Relief Society until the death of Eliza Snow, she had been the youngest member of the Relief Society at the first meeting, where Eliza R. Snow was installed as secretary.

The Reported Event

According to the story in the Salt Lake Tribune, Eliza was raped in Missouri circa 1838 by 8 men. Andrea Radke-Moss asserted that due to the rape, Eliza was subsequently infertile.

Why I Hesitate to Wholly Accept this Account as Reported Continue reading →

Elder Bednar says in this video: “There are no homosexual members of the Church. We are not defined by sexual attraction. We are not defined by sexual behavior. We are sons and daughters of God, and all of us have different challenges in the flesh.”

Reminder: this is a blog that supports the Church and the Brethren and Elder Bednar. If you want to criticize an apostle of the Lord please take it to another blog. Thank you.

This week the Advanced Review Copy of Reluctant Polygamist will disappear from Amazon.com.

Publication of the official release of Reluctant Polygamist will occur April 6, 2016. It may be possible to accommodate significant changes if you contact me by March 26. Cover quotes received by that date can be included in the book.

My name is listed as author, and I accept full responsibility for the contents. But you have had an enormous influence on how the story emerged as well as the topics I eventually decided to cover beyond my original proposed agenda.

If you would like me to come talk in your neck of the woods, email me. I’ll see what I can arrange, as I would love to interact directly with people on this topic.

Thesis

Reluctant Polygamist discusses the evidence supporting a new view of Joseph Smith’s final years and the subsequent interactions regarding polygamy amongst the various religious traditions that emerged from Joseph Smith’s religious legacy. Reluctant Polygamist builds on the Faithful Joseph series I posted here at M* from December 2013 to August 2014.

Bottom Line Up Front: Joseph Smith was a great-hearted man attempting his best to teach and live Celestial Marriage, which he believed was a command from God. Simultaneously he was fighting a frightening and pervasive heresy based on illicit and promiscuous sex, attempting to save as many as possible.

Elder Ballard on Church Education

A friend briefed me on Elder Ballard’s address at the annual “An Evening with a General Authority” this past Sunday. The address was particularly aimed at Seminary and Institute teachers in the Church Educational System (CES).

I enjoyed the quotes that were reported in the Deseret News article reporting the address:

“As Church education moves forward in the 21st century, each of you needs to consider any changes you should make in the way you prepare to teach, how you teach and what you teach if you are to build unwavering faith in the lives of our precious youth,” Elder Ballard said. “Gone are the days when a student asked an honest question and a teacher responded, ‘Don’t worry about it!’ Gone are the days when a student raised a sincere concern and a teacher bore his or her testimony as a response intended to avoid the issue. Gone are the days when students were protected from people who attacked the Church.” Continue reading →