ExMormon

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/18947261

The new policies include a measure to annotate trans members’ records, grouping them with members who have committed sexual violence or child abuse.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, known widely as the Mormon church, issued a slew of new policies this week expanding its restrictions on transgender members.

The policies, released Monday, include rules barring trans people from working with children, becoming priests and serving as teachers. The church also expanded on an existing rule that barred trans people from being baptized.

Trans members will also face possible annotation on their membership records, grouping them with churchgoers who have committed incest, sexual predatory behavior, sexual violence against children and embezzlement of church funds.

Lest anyone think the Church is "coming around..."

A friend and I have finally created a public exmormon wiki that's free for anyone to read and edit!

When I was deconstructing, I really wished there was a hub for all of the resources I needed. There is a ton of valuable content scattered around the internet, but it would have been great to have a one-stop-shop. So we made the resource I wish I had.

The (brand new) wiki at https://exmormon.miraheze.org is meant to accomplish this purpose. This wiki is designed to aggregate (as a community) our favorite community resources, historical and current events, essays about mormonism, and anything else that would be of value to someone experiencing a faith crisis or deconstruction.

This wiki is published in such a way that it can be available to anyone, free, forever. A nonprofit called Miraheze is generously willing to host our open-source MediaWiki site, and a plan for future-proofing the wiki is in the works (see a draft of our ideas and policies here).

As with any project like this, the greatest support needed right now is content generation and compilation. If you'd like to contribute, here are some ideas for (relatively painless) ways to do so:

• If you are posting or commenting with a very in-depth comment (with sources and meaningful insight) in this community, consider adding your remarks to the wiki as a new page (or an addition to an existing page) so that it has a longer lifespan. The creative-commons license of the wiki means there's no copyright licensing issue.

• If you've conducted research as part of your deconstruction, consider adding that research into the wiki. Pages don't need to be polished right off the bat; the important part is having resources available.

• If you have bookmarks of resources that have been valuable to you, consider adding links to the wiki.

• If you've been following a relevant news story or feel passionate about one, add a page about it starting with links to news articles.

• If you host or participate in an exmormon community (online or in-person), consider adding its details to the Communities page.

• If you are an exmormon content creator, consider adding (objective and fact-based) details about where people can find your content.

• If you've wanted to write your own "CES Letter"-type publication but haven't out of fear of judgment or lack of technical know-how, consider adding that content to the wiki.

Please feel free to contribute without fear. Just like other wikis, it's free and pretty simple to add and edit contents, and it's really hard for a public user to permanently damage the wiki. If you have questions or concerns, I'm active on Lemmy and my wiki talk page.

Of course, this wiki isn't meant to replace this community or any other resource. Rather, it's meant to give a long lifespan and improved visibility/accessibility to content that can support someone in their faith journey.

Thanks for your attention and time, and thanks for contributing to the wholesome community we have here. <3

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/18400362

State has ordered books by 13 authors, 12 of them women, to be removed from every public school classroom and library

"Turn owies into opportunities." 🤡

Honestly I hate wild fires; the smoke is no joke. It is horrible; and I hope they get it under control soon.

Thoughts and prayers…

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/15464125

"Thought-Terminating Cliches"

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/13804022

Happy Easter

I hate Easter. Pretty much always have and I think I always will. Let’s all freak out about Jesus pulling a hat trick. Well guess what folks, zombies aren’t real so Jesus didn’t pop out of a tomb after three days. Sorry for the spoiler.

But my biggest issue with it is the religious fanatics. Like people seem to lose their minds over the Jesus shit. This guy for example wants to rearrange an entire baseball schedule. My in laws are going to cram 25 people into a house that can’t fit more than 10. All because of Zombie Jesus. Thank you Zombie Jesus for ruining my spring every year, asshat.

So religion is a pretty common theme in his books. Stormlight and Elantris (more for the latter) have heavy religious influence.

I'm reading Elantris now, and I can't imagine a man who understands religion as well as he does (based on his writing) believes anything about the TSCC. This thought just came to mind as he's describing how the one dude knows how to manipulate the masses, using their pride and shame to his own ends.

Anywho, just throwing that out there. 🤷

Have a great weekend, and a lovely second Saturday everyone!

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/13341770

Kanaan VyShonne Barton says he’s following all other school rules but shouldn’t have to cut his hair: ‘My locs represent strength’

A Black student at a Mormon university in Hawaii said he has been told by staff to cut his shoulder-length hair because it does not adhere to school policies, he said.

Kanaan VyShonne Barton, a student at Brigham Young University-Hawaii, told the Salt Lake Tribune he has been engaged in a battle with the school since September over the length of his hair, which he has refused to cut.

The university requires students to follow an “honor code”, which states hair should be “neatly trimmed”, although the code has no official guidance on length.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/17782490

A businessman pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring with the leader of an offshoot polygamous sect near the Arizona-Utah border to transport underage girls across state lines, making him the first man to be convicted in what authorities say was a scheme to orchestrate sexual acts involving children.

Moroni Johnson, who faces 10 years to life in prison, acknowledged that he participated in a scheme to transport four girls under the age of 18 for sexual activity. Authorities say the conspiracy between the 53-year-old Johnson and the sect’s leader, self-proclaimed prophet Samuel Bateman, occurred over a three-year period ending in September 2022.

Authorities say Bateman had created a sprawling network spanning at least four states as he tried to start an offshoot of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which historically has been based in the neighboring communities of Colorado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah. He and his followers practice polygamy, a legacy of the early teachings of the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which abandoned the practice in 1890 and now strictly prohibits it. Bateman and his followers believe polygamy brings exaltation in heaven.