Ace Mormon

Update: this blog is largely defunct, most of what would have been posted/reblogged here is either posted on my main (@starryarchitect) or on my reblogs blog (@starryarchitect-reblogs) since I've gotten better at *not* compartmentalizing my identity. But feel free to explore the old stuff on here! She/her. Member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, probably asexual and biromantic but who knows for sure, figuring things out and working her way through college.

[acemormon]

"Take My Life," Michael McLean / Ether 12: 27 / "Lead, Kindly Light" (x2) / "The Joy of Our Redemption," Kristin M. Yee / "Don't You Know," Michael McLean / Jeremiah 18 / Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis / Doctrine and Covenants Section 24 / "Take My Life," Michael McLean

[acemormon]

We listened to "The Joy of Our Redemption" in Institute last night and I realized I forgot to include the part that first made me want to cry when I heard it:

[acemormon]

"Take My Life," Michael McLean / Ether 12: 27 / "Lead, Kindly Light" (x2) / "The Joy of Our Redemption," Kristin M. Yee / "Don't You Know," Michael McLean / Jeremiah 18 / Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis / Doctrine and Covenants Section 24 / "Take My Life," Michael McLean

[obsessingoverl]

Queer LDS folk, what has your experience been with acceptance in the church in different areas?

Overall positive in Utah

Overall negative in Utah

overall positive elsewhere in the US

overall negative elsewhere in the US

Overall positive outside the US

Overall negative outside the US

Voting ended onMar 13, 2024

I'm kinda curious where the church culture is most accepting of LGBTQ people, so if you're comfortable doing so, please add more info in the tags!!

[sailforvalinor]

I love him, your honor

[sermna]

Experienced several previously undiscovered emotions today because my (conservative) mom said being gay is a choice because SHE likes women too but she simply chooses not to acknowledge it

[obsessingoverl]

Ugh the religious comphet mindset is pissing me off today

Anyone have wholesome stories about mormon members being accepting?

[acemormon]

There's a mother in my ward who always has a pride pin on her bag. I asked her about it once and she said it's a way to support someone (who she cannot share the name of) who she loves.

[brothermouse]

Me: Don't talk to me until I've had my coffee!😂

Them: Aren't you Mormon? I thought you didn't drink coffee?

Me: Accurate. Don't talk to me. Ever.

[homunculus-argument]

fantasy story: but we grew complacent, indulgent, arrogant, spoiled by this era of prosperity and splendour, and in our short-sighted greed and vanity, we ended it. me at 15: I hate this stupid trope. People aren't going to just turn stupid and ruin everything just because things have been "too good" for "too long". Why does this author think that people are inherently stupid and evil? people on social media in 2024: I'm not going to vaccinate my dogs or my children because polio, measels and rabies are so rare they're not a real threat anyway uwu me at 30: Ah. I see.

[acemormon]

book of mormon pride cycle

[brothermouse]

Do you think that patriarchal blessings could be homophobic/heteronormative in terms of who you're supposed to marry? I am a lesbian and my blessing details me finding my husband and the 4+ children that we're supposed to have together, and it honestly feels like God has 0 understanding of me as a human being because I don't want to marry a man, nor do I want any children.

Am I crazy for thinking maybe these AREN'T the words that I was supposed to hear about my actual life and instead something that I was TOLD rather than what's meant for me? I've always, ALWAYS been taught that the patriarchal blessing is law and something that you cannot escape as long as you are faithful, even if you don't want those blessings.

I just don't feel like I've ever really heard any LBBTQ+ members talk about their patriarchal blessings in terms of their queerness and I was interested for your thoughts.

Patriarchal blessings are a strange beast to figure out. Not quite scripture, not quite fortune telling, mystical yet codified.

I think you’re right that most blessings use gendered terms where those specific genders are inaccurate. I think that comes down to the way we receive the blessings. I imagine each Patriarch is different, but the way they receive revelation on what the blessing should say ought to be reasonably similar to the ways other revelation is received.

That is to say, with a few exceptions, revelation tends to be a vibe that is put into words. The vibes may be 100% accurate, but the words are going to be limited to the patriarch’s vocabulary.

For example; my blessing contains the following line: “I bless you that at the right time you will find a young lady…and that you will be happily married.” Now, knowing that I am bisexual, a “young lady” is is not the only option. Also, as I creep into my 30s a young lady is becoming one of the more problematic options. But here’s the thing: I received my blessing in 2008. Same sex marriage was legalized in the USA in 2015. My patriarch was probably in his 70s at the time. So, the idea that someone could marry either gender was probably not a possibility he had ever really considered. Not part of his vocabulary, you see? As for the “young” part, I’m convinced that this man would call any woman he met a young lady as, what he would consider, a sign of respect, regardless of age.

So he got an impression: “this person will get married at the right time to a good person.” Given the local culture and his own vocabulary, he said “at the right time you will marry a young lady”.

What I guess I’m trying to say is that the blessing itself isn’t the written words on the page. The ink on paper is just an access point. Something you can reference in your questions to God. I.e. “in this line, the patriarch said this, what did you tell him to prompt that?”

In your case it may be that God told the patriarch that you and a partner will lovingly care for and protect others. Because of the limits of his social and cultural vocabulary, he interpreted that to mean marriage with children.

It might be helpful to try and make an “Inspired Version” of your blessing. Prayerfully go line by line and rewrite it in your own words as the spirit dictates. Be sure to recognize that you, too, have a limited vocabulary to work with, and you may want to revisit and revise in the future.

Now, as for this:

I've always, ALWAYS been taught that the patriarchal blessing is law and something that you cannot escape as long as you are faithful, even if you don't want those blessings.

I believe that you were taught incorrectly. God respects your agency, even if humans don’t. He will not give you a “blessing” that you don’t want. It’s important to remember that all teachings not directly from the spirit come from imperfect mouths. If a teaching doesn’t pass the smell test for you, there’s probably a good reason.

There are mortal things and there are divine things. As part of the Plan of Salvation, we are largely cut off from the divine things for our protection. As long as we get our information of the divine through flawed mortal tools we can easily be forgiven for getting things wrong. If you don’t understand your patriarchal blessing, that’s ok. You probably never will fully understand it. As long as you try to understand, that’s enough.

[acemormon]

This is actually really helpful because lately I've been so nervous about my patriarchal blessing (it's being talked about. A lot. And I'm trying to decide whether or not to get one), and worried that it'll say something I don't want. My mom asked me "do you really believe Heavenly Father, who knows and loves you, will say something you don't want" and in my head I was like "well no but what about the old straight married white guy serving as the patriarch"

[anna-scribbles]

similarly to the last anon, i really appreciate that while you post about your faith, you’re never “repent or burn” about it. i struggle with religious trauma, so seeing someone being open about their faith while being gentle and kind about it is helpful in reminding me that not every christian is as hateful as the ones who caused my trauma. you’re a wonderful artist and person, keep up the good work <3

hey anon <33 thank you so much, I know you sent this a while ago and I've been thinking about how to respond since then because this really means a lot to me. (more under cut)

I became a Christian when I was very young, and my faith has been the core part of my identity for most of my life. I grew up in the Christian church and I've been extremely blessed and privileged in the fact that this was overwhelmingly a positive experience for me. I was supported and cared for - but I also witnessed the ugliness of prejudice within the church against certain groups of people, which made me sick.

I remember being 14 or 15 and just feeling really burdened because the way I heard a lot of Christian leaders in my life talking about gay and trans people didn't align with the gospel I knew at all. The Jesus who saved my life was the person who spent his earthly ministry with all the people that the church leaders of his day rejected - the tax collectors, the prostitutes, the poor and disabled. The Jesus who saved me didn't save me because I was better than anyone else, but because I knew exactly how desperately I needed him.

To this anon and to anyone who might happen upon this post and who has experienced religious trauma from the Christian church: Firstly, I am so so sorry that happened to you. Your hurt is real and you deserve so much better than that. Secondly, the people who hurt you in no way represent the God who loves you. Christ is not the church, thank God.

I'm actually on the aro/ace spectrum and in the last few years or so God has opened up a lot of doors for me to build relationships with more LGBTQ+ people and LGBTQ+ Christians, so the realities of religious trauma are on my mind a lot. It means more than I can say that I have been a better example of Christ's love than those who have hurt you, and it's something I can only attribute to his work in my life.

To anyone who needs to hear it: God loves you. He loves you right now, as you are, and he wants you to know him right now, as you are.

Thank you again anon for this sweet message, it was very encouraging to me. I hope you can find some encouragement too <33

[apenitentialprayer]

A Mormon Miracle Folkstory

A dear L.D.S. [Mormon] lady left her small family in Phoenix to go to the temple in Mesa. While she was in the middle of a session, she got a strong feeling that she should go home - that something was terribly wrong. The feeling wouldn’t go away, so she told the temple president and asked him what she should do. He said, “Have no fear. You are doing the right thing by being here. All is well at home.” So she continued the session. She hurried home when she was through and found her six-year-old daughter in bed. She asked her daughter if something was wrong. She told her mother that she had left the house while the babysitter was busy with the other children and had gone out by the canal near their house. While she was playing, she slipped on some grass and fell in. She couldn’t swim, and the canal is deep. Many people drown this way. But a lady all dressed in white came along just then and got her just before she would have drowned. The lady set her on the bank and made sure she was okay. The little girl asked the lady who she was because she knew that the lady didn’t live near by. So, the lady told her what her name was. The lady who saved the little girl was the lady whom the mother had done work for in the temple that day.

a story collected by Kathryn Wright in 1975.

Barre Toelken, who studies water lore and symbolism in western and Mormon lore, is interested in this story because the themes of water and irrigation make their way into sacred narrative. He is right, of course, but to really comprehend this story one must probe the depths of deeply-held Mormon beliefs, beliefs I haven’t space to detail fully here. Briefly, Mormons believe that saving gospel ordinances must be performed in the flesh. Since their deceased ancestors have not had this opportunity, Mormons seek out the names of these ancestors through genealogical research and then vicariously perform these ordinances for them in sacred ceremonies in their temples. The session mentioned in the story would be an occasion for performing these ordinances. To believing Mormons, this story speaks many messages. It encourages them to persist in the search for their ancestral roots; it testifies to the validity of temple ordinances; it suggests that God is a caring God who will protect them in time of need; it stresses the importance of the family and strengthens family ties; it gives them hope that these ties will continue beyond this life. In one narrative situation after another, these messages are brought forcefully home by an artistic performance of the story designed to move listeners to action and are made all the more powerful by the narrative symmetry in which two lives are saved at the same moment - the physical life of the young girl and the eternal life of the rescuer, the mother serving as the link between the two.

- William Wilson, “The Concept of the West And Other Hindrances to the Study of Mormon Folklore.” Bolded emphases added.

[starryarchitect]

carbs > abs

[itsflix]

Browsing Tumblrstake Trying to find uplifting things to reblog

exmormon post, exmormon post, exmormon post, exmormon post. Sigh. If you’re an uplifting and/or lds blog, like or reblog or whatever this post and I’ll check you out. My dash is dead and I’d like to follow more blogs.

[acemormon]

at least I hope I'm uplifting

[rimonoroni]

oh no, i don’t have a problem with atheists, per say, you’re free to…. “”believe in”” whatever you want! it’s just that, well,,,, i wish atheists would admit that their worldview is inferior to mine in every way shape and form like we both clearly know it is. i mean, anybody that’s still an atheist these days is either crazy or a con man, those are just facts!! we don’t have a need for atheism anymore, you know, we’ve just evolved past the need for any kind of atheist belief! back in the day when we were more primitive, I’m sure atheism was very helpful, but human beings are better than that now!

of course I don’t have any prejudices against atheists, it’s just that whenever I meet one, I feel the need to rant to them about how their beliefs are inferior and how their lack of belief in a god makes them nothing more then petty simpletons with no significant thoughts or ideas of their own! and I mean, what’s so wrong about that? it’s only facts, truly, and disagreeing with me is just denying the truth. some atheists are nice to me right up until I trash their beliefs, cultures and religions as inferior to my superior, more enlightened ideas of the world!! i simply cannot fathom why they would become hostile or defensive towards me once I disrespect their lives and very real struggles! oh the lengths that people will go to deny true science….

[christians can reblog but don’t fucking hijack this post, you’re on thin fucking ice]

[localtranslaurel]

today my older sister and I were talking on the drive home from church, and mentioned that our church recognized Eve's decision to eat the fruit as necessary and ultimately good because of the role it played in the plan, while a lot of other churches don't think of it that way. but she then went on to point out that while we recognize Eve's decision as a necessary one, most people don't extend that same sentiment to Judas. his actions of selling out Jesus were just as necessary, so how come we treat the two situations so differently? I never thought about that, so it was really interesting to hear her bring that up. I'd love to hear some more thoughts on it!

[acemormon]

NO WAY I WAS JUST TALKING ABOUT THIS LAST NIGHT! My parents told me that it's not the same thing because Eve was obeying a commandment (to populate the earth), whereas Judas was betraying the Savior. Eve's action was disobedient but not morally reprehensible, whereas Judas's move of selling his friend was . . . ew. I'm not sure how much I agree with that because ultimately both actions were necessary and both were technically wrong, but it's a thought

[sun-shines-today-also]

See I think for me it’s not an obedience/disobedience thing (though to be fair I’m somewhat...rebellious, I guess, about the emphasis we sometimes place on that paradigm.  I think it has to do with the righteousness of their intention and desire.  Eve wanted something good- knowledge and growth.  Judas was acting out of bitterness and greed, no righteous desire in sight.

[acemormon]

This explanation is so much better, thank you

[nerdygaymormon]

[actualmermaid]

Petition for queer Mormons to start calling ourselves “peculiar”

[acemormon]

seconded