***update – the writer M**** is no longer blogging publicly and has asked that I help protect her privacy so I’ve removed her name from this post and comments and removed any links I had up to her previous site, which no longer exists but which had a URL bearing her first and last name.***
Or can I just tattoo the Angel Moroni on my forehead instead? It would be a lot less itchy and would cover up more than a few…shall we call them “imperfections” on my face.
When I woke up this morning, my first thought was “What a great day to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!” I rolled to my knees and said a very humble, sincere, spiritual and heartfelt Mormony prayer.
I then got breakfast for my two little kids – yep! – they’re big fat Mormons too, both of them. So’s my husband, my mom, my dad, my 3 sisters and my brother. What a big family! Woo-hoo! We Mormons just LOVE families. (If you want to know more about what Mormons think about families, click here)
I just thought I’d make it a little easier for the bounty-hunters of discernment to find me and put me in a column somewhere.
This is an example of how certain Christians would prefer that my blog be written. Having a link on my sidebar to Mormon.org is not enough. Periodically mentioning things about my religious life is not enough. Giving back a Christian award for Humor when I found out that I was considered an evil interloper in the world of internet Christianity was not enough.
Now the person who exposed my blog as the “pea” underneath the legitimate Christian winners is at it again. She has called on her friends to go to Heather’s awards site, check out each of the nominees and put them into columns of Christian, Mormon or “Other.”
I am not making this next part up.
She is offering a reward for these bounty-hunters of faith. She says she thinks it’s fine for people to read each other, we should just all know what everybody is…
Hello. I am a human being.
What does knowing I’m Mormon have to do with caring that my son’s hand just got scorched or laughing at the way I chastise Ducky? Um…um…still thinking…
Casting Mormons and several other groups who believe in Christ out of their little club is not enough for her. She now has to seek out a group of awards that are dedicated to NOT labeling and classifying people and ruin their fun too.
Heather started the awards to recognize and reward us for the things that bring us together despite our vast differences. She wants the awards to be about “sharing the love.”
The writer who is concerned about the awards just makes me feel sad and tired all the way down to my bones! She writes that Mormons and others who are “not Christian” are sneaking their way into Christian circles by doing things like quoting C. S. Lewis on our blogs. Heck, I think Muslims should use C. S. Lewis quotes on their blog. He is just a fantastic and faith-filled man. Period. His words should be in as many places as possible. I also love the writing of Ellie Weisel and Gandhi. Am I trying to trick you into thinking I’m Jewish or Hindi? Um….no!
She says that we’re trying to convert you by weedling our way into your friendship groups. She wants bloggers to be much more clear about their “worldview” so that when people are reading you, they can take your writing with the right grain of salt.
So here are a few things you should know about my world view before you decide whether or not to read this blog any more:
-I am LDS, a card-carrying Mormon (had you gotten that yet or was I still being too sneaky?).
-I am not affiliated with any political party.
-I love being a mom.
-I don’t mind the Seattle rain that much.
-I give birth in hospitals.
-I like strawberry ice cream.
-I eat meat and vegetables, classifying me as an omnivore.
-I was raised white but Laylee has informed me that mommies can be blue or brown too.
-I cheer for the Calgary Flames hockey team. Any questions?
Run away. Run away now Edmonton Oilers fans!
Maybe I’ll carry this philosophy of making sure people are aware of everyone’s worldview into the way I speak with my friends in real life.
“Hey, my friend Shanna wrote me the sweetest note. I should warn you she’s a Republican.”
“Don’t you think Karen’s doing a great job on the PTA, besides the fact that she was a Girl Scout in junior high?”
“Come on Scott, we should be a little wary of your stance on the environment. You eat Chunky Beef Burger Soup with a FORK!”
Come on! Yes. I am LDS. I believe in LDS doctrine. If I did not, I wouldn’t put so much effort into my religion. It is sacred to me. A lot of people don’t believe in modern day prophets, Christ as their divine Savior, or read the Book of Mormon. Guess what!? They can belong to other religions or none at all.
THIS IS NOT A RELIGIOUS BLOG. It is a blog about my life, my kids and whatever the heck I want to write about. Sometimes I want to write about my mullet. Sometimes I want to write about my daughter’s prayers. Some people want to write a lot about their religious beliefs on their blogs and that’s fine. I read several “religious” blogs from various faiths and I enjoy them.
This blog is written by a person who likes you for your wonderful qualities and for the stories of your kids’ vomit and vandalism, that make me feel better about my own exciting mommy life.
It is written by a person who does not want to stamp labels on people.
It is written by a person who is sick and tired of this whole subject.
It is also written by a person who is purposely not linking to my past posts on the subject or to the blog of the woman who questions your discernment for even reading this far.
One last thing – I know that LDS people differ in belief from other Christian faiths just like other Christian faiths disagree with each other (This links to a great post by DYD about defining Christianity. Man, I like him!). I know some people don’t categorize us as Christians. I also know what I believe and anyone who comments on this blog to tell me “what I really believe but just don’t know it, even though I’ve been a member for 27 years” will be deleted.
I’m sick of the drama.
am i mormon? yes
am i christian? yes
does m**** have issues? apparently
PROPS to YOU!! DYM.
Kathryn,
I’m sorry about the re-run. Hope you can let it roll off and move on.
Here is my offering Kathryn. Hope you’re feeling better!
http://mydomesticchurch.blogspot.com/2006/02/discernment.html
let me try that again,
Here’s my offering
There is not much that I can add, as so many people have already said things very well. It is just so hard to believe that this stuff is going on still. I did not even know who you all were talking about. I saw her name and it was like a bad scene that I just had to “rubberneck” and go see. I ought not done that. Oh, maybe I will get put into the category of poor grammar now and be struck down by lightening. All I can say is holy crap, do SOME people really think like that? Your blog is wonderful. I love your stories. Do not even give her a second thought. It sounds like you have a lot of friends and support.
Kathryn, I think I need a little clarity from you. Do you like actual strawberry ice cream or the vanilla with strawberry swirls? I prefer the swirl kind but I can only usually find it in Big Bucket form and I don’t need that large of vat of ice cream. *sigh* What a dilemma.
Love your blog. Thanks for sharing tidbits of your life with all of us.
closet mormon -apparently- for lack of starting every thing i say or write with “i’m only mormon, but…”-,
outted republican,
strawberry ice cream hater because the seeds require too much dedication to cleaning from the teeth and the bible only talks about mustard seeds. (though, shamefully, i must admit i don’t eat mustard ice cream like a good Christian would either.)
seahawks fan (long before the superbowl fiasco)
and lets not forget that I watch Barbara Striesand movies (the horrible shame of it all!)which obviously makes me an irresponsible non-Christian Christian because i don’t discriminate er, i mean discern more appropriately.
sheesh. i got all worked up the last time she pulled this hud. but your blog was PERFECT so i won’t be needing nearly as much chocolate therapy this time.
This fits my day perfectly — I am already fuming about an article in the LA Times about our church, so let’s add a little more fuel to the fire. I am not so angry about the fact that this blogger wants people to be discerning — I’m all for that — it’s that she thinks you have in some way been deceptive about your Mormonism. I had only read your blog a couple of times before it became quite obvious to me. Sure, it’s not in every post, but why should it be? As you said, it really has no relevance to many (most?) of the things you write about.
The second thing that really bugs me is how she — and some of the commenters to the post — say things about the LDS church that aren’t even true and then act like they know better than we Mormons do. Crazy. Like how one commenter said we believe that Christ is the Son of Heavenly Father and his many wives. Uh, we don’t believe that, but thanks for playing. The level of hostility towards Mormons just floors me. I don’t understand it AT ALL. But then again, Christ was persecuted and mistreated more than anyone else who ever lived, so when we take slings and arrows for our faith, we are in good company.
I think you’re hysterical and a great writer and far more interesting person than I will ever be. But I don’t think any of that has very much to do with the fact that you are LDS.
‘Heartfelt Mormony prayer’ made me giggle.
The rest of this makes me want to cry. And hug you.
Instead I will tell you this: you are everything that is good about people of faith. Your beliefs clearly bring you peace and great joy, and you share that with us in your writing. The world could use more people like you, DYM.
And I am honored to know you.
I’m a lurker . . . and a Catholic . . . and I hate Chunky soup . . . but I love hockey. I don’t remember how I stumbled onto your blog, but I think you’re funny!! And, I even knew you were LDS! (oh my goodness!) I don’t want to convert you, either!
Ignore the kooky people and keep writing whatever you wish and worshiping however you wish!
What the…?!
What is this woman’s problem?
I’d be most interested to know what she would think about me being a Muslim, non-white mommy blogger enjoying being a nominee for Heather’s awards.
You rock, Kathryn. Take no notice.
I figured it out. She is jealous; because, apparently, the blog award you will win in a few days time is not your ordinary award. It is really a golden ticket to meet Jesus himself and live to tell about it. She must be upset that she won’t meet him till death. I’m sorry you were confronted on this, but you certainly have the backing of many more people, from a WIDE spectrum of backgrounds and faiths. It is quite apparent from your site what your belief is and the trickery insinuation is ridiculous. You are awesome and I don’t even know you. What I do know is that you have the amazing ability to connect to people through your writings. Keep doing what you are doing, you Mormon, you!
You know how I feel about this! I’ve been sporting my pink DYM shirt and green sweater in tribute today.
See, no one nominates me for awards so I never get called on the carpet about being LDS.
I just cannot believe the ignorance and holier than thou attitudes of some people. Live and let live- and if you’re going to call yourself Christian than practice the Christian principle of loving others.
Great blog entry, DYD, and DYM, and sorry about this mush. I personally can’t bear the thought of looking at that nincompoops’ blog (couldn’t help myself, sorry) and so I shant. You are outstanding people, and I am proud to know you and love you. Hugs all around. Pam
Hm. I guess what annoys me most (this whole thing is silly, really) is the assumption that Mormons don’t do anything without the ulterior motive of converting every person, plant, animal or rock they come in contact with.
It makes me feel like these Christian police (not all Christians! Just the ones who demand we all wear our own proper little Stars of David or crosses or CTR rings on our sleeves so we can discriminate properly!) are projecting their own intolerance for other beliefs onto Mormons. Obviously Mormons can’t stand any other set of beliefs so they have to purify the rest of the world…
Haven’t they heard of religious tolerance?
At any rate, I would like to let it be known for the record that I have never, in my life (or in any other life that I may have lived, for those of you who believe that), made any attempt whatsoever to convert a rock.
(And, DYM, I’m sorry about all this! Thanks for being a great example of how to deal with a bad situation.)
So I bring my dh in here to read your lovely post as well as the support you’ve received and he (the one who usaully notices nothing) points out that I’ve called you by the wrong name! I’m horrified! Not that Heather isn’t a good person to be confused with 🙂 Maybe you guys are used to that by now. Anyway, my apologies K-A-T-H-R-Y-N.
Kathryn-
I am so glad that you blogged this. I guess that sometimes living in Mormon-ville, I sometimes forget that our views and beliefs are often ridiculed and mocked by those who are not of our faith. I am so proud of you and the woman you are. You have always loved and supported me.
You are one of the first people I think about when I think of people who are truly trying to live a life with Christ in the Center.
I love you so much and amd so glad that I have you as an example to me.
well Fiddle-dee-dee!
I am darn near speechless, just fiddle-dee-dee! I just can’t find it in my heart to get riled up about this kind of hoo-rah any more.
If any one gives a hoot I’m happy to tell them I am LDS. If that bugs you then just move along…
Now let’s get back to real blogging. This kind of crap is just a distraction from checking out the blogs of the nominees to see who I’m voting for.
Well, look on the bright side….70 flippin’ comments!!
You go, girl!
From your van-naming, never-been-in-girl-scouts, vegetarian, uninterested-in-sports, never-had-kids, chocolate-loving, Seventh-day Adventist DYM fan in Eastern Washington.
By the way, I’d just sat down to check on blogs before getting into reading the latest issue of Discipleship Journal. The cover of this issue proclaims: “Why are Christians so Intolerant?” How apropos.
As long as you keep writing, I’ll keep reading. You make me I almost pee my pants.
Thanks, M****, for your amazing insight into religion. Sounds like you know exactly what you’re talking about.
M**** sounds like someone who just loves to stir people up with narrow and spiteful remarks in the name of religion. Her suggestion to have “Mormon, Christian and unknown” is mostly for herself anyway. It’s funny that she has no idea what any other religion there is other than the “Christian” religion that she is in her mind, and the “Mormon” religion that she has made up. And M****, it’s the Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-Day Saints. You kind of missed that part.
Anyway, I don’t mean to sound narrow or spiteful, since those aren’t very Christ-like attributes.
Well, I know that the Daring Young Mom didn’t post this comment to rally people against M****, so I don’t want to join the ranks, but I did want to add my voice to the others here that agree that she is incorrect. I’m sure if she’d posted that we should start teaching our children at school that we should separate everyone by race in our society there would be a similar response.
You’ve got to be kidding me. Doesn’t she have something better to do? Is she avoiding laundry or something?
I’ve said it before. If you want to categorize me, I’m a Super Christiany Christian by some people’s standards. My husband is a minister, which makes me super-tight with Jesus by association. (Detect my sarcasm, please!) But have you seen my latest post? Some people would think it’s very un-Christian sounding. And to them I’d say, get a LIFE.
K, you have an awesome blog. You’re voice and your humor really come through when you write. I love your perspective on motherhood, etc. Since I can’t hang out with YOU, reading your blog is the next best thing. Don’t change a thing!
Came back after reading about her discernment award. You know what it kinda reminded me of? Things like McCarthyism and the Salem Witch Trials, etc. Imagine the small-minded, puny-hearted people who wanted to be rewarded for “rooting out” those who hadn’t harmed anyone. . .That doesn’t just sound un-Christian to me. It sounds evil.
So you are Mormon, OK, I can handle that but, come on the Flames! Canadians Rule!
BTW, Not a card carrying member of ANY religion living out of wedlock with a 100% Catholic who suffered a lapse of judgement when he saddled himself with me. 5 kids. And yes, we might have more (you know CATHOLICS… geez)
Good for you, BE YOU!
Wow. 76 comments. Amazing.
I don’t know if you’ll read all of these or not but here’s what I have to say:
I’m a born again Christian. To me, all that means is I accepted Jesus as my personal savior of my own volition. That does NOT give me the right to judge others because they are different relgious beliefs or races or genders or anything else. Nothing makes me angrier than when someone pulls crap like this and says it’s in Jesus’s name. No, it’s not.
I had no idea that you’re Mormon. I don’t care. It doesn’t change anything for me. I read your blog because you’re funny. That’s all I care about.
The fact is, I read all types of different blogs. Because I like diversity. If we’re going to have to read blogs only by people that fit into the same categories as us, I never would have been able to read half of the blogs that I do because the majority of the blogs I read are by mothers. I don’t have children. I never plan on having children. That doesn’t mean that I can’t appreciate you, does it? I also read the blog of a gay man who is also a Drag Queen. It doesn’t mean that I’m going to become a Drag King or a lesbian. This woman is obviously confused about what being a Christian is all about.
Okay, long comment. Sorry. I’m climbing off my soap box.
And I am now blogrolling you. So there. And subscribing to you on bloglines. So there again.
Although these things are in support of you so I’m not sure so there really works in this context. Perhaps I’m saying so there to the mean lady.
Mmmkay — I think my feelings have been shared already.
But just in case… I’m thinking that blogs are where we share our hearts… stories that make us smile, cry, or think. And make friends that we can learn from.
Not make war. Not judge by one’s faith. Not make fun. Not cause pain.
Please — can’t we make nice? Please?
Man! Chin up, girl! 78 comments! Wonder what kind of searches are finding your site. You’ll have to let us know! 😉
Yeah, that chick is right on the money. Cause I am sure that’s what Christ would do…..
categorize and label us all
……so we could discreminate and judge each other accordingly. Now that’s divine inspiration!!
Heehee. Mormon or Other. Prejudice is so stupid, it’s funny sometimes. I had a kid in high school ask me if we actually had horns. HORNS!!! It’s a religion, not a species! Don’t give up. I’m LDS, but I read your blog for weeks before I knew (or cared) that you were. You’re a cool mom.
I’ve picked up some subtle hints that just maybe you might be Mormon. Nobody else seems to have picked up on the true implications of this. Does this mean you are the way you are WITHOUT benefit of CAFFIENE?????? Wow! If this is you on decaf what would happen with Java??? World domination perhaps??? Love your blog.
Beth
Now for the fine print
Roman Catholic
Happily married Mom of two (both adopted but I WOULD have given birth in a hospital and probably demanded an epidural because I am a BIG BABY)
Disposable diapers (bit I DID feel guilty)
I’m not sure that sending hate mail to her previous employment, or even to her, as advised by some commenters, is the proper way to respond.
I agree with Sarah Cool.
I think it can be seen by all the love and support you have gotten here, by people that don’t share the same faith, that they all know who the real christian is. I know who they choose to read and why! Keep sharing the love, that is what you do best!
Golly,… I had no idea that the awards that I THOUGHT were about WOMEN bloggers and not about anything else in particular could get so rough.
Psstt.. whoever you are hun.. I am LDS too.and on the nomination list, So you are aware I too am a card carrying mormon. So is Tigersue my sister, although I was a slug and didn’t get her nominated.
I honestly thought being a card carrying WOMAN is enough.
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
I think that one thing that was not mentioned… the nick name is “Mormon” but the name of the church is The Church of Jesus Christ of LatterDay Saints”. It is sad that some do not educate themselves before they inflict their judgement on something so silly.. Many have enjoyed your site. Keep up the good work. Be proud of who you are!
Just wanted to make it 90…
Hi there,
I am a Canuck living in the Seattle area too (waves Hi to my neighbour!), would be democrat if they’d let me vote, Christian though at times embarassed to say so, hockey and curling lover, reader, hater of hypocrisy. Oh yeh, and I am fat (lap-band surgery should be on my agenda fat).
I started reading your blog after the whole debacle the first time. I find you funny and refreshing. And the fact that you are LDS is neither here nor there to me.
M**** clearly has some issues regarding tolerance. It leads me to believe she is either insecure in her beliefs (as people who are intolerant often are) or she has been holding on to a lot of hurt in her past. Or maybe both.
At any rate, the current climate in this country seems to me to breed intolerance. Look what is happening in Florida with the neo-Nazis. Our (your) gov’t is intolerant to so many, they don’t exactly set a good example.
I leave you with two of my favourite quotes: labels are for jars, not people. And… God is neither a democrat or republican. I know that doesn’t have much to do with the current conflamma (sp?), but maybe we could change it to God is neither Mormon or an evangelical neo-Con?
Peace, from a fellow SAHM in the rainy, windy Pacific NW.
The deleted anonymous comment was removed by special request. Everyone deserves a little privacy and peace in their lives.
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