The closer Mitt gets to the Oval Office, the more the heat turns up on Mormonism, to the point where even Mormons are worried about it potentially accelerating the rate of disaffection. (Some of the most unlikely people are leaving these days.) The church itself has started acting a little funny. They keep producing questionable infographics. (It was quite the week for infographics — this version is hilarious!!) On the other hand, there are still plenty of Mormons who would be more than happy to see Mitt win.

Mitt would be better off listening to the Bloggernacle. Some of the church’s dirty laundry (like the race problem) will get aired, regardless of the PR department’s efforts. And part of the disaffection is due to simply not having a place for people who are different (and the place for half of the same people isn’t that great). That and the boring meetings.

Mitt hopes his wife will help with his problems with women and likeability issues. (Note: with the war on women heating up in the US, I hope to be seeing reports of the nationwide rallies soon.) He wants to make government small enough to fit in your bedroom. Meanwhile, issues like the problems with teaching serving testing instead of vice-versa and a real look at the problems with lack of healthcare don’t seem to get enough airtime.

For Mo current events, I think some of the best commentary has been Chino’s headlines for the exmo reddit: “Why are Democrats anti-Mormon?” is the latest wrong question of this silly season. The question that deserves an answer is “Why are Mormons anti-Democrat?”, We’re building a new exmo world for wired LDS youth, but I won’t dismiss folks like JB. I missed hearing advice like hers back when I was 19. Mormon or not, when you’re young and precocious (or simply big-hearted and awkward), it’s nice to hear a grown-up preach courage to pioneer spirits., “The group noted that gay representatives have been meeting for three years with LDS public-affairs officials, but never church authorities.” Welcome to the show, Soulforce. Next time, simply park your rig overnight at BYU with gay-friendly bumper stickers and keep the cameras rolling., and Deseret News finally posts a relevant headline: If we’re so happy, why are we suicidal? (spoiler on that last one: no, Deseret News doesn’t think the church itself might be making its members suicidal). Any comments on what happened to Denise Grahm? See also Kuri’s GoodReads.

In personal stories, Miguel visited Temple Square, and Seth attended Phoenix Pride. SoSaysMe has been contemplating forgiveness, LittleMissAttitude has been time-travelling and Foxy has been sparring on Facebook. Angela has been continuing her Journey Through Mormonism series and Lynnette has been chronicling her feminist history.

In theology, there was quite the discussion on the efficacy of prayer. What does it prove about the church and about the individual person? This study might shed some light on the question. And what are prophets good for? Also this piece on LDS ideas on human origins is interesting, but contains one statement that I’d be curious to see the reference for (specifically, who in the said there were people before Adam and Eve?):

In response to DNA issues, the Mormon Church subtly announced that ancient people from the Middle East mixed with humans whose ancestors migrated to America before the creation of Adam and Eve.

In books, check out Ingrid Ricks’s new book, as well as new reviews of Heaven Up Here and a review of Why I Stay.

I had such grand plans to get so much done this weekend!!! (Many of them were undone by partying all afternoon/evening Saturday with a cool exmo friend, others by the usual culprit.) Anyway, I was hoping to watch all of the mo-related videos that showed up in my RSS reader, and pick one for the sidebar here. So, I’ll pass the task along to you — have a look and tell me which one you like best:

And there were some Mormon culture videos that I’m not sure I can embed: Daymon found and reviewed this rare treasure from 1960’s correlation, and Polygamy Chic found this video on polygamist fashion.

To all a great week!!