Getting Your Daily Dose If You Need It

A couple of headline stories from today's news:
1. Content warning: child deaths. Molly Oswaks, writing for Vice News' "Broadly" section, has a disturbing story today about finding an infant cemetery at the FLDS community of Short Creek, and trying to understand why "this polygamous community has buried so many of its children." The short answer? "Inbreeding, according to it's community members."

2.  Vocativ has a story today that is nothing short of sensational. Profiling the ExMormon subreddit, which they describe as something that is "dismantling the Mormon church." While the story is sensational, it is an interesting look at how the ExMormon subreddit has played a role in some of the discussions and narratives within the Mormon community at large. Personally, I find them to be full of hyperbole, sensationalism, angst, immaturity and to be a very similar style of annoying ultra-orthodox exMormon as they probably were when they were annoying ultra-orthodox Mormon. I can't deny that there IS something happening with that community that seems to be gaining steam. I just wish certain influential individuals who profess their newfound skepticism in the Online Mormon world would use a bit more of that skepticism, especially when it comes to rumors from an anonymous forum. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut.
3. Friend-of-the-Report Jana Riess has another FotR guest-blogging today at Flunking Sainthood - Mette Harrison, with a letter to her daughter's Mormon seminary teacher. From LGBT issues to allowing room for heterodoxy to gender roles, this has it all. I'll be intrigued to see if there's a follow-up response from the seminary teacher.
4. There have been some big Utah politics updates that seem to put the finishing touches on a few stories we have been following:

• Regarding the legalized marijuana bill, it looks like that one is dead . . . The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also issued multiple statements opposing his bill."
• There were two LGBT-related bills proposed to the Utah legislature this year as well - Senate Bill 107 and House Bill 234 - that also failed among lawmakers. . . The measures stalled due partly to intervention from Utah's predominant faith, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, . . Mormon Sen. Steve Urquhart, R-St. George sponsored SB107, "blamed his faith for killing the proposal, which died on a 17-11 Senate vote."
• Speaking of the FLDS federal ruling, the LA Times picked up on the story here.