Mormon stuff:

Sharman Hunter Wilson shared a link. Nov 18, 2015 2:41pm

Mormonism at its best: The sacrament of helping other people move - Flunking Sainthood janariess.religionnews.com One of a hundred reasons why Mormons who feel bad about certain policies don't "just leave." My family's move from Illinois to Colorado 28 years ago is another good example. I got very sick with food poisoning a few days before we were to leave, and I ended up sick and weak in bed on moving day, watching members of our DeKalb Ward--men, women, and young people--packing and loading up stuff for our young family of six. We had called the Bishop of the ward in the Boulder area where we hoped to live (we hadn't found a place after two reconnaissance trips out). We pulled into the chapel parking lot with our U-haul and Ram van, and church guys we had never seen before showed up to help us unload most of our stuff into a storage unit. When we finally got into a house, they were there again, helping us move stuff from storage into our house. My husband, kids, and I have been on the giving end, too--scores of times. It's a goodbye/hello ritual that I cherish!

I have pretty strong feelings about the treatment of LGBTQ people. Here's a Facebook post:

Sharman Hunter Wilson shared a link. Jan 27, 2016 4:55am

No, Franklin Graham, LGBTQ Children Are Not The Enemy patheos.com Have we forgotten that these kids were once our precious babies? Can we imagine how confusing and frightening it must be for lgbtq youth being raised in a traditional religious home that listens to the likes of Franklin Graham? How devastating must it be for these children to realize that they do not fit, neither can they change themselves to fit into the only mold deemed "natural" and acceptable by everyone they love and look up to, including God? Can you imagine how difficult it would be to risk rejection and, in a cry for help, come out to their parents? How would it be if, instead of allowing their initial shock to escalate into hot-headed condemnation and banishment, these parents sat down and really listened to their children. Maybe they could ignore the strident voices and take a little time to think and to get more information about it. Could they put away disproven theories and unexamined assumptions and be open to new understandings and reliable research? How might it change their perspective if they discovered there was no one to blame for any of this--no moral failures or bad choices made by anyone. They might come to that conclusion after some real pondering: our child tells us these feelings and dreams come unbidden, consistently, and out of her heart of hearts. It is not a choice for her. Can anyone really choose their feelings or their core identity? Why would anyone actually choose to have feelings that bring on such turmoil and rejection and that seem to jeopardize eternal prospects? After learning about more likely explanations and coming to understand what really matters, mothers could confound the "religious" hypocrites : "As my son grew inside my body, did he choose his genes, along with all the posible chemical or biological triggers that passed back and forth between us at crucial stages of his development? If not, then how is it right to condemn him out of hand? You don't know him or how he lives his life or how he treats others. Those are the things he does have a choice in, and that is where accountability lies. Besides, HE'S JUST A KID, for heaven's sake!" Rant over.

Sharman Hunter Wilson shared a link. Nov 22, 2013 9:12pm

This is my memory from the day John F. Kennedy was shot: Total Domination  | American Journalism Review ajr.org Behind the scenes in Dallas 50 years ago--great article. I was 10 years old and I can see three scenes in my mind: 1) the loudspeaker in the art room as it came on announcing that President Kennedy had been shot, 2) the radio on the school bus saying that the President was dead, and 3) getting off the bus, running down the hill of my front yard, then upstairs into the big hall where we kept the ironing board and pile of clothes waiting to be ironed, flinging myself onto the soft pile and sobbing my heart out.

Sharman Hunter Wilson shared a link. Dec 10, 2013 11:49am

Race and the Priesthood lds.org This statement on LDS.org is the most comprehensive so far in decrying rascism, especially in regards to the priesthood restriction policy (ended in 1978) practiced in the church for so many years. Mormon friends: please read and share so the pernicious folklore rationalizing that policy is finally relegated to the past, where it belongs. The harm done by these ideas has been incalculable to those in as well as outside the church, to non-blacks as well as blacks. God forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

February 28

Sharman Hunter Wilson shared Beauty Redefined's photo. Feb 28, 2014 11:32am

"Modest is Hottest" kind of defeats the whole purpose, doesn't it? If girls are supposed to dress modestly to keep guys from having "inappropriate thoughts" about them, then telling girls that modesty is "hot" is turning around and telling them that dressing modestly will make boys have inappropriate thoughts about them. In other words, boys will have inappropriate thoughts no matter how you dress. I kind of don't think that's the message they meant to convey.

Here's another Facebook post:

Sharman Hunter Wilson shared a link. Aug 07, 2014 2:45am

Mormon missionaries and the stigma of early return - Flunking Sainthood janariess.religionnews.com So much cultural and personal baggage regarding this issue! I hope the attention this has been getting lately will smooth the way for those who need to come home early. It is especially critical for those suffering from mental health issues. It's well known that many of these illnesses and disorders begin to show up in the late teens/early 20's; and that they are often triggered by stressful situations. Mission life is so radically different from anything young people have ever experienced, it can throw even the healthiest of them for a loop. For those predisposed to mental health challenges, it can pull the rug right out from under their feet and send them into a downward slide that can take years to recover from. The sooner they get help, the better, and if that means going home for treatment, so be it. I've seen up close and personal what can happen when someone feels obligated to "stick it out" instead of asking for timely help, and I've been slammed by the resultant landslide that has taken down with it so many of us who stood close by. Please remember, Mormon folks, (as I switch metaphors) that we're all in this boat together, and we need to toss this heavy baggage off to keep us afloat!

I'm experimenting with putting some Facebook posts of mine up on my blog. Here's one from 2014 where I comment on an Exponent article.

Sharman Hunter Wilson shared a link. Aug 09, 2014 2:41pm

I Hope You Stay the-exponent.com I know my capacity for empathy is limited by my own experiences (and lack thereof). I, like Melody, have so many reasons for hoping people stay, but I am also painfully aware of my capacity to pour salt on the wounds of the deeply wounded by expressing that hope. It's a conundrum of the highest level because when we love something, we want to share it with those we love. The fact that sometimes our own life-saving elixir could be poison to someone else is more than most of us can comprehend or even bear. I wonder if thinking of it in terms of something like food allergies might help. I love shrimp, peanut butter, and strawberries, and they are good and wholesome for my body, but would I offer them to someone deathly allergic, hoping they would eat them with as much gusto as I do? People sometimes get over allergies, but perhaps I'm showing my insensitivity and bias by thinking that would be a good thing. So much for metaphors. The more I try to understand anything, it seems, the more I realize that I see through a glass darkly, and the more I long to see as God sees and love as God loves.