9 Comments

I saw that comment online and am so glad you addressed it! It pricks when people on either side imply there is only one rational/smart/right choice.

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Cynthia, I’m team vegan (also no nuts!) thanks to food allergies. Any thoughts on subbing avocado or olive oil for the butter? Seems like it should work but I’ve made a fair share of vegan flops so always seeking input before I commit whenever possible. Thanks 👩‍🍳

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Oh great question and I wish I had any experience with avocado oil! I would try a few that way but maybe try a few brushed/dipped with a neutral light olive oil? Or even refinded coconut oil? ~C

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Love this so much! I see it happening with Republicans vs Democrats too and I wish we could give each other the space to trust each other. I think of Brene Brown’s question (I forget which book) that asks, “Do we believe people are doing the best they can?” That makes all the difference in the world. I am still working on my faith crisis lesson for the fifth Sunday in June, and this is my goal too…to help us understand we’ve all gotten to our place of worship honestly. 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻Our dialogue would be so much better if that was our core belief.

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Agreed! I'm excited to hear about your lesson, Tawna. Good luck with that! I really wish I could actually be there—I dream of such lessons. —S.

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So well said, Candice! Thank you! Tolerance for personal choice is an area in which I hope the whole Mormon spectrum can improve -- all-in to postmo. Collectively, we're just not very good at it, in my view. I want us to be bettter. Helping move us in that direction is one of my goals for ALSSI.

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Susan, I absolutely adore this piece about waking up and personal choices in religion. I've also been in conversations online and in person in which I feel like it has been implied that staying religious or involved with a flawed faith institution is an inferior, less developed point to be at. Sometimes it buys into the all or nothing thinking-- faith is true, or its not. The adult to adult respect for others' personal choices regarding faith and spirituality you are talking about is something I value so much. Sometimes I have told friends with different beliefs that what I want is to meet in the middle where none of us claim to know the mysteries of the universe-- none of us know definitely whether there is an afterlife, whether Joseph Smith saw God, etc. I love that space of all being humble and treating each others as equals leaning into the mystery. One time an atheist friend told me her kids were scared of dying and then being nothing. I told her honestly that my kids were scared of dying and living forever. We talked about how neither of us knows the truth for sure and how our families can find comfort in the uncertainty and in realizing that whatever happens after death, we're in it together.

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So interesting that your kids and your friends kids have the same fear.....just flipped! ~C

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Yes, the flipped scenario surprised me! Recently when I'm around non-theistic people, I see that some of them spend a lot of time thinking deeply about spiritual questions. It can be a really brave kind of spirituality. In the past, I didn't think about the spirituality of non-religious people and what it would be like for them.

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