TikTok thinks I'm a Mormon

For whatever reason, TikTok thinks I am a Mormon, or an ex-Mormon (or, more correctly these days, a Latter-day Saint). I guess when I was researching the Mormon TikTok swingers post it put me in that very specific box.

Anyway, last week I said I had some TikToks to cover, so there’s a lot of stuff related to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints this week. The fact I’ve now gone back and watched all these videos again multiple times means I’ve just cemented the algorithm’s assessment of me.

Many of my friends refuse to click on TikTok links in the group chat. I don’t really know what to do about this, because what if I want to share a funny TikTok? I’m tempted to set up a Twitter alt where all I ever post is uploaded TikToks so I can trick people into watching them.

I know there are certain countries where TikTok is banned, so maybe setting up TikTok mirrors is a good practice anyway. I don’t know, I’ll think about it.

Short-form Biblical scholarship

I’ve been really enjoying Dan McClellan’s content on TikTok. Dan has a PhD in religion and works as a scripture translation supervisor for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

@maklelanA brief and inadequate introduction to my channel.

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His channel is packed with responses to other videos on TikTok that fact-check the various claims they make about Bible translation and history. He says the motto of his channel is “data not dogma” and pretty much always refers to the current academic consensus. This is often at odds with what the LDS church teaches, as he readily acknowledges.

@maklelanResponding to @alisachilders (via Instagram) #maklelan1002

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It’s probably the most comprehensive academic religion content I’ve seen on TikTok, or any social network actually. I also really like this video below because in addition to being very thorough, the end is pretty funny.

@maklelanProviding some additional context in response to @Womxn of Tomorrow Foundation #maklelan1014

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Semler and the Dove Awards

Semler, the queer Christian musician who keeps topping the Contemporary Christian Music charts on iTunes and getting featured on Spotify, was not invited to the Dove Awards (think Christian Grammys). So in protest, they booked a show the night before the Doves and it sold out.

Christianity Today subsequently covered the vague theological rationale for who is ‘in’ and who is ‘out’ in the Christian music industry, especially for LGBT+ and LGBT+ affirming artists.

From CT:

It remains to be seen how an industry that aims to be a big tent for the wide-ranging music of the global Christian faith will handle artists whose stances on LGBT issues differ. Will it strive to welcome diverse views in this area, as it does for questions of theology and musical taste?

Anyway, Semler somehow got an invite to the awards show the next day and took this photo on the red carpet.

I recommend reading the responses to this tweet about the Dove Awards after party it’s full of weird little facts — like there is an open bar and they only played secular music!

What is a BYU student’s favourite swear word?

@danbanbamAsking BYU students if they'd rather drink a cup of coffee or a cup of cooking oil?

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Daniel Spencer is probably most well-known for his ‘vibe check’ videos, but he also does this series where he interviews students at Brigham Young University, which is operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

@danbanbamAsking BYU students their favorite swear word...

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It’s the kind of thing that could easily slide into ridicule but I don’t think it ever does? The one where he asks students their favourite swear word was so popular he did it twice two years apart.

@danbanbamReplying to @jennamont11 Asking BYU students their favorite swear word...2 years later.

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McMento Mori

The person who tweeted this is a Catholic artist and sells her work on Etsy. Looking through it, I realise I think I’ve featured her work of the Blessed Carlo Acutis before (should he ever be canonised, he will likely be patron saint of internet users).

Effraim’s Book of the Priesthood of God: from ADAM to EZRA TAFT BENSON

@mildwestsamiReplying to @zeldaunderthemoon this is the briefest overview I could do, the rabbit hole is deep 😭 #mentalhealth #schizophrenia #psychosis #mentalhealthawareness

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These videos from Mild West Sami about the Mormon-adjacent religion her grandfather founded and holy text he wrote. She does a flip through of the book here. Sami was raised in the LDS Church, but has since left and occasionally makes videos about that.

@mildwestsamiApostSLAYte ✨  @lex1898 #exmo #exfundie #exmormon #apostate

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How nuns got squeezed out of the communion wafer business

I’ve written before about Irish nuns who make communion bread (and ‘waste’ a lot of it) as a way to fund their community, but The Hustle reports that the situation in the United States is very different.

While nuns used to make the vast majority of communion wafers in the US, they have since been muscled out of the market by a for-profit company. The final nail in the coffin for many convents? The COVID-19 pandemic, which caused demand for wafers to dry up almost entirely because nobody was going to church.

Lastly, what’s in the dinosaur?

@swimminglyfish#dinosaur #notwhatiexpected #brontosaurus #dinosauradventure #whatwasthat not what I expected to see on my birthday adventure

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