Apparently, there is a new pinup calendar in town, and it’s called the “Hot Mormon Muffins.”
The profits go to charity, so rest assured lest ye think that poor, naive, unsuspecting Mormon moms are getting conned and taken advantage of purely for their bodies so that evil, conspiring men belonging to a secret combination can make unholy profits. Well, actually, they might be – but at least that filthy lucre is financing research for breast cancer cures (and one of the participants is a breast cancer survivor, too – kudos to her).
Obviously, it’s poking fun at a lot of different Mormon stereotypes, and no doubt it’s going to cause a large stir within our humble church community. The creator of this calendar apparently also created a calendar of returned missionaries in various states of partial undress. However, in return, he lost his church membership and BYU refused to give him a diploma during his graduation ceremony (he lost the appeal on that one, too). Why? Because a calendar of returned missionaries without shirts apparently doesn’t keep with the standards of the Church.
I can understand that some more conservative Mormons would be upset (personally, I raised an eyebrow and not much more), but excommunication and denying a student of his diploma? Isn’t that a bit harsh? For producing a calendar with some muscle-y returned missionaries without shirts (but still wearing pants), he lost all spiritual blessings and lost four years of his time and tuition money? To me, that just seems like disciplinary overkill. Considering the fact that I know people who have done (quote-unquote) worse things than this and received much more lenient discipline, I’m a bit surprised. It’s not like he’s distributing Mormon porn – it’s nothing you won’t see if you decide to take a day out to the beach, even if it was an all Mormon beach. Reading Twilight probably messes you up more spiritually and emotionally than looking at a picture of a half naked guy.
Either way, I’m not planning on buying one, breast cancer or not (I prefer to fund breast cancer research through pink ribbon-emblazoned yogurt), but what are your thoughts on this? And is it really worth the controversy it seems to cause?
Edit: According to a source, the excommunication was not related to the calendars. Sneaky AP!
The Religiously Sanctioned Co-Habitation Chronicles 