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Tuesday, July 15, 2008

The Verdict: Agree or Disagree?

Many of you are probably aware of the Men on a Mission calendar put out last year. Here is the consequence of Chad Hardy's creative venture. Agree? Disagree? Think there is more to this story?

posted by Melissa @ 7/15/2008 10:23:00 AM   add to kirtsy


20 Comments:

  • there is absolutely more to the story. if the church sought excommunication based on the calendar alone, they could've done it a long time ago. i think it's unfair to say "here is the consequence." by his own admission, hardy has been inactive for several years, even painting himself as an unbeliever as opposed to someone who just hasn't been to church. he's endowed and has publicly stated that he no longer wears garments, doens't pay tithing, doesn't keep the word of wisdom.

    it's important to note that because the church (appropriately) doesn't make public the proceedings of disciplinary courts, we only ever get one side of the story.
    posted by Anonymous Anonymous at 7/15/2008 12:03:00 PM  



  • Seems like an over-reaction to me.
    posted by Anonymous Anonymous at 7/15/2008 12:21:00 PM  



  • Dude, the guy's endowed, gay and had non-marital sex. The calendar had nothing to do with it.
    posted by Anonymous Anonymous at 7/15/2008 12:39:00 PM  



  • Ooh...dangerous territory here...lots of room for judgments that I think we have no business making...maybe that's why MMW has COMMENTS CLOSED....should be interesting to see what turns up here...
    posted by Blogger Kage at 7/15/2008 12:47:00 PM  



  • The article wrote that he had been inactive for years and did other things to invoke a disciplinary counsel.

    The calendar was just a tiny bit of the puzzle.
    posted by Blogger Cheryl at 7/15/2008 12:47:00 PM  



  • This comment has been removed by the author.
    posted by Blogger James at 7/15/2008 01:36:00 PM  



  • He's endowed. He's gay. He didn't keep the law of chastity because he engaged in homosexual sex. That's why he was exed. Not that anybody is talking about that....
    posted by Anonymous Anonymous at 7/15/2008 02:07:00 PM  



  • I have to agree, I think there must have been more to it.
    posted by Blogger Amander at 7/15/2008 02:08:00 PM  



  • I cannot agree more that there was more to this story, probably individual misbehavior on the part of Mr. Hardy.

    But, I think this whole episode has been hurtful because it made the LDS community look odd and strange.

    Too many folks reacted like this stupid calendar is the most awful thing that has happened in ages. Was it arguably tacky? Sure. But, it is just a calendar of some handsome young men in fairly modest poses telling about their missions and activities since.

    That reaction was so vociferous and aggressive. It is seemed so disproportionate. Folks on many of the web sites were hoping that the high council would grind Mr. Hardy into dust for his blasphemy.

    That reaction made our community look so strange. I've heard all kinds of comments from my non-Mormon friends. I hope people realize that showing men (who are ex-missionaries not current ones) with their shirts off is not the grossest form of evil. Nor is it a direct threat to the church. It is silly, kind of dumb and many other things.

    I keep thinking of President Hinckley's comment to Larry King that Mormons are not weird. We didn't shine on this one.
    posted by Anonymous Anonymous at 7/15/2008 02:59:00 PM  



  • The calendar is disrespectful to the ideology of what a missionary is. About the guy, I would definitely think there is more to his excommunication than the calendar. If he were straight why didn't he make a calendar of missionary chics in bikinis? The gay community that I've seen has missionaries set up as fantasies for their own lustful desires. This calendar is just portraying that, which I find repulsive.
    posted by Anonymous Anonymous at 7/15/2008 03:24:00 PM  



  • What bothers me is how he is letting the press portray the story. If there is more to it, why let the public believe he was excommunicated because of the calendar? He doesn't have to go into details, but "other reasons" should suffice.

    I'm not down with making any judgments, that is not our job. I just think the attention the church is getting is that we kick people out of our church for silly things.

    The website for the calendar highlights what missions do for these young guys. If he wanted to eroticize missions the bios and pictures could have been a lot different.
    posted by Blogger Melissa at 7/15/2008 04:05:00 PM  



  • Gee, the guy has managed to create a link were there really isn't one to promote his calendar. That seems to be the only story.
    posted by Blogger Stephen at 7/15/2008 04:41:00 PM  



  • How do these anonymous people know he's gay and engaged in homosexual behavior?

    Honestly it was more than just the calendar, but the fact is the calendar brought light to him and the calendar is contrary to church standards.
    posted by Blogger Lacey at 7/15/2008 04:43:00 PM  



  • A direct quote from Mr. Hardy to the Chicago Tribune...

    "They were very respectful to me," Hardy said of the meeting. "(The calendar) was the main issue. There were no personal issues involved in this.
    posted by Anonymous Anonymous at 7/15/2008 11:56:00 PM  



  • Of course he's going to say it was the calendar! What better way to gain free publicity? C'mon - the guy knows full well what he is doing, even if he has duped others into thinking there is no harm in it. He has made his money through sensationalism, he is hardly going to avoid sensationalism now.

    I also rolled my eyes at the claim that the missionaries were in "modest poses". Modesty is relative to so many things, and their poses were FAR from modest relative to the covenants these boys have made and the position to which they are called. If they were truly modest poses, the calendar would not have sold over 10,000 copies. A girl in a swimsuit, even a "modest" swimsuit, copying those same poses with those same looks on their faces would hardly be considered modest, why should the men be any different?
    posted by Blogger SilverRain at 7/16/2008 04:11:00 AM  



  • Melissa, I agree with you. I also wonder if he went to the press himself with the story. How else would they know...pretty sure the Stake President didn't let the story leak....
    posted by Blogger Jen at 7/16/2008 05:25:00 AM  



  • If you're interested in reading why he created the calendar and where the proceeds of the calendar go, you may want to check the faq out: http://www.mormonsexposed.com/faq.php
    posted by Anonymous Anonymous at 7/16/2008 10:07:00 AM  



  • i think "proceeds of the calendar" go to the guy who made it. this snippet:

    The Men on a Mission calendar will benefit a variety of worthy causes. Each missionary will have the opportunity to donate a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the calendar to a cause in the area he served. Some of the charities supported will include Habitat for Humanity, Salvation Army and Care for Life.

    doesn't really give me the warm fuzzies about donating to a good cause. and this information was added AFTER all of the hubbub started. "but, wait! it can't be THAT bad... i mean, he's donating the money!" isn't that what the obama sock monkey guys did?
    posted by Anonymous Anonymous at 7/16/2008 04:43:00 PM  



  • Melissa, if the stars had aligned, maybe the author of this Vanity Fair blog post might have been a regular contributor here.....but she's younger than us and not a mommy yet, so she blogs from a much different crib....
    posted by Blogger Kage at 7/26/2008 07:25:00 PM  



  • Shame. She seems to have good insight, albeit I still don't agree with a lot of what she said.
    posted by Blogger Melissa at 7/28/2008 09:41:00 PM  



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