The other day, I received a most intriguing Facebook invitation from Dennis Agle. I’ve been cyber-stalking friends with Dennis for the last couple of years – I’m a big fan of his work with the Liken the Scriptures series, and had the chance to meet him in person at LDSBA a year ago. (That’s the Latter-day Saint Booksellers Association convention.)
Well, this Facebook invitation led me over to Dennis’s newest venture, MormonDaddyBlogs. I have to say, I love the idea, and wanted to share it with all of you. Dennis kindly answered some questions for me about this blog site.
Tristi: What gave you the idea to start MormonDaddyBlogs?
Dennis: I hope I don’t lose my man card for admitting this, but I've been following you "Mormon mommy” bloggers for some time. Your blogs are authentic. They’re funny. They’re unpretentious. They’re uplifting. No wonder people of our faith as well as those outside our faith respond so well to your blogs.
I remain a big fan, but for some time, as an occasional blogger myself, I’ve been looking for a similar community of “Mormon daddy” blogs. My searches would turn up plenty of blogs on theology and politics, but far more difficult to find were the everyday blogs of Mormon dads who were just trying to do their best to keep the faith while keeping food on the table.
So I thought I’d start MormonDaddyBlogs.com, which I’m hopeful will help build a sense of community and encourage the blogging efforts of the Mormon dads all around the world.
By the way, our fairer counterparts are certainly welcome to join us in the MormonDaddyBlogs community just as you have welcomed us.
Tristi: We know that MormonMommyBlogs (of which I am one) creates bonds of sisterhood between the bloggers - have you seen bonds of brotherhood start to grow between the bloggers on your site?
Dennis: Many of the authors of the blogs we’ve featured have expressed appreciation that somebody is finally doing this. As men, we’re not exactly famous for being open with our feelings.
We banter. We rib. We talk sports. But we’re inclined to open up a bit more when we sit down to write. And I think there is a bond that forms when we read one another’s authentic writings and realize that there are others who feel the way we do.
We’ve even received a few emails from our female counterparts expressing appreciation for what they've been able to read here. I like that.
Tristi: We've been encouraged to use the Internet to spread good messages and to uplift others, even to share the gospel. What are your thoughts on the Internet as a tool to bring light into people's lives?
Dennis: As members, I think we’ve always felt an extra responsibility to be good neighbors, because people may base everything they know about Mormons based on what they see us do as individuals. I think we’re seeing this responsibility extend to the internet, which has the amazing ability to make the entire world feel no bigger than a neighborhood.
In a medium long noted for anonymity and mean-spiritedness, I think people are inspired by efforts of our blogging community to be authentic, yet uplift one another. To me, this applies just as much to those who are within our faith as it does to those who are not of our faith.
Tristi: How many men are currently registered with MDB, and how long has the site been up and running?
Dennis: MormonDaddyBlogs is still in its infancy. We’ve only been live since March 15. We’re still turning on the switches around here. In addition to the blog itself, we have our Facebook group (MormonDaddyBlogs) that has some two dozen members, and we’re on Twitter (@MormonDads), where we have about the same number of followers.
As you can see, we have a long way to go.
Dennis: I hope I don’t lose my man card for admitting this, but I've been following you "Mormon mommy” bloggers for some time. Your blogs are authentic. They’re funny. They’re unpretentious. They’re uplifting. No wonder people of our faith as well as those outside our faith respond so well to your blogs.
I remain a big fan, but for some time, as an occasional blogger myself, I’ve been looking for a similar community of “Mormon daddy” blogs. My searches would turn up plenty of blogs on theology and politics, but far more difficult to find were the everyday blogs of Mormon dads who were just trying to do their best to keep the faith while keeping food on the table.
So I thought I’d start MormonDaddyBlogs.com, which I’m hopeful will help build a sense of community and encourage the blogging efforts of the Mormon dads all around the world.
By the way, our fairer counterparts are certainly welcome to join us in the MormonDaddyBlogs community just as you have welcomed us.
Tristi: We know that MormonMommyBlogs (of which I am one) creates bonds of sisterhood between the bloggers - have you seen bonds of brotherhood start to grow between the bloggers on your site?
Dennis: Many of the authors of the blogs we’ve featured have expressed appreciation that somebody is finally doing this. As men, we’re not exactly famous for being open with our feelings.
We banter. We rib. We talk sports. But we’re inclined to open up a bit more when we sit down to write. And I think there is a bond that forms when we read one another’s authentic writings and realize that there are others who feel the way we do.
We’ve even received a few emails from our female counterparts expressing appreciation for what they've been able to read here. I like that.
Tristi: We've been encouraged to use the Internet to spread good messages and to uplift others, even to share the gospel. What are your thoughts on the Internet as a tool to bring light into people's lives?
Dennis: As members, I think we’ve always felt an extra responsibility to be good neighbors, because people may base everything they know about Mormons based on what they see us do as individuals. I think we’re seeing this responsibility extend to the internet, which has the amazing ability to make the entire world feel no bigger than a neighborhood.
In a medium long noted for anonymity and mean-spiritedness, I think people are inspired by efforts of our blogging community to be authentic, yet uplift one another. To me, this applies just as much to those who are within our faith as it does to those who are not of our faith.
Tristi: How many men are currently registered with MDB, and how long has the site been up and running?
Dennis: MormonDaddyBlogs is still in its infancy. We’ve only been live since March 15. We’re still turning on the switches around here. In addition to the blog itself, we have our Facebook group (MormonDaddyBlogs) that has some two dozen members, and we’re on Twitter (@MormonDads), where we have about the same number of followers.
As you can see, we have a long way to go.
Tristi: How would a blogger go about joining your website?
Dennis: At this stage, our approach is to feature a post each day from Mormon dads on our blog. Usually, we'll then add the blogs we feature to our blogroll. We invite people to suggest sites that seem like they might be a good fit by emailing the URL to mormondaddyblogs@gmail.com.
Down the road, our plan is to build a more comprehensive list of links to blogs by Mormon dads. But at the moment, we probably only have about two dozen active sites (posts within the last couple of months) that we know of. We know there must be more out there. And we hope more Mormon dads will take the plunge.
Down the road, our plan is to build a more comprehensive list of links to blogs by Mormon dads. But at the moment, we probably only have about two dozen active sites (posts within the last couple of months) that we know of. We know there must be more out there. And we hope more Mormon dads will take the plunge.
I’m so excited about this, Dennis, and I wish you the best of luck.
So, head on over to MormonDaddyBlogs and see what they have to say—I’m loving the time I’ve spent over there, learning new things and gaining new perspectives.
6 comments:
I had no idea. Thanks for the heads up!
Go Mormon dads!
Just wanted to let you know that my mom LOVED your book too, (Secret Sisters) and she can't wait to read Dearly Departed. Keep up the great writing :) -Lillian
My kids and I are huge fans of Liken the Scriptures. This is such a fun post and what a great idea!
Cool. I love this idea. I'll have to check it out.
Wow, what a concept! Men blogging about faith and feelings and everyday living as a latter day saint. Great idea. I'll have to have my husband check it out!
Blogging with the guys is fun. A few other men who are also authors have been trying out on our own blog, Mancave Authors. It might be a good fit to be featured on this blog I think.
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