NOM

So over Christmas my brother-in-law and his wife visited from across the country. I’ve had reason to suspect that of anyone on my husband’s side, my sister-in-law is perhaps NOM, or at least very progressive, but I don't know her very well since she lives so far away.

Well, it turns out she is very progressive. An ardent feminist. All four of us had a very nice conversation about the church. It was really great because my husband was hearing real problems about the church from someone besides me - his SIL and his brother. At one point, my husband even brought up a problem with the church (heavy emphasis on sexual sin/porn/masturbation, particularly for men).

I don’t know as she’ll ever be NOM or leave the church. They don’t have kids yet, so if they choose to have kids, which they very well may not (she’s a professional), it may make a difference. It’s one thing to knowingly ride the Ferris wheel of shame and crazy that is the church, and it’s a whole different thing to make your kid get on it.

Anyway, it’s great to have someone on that side of the family who isn’t a passionate TBM. She also expressed frustration regarding her attempts to have a conversation with our mother-in-law about church related subjects. I just commiserated. Too bad they live on the other side of the country.

Congrats MM, that's great! Time to plan a visit...

That's great news that you can have somebody to bounce ideas off of - I feel very fortunate that I have a close family member that I can do this with as well. Almost every Sunday we have what we call "sanity check," in that we go to church, hear stupid stuff, and then make sure it's not US that is taking the crazy pills. That's been invaluable in my ability to interact with the TBM's that surround me; I can deal with it as long as I have someone to share my ideas with (along with my online fellow congregants of NOM.) Congratulations!

Great to hear of the support. You should invite her to NOM and see if she can guess which member name you have.