I just love Joanna Brooks

Yes, yes, I know a liberal, feminist Mormon sounds crazy to Mormons and non-Mormons alike, but I love reading Joanna Brooks (her columns at Religious Dispatches are always worth reading) and was glad she was on The Daily Show.  She does a great job of explaining Mormon culture to those outside of it which has been very helpful to me in relating to friends who are Mormons and some who are ex-Mormons. 

I guess what I appreciate most about her is that she seems nice and so very positive.  I'm sure that seems strange to read, but in a culture where religious commentators are regularly so mean and nasty and who refuse to recognize any gray area, I appreciate Brooks' attempts to be both critical and appreciative of her faith tradition.  Her honesty about trying to be authentic while living with the tradition which has shaped her is something I can personally relate to.  When I get around to reading her book--The Book of Mormon Girl--I suspect that I will find parallels between my own life growing up in the Southern Baptist sub-culture and her experiences growing up Mormon.

If you watch the video from last week of Brooks on The Daily Show, stick it out until the interview and make sure to keep going to watch the second part of the interview which is only on the web and wasn't on the broadcast version.

The interview with Brooks last October on the public radio show On Being with Krista Tippett is also very much worth listening to.