We’ll also be posting some more free audio and video, including segments of This I Believe and the La Vida Online panel.

I wish I could have attended more sessions but I had to work around my kids needs for hotel room cartoons and naps LOL I really enjoyed the Affirmation panel, the God in Embryo, and the Emma Smith as Shaman presentantion.

I can’t wait for next year!

Nudism:

Interesting, but overstated. At one point, the speaker said (trying to respond to the argument that nudism is bad because nudity is sexual) that it’s clothing that creates sexual “hot spots” (his words), and that “a nudist resort is one of the least sexual places in the world.” Not exactly a ringing endorsement, in my book. “Hey honey, let’s go vacation at the least sexual place in the world!”

Crisis of Faith:

Fascinating discussion, drawing on interviews with people who have had crises of faith, and who continue as church members. Some of the highlights — the idea that crises of faith can be ongoing, everyday events; and the one person who said he was grateful for his crisis. John Dehlin’s follow up was perfect, too.

WWK:

Illuminating discussion — history of the What Women Know website. (Including comments about how infuriating some readers founf the T&S thread on the Beck talk.) The hate mail section was great, too. “You women ought to be glad I’m not your ecclesiatical leader” — wow.

The femininner:

Wonderful discussion with great feminist voices — Lorie W.S., Paula G., Maxine and Margaret and Margaret. Highlight was the CoC female apostle talking about Protestant ministers standing up against Hitler.

Evening and blog-n-grog:

So many great people. The BnG was a lot of fun, and so was the general hanging-out. I saw lots of the usual suspects I already knew from blog-land — Kevin and Kristine and Matt B and so on. Plus, I met a lot of new people. The FMH comment crowd — Lessie, G, Chandelle, and Ellen — were buckets of fun. The ZDs, as usual, were a blast to hang out with. The only missing ingredient was karaoke. Sniff.

Singing

It may sound like a crazy idea to sing shape notes at 8:45 in the morning. Surprisingly, it worked. Kris did a great job putting this one together. I’m not a good singer — there’s a reason I’m the chcoir accompanist — but I piggybacked off of Kim McCall, who has a great voice. And the music itself was wonderful — great arrangements.

Race

Roy and Margaret were wonderful on this one, which hit a lot of interesting issues. Roy’s comment that Blacks don’t want sympathy, they want justice, was spot on.

Parenting

One of the best sessions of the symposium — half a dozen people at various stages of faith, discussing child raising. Kristine’s segment alone was worth the price of admission.

This I believe

Another very good session — though a little up-and-down in places, I thought. A whole array of presenters talking about their current belief structures. Fascinating, and enlightening.

Gay Marriage

Clark’s personal comments were very solid; Nadine’s reactions to the church’s reaction was also very good. I talked about law, with a goofy microphone.

Online identity

I liked this panel a lot. Dooce (Heather Armstrong) and Janet and Jana had fascinating thoughts on navigating the personal space, online. Weirdly, there was almost zero audience for this one.

Thanks!

Ann, Darius looked and acted great, but I don’t know more than that. He was at dinner in the group I was in Friday, and seemed hale and hearty.