It’s time once again for our Tarefic/Wheaties Awards! Let’s look back at 2016 for the funniest, most controversial, most spiritual, etc awards. Here are the categories we used last year! Make your nominations (and yes, you can nominate yourself.)
Tarefic Awards
What was the worst Mormon Internet Drama in 2016?
What was the worst excommunication of 2016?
Who was the biggest soapbox commenter of 2016?
Who was the worst commenter in 2016?
Tarefic Write-in category:
Now it’s time to vote for the best of Mormonism and the Bloggernacle!
We’ll start with a few standard nominations.
- Best big blog:
Best group blog:
- Wheat & Tares
- Juvenile Instructor
- Faith Promoting Rumor
- Zelophehad’s Daughters
- Doves and Serpents
- Exponent II
- Peculiar People
- Exploring Sainthood
- Worlds Without End
- Main Street Plaza
- Mormon Mentality
- Modern Mormon Men
- Segullah
- No More Strangers
- Approaching Justice
- FEMWOC
Best podcast:
- Mormon Matters
- Mormon Stories
- Mormon Expression
- FMH Podcast
- Mormon Expositor
- The Cultural Hall
- Engaging Gospel Doctrine
- Maxwell Institute Podcast
- A Thoughtful Faith
- Infants on Thrones
- Rational Faiths Podcast
- Ask a Mormon Sex Therapist
Best Mormon Facebook community or discussion forum:
Now on to the rest that we need nominations for!
Best Solo Blog:
What was the best Mormon activism of 2016?
What was the Best Bloggernacle Controversy last year?
Who was the Best overall blogger last year?
What was the Best Post on the New Gay Policy?
What was the best post title last year?
Who was the best commenter last year?
Funniest Post last year:
What was the Best new blog (first published in 2016)?
What was the Best faith crisis post last year?
Best contribution to the Bloggernacle in 2016:
What was the Best doctrinal post last year?
Best satirical post last year?
What was the best historical post this past year?
Best current events post last year:
What was the funniest blog last year?
What was the Best post on feminism last year?
Best personal post last year:
Who is the Best new blogger of 2015?
Best post on church policy of last year:
Best post series last year:
What was the Best Post on the Temple last year?
What was the best spiritual post last year?
What was the Best book/article/movie review last year?
Best contribution to interfaith dialogue:
Which of these write-ins is most deserving of a Wheaties Award?
Let’s hear your nominations!
Wheat & Tares 
I don’t know exactly what you mean by worst excommunication. I don’t know if you mean it was the most unjust, or the person’s behavior was so egregious they kind of deserved it, or they caused so much drama on their way out or what. Based on the last couple of categories I nominate Rock Waterman. He had a kind of post game interview with John Dehlin, and he was so shrill and angry that even Dehlin, on a site that mainly caters to ex Mormons and critics, had to calm him down and get him focused. It was kind of hilarious and definitely showed why he was the worst.
As far as best current events post, I really liked the short history of robbers and insights that tied in the Oregon standoff to the Gadianton Robbers: https://wheatandtares.org/2016/01/15/a-short-history-of-robbers-and-insults/
Best doctrinal post was a three part series on the war chapters, all the links are here: http://mormonwar.blogspot.com/2016/06/approaching-war-chapters-part-three-how.html
Thanks! I can’t wait to see the other nominations!
What was the Best new blog (first published in 2016)?
I would nominate https://invisiblescubit.wordpress.com/
For Best podcast, I think MormonDiscussionPodcast.com, especially with the latest, “Radio Free Mormon” additions to this podcast.
Best post on feminism: Tracy M.’s “…and also with You” at BCC
https://bycommonconsent.com/2016/12/27/and-also-with-you/
Best post on church policy: Alisa’s “Private Ecclesiastical Interviews for Children Are Abusive and Must Stop” at the Exponent:
http://www.the-exponent.com/private-ecclesiastical-interviews-for-children-are-abusive-and-must-stop/
Funniest post: Michael Austin’s “Standing, or Something” at BCC:
https://bycommonconsent.com/2016/05/25/standing-or-something/
Best satirical post: Julie M. Smith’s “Keeping Our Boys Safe” at T&S:
http://www.timesandseasons.org/index.php/2016/05/keeping-our-boys-safe/
Best Bloggernacle controversy: Discussion of BYU’s (mis)-handling of rape reports.
Best personal post: Lynnette’s “Choking on Life” at ZD:
http://zelophehadsdaughters.com/2016/12/14/choking-on-life/
Best current events post: Daniel Parkinson and Michael Barker’s “The LGBTQ Mormon Crisis: Responding to the Empirical Research on Suicide” at Rational Faiths:
http://rationalfaiths.com/the-lgbtq-mormon-crisis-responding-to-the-empirical-research-on-suicide/
Funniest post: Em’s “Dear Sister Sassy: Planning A Heterosexual Baptism” at the Exponent:
http://www.the-exponent.com/sistersassybaptism/
Funniest post: Casey’s “Rejected Millennial Star Posts” at Expert Textperts:
http://www.experttextperts.com/2016/01/rejected-millennial-star-posts.html
Best post on the temple: Maybee’s “I Would Have Said “No”: Agency, Coercion and Temple Covenants” at W&T:
https://wheatandtares.org/2016/11/18/i-would-have-said-no-agency-coercion-and-temple-covenants/
Best post title: Kristine A’s “The False Enemies We Worship” at W&T:
https://wheatandtares.org/2016/08/19/the-false-enemies-we-worship/
BCC’s “The Least Degree of Allowance” and its sequels were important posts that eventually lead to some pretty major changes at BYU in regards to rape and the Honor Code. From what I can tell, Steve Evans blogged about the issue on April 9, and a bit later the Salt Lake Tribune picked up the subject (I’m assuming they first found out about it from the BCC post), which then got picked up by other news outlets. Eventually BYU changed its policy. Not sure if it fits “Best post on church policy” because it was BYU policy, but it certainly deserves some major recognition.
Best title: Rebecca’s “You’ve Given This Program A Bad Name’ post at BCC
https://bycommonconsent.com/?s=You%27ve+given+this+program&submit=Search
The BYU rape scandal was probably evidence of best activism. BYU has started to take Title IX compliance seriously since then.
Worst commenters: Rob Osborn and Ronkonkoma.
Miscellaneous:
Most Missed: The Mormon News Report.
You award for bad comments? I didn’t know that. If so I would have tried harder for that distinction just to make googling myself more interesting.
Angela, that’s going to be tough to choose between those 2 commenters!
Best activism, absolutely.
Somewhere between activism and current events is this great work by Michael Austin: https://bycommonconsent.com/2016/09/16/not-even-close-faculty-gender-balance-at-the-byus/
Best new blog could be https://mormoncensorship.com
I found Mormon Heretic’s posts to be the most thought-provoking of all the bloggers here. His posts were often about issues he was personally struggling with (e.g. being a good Samaritan), and his posts often caused me to think hard about my own values as a Christian. I think it was the honest, deeply personal and practical nature of his stories that I found interesting and useful. So, I nominate MH for the Most Soul Searching Provoking Blogger award. 🙂
I nominate everyone for everything.
Could we add the Exponent II Facebook Group to the Facebook community or discussion forum nominees? We’ve really upped our game of late: https://www.facebook.com/groups/10710760934/
Could we add the Exponent II Facebook group to the list of nominees for best facebook/discussion group? We’ve really upped our game lately: https://www.facebook.com/groups/10710760934/
I tried to make a nomination but I am getting blocked…did I offend someone?
Wheatmeister, let’s not forget Ordain Women. We’ve featured lots of great posts this year, from the thoughtful and revolutionary to the wryly playful. Shall I submit a list?
I think I fished out all the nominations that had gotten trapped in the spam filter; just let us know if there are any other nominations we may have missedd!
I nominate Ziff for most astute reader of the Bloggernacle. (Is that a category?)
No way is this list going to make it through the spam filter:
What was the Best Post on the New Gay Policy?
Unintended Consequences http://www.the-exponent.com/unintended-consequences/
Funniest Post Last Year?
ZD Goes Buzzfeed http://zelophehadsdaughters.com/2016/07/24/zd-goes-buzzfeed/
Funniest Post Last Year?
Predictions for General Conference http://zelophehadsdaughters.com/2016/03/31/predictions-for-general-conference
(Sorry to pit two ZD posts against each other like this, but ZD had really funny stuff, hence:
What was the funniest blog last year?
Zelophehad’s Daughters http://zelophehadsdaughters.com/
What was the Best faith crisis post last year?
I Want My Church Back http://www.the-exponent.com/i-want-my-church-back/
What was the Best doctrinal post last year?
I don’t believe in being clean http://www.the-exponent.com/i-dont-believe-in-being-clean/
Best satirical post last year?
A Psalm of Trump http://zelophehadsdaughters.com/2016/10/11/a-psalm-of-trump/
What was the best historical post this past year?
How Mormon Women Were Correlated Out of LDS Church Finances http://ordainwomen.org/how-mormon-women-were-correlated-out-of-lds-church-finances/
Best spiritual post:
And she passed by on the other side http://www.the-exponent.com/and-she-passed-by-on-the-other-side/
Best current events post last year:
The Benevolent Patriarchy: A Letter to my Mormon dad, who voted for Donald Trump http://www.the-exponent.com/guest-post-the-benevolent-patriarchy-a-letter-to-my-mormon-dad-who-voted-for-donald-trump/
What was the Best post on feminism last year?
Challenging Authority, Redefining Leadership (3-part series by Jenny) http://www.the-exponent.com/?s=Challenging+Authority%2C+Redefining+Leadership
What was the Best post on feminism last year?
BYU Rape Myths https://wheatandtares.org/2016/05/24/byu-rape-myths/
Best personal post last year:
Sexual Assault at BYU: My Own Story http://www.the-exponent.com/sexual-assault-at-byu-my-own-story/
Who is the best new blogger of 2016?
Denisse (Exponent had several new amazing bloggers, but I think Denisse in particular deserves recognition for rising to the challenge of posting in both her first and second languages (Spanish and English) http://www.the-exponent.com/author/denisse/
Best post series last year: Women of the Bible
http://www.the-exponent.com/tag/women-in-the-bible/
What was the Best book/article/movie review last year?
Revisiting the Friend Magazine’s ‘When I Grow Up’ Feature http://aspiringmormonwomen.org/2016/09/06/revisiting-the-friend-magazines-when-i-grow-up-feature/
Which of these write-ins is most deserving of a Wheaties Award?
LeNae Peavey-Onstad, for her interview: After 25 Years, Female Chaplain Endorsed by LDS Church http://www.the-exponent.com/an-interview-with-a-female-mormon-chaplain/
These last two nominations might fit under “best policy post” category, or maybe they should go in a new category, for best use of data:
What’s in a Name? SquareTwo Poll Survey Results on the Naming of Women’s Positions and Organizations in the LDS Church http://squaretwo.org/Sq2ArticleCasslerMcBaineWomensNamesPoll.html
Not Even Close: Faculty Gender Balance at the BYUs https://bycommonconsent.com/2016/09/16/not-even-close-faculty-gender-balance-at-the-byus/
It did make it! Awesome!
Yes Lorie, please submit a list. Just remember if there are more than 2 in the list, it may get stuck in our Spam Filter. (If so, let us know and we will find and release it, or submit multiple comments like Ziff did.)
By the way Morgan, Rock was exed in 2015, so ineligible this year. Not sure if we had any high-profile people in 2016