Mormons and the Word of Wisdom
- Thread starter Bronco70
- Start date
Are you adressing the LDS church in general or those specific families?
The LDS church membership is dramatically different outside of Utah than it is in it.
TheSilencer1313
Well-Known Member
You guys need to chill with the STG lovefest...... lol.
TheSilencer is the best damn dude I've never met. I swear, if I ever get to meet that guy, my life will finally be complete.
TheSilencer1313
Well-Known Member
I'm starting to wonder if PKM has the same speech writers as Barack Obama.
Hardy-har-har
Hey! You watch your non St George Group Member mouth! Round these parts you got a real purty mouth boy. We can find better uses for a mouth like that than letting you speak.
I'm starting to wonder if PKM has the same speech writers as Barack Obama.
Hardy-har-har
*changing writing style*
I like that my kids have some non-member friends. Real life can hit you pretty hard when you grow up in a mormon bubble. It's good to know how normal people function. Makes you less judgmental, IMO. And it's not like their friend's parents are offering them smokes or hookers.
Wow. I think I internet-know you well enough to know you didn't intend that to be read the way I did.. but it's statements like these, when intended 'that' way, that turns nons off to 'members.'
The non-intended assertion is that my kids must act like heathens (they're all high honor roll and dual sports) and therefore your kids would learn to be cautious of the real world through interactions.
Btw, I wasn't even 1ounce offended, because I know you didn't intend it that way .. nor would I be offended if you had.
Carry on folks.
Sooee'! Sooooee'!!
This is largely blown out of proportion and kept alive by people in Utah feeling self-conscious and berating the 'Utah Mormons' as a sign to others that they're not 'one of them' and are therefore either more intelligent or more compassionate.
I don't know enough non-Utah Mormons to have a responsible take, but Mormons I have met in Kentucky, Florida, and North Carolina have been pretty laid-back .. not much different. If anything Utah Mormons generally seem a bit more uppity. I attribute that to the more close-knit community and the high % of peers. (That is not a slam, at all, btw .. though I realize it sounds like it.) Out of Utah Mormons seem to want to just blend in a bit more and just be accepted, whereas I find Utah Mormons to be feeling as though they are accepting those who are not. (almost like turf)
I love all you guys though, really... just sharing observations as a non-Mormon that has mostly Mormon friends and has lived in nearly 20 states.
BigWilly087
Well-Known Member
My experience is dramatically different. I have been in wards in SLC, Layton, CC and ST G. Then Denver, Woodinville (WA) and 2 in Memphis. It very much is true. In Utah the vast majority of people you deal with are Mormon. Especially in southern Utah. It leads to a sense our haughtiness and in a lot of cases makes members stiff and anal. You can deny it and say it is overblown all you want. My life experiences based on several wards in different cities of different sizes proves to me that it is not.
I'm glad that you took the time to discern my intentions. I thought that the mention of the "Mormon bubble" would clarify that it was not an indictment of non-Mormon kids. I wouldn't let my kids hang out with kids I thought were bad, or that would expose them to bad environments, Mormon or not. It was mostly a commentary on judgment. Mormon kids that don't have non-member friends tend to be significantly more judgmental. I just don't want my kids to be that way. That's all I meant.
I knew you didn't mean it the way I read it, but I was also unsure what you did mean .. thanks for clarifying and not taking offense to my statements. I've heard you're a cool dude, by LDS and non-LDS alike.
This. I haven't really lived outside of SLC, but I've been to church in a lot of different places, and to my perception, Utah Mormons are different. I have issues with Utah Mormons, in general, but I certainly don't consider myself smarter or more compassionate, as Infection would assert, just not as uptight.
.. and stereotyping is dangerous. Two of my most favorite people I have met in my lifetime are devout Utah Mormons. The most humble, understanding, accepting, not holier-than-thou, don't take themselves too seriously, don't spend much time pitying me .. but entirely serious about their faith. I respect them at the highest level.
I don't want to be accused of stereotyping, though I am generalizing.
I don't want to be accused of stereotyping, though I am generalizing.
When I was younger I used to hold the perception of the idea of Utah Mormons. After living outside Utah (outside of The Book of Mormon Belt) both as a missionary and as a regular I came to see a number of things that I began to shed that notion admitting that, for me at least, this notion was fueled by pride and was really just a tool of divisiveness. Utah most certainly is different in that they are majority, which brings with it both unique challenges as well as positives. In Utah you don't just go to church with Mormons. You work with them. You go to school with them. You live by them. You interact with them all day, unless you live in a bubble. In this case, you get first-hand exposure to them in their day-to-day activities and see how they do or do not measure up to their Sunday image. Outside of Utah (and the west) you by-and-large don't have day-to-day interaction with them. If you work or go to school or live by them, they are likely few in number. It's a lot easier to chalk up someone as not being representative when there is such a small sample size. But in Utah the sample size is huge and it's easier to stand by those judgements because there's more frequent confirmation. If you look carefully, you'll see the same things play out in wards across the US that you see in Utah. There are fantastic people within the church regardless of where you go. These people also have the same challenges, struggles and weaknesses whether Utahn or not. I'm not a huge fan of how it pits people against each other based on culture. I think just as big of a challenge is the judgements cast upon the judgmental.