Oh crap...for as long as I lived there (Utah) the Mo’s messed with me.
They see it as their state. They have a point. Whatever.
What was funny was the fact that it was mostly converts who act that way. And seein’ as how I’m related to half of Northern Utah since some of the earliest Mormons were my relatives - coming West on the Emigration with Young - I thought that was hilarious. They’re acting like I’m the newcomer?!
Piffle. The Mormons are always gonna promote their own feelings of victimhood. They still use it in their promo videos: Oh Poor Us, hunted and murdered in Nauvoo and Independence. Yeah well, when ya show up in town and try to make off with all the girls, whadja expect?!
The old time folks in rural Utah - and that means 1 mile outta town in St. George! - are all nice people.
I have never lived in Utah. But have known some non LDS who lived there.
They told me that outwardly the Mormon people are very friendly and courteous. But that they are also very aware of who is LDS and who is not. And they always want to know if you are Mormon or what religion you are.
Bottom line was that it was hard to get too close or be good friends with Mormons if you weren’t also Mormon. Again this is all second hand that I heard about this from people who had lived in mostly LDS towns in Utah.
I understand Salt Lake has large non LDS population so the social climate in that city may be very different than that of smaller towns or rural Utah.
In 2001 at the BYU Women’s Conference, James A. Toronto, a BYU associate professor, was invited to speak. His title: “No More Strangers and Foreigners” This was published by BYU the following year under the title “Ye Shall Bear Record of Me.”
BTW, did I "get this" info from some "anti-Mormon" site? (No. I own the book)
Now, indeed, what does Dr. Toronto say that tends to reinforce your comments above?
p. 35 of No More Strangers and Foreigners: ”As adviser to several non-LDS student groups on BYU campus and a teacher of world religions, I have had many opportunities to interact with those whose ethnicity, religion, politics or lifestyle places them outside the BYU mainstream…Unfortunately…those of divergent backgrounds among us hae felt excluded, demeaned, or diminished…I have wondered what leads us to exhibit sometimes intolerant, unkind attitudes toward others. Why does society at large perceive us as a community characterized by insular attitudes toward outsiders?”
Toronto then adds some are “mistreated” and “have difficulty being accepted.”
p. 36 of book: ”I have also observed that doctrinal misunderstandings often lie at the root of intolerant behavior and attitudes sometimes exhibited by Church members. Three prominent examples will illustrate. First, sometimes Church members…refer…only to the seemingly exclusivist language of certain scriptural passages…we unwittingly portray a sanctimonious, holier-than-thou stance that…is offensive to nonmembers. In my comparative world religions course, I deal with this problem in the first minute of the first class period each semester. I begin the discussion by reading some scriptures familiar to all Latter-day Saints: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is ‘the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth’ (D&C 1:30); the leaders of other faiths ‘draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me’ and all their creeds are an ‘abomination’ in God’s sight (Joseph Smith-History 1:19)…”
p. 37 of book: ”We reinforce the erroneous idea that all other religious are completely false and dead and that our community does not value the spiritual experience of others.”
On p. 39 of book, Dr. Toronto also mentions ”how a skewed understanding of doctrine can lead to unkind attitudes and behavior…”
So, to sum up Dr. Toronto, a BYU prof:
(1) He said: ”…doctrinal misunderstandings often lie at the root of intolerant behavior and attitudes…” (p. 36)
(2) Lds communicate to the Christian world that we “are completely false and dead” (p. 37) and are creedally valueless as Lds “scripture” teaches that Christians don’t have a single creed that honors God.
(3) He also blamed ”…a skewed understanding of doctrine” as what was behind …”lead[ing] to unkind attitudes and behavior…”
It's this last point I want to close my comment upon. You see, it's not simply, I believe, lack of Mormon graciousness...lack of Mormon charity...etc. that has resulted in what Mormons and especially Mormon leaders have said about Christians for 180 years. I think Dr. Toronto is on to something when he says: "...a skewed understanding of doctrine" has overwhelmingly contributed to fueling "unkind attitudes and behaviors..."!!!
If you don’t like it in st. George—move to Nevada or any of the other 49 states. Mormons built Utah—and it wasn’t easy. They will do what they want—what do you think? join the LDS or move on.