Official Discussion on the Mormon/LDS influence in Idaho (job market, live)

[SergeantL]

Originally Posted by Syringaloid

Do members of the LDS faith think there is a difference between Idaho members and Utah members? Even between Utah members and any other state?
I've often heard that Utah members are bad examples of the LDS Church and that they are stuck up, take the faith somewhat for granted, and think that they are automatically saved because they live in Zion, caugh..hiccup... Utah
I know from reading census reports that a lot of Utahn's have moved to Idaho and the Boise area and of course a lot of them will be LDS. Do some of you think that the "bad" members of the LDS faith you have encountered might be transplants from Utah?
To be honest, I have not heard any negative comments towards Californians since I have been living in Boise---none. But, I do hear many negative comments about Utah.

I have heard this as well. In addition, I have heard the rumor that Utah Mormons hate California Mormons. So far, I have not experienced anything that gives me reason to lend credence to either rumor. I can say that I have run into jerks of all religions, including the LDS faith. I am gratified to hear you have not heard any complaints about California members; I am a California transplant. My wife and I have established our primary residence in Utah, but our son and only grandchild live near Twin Falls, so we are in Idaho often. We still have our California plates and have experienced absolutely no Idahoan or Utahan hostility. In fact, I must state the folks in both states have proven to be warm and kind and I have no idea what religion they are.

In California, it is not common for neighbors to even know each other, so we were surprised when we were able to quickly develop friends in both Idaho and Utah. I would estimate 75% / 25% between members and non-members. I guess it’s all in how one treats others.

Make no mistakes about it. My wife and I are staunch Mormons without compromise, but we have very close friends both in and out of the Church.

[LeiGul]

Originally Posted by Syringaloid

Do members of the LDS faith think there is a difference between Idaho members and Utah members? Even between Utah members and any other state?

Ummm, YES! There is a term we use "Utah Mormon" that referrs to the LDS religious zelots. My husband and I avoid any opportunity to move to Utah for that very reason. We don't approve of how many of the LDS members portray themselves in Utah, and sadly Idaho is getting almost just as bad. It isn't all Utah Mormons, but enough that keeps us out of Utah.

That said our church leaders have come down hard on this issue. They say many Many MANY times to KNOCK IT OFF, and to include everyone and love your neighbors, and not to treat them any differently. Unfortunately some don't listen, therefore they are NOT living what the church teaches.

SE Idaho has a lot of wonderful people of all religions and backgrounds. I would hate for someone not to move here based on a handfull of rude people. It is beautiful and the people are truly wonderful.

[JamesinLittleRock]

maybe I was in a pocket of zealots then. because I just found out my neighbor here in little rock is mormon and is one of the nicest people I have ever met. anyhow I am done with this thread, best wishes to all.

[Syringaloid]

Originally Posted by LeiGul

Ummm, YES! There is a term we use "Utah Mormon" that referrs to the LDS religious zelots. My husband and I avoid any opportunity to move to Utah for that very reason. We don't approve of how many of the LDS members portray themselves in Utah, and sadly Idaho is getting almost just as bad. It isn't all Utah Mormons, but enough that keeps us out of Utah.

That said our church leaders have come down hard on this issue. They say many Many MANY times to KNOCK IT OFF, and to include everyone and love your neighbors, and not to treat them any differently. Unfortunately some don't listen, therefore they are NOT living what the church teaches.

SE Idaho has a lot of wonderful people of all religions and backgrounds. I would hate for someone not to move here based on a handfull of rude people. It is beautiful and the people are truly wonderful.

Good points. I have heard many times that Utah gives a bad name, or image, to the LDS Church. I remember visiting Salt Lake as a possible locale to relocate and I felt this cloud of depression and repression. It is hard to explain, but there is just a weird vibe there.

[izzy]

Wow. Just did a bunch of catching up here. I'm LDS, Mormon. I use both names because some folks don't connect LDS with Mormons. I live in CA and have been looking at Boise, ID for a long time as a place to live and raise my last three kids. I'm a convert to the church and have to say...being Mormon is not a bad thing folks.

We believe in general that "Family First" is important. That respecting other religions is very important. We even have teaching stories in church about how past members have helped other religions.

I can see how living in a community with a high population of Mormons could be strange. Even being a convert...I sometimes feel less connected with the church than my husband...his family has more than three generations of Mormons. But many times I think it has to do with the church in the area you live. Example: We lived in a another area and went to an lds church there...I felt more connected in that church. Maybe because there was a higher amount of converts in that church.

Even inside the church you have your right, left, and main stream. After all we are just folks like everyone else. Choosing a lifestyle for our families and not everyone agrees with our take on how to proceed...not even in the church.

But isn't that the way it is in most churches and most communities. I'm sure we would find it strange to live in the bible belt of America, where Baptist churches preach "hell fire and brimstone". I was baptist as a child. I have fond memories of those sermons. Living in a community of mostly Baptist might make us feel out of place. But it would be our job to reach out and say, "howdy". It would also be our job to find a way to get involved in the community.

Many times though, LDS feel less than welcome in neighborhoods because folks don't consider our religion a main stream religion. We are often called a cult by outsiders. Therefore it is easier to socialize with folks that believe as we do. Less chance of being rejected because of our religion.

I don't want to sit and socialize, with the kids around, with a family that the adults sit down and crack open a beer or a bottle of wine to socialize. We don't drink. But then I never socialized with folks that I couldn't find a common interest to connect with and talk with.

Common interest to me would be kids activities, sports, community events, art, college...isn't that the way most of us pick friends. I do believe that you found living in an LDS community difficult, that you felt out of place, and it needs to be said that could happen. It could also happen you end up in a neighborhood of convert mormons and be just fine. Folks from diversed backgrounds seem to be more accepting than folks that have never known anything else.

I love being a part of the church and the lifestyle. It is great for myself and my family.

Izzy

[izzy]

I forgot to say...in my research of Idaho. The more diversed area of Boise seems to be the area a lot of Californians are moving too. What I have discovered, by researching on this website and others, is the South East part of Idaho has the higher population of LDS. The northern area is more rugged and less populated, and therefore fewer job options and fewer LDS. Boise, according to the map I posted earlier, is running about 25% lds...the map is not current. But from what I have been able to find out, it sounds like it is still about that percentage. The higher population of Boise makes for a more diverse community. The smaller towns may have a higher population of lds and small towns tend to be what I call, clicky, anyway. Also, Boise has the most job options in Idaho and lots of other activities for families.

I don't live in Idaho. But we know lots of folks who have moved there and like it. Some lds and some not. I have one non lds friend that said Boise is the cleanest city he has ever worked in, and outdoor recreation is nearby. As far as where in Boise to live. LDS or not...that I'm not sure of. I do know the more desireable home areas are Eagle, Northern Boise, and the Bench.

Instead of going on and on about the lds factor let's all agree, it is there, it needs to be a factor for those who care, and move on to helping people make a WELL ROUNDED, BALANCED! evaluation of the their area of interest.

I have found so much info. on this site in the past, and the narrow subject of lds "factor in moving or not" has been made over and over again and is not useful information past the 100th time of discussing it.

I would rather hear about the mountains, the schools, the cost of real estate, job options, good neighborhoods vs bad, concerning crime, good places to visit and eat. The weather conditions during commute. The Fine Art community, the colleges and health care available in the area. Unions or not. Air quality, the inversion factor, politics, and the best things about Idaho and Boise. Folks will always tell you the bad stuff...there is no shortage of that. I want to hear a well rounded discussion beyond the lds factor.

Izzy

[bandguy]

I've been reading this thread with great interest. I'd like to propose a slightly different line of reasoning for what people have experienced.

First, I am LDS. But not from Idaho. I was born in Utah and grew up on the east coast. I did, however, recently teach for 5 years in in SE Idaho. Some observations. I think that everybody's experience has been dead on accurate. But as an LDS member who moved there "from the big city," I experienced more exnophobia than anything. It really is fear of the outside world. The people I came into contact with were of my faith, yet because I came from the "big city" (Salt Lake - yes I know it's funny) many folks never really trusted me. My "oppressed" wife is a successful consultant who earning power was certainly greater than 90% of the population and these good folks never did figure out what to do with her. I taught band in a small rural school and had many non-LDS kids in my program. Many were some of the most popular kids in the band. All the kids hung out with each other and the non-LDS kids were as involved as they wanted to be. It is true that many parents won't let their kids date outside the faith. Occasionaly that caused, as would be expected, some real hurt. Most of the time it caused some real reflection in the kids and some cool thing came from working through the problems.

My experience then was this. SE Idaho is VERY conservative. If you're a Democrat, you're going to take some heat. One of my friends, who's LDS, is a Democratic state rep. He takes a lot crap from his nieghbors. OK, I used to give him a bunch too. Rural SE Idaho is about 70-80% LDS. Typically 50% go to church. The rest are less interested in church. So in any given area 35-40% are going to be "True Blue" believers. So, every town has a bar where you can get together with a bunch of the locals and complain about the undue influence of "The Church."

So who will be happy in SE Idaho? If you are a polically conservative, farmer, rancher, miner, you'll be fine. You will not be accepted at first, it will take time. Your conservative, farmer, rancher, miner credentials will be completly tried and tested. Owning an old truck, new 4-wheeler and or snowmobile will help a great deal. Hunting is good, fishing is required. A healthy distrust for goverment will get you invited to the bar-b-que.

All that having been said, I have never seen harder working bunch of kids and their parents. They want to live good clean lives and are scared of all the bad things they see on TV, and, will do almost anything to protect their kids from those bads things. They can not for the life of themselves figure out why anybody would want to live in the city.

So, new people and ideas are scary. If you have new, outside ideas on politics, education, land use and even religion, you're scary, you'll have a tough time.

-D

[ssouina]

I am very glad this thread was posted. When considering Idaho as a place to live I hadn't even considered that there might be a large LDS population (silly me). Though I find LDS especially disturbing, my preference is to be around as few religious people as possible (though unitarianism and buddhism hold a certain appeal). Which states do folks think of as the least religious? TIA

"Where god is man, man is god." Mary Daly

[pw72]

Nonsense. Non-LDS residents, conservative or liberal, will have no problems here. Unless you are politically vocal or try to convince others to change their opinions. I know, because I've lived in SE Idaho for a year, am non-LDS, somewhat liberal, and am single. Nobody has EVER questioned me or discriminated against me.

[SergeantL]

Originally Posted by ssouina

Which states do folks think of as the least religious? TIA

I would have to say that California qualifies as the most Godless state in the nation. It probably also qualifies as the most left leaning socialist state. It's also politically insane. It's the only state I know where two actors have been governor, and where a porn star also ran for governor. I'm hoping the San Andreas Fault gets busy and makes Nevada the next west coast.