Official Discussion on the Mormon/LDS influence in Idaho (Boise: house, neighborhood)

[Sage of Sagle]

Hmmmm....

I agree with you that Mormons make the best neighbors. Nicest people you could ever want to meet.

But if you live on a street with 20 houses, and 19 are Mormon and you're not, maybe you should be ready to feel pretty ostracized. I have not personally experienced this, however when we had a second home (during my youth years) several people we knew in UT expressed this exact sentiment.

I think I would agree that if you move into an enclave of any one specific religious group you'd find this type of issue happening. Just human nature....but like Islamism, it excludes people based on their faith, which I think is a problem.

I can live somewhere with people of any faith, or no faith, if people are not ostracized as a result. The group of men I ride motorcycles with? 2 protestants, 1 catholic, 2 atheists, and 1 occasional LDS guy. No problem.

Now, as a retired cop, I tend to hang out with others in a similar line of work. We just "get" each other's stories and views on things. But I don't ostracize someone because they're a dentist or an electrical engineer.....

So my take is that ENOUGH people have felt some sort of ostracism from mormon enclaves that when they move, this is something they specifically want to avoid. Just my $.02....

[Sage of Sagle]

READ THIS WARNING FIRST BEFORE YOU POST BASHING THE LDS/MORMONS IN IDAHO....

City-Data.com has a forum where you may freely discuss the Mormon/Latter-Day-Saints religion, love it or hate it.

But the place for a major discussion on the veracity or vilification of the LDS population of Idaho cities is NOT the Idaho regional forum.

WAY too many threads are being derailed, and that's just not constructive or quite frankly of any benefit to anyone here.

If you hate the LDS church, that is your right, but if you cannot help but violate rules your posts will be deleted and your posting privileges restricted if you continue to post in the Idaho state forum versus the Religion forum.

So discussions on the POSITIVE or NEGATIVE influence of the LDS church in Idaho should be discussed here. Discussions on the Mormon religion itself DO NOT BELONG in this forum and will be deleted, repeat violations will result in posting privileges being restricted.

* NOTE: I am not LDS or LDS-leaning. Just needing to keep things from getting out of hand.

[davekn]

Well done.

[fiasco]

Put very, very simply from what I have experienced:

Non-Mormons in Idaho aren't nearly as "persecuted" or shunned as they believe themselves to be.

On the other hand,

Mormons in Idaho are definitely more close-minded, judgmental and prone to shunning behavior than they think they are.

[Sage of Sagle]

Yes, and I think that most mormons we know don't see it among their peers, which I can understand because it's not manifested to them in any way....so I understand when they may become a bit defensive over the issue, although I hope it makes them think about as a whole group trying very hard to combat the insular mentality.

[elle]

I'm not a morman and I am looking at Idaho (which I had no idea even had a large LDS pop), Is there a particular concentrated area where the LDS church is more prominent? or is there a large LDS ppulation throughout the state?

elle

[Sage of Sagle]

SE Idaho is very much "dense" with LDS members as an extremely high percentage of churchgoers. I think it's because of its proximity to northern Utah? Not sure. But SW Wyoming seems to also have that same effect.

Northern Idaho (Lewiston on up?) was settled well before the Mormon influence, so not only is it not very Mormon, it's actually not a very high "church attending" populace compared to many other parts of the country IIRC. These days, there are LDS churches in the Panhandle, the same way they have a presence in most US cities, but it does not seem to be the juggernaut of society up here, if you know what I mean.

Oh, and if you're a long-time Idahoan, or LDS member, feel free to correct or clarify my view. This is my take from living here and talking to old-timers, but views vary I know...

[rigbymomof3]

THANK YOU!!! I am LDS and have been so offended by all the mormon bashing comments that I wasn't going to look at this site again. But gave it one more chance. Thank you for noticing and taking control of the problem.

[Sage of Sagle]

You're welcome. We like having you here too. And anyhow...the religion section can have all the crazy arguing about who's right and who's wrong....I want to talk about IDAHO y'all.

[jadbad2004]

Sage,
I am curious about the many different places of Idaho, and that's what I would like to read about on this forum since I am relocating to Salmon in 20 days. I thank you for your post and look forward to returning to this site without the criticism and ugly words. I am a firm believer in not stereotyping anyone and making blanket statements about a whole populace. I started to wonder if Idaho was a good choice for a better life, with all the negative I had been hearing, would really like to hear the facts and the positive about the state. Thank you again.