Official Discussion on the Mormon/LDS influence in Idaho (Boise: crime rates, home)

[Snowangel]

Are there alot of Mormons in the Coeur d Alene area? I have heard rumors about people being disriminanted against due the fact that they are not affiliated with this religion? We are nondenominational and wondered if we would have a problem up there? Any feedback would be great.

[lady_jet]

Hi... I don't know how many are in the panhandle of Idaho, but I do know there are tons of survivalists there. Please--Be really careful about where you live up there.

Jet

[my3arabs]

I believe that the LDS ppl are mostly in the Southern part of the state. There are some small comminities that have a meeting place but no Stake center.

I am not LDS but my husband is and he was raised in Shelley on the SE corner of the state.

[Haydenlake]

Originally Posted by Snowangel

Are there alot of Mormons in the Coeur d Alene area? I have heard rumors about people being disriminanted against due the fact that they are not affiliated with this religion? We are nondenominational and wondered if we would have a problem up there? Any feedback would be great.

We moved here from Bend, Oregon a year ago and this area is definitely more "religious" than Bend was but the LDS is not nearly as prevelant as it was in Bend. Geographically speaking Southern Idaho. Boise, Idaho Falls, Twin Falls, etc. due to the proximity to Utah is home to a much stronger LDS following. Our family is non-religiously inclined(as we like to call non-denominational in our household) for the most part and have never felt like we are left or right of the center here at all. What I mean by more "religious" than Bend is that lots of folks hit the brunch on Sunday here but again it has not impacted us negatively at all with regarding to meeting new friends etc. As far as the comments from one poster than this is a survivalist stronghold I'd beg to differ. If anything this area seems to be full of either really young families or retirees from all over the place. My parents moved here from Seattle to be near us and they are in there early 60's and the first thing they said was "there is a lot of old people living here." Pretty funny coming from them but it really holds some water. Honestly the survivalist comment seems pretty missed placed in my opinion.
Haydenlake

[RockyMtnr]

Years ago, if you had Utah plates, you'd be darned lucky if anyone would even sell you gas in northern ID! Had to prove to them you weren't mormon. That has probably relaxed some these days. The panhandle and related areas of MT and WA are pretty independent - not always a good thing but sometimes is. It's kind of a private, slightly separate world up there, eh?

[Sage of Sagle]

Although we're new to the Panhandle, what I found from looking at the history of this area is that it was settled so early on that it wasn't one of those areas "pioneered" by the LDS settlers like northern UT, southern ID, etc.

The Panhandle is very "mainstream protestant" friendly...don't worry. Baptist, Lutheran, non-denom, etc. We've already been invited to try a few different churches in the area (not LDS) by some great people we've met. However, I was surprised that per capita, it's reportedly a lower churchgoing population that where we came from in SoCal.

[brokencrayola]

Hi, There are mormon churches up here in the panhandle but not large amounts of LDS here at all. Southern Idaho is very LDS oriented with some small communities being practically all LDS.

[mejaka]

There are two stakes in Coeur d'Alene, with approximately 2000 members each (six to eight wards in a stake, generally; 200-500 members in a ward). The mayor of Hayden is LDS. There are WAY more LDS people here than survivalists, but there are still fewer LDS than in SE Idaho. I'm a lifelong active member of the LDS church, and when I moved here from Pocatello I really enjoyed the change. There is more diversity here and fewer narrow-eyed criticisms from all directions.

[suzee]

Originally Posted by lady_jet

Hi... I don't know how many are in the panhandle of Idaho, but I do know there are tons of survivalists there. Please--Be really careful about where you live up there.

Jet

Don't believe everything you see on the news...

If you're talking about the white supremacy types, most of the outspoken ones have left (all 50 of them). There are a few of them left here and there, but mostly they want to be left alone and leave others alone too.

sue

[manybees]

Originally Posted by Snowangel

Are there alot of Mormons in the Coeur d Alene area? I have heard rumors about people being disriminanted against due the fact that they are not affiliated with this religion? We are nondenominational and wondered if we would have a problem up there? Any feedback would be great.

Would someone please explain to me what the preoccupation with mormons is? I live in Eastern Idaho where the population of mormons is substantial and I don't see anything that worries me. In fact, they, in general are like christians anywhere else ie. working, raising families etc. Idaho Falls has something like 30 or 40% mormon and also one of the lowest crime rates in the nation for a metropolitan area. Do you think there could be a correlation there? How many people worry about the amount of Jewish in NYC or Isslam in Detroit before moving there?