The Religious Perception of Utah (Salt Lake City, Virgin: homes, wedding, movies)

[Geo-Aggie]

I'd say it's about 60% with maybe 40% actually believing it still and 25% practicing.

The reason it gets brought up is because of how badly Utah stands out as a demographic outlier. In most of the nation you have something like 20-40% of the state will be Catholic, 20-40% will be some form of Protestant (Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran, etc.), 10-20% Non-religious and 1-2% each for Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Jehovah's Witness..ism? and Mormonism. That's the makeup of pretty much every state in the entire country. Yeah maybe you've got 40% Catholic/20% Protestant in New York and 20% Catholic/40% Protestant in Alabama, and it creates a few cultural differences, but they're minor.

Then you have Utah - it's like 10% Catholic, 15% Protestant, 10% Non-religious and 60% Mormon. It stands as quite the religious outlier. The cultural implications alone are massive. Imagine a state which is 60% Jewish or 60% Islamic. Culturally, it would be a bit different than Iowa or Kansas, no?

Then take into consideration that outside of the stretch of land between Rexburg and Mesa, Mormons are equated to groups like Jehovah's Witnesses or Shakers. They're not seen as a typical Mainstream Protestant religion, because they aren't. They're a primitive-restorationist faith which arouse from the Second Great Awakening, with their own unique culture and values. This is then compounded by over a century of geographic isolation from the rest of the country before large numbers of Non-Mormons began moving to Utah in the 1970's/80's. What I'm saying is that the questions are valid and important to any prospective future resident of the state.

I will admit that the "search" function could really remove a large number of these. There's even that mega-thread that I always get my posts deleted from that could answer probably 99.9% of all questions on the subject of Mormon influence in Utah. I wonder how we can direct more people to it and keep it as non-biased and impartial as possible. I know some of the posts in there tend to lean a bit toward Mormon-Propaganda and others (sometimes ones by me) tend to paint the faith from the more negative Ex-Mo perspective than would be experienced by a Never-Mo.

[TheBaldBlur]

Originally Posted by markg91359

. I do not believe that people moving to Alabama or Mississippi ask about how powerful an influence the Southern Baptist Convention might be in their state.

You might be surprised at people's preconceptions and prejudices for other areas. I was born/raised in the Deep South and often encountered people from northern states who genuinely asked whether we had dirt roads, electricity, and indoor plumbing. While those questions had me staring open mouthed trying to determine if they were serious or not; their questions about whether it was safe for black people made me laugh right out loud!

It works in other areas too. Right out of college I interviewed with a company in SoCal and had more than a few friends and family members asking how I'd adapt to the surfboy culture.

It's not just regions of the US either. I worked for a while in Australia and would travel there frequently for extended periods from my home in Colorado. Now Australia is a wonderful place but most things in the water and land are capable of killing you PDQ. Yet a frequent response upon meeting some Aussies was "Colorado! OMG, I saw a show about the Rocky Mountains recently and there are mountain lions, rattlesnakes, and bears there that will eat you just for the FUN of it! NO WAY am I ever going there mate!"


Maybe it's not the same, but you're not the Lone Ranger!

[justducky2]

LOL, EVERY time someone asks where my kid is going to college out of state, and I say SLC Utah, I get the pointed question about being mormon. No, we're not. No, it's a small private liberal arts college, not BYU. No, it's not "dry" (in fact, I think it's the only school that allows alcohol for 21+ aged students in dorms). No, the mormons have never in three years tried to convert her.

Yes, Utah has weird laws. Like the liquor laws. Yes, Costco near downtown is closed on Sundays. Yes, the legislators are mostly mormon resulting in weird laws.

But really - it's a nice place, with nice people. You don't have to be mormon to live there. We haven't found that they are always looking for converts. In fact, they are pretty nice. And it's been a pleasant experience for my daughter there, except for one lunatic landlord for a year, and the inversions.

[ryanms3030]

Well I've thought about moving to Utah but then I read all kinds of horror stories of people that move there and get run out of town by Mormons making their lives hell. So its a valid question

[Cryptic]

Originally Posted by ryanms3030

Well I've thought about moving to Utah but then I read all kinds of horror stories of people that move there and get run out of town by Mormons making their lives hell. So its a valid question

My take is that in the past, some Mormons, for various reasons, and to various degrees practiced an unofficial shunning of non Mormons. This led to very isolated lives for outsiders. Today, a small number of Mormons may still do, but they are a declining minority.

Utah has changed as non Mormons have moved in and Mormons have changed as they have been exposed to different people. Unofficial, but somewhat customary practices such as shunning that in past generations may have been tolerated by some Mormon religious leaders, or even tacitly encouraged, are now clearly rejected by nearly all Mormon church figures.

Thus... the question is becoming less valid except when perhaps pertaining to isolated and insular rural areas.

[ryanms3030]

Originally Posted by Cryptic

My take is that in the past, some Mormons, for various reasons, and to various degrees practiced an unofficial shunning of non Mormons. This led to very isolated lives for outsiders. Today, a small number of Mormons may still do, but they are a declining minority.

Utah has changed as non Mormons have moved in and Mormons have changed as they have been exposed to different people. Unofficial, but somewhat customary practices such as shunning that in past generations may have been tolerated by some Mormon religious leaders, or even tacitly encouraged, are now clearly rejected by nearly all Mormon church figures.

Thus... the question is becoming less valid except when perhaps pertaining to isolated and insular rural areas.

Thanks. Yes, I think the particular stories I've read were people living in smaller towns in Utah and one in particular I remember was by Zion.

Good to know SLC is a little more open. But still as an outsider looking in I confirm that is the perception I have. It is enough to put me off to moving to what otherwise is a very attractive state for me personally...but I guess that is the intention of some people

[InchingWest]

Originally Posted by Katzpur

I'm wondering how people expect me, as a Mormon, to respond to a statement like, "I'd love to move to Salt Lake City, but the idea of living among all of those Mormons really makes me nervous. How do you manage to cope?"

It also makes me wonder what it is about me that turns people who have never even met me off. For crying out loud, I'm not exactly an alien from outer space.

This reminds me of an old joke about two Americans traveling abroad and one saying to the other:

"Oh wow, look at all the foreigners here, there's so many of them!"

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by InchingWest

This reminds me of an old joke about two Americans traveling abroad and one saying to the other:

"Oh wow, look at all the foreigners here, there's so many of them!"

Yeah, seriously.

[Hockeyfan1989]

Originally Posted by ryanms3030

Well I've thought about moving to Utah but then I read all kinds of horror stories of people that move there and get run out of town by Mormons making their lives hell. So its a valid question

It's a valid question. For me and my wife (were 27 years old) we moved here for my job from Minnesota this past January and were slightly hesitant but very excited as we both love the outdoors and skiing. Our perception thus far is that everyone seems to be slightly guarded in terms of developing real relationships/friendships with the mormon community (we are christians but not LDS) however, they are all very nice. My wife is easily the most outgoing person I know and has never had an issue with building solid friendships in all the places we've lived (Spokane, St. Paul, Pittsburgh) and she can't find a single "close" friend here although everyone is friendly in other regards. This is not a place where we could settle down and raise a family for that reason but we are in love with the city itself. City Creek mall is incredible, the skiing everywhere, and the restaurant scene is great also. Very clean and safe downtown is the biggest difference I have noticed coming from Minneapolis.

This is just our experience and .02

[madison999]

Utah=religious nuts to a LOT of America. It's just a fact.

To people who don't know Mormons it is like a state run by whatever religious weirdos they are familiar with; jehovas etc etc. it's weird to the point of being scary.

Lots of Mormons in Phoenix. The adults I have met that claim it have been of very low character. Sorry. Not what you want to hear. When some Catholic or whatever ends up being a criminal or just a scumbag it's judged differently because almost everyone is familiar with catholics