Mormon influence on non- mormons (Provo: sales, how much, home)

[RockyMountainMom]

Hi there. We, too, are considering a move to UT and are not LDS and never will be. However, having known co-workers who are LDS and having had neighbors who are LDS, I have zero worries about living in UT. I have found that Mormons are just really, really good people, and frankly, you cannot find better co-workers and neighbors.

[wzippler]

Originally Posted by dan k

Hi,
I was thinking of moving to utah but my wife is worried about the mormon way of shunning non-mormons.She has lived in mormon communities and said she would never do it again because if you want to start a business or anything they will make i rough to make a living and we have 2 young children that if they try influencing them, they dont want to deal with me.I dont handle people pushing their beliefs or lifestyle on me.
I am a firm believer in you leave me alone and i will leave you alone.
How are they to live with, because all i want to do is live my life and enjoy it.I want to appreciate what has been given to us, nature is all i need.
Dan k

While I have some trouble with the shunning doctrine of some faiths, it is my understanding that you have to be a member of the group before you can be shunned. So unless you or your wife have ever been a LDS you should not have to worry about shunning.

[Blondie-Rabbit]

The state has always from the beginning had itself wrapped and interwinned with the LDS faith. It is more than a religion it is a culture. People talk about what they know, and since it is all encompassing they will talk about church activities, and such. Coming to Utah you will be bombarded with lots of Mormon things. It is not a bad thing, it is just the way of life here for a lot of people. It is what makes this the state the kind of place that it is. People move here becasue of the life style, then get upset at the Mormons who in hindsight for them were the ones who created this place. Do you have to accept and join the church? NO!!!! Do you need to know about it? Yes any place you move to it is best to know the prevailing culture and what brought it about. Will you be shunned? NO!!!! But after you have demonstrated that you want nothing to do with the church, and for most that is their whole life, they will elave you alone. If you asked for help even after being left alone, they would be there to help you. You are not shunned, just given what you want and to not be bothered by Mormons.

It is a great place. People are respectful, kind and gueinely nice. They go out of their way to help each other and new people. It is part of the culture to lend a hand where ever they can. It is also part of the culture to be self suffiecient. That is why regular welfare is veyr low. The church has it's own welfare system. The church networks to find jobs for its members too. so this hiring only Mormons is BS, but it gets said. Any system of any other culture any where else in the world will have a support system that will try and place their people in jobs. Yet it gets put down here in Utah by those who move in. You can tap into that system, by asking a (gasp) Mormon if they have heard of any jobs in such and such field. They would probably go to that support system and ask about the jobs possibilities. Now the reality is that those jobs are not high paying jobs. Most of what is in Utah is not high paying. Again the reality is that a lot of Mormons will accept the low wages as a trade off for being able to live in "UTAH" so the wages and such have stayed low. You have some pockets that it is kept low for a different reason. Those places are old line families that seem to control the finacial structure of the area. Those areas will be even lower in wages than the rest.

Bottom line is if you have a problem with Mormons, don't move to Utah. They are what made this state.

[coolcats]

Originally Posted by wzippler

While I have some trouble with the shunning doctrine of some faiths, it is my understanding that you have to be a member of the group before you can be shunned. So unless you or your wife have ever been a LDS you should not have to worry about shunning.

There is no such doctrine. Some unsanctioned segregation from all sides may occur from hurt feelings if a member were to leave the Church. If anyone has further questions, lets move it to the Religion Forum.

[Aerorick]

I try to offer my experiances in Utah a pragmatic and realistic way that may be of some value to anyone moving here. And I appriciate Coolcats for the way the site has been allowed to flow the way it has. Because there cannot be any discussion of Utah without some referance to the LDS Church. Unlike any other state there is not another place in the country where a church is nearly as intertwinned and influential into all aspects of life here. Whether the subject be state and local government, the states economy, businesses, social structure or the cost of living or moving here, it is impossible to separate the two or discuss one without the other.

[Calibelle]

Yes Aerorick, the LDS church has a huge social influence on the state of Utah, therefore it will be discussed and mentioned. However... when people have questions directly pertaining to LDS teachings and doctrine, then those questions belong in the religion forum. Any discussions about how it will be socially to live in a highly LDS population, are fine. It was a relief when they finally created the religion forum, as dealing with all the heated discussions here in the Utah forum, regarding the LDS religion was getting difficult. It was so out of hand, that it totally overshadowed any other topics in this forum, and it was unfair on the people who simply had questions about Utah, and what life was like there.

[Aerorick]

I wish it were as simple to discuss anything about Utah without having to at least acknowledge the churches role in most aspects of life here. Not only social as you mentioned. The history of Utah during 1885-1848 was filled with misunderstandings, delayed communications and territorial governance debate with the federal government. And that was shortly after thousands of Mormons settled in the Salt Lake Valley after fleeing religious pursecution in the Ohio Valley states. Then in 1862 a U.S. Calvary group made up of voluteers from California was sent to the new state to, among other things, encourage non-Mormons to emigrate there.
Those events are only an example of what the original pioneers had to go through. I can understand why some folks feel the way they do. I encourage anyone moving here to at least be familiar with an outline of the history of this state. Argueably it's unlike any other in the union.

[dan k]

Thank you all for your input on utah.I am just really confused as to where we want to reside but i know i just want to enjoy life and have our girls treated better than what they are here in Phoenix and to be safer and being an ex truckdriver i do know from experience that Phoenix rates right up there in the top ten as the worst places i have ever been.I would not recommend to anyone that whats to live safe and happy please dont move to this city or within 60 miles of here.It sucks!

[HEL_EN]

I am wiccan and I moved here to Ogden almost a year ago, I run a storage unit and I have had no problems with any lds people at all, everyone here is great, friendly, easy to talk to and work with. I have never been pushed into a religous conversation by anyone or asked to join a church, but I do know the lds church helps out alot of people in need, that impressed me. Lds gets a bad rap about many many wives, I heard it from my native Ohions when we decided to leave Ohio to venture out here there first words to my husband was "cool, get more wives" . How lame. I love Ogden, the mountian views are awesome, the restaraunts are unique, my mother is a volunteer reader at one of the schools, she has been treated with nothing but respect from students and teachers.

[skye78]

Some areas in UT will really Osteracize you for not being LDS. Provo, Orem, American Fork, etc... are among the worst. Your wife is 100% accurate about bad mormons around that area. If you go to a super market there and are wearing a tank top, they will not only ask you for your Drivers License, but they will ask for a "Local" form of ID too...now...realize that my DL says Utah on it...but they want PROVO id. They are beyond wierd out there. If you wear LDS attire and play the role, they won't even ID you. Running a non-LDS owned business (in my opinion) will probably be a sure failure. Mormon population is about 99% in those areas. Non mormons really get pushed out of those communities.

Riverton is currently trying to force the only bar in the city to close doors. The city is about to force a road expansion for the sole purpose of forcing the guy out because he won't sell the business...the owner is standing by the presidence that people should be allowed to drink. It is a quite bar, no trouble comes from it. But the city wants him out.

Other areas though (Herriman, Kearns, West Jordan, West Valley, Sugar House, etc...) are only about 35% LDS and they are very normal, pleasant communities. You can live VERY comfortably there without pressure from the religion.

Sandy and the Draper area is a cross between the two. They are older communities and LDS population is about 75%.

You can gauge where to live happily by driving the communities. Count the churches. If there is more than 1 church every 10 minutes, you don't want to live there unless you are mormon.


If you really want to live in UT (or have to for your work) then try flipping through the local phone book and count #of churches vs. #of bars/liquor stores for the areas. It might shed some light on the matter.