I'm not LDS; will I have trouble living in Utah? (Salt Lake City: house, transfer)

[SergeantL]

Coolcats wrote, “Anyone's free to start a similar topic in a new thread though.”

OK, I am willing to stick my neck out here and create a thread for those considering moving to Utah, but have questions or concerns regarding living in a largely Latter Day Saint State. The culture of any area is an important factor to consider when making a move, and there is no question that members of the LDS faith have a significant influence on the social fabric of Utah.

Here are some ground rules:

• Don’t use this thread as an excuse to take cheap shots at any religion, LDS or otherwise. This thread is intended to answer questions regarding social interaction between members of the LDS faith and non-LDS members of the population.
  
• This thread is not a question and answer platform for LDS doctrine. If you have a question about LDS doctrine, make an appointment with an LDS missionary or other authorized representative of the Church.
  
• If you have either a positive or negative comment regarding social interaction between members and non-members, avoid sweeping generalizations. Please give specific examples; it leads to better understanding and allows for a more insightful evaluation of the information.
  
• Oh, yeah, as usual, humor is strictly permitted.

[GreggB]

Will you have trouble--I'd say it's a 50/50 deal. My sister and her husband moved to St. George several years ago. Her husband has had NO problems with the LDS influence. My sister has had major issues with it. I guess it would depend on so many different things, including one's own personality to start with.

[Phazed-Coug]

I just moved to Utah, and we moved to a predominantly LDS town, I won't
say which since its only 800 people strong. Everyone we've spoken to so far
has been very friendly, infact we did get a couple "missionaries" older
gentlemen who welcomed us to town, gave us some non LDS information
about town(directory, services, etc) They did ask if we were LDS, we just
told them no. We chatted for a bit. I work from home right now, and am
outside almost daily cleaning up the winter mess in the yard, lots of people
wave and smile, and I either initiate the wave or return a wave and smile.

I've really got to say the "mormon" rumors that propagate outside of
Utah seem to be unfounded, while in any religion there are extremes,
mormon folk seem to be just like you or I. Yes I've heard them swear, yes
some smoke, some even drink, and it seems to be a prerequisit to be a
really bad driver too.. but these are all things that might make some
peoples ears bleed if they heard about them, but all in all Utahns are
regular folks.
We like Utah, and we aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

[lolagranola]

I LOVE Utah. We've been here for over 5 years, coming from the east coast. We live in a suburb north of Salt Lake, and it is predominately LDS. There is only one other "non" family in our neighborhood. We have totally been welcomed and included, even have vacationed with some of our neighbors. There are several families that we socialize with on a regular basis.

We do get missionaries. I have no problem with that...sometimes I talk with them, sometimes I tell them "no thanks"...my husband feels put off by missionaries (sometimes) though.

Mormons are GREAT neighbors. In my experience they reach out and are accepting. And they know how to have fun.

[Elder_Shawn]

Short answer: Yes.

[Embraer]

My airline is based out of St Geroge, and Salt Lake City is one of our hubs...therefore I have a pretty good amount of experience with the state.

I will repost a reply of mine from the Washington forum:

Well, the thing about SLC is that the things I mentioned get worse the further you are from the central district...otherwise known as downtown. There was actually a couple of areas with progressive thinking therefore open minded people in Salt Lake, but they were small.

St George was probably one of the more surreal experiences I have ever had. Beautiful place. But the mentalities were a bit off.

Everybody seemed very nice at first. Then they began to seem too nice. Soon they were preaching about the Mormon faith. Some were more militant than others. But the message was generally the same. They questioned and picked at the beliefs of each of the pilots in our class.

Those of us that were Catholic were singled out first from what it seemed like. Then a couple of Protestant guys really got hammered with some obnoxious debates.

Plus it was really weird seeing these wives who did look like stepford wives and their kids who looked robotic...not to mention almost identical.

FYI: There was one black pilot in our class and on two occasions he was made to feel very bad by some mormons at a couple of restaurants. He was very enlightened therefore didn't pay much mind, but the rest of us became very heated over it.

Over here at Skywest it is an ongoing joke everybody dreads recurrent training because that means a trip back to St George. There is one black pilot buddy of mine who I tell-jokingly-that I've put in a transfer request for him to go live in Salt Lake City and he answers: Dear God, no!

It is playful and funny but kind of shows how some things work over there. Not to say Utah or SLC is a bad place. Just not the most hospitable place on earth, and definently not the most livable if you are not mormon.

Of course there are differing opinions, so take mine with whatever degree of accuracy you wish.


Ok, now with all that said I will agree that Mormons make good neihboors. Apparently it has something to do with them believing the more good they do here on earth the better chance they will have of becoming a God over their own universe, or something like that.

Regardless, what that means to us non-mormons is that they will be friendly and very helpful. Most of the problems I had with them came from extensive contact, once they were past the smiles and helpfulness and began to try and "preach".

[coolcats]

Originally Posted by Embraer

St George was probably one of the more surreal experiences I have ever had. Beautiful place. But the mentalities were a bit off.

Everybody seemed very nice at first. Then they began to seem too nice. Soon they were preaching about the Mormon faith. Some were more militant than others. But the message was generally the same ...

Plus it was really weird seeing these wives who did look like stepford wives and their kids who looked robotic...not to mention almost identical.

Most of the problems I had with them came from extensive contact, once they were past the smiles and helpfulness and began to try and "preach".

I am afraid you have uncovered the secret plot. Somehow you escaped before the brainwashing was complete. Otherwise you would have been brainwashed and robotic yourself, so that you would have never noticed these things. Then in your zombie-like state you would have begun the process on others.

Don't worry -- the Mormon mafia will soon come to your house and flash a light pen thingy (like in "Men and Black") and you will forget the whole experience.

[Embraer]

Originally Posted by coolcats

I am afraid you have uncovered the secret plot. Somehow you escaped before the brainwashing was complete. Otherwise you would have been brainwashed and robotic yourself, so that you would have never noticed these things. Then in your zombie-like state you would have begun the process on others.

Don't worry -- the Mormon mafia will soon come to your house and flash a light pen thingy (like in "Men and Black") and you will forget the whole experience.

I know, but then right behind them will be a couple of fellows on bicycles wearing white shirts with ties that will make me relive the whole experience

Like I said above, that was my experience with the area. Would you rather me lie?

Take it as a point of view, and one group of pilot's opinions. Then again I do know of a few pilots with our airline that are based out of SLC and don't seem to mind it too much....although they do make it clear it is only temporary.

[coolcats]

No, that's your point of view and that's what you are sharing. It seemes a bit conspiratorial to me, but maybe that's just me. SeargentL did say humor is permitted.

Regarding the guys in white shirts -- once your memory has been erased they will be able to their job with much less resistance from you.

[SergeantL]

Originally Posted by Embraer

My airline is based out of St Geroge...They questioned and picked at the beliefs of each of the pilots in our class.

Those of us that were Catholic were singled out first from what it seemed like. Then a couple of Protestant guys really got hammered with some obnoxious debates.

There was one black pilot in our class and on two occasions he was made to feel very bad by some mormons at a couple of restaurants. He was very enlightened therefore didn't pay much mind, but the rest of us became very heated over it.

Was this a company class!? It seems incredible to me that the topic of religion would even enter corporate training. Most topics dealing with religion are strictly verboten in the workplace. Based on what you have written, it seems you and the others should have filed EEOC complaints or at a minimum complained to your personnel department. Who, or should I say, what idiot injected religion into a company training class?

Next, African-Americans are a hot button topic for me. I was not raised LDS but converted to the Church later in life. My Godparents were black, so I had some difficulty with church doctrine prior to 1978. I have a much clearer understanding of the issue today, but I know that many believe the Church discriminates, which I know not to be true, but I am still sensitive to the subject. Would you be willing to elaborate on the specific treatment your friend received at the restaurant and how you know the offenders were LDS?