Improving the way LDS people are perceived

[LA Ute]

This quote below is highly valuable in my opinion and experience:

Lawrence says his findings point to a fear factor in most Americans about Latter-day Saints and what are perceived as weird beliefs and secretiveness.

Does that bother you, or does it not seem plausible? I think it is probably true, and the attitude stems primarily from ignorance.

[ERCougar]

I wasn't inferring that he is a Sunstone-loving skeptic, only that his view is alarmingly myopic, similar to this woman's view:

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/opinion...-less.html.csp

Lol...'Alarmingly myopic'? How?

Edit: referring to this woman's piece...

[tooblue]

Does that bother you, or does it not seem plausible? I think it is probably true, and the attitude stems primarily from ignorance.

It doesn't bother me; it is the crux of the problem. Fear, born of ignorance is what needs to be overcome in the US.

Outside the US, missionaries are viewed first as Americans. Fear or disdain of Americans is typically what needs to be overcome and once people get past that Mormonism is just another religion.

[NorthwestUteFan]

At my school, there was a very loud minority (comprised of LDS, but NOT all the LDS) that were really assholes to be around. They whined like stuck pigs when alcohol was served at class parties. They wore their religion on their sleeve. They were in your face. They went out of their way to dissociate themselves from other class members and did nothing to get to know or develop relationships with the class. They stuck out like sore thumbs and they were not liked. And they were LDS.

Port, out of curiosity, where did most of these A-hole Mormons students go for undergrad?

Second, did you go to OHSU?

[tooblue]

Lol...'Alarmingly myopic'? How?

Edit: referring to this woman's piece...

I don't post comments on newspaper sites but you should read some of the comments that were posted. I attend church and socialize with people who appear in some of those ads. They are not acting. They are real people. The author is woefully myopic and ignorant.

lol

I've watched an Elders quorum president belly dance with his wife and sister at a Ward talent show where funeral potatoes are considered the ethnic dish and jerk chicken or curry goat is the main course.

[Portland Ute]

Port, out of curiosity, where did most of these A-hole Mormons students go for undergrad?

Second, did you go to OHSU?

Yes, I went to OHSU.

[ERCougar]

I don't post comments on newspaper sites but you should read some of the comments that were posted. I attend church and socialize with people who appear in some of those ads. They are not acting. They are real people. The author is woefully myopic and ignorant.

lol

I've watched an Elders quorum president belly dance with his wife and sister at a Ward talent show where funeral potatoes are considered the ethnic dish and jerk chicken or curry goat is the main course.

I don't know where she said (or implied) that any of them are acting. Her point is that there seems to be a disconnect between championing our diversity in PR campaigns and encouraging conformity in our churches. Agree or not, myopic is a very odd way to characterize her argument. If anything, she's subtly criticizing the church for a kind of 'myopicness'. I have no idea if that's a word.

[old_gregg]

I have no idea if that's a word.

myopia? i'm not sure if it's used there, but it sounds right.

[NorthwestUteFan]

Yes, I went to OHSU.

That is a great school. Good for you.

For the record, the biggest <redacted*> piece of <redacted> <redacted^3> <poop> to ever walk the face of the earth was a pre-dental student at the U. He and his wife attended my student ward, and lived in the apartment above me in Sugarhouse. He was a complete in-your-face Peter Priesthood at church and in the street, and completely wore his religion on his sleeve.

About two months after moving in, he moved away for Dental School (Midwest somewhere, not Creighton). His wife stayed behind.

Come to find out he was beating the living crap out of her on a regular basis for stupid reasons, and often they were church-related. She forgot to pay Fast Offerings, she was slow getting ready so they were late for church, etc. She would then wear a lot of makeup for a few days.

I used to hear them screaming at each other, and would often hear her crying, but didn't realize he was actually striking her. If I knew that I would have kicked in their door, and then kicked in all of his teeth.

I saw her a few years later and could only tell her, "I am sorry I didn't help you, or realize you needed help..." I still feel absolutely horrible about it.

To this day I have to wonder if there is an underlying control issue hiding behind an overwhelmingly Peter Priesthood facade.

*self edit for the Foyer, although the original words are barely sufficient...

[ERCougar]

myopia? i'm not sure if it's used there, but it sounds right.

Ha...yeah, that would work better.

[ERCougar]

I don't personally know many of these religion-on-your-sleeve types, because most people are a little too socially aware to really get obnoxious about this stuff, but I do wonder if Uchtdorf's talk will encourage this sort of behavior.

[Portland Ute]

That is a great school. Good for you.

For the record, the biggest <redacted*> piece of <redacted> <redacted^3> <poop> to ever walk the face of the earth was a pre-dental student at the U. He and his wife attended my student ward, and lived in the apartment above me in Sugarhouse. He was a complete in-your-face Peter Priesthood at church and in the street, and completely wore his religion on his sleeve.

About two months after moving in, he moved away for Dental School (Midwest somewhere, not Creighton). His wife stayed behind.

Come to find out he was beating the living crap out of her on a regular basis for stupid reasons, and often they were church-related. She forgot to pay Fast Offerings, she was slow getting ready so they were late for church, etc. She would then wear a lot of makeup for a few days.

I used to hear them screaming at each other, and would often hear her crying, but didn't realize he was actually striking her. If I knew that I would have kicked in their door, and then kicked in all of his teeth.

I saw her a few years later and could only tell her, "I am sorry I didn't help you, or realize you needed help..." I still feel absolutely horrible about it.

To this day I have to wonder if there is an underlying control issue hiding behind an overwhelmingly Peter Priesthood facade.

*self edit for the Foyer, although the original words are barely sufficient...

None of these folks attended the U.

[tooblue]

I don't know where she said (or implied) that any of them are acting. Her point is that there seems to be a disconnect between championing our diversity in PR campaigns and encouraging conformity in our churches. Agree or not, myopic is a very odd way to characterize her argument. If anything, she's subtly criticizing the church for a kind of 'myopicness'. I have no idea if that's a word.

But these ubiquitous ads are also drastically misleading.

What is drastically misleading about showing real, every day people in ads, chosen primarily because they are unique? Maybe, just maybe, their uniqueness isn't all that unique in a global church. Maybe, just maybe these people represent 50, 60, 70 % of the people in my Ward?

Why are individual congregants sometimes reprimanded for doing the exact same things our church public relations department would like the rest of the world to view as charming and alluring.

Talk about misleading ... congregants are being reprimanded for what, exactly?



Her article is myopic: lacking tolerance or understanding; narrow-minded ... focused too much on a view of the world unique to Utah.

[YOhio]

None of these folks attended the U.

Weber State?

[tooblue]

Weber State?

University of Dayton?