Why Mormon Prejudice?

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Today at a writing conference, after I'd talked about my Linda Wallheim Mormon mystery series, a woman came up to me afterwards and asked why it was that people were so prejudiced against Mormons. She said she'd been looking in the area and had been warned by many people to stay away from the most Mormon neighborhoods.

I thought about all the reasons that I heard people laughing/mocking/castigating Mormons when I was a kid, growing up in New Jersey.

1. Mormons have horns.
2. Mormons are polygamists.
3. Mormons are a cult.
4. Mormons want to steal your money.
5. Mormons want to convert you.
6. Mormons aren't Christian.
7. Mormons don't believe in evolution or science.
8. Mormons don't dance.
9. Mormons eat babies.
10. Mormons wear old style clothes and can't buy anything modern.

While all of these (except #1 and #9) have some grounding in reality, they're not good reasons for adults to act terrified of Mormons. I tried to explain to this woman about the old reasons that Mormons are treated badly, often fueled by religious prejudice in the South, preachers who are determined to "save" their flock from being converted to the apparently effective missionary force.

Then I thought of the reasons I've heard more recently from people who ask me how I can stay Mormon, why I stay Mormon, and shake their heads when I try to answer. These are more difficult to respond to.

1. Mormons have a racist past.
2. Mormons are gullible (to believe in Joseph Smith, gold plates, etc.)
3. Mormons have a tight-knit community that doesn't include non-Mormon neighbors.
4. Mormons are focused entirely on their families, genealogy, and church work.
5. Mormons are homophobic/transphobic.
6. Mormons voted for Trump, who went against all their values.
7. Mormons are hypocrites, pretending they've given up polygamy but still preaching about it in heaven.
8. BYU's Title IX/Honor Code scandal.
9. Mormons demand loyalty, secrecy.
10. Mormons exclude family members from weddings in the temple and require money (in the form of tithing) to get into the temple--among other requirements.

These are more difficult to dismiss. I don't think people should hate Mormons. I don't think Mormons should hate other groups. But I certainly have sympathy for people who don't understand how Mormonism works here and now, in the modern age. I see why people who complain that after Mitt Romney denounced Trump and then seemed to backpedal, they wondered if Mormons in general have integrity (especially when Utah as a state backpedaled and voted Trump).

I see many ex-Mormons who are extremely moral people, who couldn't stay in Mormonism for that very reason. I respect them. I don't have a good answer for why I stay except that it works for my family at the moment. I don't know if it will continue to work or not. I'm giving myself space to figure it out. I hope you can give people space, as well.

Comments

  1. Michael AustinSeptember 2, 2018 at 6:22 PM

    I think that Mormons are one of the few groups that get regular criticism from both right and left. Liberals dislike Mormons because they see us as Christian fundamentalists. But actual Christian fundamentalists see us as heretics. In our highly partisan world, most demographic groups are on one side or the other, so at least half of the people in the country are their natural allies. Mormons have natural opponents on both sides of the great divide.

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