Vox

Musings, rants, rambling, general nonsense

Are Mormons Weird?

Posted on | September 2, 2012 | 5 Comments

There must be some who think so, since that is one of Google’s suggested Mormon searches – and it returns over a million results.

The answer is no. Mormons are just people. The better question might be “Is Mormonism weird?”

The answer is a qualified yes, in that where the beliefs of any group differ from the beliefs of your group, those beliefs will strike you as odd, silly, illogical…or weird. In that vein, Catholics are weird, Protestants are weird, Jews are weird, atheists are weird . . .

However, a candidate’s beliefs are less important to me than their values. By that standard, Mormons are most definitely not weird. Their beliefs are not my beliefs, but their values are my values.

Perhaps this is easy for me to say because I grew up in Arizona, a state where the LDS presence is strong. My exposure to Mormons is life-long, so I have never considered them “other”. They are just part of the rich tapestry of the state. It has been pointed out to me, however, that not everyone is so familiar. For those people, the media’s attempts to cast Mitt Romney’s religion as ‘creepy’ may have an effect, because most people will accept that Mormons are different.

Here’s an eye-opener for you – you probably know and like at least a few Mormons.

You may read blogs written by Mormons without even realizing it. I would bet that if you are on Pinterest, you have liked or re-pinned ideas and tips found on a blog written by a Mormon. Homemaking and journal keeping are important to most of the Mormons I know, and it seems they have been effectively sharing online for years.

Unless you have been living under a rock, you are familiar with Hollywood types who are now, or were raised as, Mormons. Katherine Heigl might not be a pleasant example, but Ryan “Hey, Girl” Gosling has quite a following. Eliza Dushku manages to channel ‘weird’ into some bad-@ss roles. Napolean Dynamite himself, Jon Heder, is a Mormon. Super sexy dancing siblings Derek & Julianne Hough first started shaking a leg in Orem, UT.

In other words – you have probably been exposed to Mormons your whole life, too, and just didn’t realize it. You didn’t realize it because they are not weird.

And just to blow your image of Mormons right out of the water, one of the best speeches at the 2012 GOP convention was by Mia Love. Immigrant, black, female – Mormon. Now skip past those labels and focus on her values, the values I want in a leader.

UPDATE (11/12/2013): Another example, I had no idea Larry Correia was a Mormon until he decided to Fisk the New York Times



Comments

5 Responses to “Are Mormons Weird?”

  1. Logan Kennelly
    September 3rd, 2012 @ 6:25 pm

    Very well said. It is just a shame that it has to be said.

    People need to keep in mind that negative and unusual stories spread faster and wider than common tales.

  2. Vox
    September 4th, 2012 @ 10:50 pm

    Thanks. I definitely think it is true of all religions, they are deserving of more understanding.

    Except Scientology, those guys really are weird 😉

  3. Tabloid (2010) » Word of Mouth Scale
    November 21st, 2013 @ 12:40 am

    […] down, kidnap him, and ‘deprogram’ him with sex. I have actually heard people refer to Mormonism as a cult, but I have never heard that particular cure […]

  4. mike angels
    February 13th, 2014 @ 11:16 pm

    i am sorry that space has been given to someone so ignorant to write something so uninformed.

    mormon culture is ugly and cruel, yet it is well trained. how do i know this? well, unlike the neophyte author of this article, i was raised in it.

    the mormon cult does terrible psychological damage to its followers. it destroys families. it fosters hatred and bigotry while it markets itself to as the complete opposite of those things.

    it is a multi-billion dollar fraud that we can never hope to see disappear until people who write articles for publication take the time to understand what they are writing about.

    shame on you all for publishing this.

  5. Vox AZ
    February 14th, 2014 @ 10:53 am

    So, I guess we can amend this article to say, “No, Mormons aren’t weird, but self-proclaimed ex-Mormons are. And hateful, too.”

    Just answering your ad hominem in kind.

    Why don’t you go ahead and give us a link to your blog post with all these ‘facts’ you have at your disposal but aren’t available to anyone else. Sounds more like you have a personal grievance that has little basis in the real world of Mormons and their culture. I hope you can find peace in whichever non-cult you found yourself.

    BTW: This space wasn’t given to me, I pay for it.

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