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Something that fascinates me .. I keep coming across LDS people who feel that they are more integrated into broader U.S. culture than their LDS peers.
Each is sure that they are somehow more knowledgeable of the greater world than the LDS norm .. More “Worldly.” More “World Aware”.
I have yet to meet any LDS person who feels they are more sheltered than the norm.
The reality is that the vast majority of LDS people live and work with non-LDS peeps every day of their lives.
It is on Sunday that we get together and pretend that the non-LDS world and culture is somehow foreign to everyone in the congregation but ourselves.
Why is that?
I think it deals with that we WANT to believe that and it makes us not feel so odd. So our minds help us build that scenario up in our minds to comfort us. I wonder if it is the same in Utah vs far away from Utah.
Now of course “I” am more worldly than most!
I think it’s because of the habits of our religion — WofW, Chastity, Tithing, honesty, “following the prophet”, the Proclamation to the World — all these things make us different In Utah there are sections of lds density that is intense. I can walk my wards perimeter in 15 min. I’ve had jobs most of my life where ALL of my peers were LDS. When the non member moved into the neigjborhood, it was weird…
Things are changing since my youth. Now LDS people at my work are the general exception. Lots of protestants and Hindu. Not as many LDS…but if all religions, lds is still the highest percentage of whole.
I work in downtown SLC.
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Rob4Hope: That gives me a different perspective. Thank you. I can go an entire year at work and not knowingly meet another member. Sometimes two years. There are not a lot of us in this area and not a lot of LDS peeps that work in the OR. Maybe it is because of the need to change into scrubs in a group locker situation? I dunno.
Anyway .. at church locally .. When talking to members individually, I am surprised how often I have members talk about how they are sure they have a broader idea of non-LDS culture than is the norm. I just shrug. In my opinion, when we are such a small minority, the broader culture IS our norm.
On Sundays, those same people look around at others the pews, and assume no one else is equally exposed to the broader non-LDS culture in which we live. They assume everyone else is narrow minded and TBM. They assume there is a worm-hole or time warp to SLC. This last week, I found the comments annoying.
amateurparent wrote:Rob4Hope: That gives me a different perspective. Thank you.
I can go an entire year at work and not knowingly meet another member. Sometimes two years. There are not a lot of us in this area and not a lot of LDS peeps that work in the OR. Maybe it is because of the need to change into scrubs in a group locker situation? I dunno.
Anyway .. at church locally .. When talking to members individually, I am surprised how often I have members talk about how they are sure they have a broader idea of non-LDS culture than is the norm. I just shrug. In my opinion, when we are such a small minority, the broader culture IS our norm.
On Sundays, those same people look around at others the pews, and assume no one else is equally exposed to the broader non-LDS culture in which we live. They assume everyone else is narrow minded and TBM. They assume there is a worm-hole or time warp to SLC. This last week, I found the comments annoying.
I want to mention something that has bothered me for years. I’ve seen this, and it just irks me (and this probably should be on another thread,…but it came up as I was reading your post AP).
I’ve lived in SLC my entire life, though I have traveled around just a little and spent 2 years in Australia during TBM missionary years. One of the things that disturbs me is the general conduct of TBM men at gym locker rooms. Back years ago when I wore garments, I always felt a sense of dignity to keep myself covered while changing into gym clothing or a swimming suit–not parading myself around like I owned the whole place. There are and continue to be men who act like they are superior or justified religiously in being less than discrete with how they handle the garment.
I’ve seen this recently again.
During my mission, I had associates who were like this. I remember asking one about this once, and his response was: “If they don’t like my religious garment, they don’t have to look at me.”
His response was offensive to me because it didn’t address my concern: “Why do you parade around and not show any cooth with how you act and treat that garment? You make it obvious you like to show off your underware.”
I will never understand this,…but it is a cultural thing I have noticed in TBM ville–not everyone is like this, but many are.
Robe4Hope wrote: Quote:Back years ago when I wore garments, I always felt a sense of dignity to keep myself covered while changing into gym clothing or a swimming suit–not parading myself around like I owned the whole place.
When I wore garments, when I had to change at work, I always changed in the bathroom, or I got to work so early that I was changed before anyone else arrived. Funny how many things I did to avoid showing temple garments in a group changing room. I think one of the reason women have such a tough time with garments is because women bond over clothes. It is normal for women to go shop together, you go on trips together, and weekend girl group retreats. It is normal to try on each other’s clothes or borrow a pair of shorts. Once you go through the temple, you never have the same freedom of relationship with non-LDS girlfriends again.
When I quit wearing garments, suddenly, I could go to work and just get changed without hiding in the bathroom. I can shop with a non-LDS friend and not worry about my garments. I can share a hotel room at a conference without fear of my friend seeing my weird underwear.
Quote:There are and continue to be men who act like they are superior or justified religiously in being less than discrete with how they handle the garment.
In SLC, the church remains the underlying power structure of the area. I find it funny ( and sad ) that men would parade about in their G’s in the locker room. It reminds me of little boys wearing their favorite superhero shirt — a sign of hidden powers.
I am going one level deeper on this. AP wrote
Quote:I can share a hotel room at a conference without fear of my friend seeing my weird underwear.
I grew up as a national level swimmer. It was nothing to sit in a locker room naked or half dressed and chat. Suddenly garments came along and I didn’t even like dressing in front of other LDS garment wearers. I was embarrassed to look at them. It had nothing to do with modesty – It was all vanity related.
Maybe we think we’re more cultured than average because a fair number of us have lived abroad and many speak a second language as the result of having served a mission. In Europe it’s no big whoop but in the US? Not too many Americans speak a FL, not too many Americans have even been abroad, let alone lived abroad. When an American Mormon compares themselves with the world (meaning non-member Americans) they think they are more culturally enlightened. In some cases they are, in other cases it’s an illusion. nibbler wrote:Maybe we think we’re more cultured than average because a fair number of us have lived abroad and many speak a second language as the result of having served a mission. In Europe it’s no big whoop but in the US? Not too many Americans speak a FL, not too many Americans have even been abroad, let alone lived abroad. When an American Mormon compares themselves with the world (meaning non-member Americans) they think they are more culturally enlightened. In some cases they are, in other cases it’s an illusion.
The point about religion reminded me of a joke.What do you call someone that can speak 3 languages – trilingual
What do you call someone that can speak 2 languages – bilingual
What do you call someone that can speak 1 language – An American
That is a bit harsh as I do think most people speak only one language, but when you compare it to Europe it is a bit more true.
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