Posted Apr 11, 2014, 4:41 AM
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They all float down here
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Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Hair City, Utah
Posts: 9,640
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I don't think some of you people know what it's like to grow up non-LDS in Utah. It's a completely different feeling than anything in any other area of the country. While other states have their predominant faiths, the impact and influence isn't nearly at the level you see in Utah.
Catholics dominate much of the Northeast, and yet, Mitt Romney, a Mormon, managed to govern one of the largest Catholic-populated states in America. Utah hasn't had a non-Mormon governor since the 1950s. Growing up on the outside instinctively makes people push against the status quo.
The problem is that for many Utahns, being a non-Mormon has made us an outsider most our lives. Is their bitterness toward the LDS Church justified? Eh, probably not. But I can understand where it comes from. If you didn't grow up outside the Church (something that would get you 'what church' in any other state), it's hard to really understand.
Everything here still revolves around the LDS Church. This weekend, the top stories in all the newscasts and papers dealt with the LDS General Conference. Coworkers spent Monday talking about it like some major sporting event. When a missionary dies, even if they're not from Utah, it's played up here as something huge. When a new temple opens up, even if it's not in the U.S., the news here will cover it like it just happened down the street. Sure, I get that they're just catering to the majority. I understand, for over 60% of the state, this is BIG NEWS. But every news station, every radio station, every newspaper is tailored toward the majority. Even the Tribune, which has this perception of being independent, really isn't independent. The only independent news source Salt Lake has is Salt Lake City Weekly.
But I don't need to be told I am any less of a Utahn because I roll my eyes at a legislature and government that is dominated by Mormon ideologues who would rather rule this state based on prophecy and church doctrine than what this country was founded on. I don't buy that many of our elected officials don't do their church's bidding, even if indirectly or unofficially. Calling 'em out on that — is not being bigoted or anti-Mormon. Suggesting the Mormon Church probably has a bit too much influence in how this state is run isn't an attack - it's probably true.
It also doesn't mean I hate Utah. I've lived my whole life here. My dad might've been from Chicago, but my mom's parents lived in Utah. My grandpa taught at South High, attended USU and the U, played football for East High and went to Irving Schoolhouse in SugarHouse. My grandma went to St. Mary's of the Wasatch, an all-girls Catholic college next to the U, graduated from West High and was raised by the children of immigrants who settled in Salt Lake from Ireland in the early 1900s.
I hate, HATE when people say, "don't like it, leave it." It's so condescending and dismissive. As if our views aren't welcomed because they go counter to what you believe.
Utah is my home. I hate the government, but I still love my state. I hate how religion has too much influence in our daily lives - from liquor on down to defining who you can marry. I hate that our government is probably the most homogeneous government of any state in the country. I hate that all the power this state has, from the media on down to the elected officials, seems to be built around one philosophy and that diversity, for the most part there, has yet to catch up to the actual diversity in our state.
But none of that means I hate Utah.
Surely, though, people would have to logically oppose the LDS Church owning Salt Lake's two daily newspapers. That type of power grab, when they already own KSL, and most the news anchors and reporters belong to their faith, is not healthy for any state.
I love a great deal of what the LDS Church does. I think most their members are extremely good, caring people. But I also know the stigma of not being a member. I know how awkward and weird it is, at times, when everyone around you does this - and you don't.
Utah has to become more inclusive. It's interesting, the same people who bemoan the stereotypes that define the state also are blind to what creates 'em.
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Never read so many comments from a bunch of bitter people then I have on the Trib.
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