Who are Mormons?

[the Ogre]

I was reading the following article (MormonTimes - blogs) and wondered what are stereotypes about Mormons viewed by those outside the faith.

I remember when I was in the military, many people assumed the following:

1. We were Amish

2. We didn’t smoke or drink

3. We had plural wives

4. We had horns

5. We didn’t let blacks join

The stereotypes I am familiar with are the following:

1. Utah Mormons are middle-class snobs

2. We abuse prescription medication

3. We are Modern-day (hyphen lower case ‘d’, for those making a distinction) Puritans

4. Utah Mormons are a bunch of bigots

5. We are told to buy SUVs in PH and RS

What do you think?

[Guest tomk]

1. We were Amish - NO

2. We didn’t smoke or drink - YES

3. We had plural wives - ONCE UPON A TIME, BUT WE ALSO BELIEVE IN OBEYING THE LAWS OF THE LAND, SO WE STOPPED.

4. We had horns - ::: CHECKING :::: UH, THAT'S A NEGATIVE

5. We didn’t let blacks join - WE DO "LET" THEM JOIN. NO DIFFERENT THAN ANY OTHER ETHNICITY.

The stereotypes I am familiar with are the following:

1. Utah Mormons are middle-class snobs - SOME ARE, I GUESS.

2. We abuse prescription medication - WE'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO

3. We are Modern-day (hyphen lower case ‘d’, for those making a distinction) Puritans - IF GOD'S LAWS MAKE US SO, I GUESS WE ARE.

4. Utah Mormons are a bunch of bigots - WE'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE.

5. We are told to buy SUVs in PH and RS - LOL!!!! IT SURE HELPS, BUT NO, WE'RE NOT "TOLD" TO DO IT.

[prisonchaplain]

I still don't get the repeated references to horns...is that one an inside joke???

[the Ogre]

I still don't get the repeated references to horns...is that one an inside joke???

I was at a pop-culture conference in San Fran earlier this year and it came up three times when normally intelligent people heard I was representing UVU.

[the Ogre]

1. We were Amish - NO . . .

TomK, I was not asking you to verify whether or not the stereotypes were true or not, but to continue posting other stereotypes like "Mormon men prevent their wives from seeking education or professional fulfillment outside the home."

You know: what you have heard misapplied to Latter-day Saints.

[Misshalfway]

Oh yes! The horn thing. I don't hear it much anymore. Mostly when I was a kid. My mother's high school history teacher told the class mormons had horns.

I was asked once, in a Banana Republic store if we worshipped wagon wheels. Whatever.......

[jadams_4040]

I was reading the following article (MormonTimes - blogs) and wondered what are stereotypes about Mormons viewed by those outside the faith.

I remember when I was in the military, many people assumed the following:

1. We were Amish

2. We didn’t smoke or drink

3. We had plural wives

4. We had horns

5. We didn’t let blacks join

The stereotypes I am familiar with are the following:

1. Utah Mormons are middle-class snobs

2. We abuse prescription medication

3. We are Modern-day (hyphen lower case ‘d’, for those making a distinction) Puritans

4. Utah Mormons are a bunch of bigots

5. We are told to buy SUVs in PH and RS

What do you think?

Wasnt there anything in that article that those outside our faith beleive of us that is good? all this stuff is negative.

[Guest GhostRider]

I remember the coffee one in the service. the 2 guys that were in my BTC platoon got razzed alot about the 3 hour church thing. to me it made me curious as to why. hmmmmm...oh...i also remember that one of them got kidded alot due to he was on his mission and in the service. that was back in 89.

[ruthiechan]

I have also heard the following untrue things about us:

1: We're not allowed to have fun.

2: We sacrifice our children.

3: We're not supposed to enjoy sex with our spouse.

4: We do not believe in birth control.

5: We copied the Masons in our temple ceremonies.

6: We worship a false Jesus.

7: We don't celebrate holidays (being confused with Jehovas' Witnesses)

8: We have seances inside Temples.

9: We're a cult.

10: We're a "white" church.

[ruthiechan]

I still don't get the repeated references to horns...is that one an inside joke???

There are people who believe that we have horns and such a belief, though such a belief was more prevelant in the twentieth century. Rather bizarre really.

Oh, others I've heard. . .

We're hypocrites, we follow the Devil, we're evil people, we're going to hell if we don't change. . . I heard all of that at a Baptist church when I was ten years old. I went with a friend and was very hurt by it. I was glad that my mother warned me that they might teach some things that were not true, though I don't think she expected that either.

[prisonchaplain]

I'm guessing that the horn thing comes out of some 19th century "political cartoons" opposing Mormons, by depicting them as demonic. I never imagined anyone literally believed that to be true. WOW

[Guest tomk]

TomK, I was not asking you to verify whether or not the stereotypes were true or not, but to continue posting other stereotypes like "Mormon men prevent their wives from seeking education or professional fulfillment outside the home."

You know: what you have heard misapplied to Latter-day Saints.

Sorry, I just assumed you were another anti. My bad. I am learning to read more carefully before responding.

I have better uses for my time than to indulge in relating all the falsehoods that are spread about my religion.

[skalenfehl]

Some that I've heard:

Mormons don't to drink coke

Mormons ride bicycles (a very minor stereotype from observing missionaries)

[Canuck Mormon]

One that I've heard of is that we naked clog dance at sealings in the Temple. I don't know about anyone else, but I sure don't want to see my faimly naked.

[Palerider]

one day while tracting in England where I served my mission we knocked on a door, this older lady answered. She told us while she was growing up what happened when the missionaries came around. She told us that all the Mothers would rush outside and get their daughters because the Mormons were coming. The Mothers had a fear the missionaries would take the daughters to the mercy tunnel that was in Liverpool. There was suppose to be a tunnel dug from Liverpool to Salt Lake.

[manxman]

More important than who are the mormons, is what are the mormons?

We are a people with the highest possiblle ideals for humanity, or we should be, because they are what we teach as being true.

Everything which enobles mankind and is true we claim as belonging to us, and we should teach it freely.

Is it any wonder when a member of such a society falls, the public take special notice-we have so much further to fall than they,

and it shows starkly against what we teach. You might not have noticed, criminal who was a policeman is always an ex-policeman in the press, and a mormon who falls, is always a mormon, but another religionist who falls is just Joe Bloggs. We are supposed to be so different, and we all suffer when even one goes bad. Tall poppies? Perhaps, I don't know, but it definitely happens.

[Iggy]

One that I've heard of is that we naked clog dance at sealings in the Temple. I don't know about anyone else, but I sure don't want to see my family naked.

What's a Dog Dance? Okay,I read it wrong- it is Clog- Man that would be really loud for the temple and extremely hard on us Amply Endowed Female types!!!

What I got told by my school mates who were all non-LDS:

• You can't wear makeup cause your Mormon
• You can't dance
• You can't wear mid length skirts- they all have to be to your ankles
• You can't wear girlie shoes, they all have to be ugly and serviceable
• You can't let your hair hang down
• You can't swear or cuss or call anyone bad names

Okay, so they had one right. I wore serviceable shoes because I had weak ankles, we were poor and shoes had to last us at least the school year.

I wore my skirts/dresses to my ankles because I FROZE if they were just below my knees!

I wore my long (to my knees) hair, braided and wrapped around my head and held in place with LOTS of hair pins because if I didn't and my Dad caught me, he would cut my hair off. I was Mormon, he wasn't. He was Old World and young ladies DID NOT wear their hair loose and flying around. He did catch me when I was a junior in high school and yep, he cut my hair off. Made two horse whips out of it too!

Yes I could dance- Dad taught all of kids the Polka, Waltz and ball room dances. Mom taught us square dancing and we also did it at Mutual!

Nope, didn't wear makeup- Dad is Old World remember. Besides that cost money we could ill afford.

[Vanessa2]

There was a girl I went to school with that found out I was Mormon and she came right up to me asked, "Aren't you supposed to be wearing all black?" That was a new one to me...

[WillowTheWhisp]

I've heard the horns one. What do they think happens? Is it some sort of transformation when we get baptised that these horns sprout or something? Oddly enough there is a statue I saw in Malta of Moses with horns. I'm not sure what that was all about but they told me over there that it was quite common for Moses to be depicted with short horns.

The Mersey Tunnel one - oh yes I've had that one too. When we were tracting in a town of terraced houses the people would run out of the back door and down the back way to all the other houses and warn them to lock up their daughters because the Mormons were coming to steal them and take them down the tunnel to Salt Lake City to be wives for the Elders when they got back home - the more they could 'catch' the better received they would be when they returned from their mission!

AND the naked clog dancing. Had that one too. I found the thought so hilarious. Can you imagine it? Noooooooo I'd rather not!

Then there was also the woman who 'warned' me not to go back to the temple once I was married because I would never be seen again. Apparently they seal you in! There was a Baptist minister who actually believed we consummate our marriage in the temple with witnesses there to see!

Oh yes and we chop the heads off chickens and annoint new members in the temple with the chicken blood.

And what do we do with excommunicated members? Apparently we take them up the highest spire of the salt Lake Temple and throw them off into the Great Salt Lake! That would have to be some throw!

[havejoy]

I have been told we worship seagulls and that Brigham Young is not the real name of our second latter day prophet. That he started getting called that after he told all the men to grab all the girls they could get hold of to bring to Salt Lake and he kept saying' "Bring 'em young". Pretty soon he was known as Bring 'em Young and then later as Brigham Young. His real name has been lost to history. This was reported as part of an assignment in a Sociology class I took in college.

[Palerider]

I was asked once by a co worker if our religion was the one who did not believe in cars or electricity.....

[SmilingRedhead]

Hahaha this thread is really funny. It's making me giggle... Naked clog dancing bwahahahahaha....! It's amazing how small-minded some people can be huh'!?

I heard years ago that we don't eat chocolate - especially white chocolate for some reason...

[the Ogre]

That naked clog dancing one was great, I've never heard of it. LOL:lol:

[MissouriBoiler]

Seems like a lot of them just get us mixed up with other religons.

I can't remember the funny ones at the moment, but I think it is great when they try to convince you that you dont' know your own religon when you don't do what they say you do. :)

[Elgama]

anyone else get the one about eating chairs and being buried in purple hats

-Charley