Washington Post: Study Portrays Mormons As Outsiders Looking In

By Daniel Burke| Religion News Service, Published: January 12

In some ways, Mormonism is the ultimate American religion. Born in America, it was unveiled by an American prophet who believed the Constitution was divinely inspired and the Garden of Eden bloomed in Independence, Mo.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has grown from six members gathered around a charismatic New Yorker named Joseph Smith in 1830 to nearly six million believers in the U.S. alone. Richard Ostling, a religion expert and co-author of the book “Mormon America,” calls it “the most successful faith ever born on American soil.”

But even as a devout Mormon leads the GOP field for the presidential nomination and the award-winning musical “Book of Mormon” plays to overflow crowds on Broadway, a new survey portrays Mormons as strangers in their own land.

The vast majority of Mormons believe that Americans do not embrace Mormonism as part mainstream society, and most say Americans know little about their religion. More than half worry about discrimination, according to a survey released Thursday (Jan. 12) by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

“Clearly this is a population that sees itself as outsiders looking in,” said Gregory Smith, a senior researcher at the Pew Forum.

The survey — called the first of its kind conducted by a non-Mormon organization — interviewed 1,000 American Mormons between Oct. 25 and Nov. 16, 2011, by telephone, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

“I wish the public could see us for our day-to-day doctrines, devotions and practices, which are just like other devout religions,” said George Robinson, 63, a cardiovascular surgeon and local LDS leader in Gadsden, Ala. “Instead, the public either hears pejoratives about us, or focuses on differences, many of which are rarely brought up as part of our religion.”

Still, Robinson and many other Mormons remain upbeat, saying that American attitudes toward their faith are changing for the better.

Nearly nine in 10 Mormons say they are happy with their lives and judge their communities as excellent or good places to live. More than half say the country is ready for a Mormon president.

But most Mormons also say that popular entertainment damages their public image. In recent years, a number of TV shows, such as HBO’s “Big Love” and TLC’s “Sister Wives” have featured polygamous families who belong to offshoots of Mormonism. According to the Pew survey, 86 percent of Mormons believe that polygamy, which the LDS Church banned in 1890, is morally wrong.

Perceptions of anti-Mormons animus are likely also fed by the presidential candidacy of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, despite his front-runner status.

While three in four Mormon voters identify as Republican or lean conservative, less than 40 percent believe the GOP is friendly towards Mormons, the Pew survey found. The hostility directed at Romney’s Mormonism by some evangelicals — a key GOP constituency — reinforces that perception, Smith said.

Most evangelicals do not believe Mormonism falls within the Christian fold, according to a separate Pew poll, and some have been outspoken about opposing Romney’s candidacy on those grounds. Half of Mormons, according to the Pew survey released Thursday, pick up an unfriendly vibe from evangelicals.

“It’s frustrating that some people are trying to build a hedge of deceit around the church so that people won’t decide to take a look for themselves and find out what our church is all about,” Robinson said.

Most Mormons do not deny the differences between their faith and mainstream Christianity, the survey found. While 97 percent of Mormons believe their faith to be a Christian religion, less than half say it is similar to Catholicism or evangelical Protestantism.

And yet, Mormons remain firm in their religious commitments, even to practices and beliefs that set them apart from mainstream Christianity.

For example, 94 percent believe that the president of the LDS Church is a prophet of God, and that ancient prophets wrote the Book of Mormon. Nearly the same percentage believe that families can be eternally bound in temple ceremonies, and that God the Father and Jesus are separate beings. (Traditional Christianity calls them unified, along with the Holy Spirit.)

“Mormons want acceptance, but not assimilation,” LDS spokesman Michael Otterson wrote in The Washington Post on Thursday. “No church leader I have ever heard preach has suggested that Mormons should drop their distinctiveness — the very characteristics that the Pew study identifies — in order to become more popular with the world at large.”

In fact, Mormons are among the most committed religious groups in America, according to the Pew survey. More than 8 in 10 say they pray daily; three-quarters attend weekly religious services; and 82 percent say religion is very important in their lives. Only Jehovah’s Witnesses approach Mormons’ religiosity, Smith said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/study-portrays-mormons-as-outsiders-looking-in/2012/01/12/gIQAJgcNuP_story.html
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So if 86% of the Mormons polled for this survey believe polygamy is morally wrong, does that mean Kody Brown's LIV crew followers are only made up of the remaining 14% that think it's OK? Are they looking the other way and ignoring the fact he is a polygamist?

Or is it a case of who cares as long as a minor reality celeb like Kody Brown can still bring in a crowd to occupy that bottom rung of the MLM pyramid in order to make money for the few at the top?

What are your thoughts?

Cynical Jinx Answers Caitlin's Email

I would never consider printing an email for all to see, but, believe it or not,  this email was tame compared to the actual comments this person apparently tried to post to the article on SWB. 

In her last attempted comment, Caitlin warned  "I will post nonstop until you have the balls to actually post how many pro-Brown family posts you receive." So, here it is. Caitlin's best effort.

For the record, due to the age of the article, all of her comments were automatically pended for moderation and were never published. In fact, they are still in the moderation queue. And the article she refers to has not been deleted and can still be found - in the December 2011 archive.

 So I figure Caitlin deserves a response, as well as the knowledge that this thoughtfully written email shall live in perpetuity in the ether of the internet.

From: Caitlin <deleted>
Date: Wed, Jan 11, 2012 at 4:44 AM
Subject: Wow...
To: lovetvreality@gmail.com

So I posted a comment on a really screwed up post on your "website" (hah!) geared toward hatred of the polygamist family known as the Browns (http://sisterwivesblog.blogspot.com/ -- I figured I'd let you know which particular site, since I'm sure you're hateful at several alternative-lifestyle American families), and the particular post had some really sad version of the classic Christmas song "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer" except edited to talk about how terrible the Brown family is (wow...you idiots are SO CLEVER!). And when I went back to your ghetto, pathetic excuse of a "website," I found that that particular post had been deleted. Is this because you assholes had finally realized that your sadistic hatred had been overcome by people who are willing to be kind and accepting with open hearts? I'm just curious...because, honestly, if I had the unforgiving balls to create a pathetic "blog" all about utter hatred and discrimination, I would at least be intelligent enough to cover all the bases!
Love (a.k.a. YOUR WEBSITE'S VERSION OF "LOVE" WHICH IS "HATE"),
Caitlin
P.S. ~ The Brown family doesn't give a FUCK about you. They will continue their life until the day they die. Retard!

From: Cynical Jinx
Date: January 11, 2012
Subject: Re: Wow...
To: Caitlin <deleted>

Thanks for the feedback!

Cynical Jinx


By the way, I thought your parody rocked, Terrasola !!

Celebrity Wifeswap - Polygamy Style and The Real Sista Wives Episode 2

In episode 2  of The Real Sista Wives, Jacob Jones talks about raising children with his three wives.








Celebrity Wife Swap - Polygamy Style !

Last week, I happened to watch Celebrity Wife Swap. The celebrity families involved were Ted Haggard and that crazy, zany Gary Busey.

I'm still trying to figure out how Ted Haggard can be considered a celebrity. But, hey, if Kody Brown and Family are considered entertainment, I guess ole Pastor Ted can be a celebrity.

Anyway, what family do you think is worthy to swap their wife (and mother) for Kody's sisterwives? My thoughts - Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. Just because Angelina is the only woman I can think of that is powerful enough to  take the place of FOUR women. And the fact that she is filthy rich would not stop old Kody at all! In fact, with all those business schemes working in Kody's wee mind, he's going to need some big bucks to finance it all and let's face it, Angelina's got some major ducats, if you know what I mean.

So what Celebrity family do you think would be a perfect Celebrity Wife Swap with Kody Brown and his Sister Wives?  Tell us who you would like to see!

If you need to see this show in action, here's a link to the entire (GULP) Haggard/Busey episode.

http://abc.go.com/watch/celebrity-wife-swap/SH55157026/VD55161061/gary-buseyted-haggard

Experience: I married my twin sister's husband

I dunno. I just don't think I could ever in a million years willingly marry my sister's husband, or my cousin's husband, or even my best friend's husband. Then again,  my uncle puts mayo on his peas. Different strokes for different folks like Sly Stone used to sing, I guess.
 Cynical Jinx

'Our sex lives are private, the one area we never share or discuss'

Val Darger
guardian.co.uk, Friday 6 January 2012 17.59 EST

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/jan/06/i-married-twin-sisters-husband?newsfeed=true

Mention polygamy and people assume it's all about sex, designed to suit men more than women. I'm aware that my life, and my religion, can sound bizarre to outsiders. I grew up in a polygamist family in Utah. My father was an orthodox Mormon; plural marriage is encouraged. As well as my birth mother, he had two other wives living nearby in separate houses.

It wasn't until I was 10 that I realised how many people disapproved of the way we lived; once someone even spray-painted "Polygamist Bitches" on our drive.

I didn't understand why – as siblings we were confident and popular at school. Our family was happy; my mother and my father's other wives were good friends. It was all I knew and I couldn't see why it provoked such hostility and anger.

There were 40 children in my family, but my best friend was my twin sister, Vicki. We shared everything and had always been close.

When I was 18, I met my first husband and for the first few years we were happy. By now, Vicki and our cousin Alina had both married the same man, Joe. I'd known him since I was a teenager; in fact Vicki and I had both had crushes on him. While their marriage appeared to flourish, mine floundered and at 30 years old, I found myself alone with five children – convinced no man would want me again.

One night I was visiting Vicki and as we sat talking, Joe arrived home. I looked at him and felt this incredible jolt of energy. I was confused by my reaction – since my high-school crush, I'd never felt anything.

Joe and Vicki would often phone to make sure I was OK. During one call, Joe asked: "Are we going to talk about what happened between us? I know you must have felt something, too." I brushed it aside, still feeling raw from my break-up.

Over the months, I began to confide in him and our feelings grew. He asked me if I wanted to become his third wife and I accepted.

Admittedly, it was impossible not to feel jealous while we were dating. Joe and I would return home from a romantic evening, only for him to spend the night with another woman. Vicki struggled, too, seeing her husband falling in love with me. I know she was envious we were in that thrilling "honeymoon" stage of our relationship, whereas I felt intimidated by how well she, Alina and Joe already knew each other.

"I'm never going to have that history with you," I told Joe.

"We'll make our own history," he reassured me.

Three months later, Joe and I married and I settled into new family life. Vicki, Alina and I share everything, from childcare to time with our husband. We take turns riding in the front of the car and sitting closest to him on the couch.

People are always fascinated by our sleeping arrangements but, contrary to rumours, we don't share one giant bed. We have separate rooms and Joe alternates between them. Our sex lives are private, the one area we never share or discuss with each other. It's too easy for comparisons to be made and insecurities to creep in.

If one of us has a birthday, special event, or needs more of Joe's time, we shuffle the roster. In the early days it got a bit confusing but now we keep the schedule in our BlackBerrys.

We're very loving, affectionate people but we always have to be considerate. No matter how long you've been together, it always feels strange to walk into a room and see your husband hugging another woman. At first I was suspicious that Vicki was competing for Joe's attention.

It took a while for me to truly believe she was prepared to share her husband with me.

Joe and I have now been married for 11 years, and have had four children together. Vicki and Alina are just about to celebrate their 22nd anniversary. We're very happy, but we've had to work hard. The success of our plural marriage hinges on being open and honest. I still feel jealousy but rather than letting little niggles build up, we air them at a weekly meeting.

Some people find it uncomfortable that we share the same husband, but I don't see the problem. Our relationship is full of love and trust, and I get to spend my life with my two best friends. I feel very lucky.