I talked a few weeks ago about the ground breaking speech that Cardinal George gave at BYU.
There was a good article here talking about how things were not always rosy in the real world. See Not always religious freedom partners
I never knew any Catholics from Utah but I knew Baptist that had lived out there. They also told me that one can never get the atmosphere there till you lived it.
So this line from the story sort of makes me recall what they were trying to tell me:
Dominican Fr. Thomas McGreevy, who was campus minister at the University of Utah, pointed to an "interesting phenomenon" among Utah Catholics.
"The emphasis is not so much on being a Catholic as being a non-Mormon," he said. "Catholic natives of Utah are very aware of the Mormon influence and they are very proud of not belonging."
and this funny line (well I think it is funny) Living in Utah made me want to learn more about my faith so I could argue with the missionaries," she said. How far did non-Mormons go to maintain their identity? Said Mancuso: "One of the reasons I took up smoking was that I didn't want anyone to think I was Mormon."
I get the feeling that this is common among non Mormons. By the way this is not a Mormon bashing post. Relations between Catholics and Mormons in Utah have improved a lot. When both Catholics and Mormons feel they are being persecuted well as they say we are all in it together. Anyway a interesting article on the culture of Utah here and also I would think in parts of Arizona and and Idaho too.
On a football note I think this is in the background of the out of control hatred between Utah State and BYU that showed up in a big way last year.
Max Hall at Saturday's press conference following the game
"I don't like Utah. In fact, I hate them. I hate everything about them. I hate their program, I hate their fans, I hate everything.... I think the whole university, their fans and their organization, is classless. They threw beer on my family and stuff last year, and they did a whole bunch of nasty things, and I don't respect them, and they deserve to lose."
I don't think it is so much religious doctrine at times but that many Mormons generally are a very CLANISH bunch which I think creates some of the tension.
2 comments:
You may be interested to know both my sisters attended and graduated from University of Utah.
They tell me that Salt Lake City is very cosmopolitan and less than 50% LDS. The university similar to the city. Plenty of Mormon classmates. And plenty that were not. I cannot speak to how their sports fans behave. I do remember how difficult it was to get a decent beer. Rather strict laws about where when and how strong.
When we were there for a few days (wedding) had no trouble finding good coffee shops.
My sisters did not terribly like the place. Said if you were not LDS you often felt like an outsider.
Our experience was "nice place to visit but not sure we would want to live here".
Thanks for your comment!!
Yeah this seems kinda of like Friends I knew that grew up up in Morman areas. Again this is not a Morman bashing post. But one of my best friends grew up in a very rural part of Arizona that was very Mormon. His dad was part of the Forest Service and a devout Baptist. His kids hung out with the kids of the Catholic and Methsdist all the time because as he put it if you were not Morman is was like having a big weight on you. Of course in this area it was religion + a rural area+ everyone being related to each other which made all non Mormons think they did not belong
Post a Comment