Letters to the Editor
Published Letters: 260 Editor's Choice: 22
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The Campus is Their World
[Read the article: The reddest place in America]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Dear Hmmpf,
The article does not demonize Idaho and certainly can’t be characterized as a ‘hate article’. What the author is pointing out is that there is a county in Idaho that is overwhelmingly white, Mormon and Republican and that despite the recent meltdown of the Republican Party they remain party loyalists even though they may be mildly disappointed by the administration that they help put in office. Anyone who has spent any time in Rexburg or any other predominantly Mormon community knows that this is a relatively fair assessment. So don’t get your knickers in a twist. We are all aware that Idaho is a lovely state full of lovely people and this article was in no way an indictment of Idahoans in general.
Also, Zollinger (comment above) is partially right in his assessment that Mormons have an obsequious allegiance to the pro-life stance of the Republicans. But I would go further and say that what they have really been swindled by is the pro-family posture (of which pro-life is part and parcel) that the Republicans have been giving lip service to for years. I am, of course, pro-family as well but my idea of pro-family is universal healthcare, good education, a home free of sexual and physical abuse, etc. To the typical Mormon, family values is more a matter of “keep your big government nose out of my family’s business”, educational choice (read; school vouchers), no R rated movies in my community, no access to porn on the internet, no abortion—and lots and lots of kids! It’s a very ‘Father Knows Best’ world they live in. To Mormons, being pro-family is largely concerned with moral issues—not overarching government programs to level the playing field or increase a family’s quality of life. The Republicans have been waging a war on the family for years but Mormons don’t see it for the simple reason that the rhetoric of the Republicans fits snuggly with the moral outlook of the average Mormon (why give more to education when they just use the money to teach our children crap!)
Tim Grieve also made a prescient observation in quoting the gentleman who said that in Rexburg they were better educated and better off than the average American when in fact they were quite average or even below average compared to an average county in a ‘Blue’ state. This is a pathology that is typical in Mormondom. As a group they are taught that they are exceptional and this makes them particularly prone to counting the ‘hits’ while discounting the ‘misses’ when it comes to evaluating their way of life.
Hmmpf also states that “Mormons are oddly nice and relatively non judgmental”. This is only partially true. Mormons are nice and not oddly so. It is a church that puts a great emphasis on social skills and being outwardly tolerant. That is one of the reasons their missionary program is so successful. However, with that said I have to disagree with the judgmental part because they may not be judgmental to your face but they have very definite ideas about your thinking and it is far from non-judgmental! They just talk about you in their self righteously patronizing way after you’ve gone.
At BYU (Provo) there is a sign at the entrance to the campus that reads: ‘The World Is Our Campus’. The running joke was that it should read ‘The Campus Is Our World’. The later is much closer to the truth.
I spent 20 years in Provo which is only 80% Republican and 80% Mormon and I thought that was the reddest of red places. I glad someplace finally beat us out in that embarrassing distinction.