Okay, I’ve dug myself a hole, time to attempt to tunnel out.
Utah is one of the more peculiar states in the US, in part because of its unique foundation as well as its current socio-political atmosphere. I will state now, that unless you have lived here, you really don’t know know what it’s like. I know, I know, that’s kind of an emoish thing to say, but it’s true.
This place is built upon the concept of “Us and Them.” The Mormons ran away from persecution and plopped themselves in a barren land next to a salty lake. From the beginning, you have an insular society, cut off both physically and culturally from the rest of America. Fast forward a couple hundred years, and while a lot has changed, there is still an element of “Us and Them.” The Mormons still run everything–it’s nearly impossible for a “gentile” to get elected to public office, especially outside of SLC. It is, of course, unspoken, but Everybody Knows. The LDS church affects everything from getting a cup of coffee to the public transportation system. (On a side note, I knew from the very moment I heard about the 2002 Olympics that there would be pioneers with handcarts in the opening ceremony and damn if I wasn’t right.)
Now, here we have a very large community run by one unifying system, The Church. Anyone born into The Church will be ruled by The Church until they die or until they leave (and even then it will still affect them powerfully). The thing is, The Church isn’t just a religion, it’s an entire social system. Everyone knows everyone through the church; and everyone cares about everyone. In some ways, it’s very supportive and positive. However–and this is a very large however–if one happens to be gay, or disagree with the very conservative expectations, there will be hell to pay. There is a reason Utah’s teen suicide rate is one of the highest in the nation.
As for Mo-Mos: they don’t have any problems. They are perfectly content to take the path set out for them. Everything they have done and will do is affirmed by their faith and their social structure, and they haven’t a worry in the world (well, that is unless they’re not married by 23 of course). My problem is with the sublime arrogance that stems from never having to make a hard choice. The Way of the Mo-Mo doesn’t require much intelligence or creativity or even personality (a neighbor of mine likened it to the Invasion of the Body-Snatchers). Mo-Mos exhibit a curious sameness that’s hard to quantify, but seems to come from a fat self-satisfaction, the kind of happiness of always Doing the Right Thing.
Even worse, the Mo-Mo’s response to those who exhibit independence or even mild difference ranges from confusion to disgust. A couple of days ago I walked by a girl who was all a-flutter about a girl with bright blue eyeshadow and a spiky belt. Oh noes! Better go read a couple passages of the Book of Mormon, to calm those nerves!
I could go on, but I’m not sure I’d be able to make myself understood. As I said, unless you’ve lived here, you really don’t know what it’s like. And Hoodoo Ulove, there was a heavy dose of irony in my chatter, hence the stupid smiley. But feel free to shit on my “group”, if you can call loners that.
