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“Mormons Judging Mormons” series by THE DAILY UNIVERSE

Members of the LDS Church embrace a theology that includes a daily quest for personal perfection, if not in this life, then in the afterlife. That quest can become toxic if it morphs into self-righteousness and judgment of how well others meet one’s own internal standard. This is the first in a series of stories about the impact such judgments can have on individuals, families and the church as a whole.
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This article first appeared in The Daily Universe (good job students!).

MLH endorses addressing issues like “Mormons Judging Mormons” in the church as culture, as well as doctrine, affects members.

After you read the article, please drop your comments below!


The Daily Universe editor’s note: Members of the LDS Church embrace a theology that includes a daily quest for personal perfection, if not in this life, then in the afterlife. That quest can become toxic if it morphs into self-righteousness and judgment of how well others meet one’s own internal standard. This is the first in a series of stories about the impact such judgments can have on individuals, families and the church as a whole.


“Stop it” was a plea heard throughout the church in the April 2012 General Conference. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the First Presidency, encouraged church members to stop gossiping and ridiculing, and replace judgmental thoughts with love.

LDS Church members began sharing social media posts and memes about his message, but overcoming the tendency to be judgmental is a challenge. Many judgments and stereotypes continue to persist in Mormon-dominated Utah.

About 66 percent of Utahns are LDS, according to the most recent church membership and U.S. Census statistics. BYU spokesman Todd Hollingshead said more than 98 percent of BYU students are Mormon.

Mormons are often known for their high cultural standards and commitment to helping others reach those standards as well.

Senior columnist with Religion News Service Jana Riess has done extensive research regarding Mormon culture and said Mormons place high value on behaving in line with LDS standards. These high expectations can sometimes be the root of judgments many Mormons place on others, she said.

“Mormons are a people for whom behavior is very important,” said Riess, who is a Mormon. “We want to have that doctrinal orthodoxy in terms of what people believe, and we have temple interview questions that assess what people believe, but we also have temple recommend interview questions on how we behave in the world.”

She said these topics include tithing and the Word of Wisdom. Riess said there are “whole hosts of gray areas,” including modesty and Sabbath day standards, that are not explicitly in the temple recommend questions, but are considered by many people in the church to be barometers of worthiness for other members.

“The good part is that we are a culture that cares about what we do in the world and that our behavior be consistent with our beliefs,” Riess said. “But the bad news is that many times people can take that too far and judge their neighbor in ways that are not appropriate or helpful.”

Riess noted experiences like how kidnapping survivor Elizabeth Smart was “lambasted” for wearing a sleeveless dress in an interview, or how people will be seen shopping on Sunday in Utah and be judged by others for it.

Snap judgments in the Utah County Mormon culture can be extensive. Judgments on the list include whether or not a man is wearing a white shirt on Sundays, has facial or long hair, or does his home teaching; whether or not a woman is dressed modestly or does her visiting teaching; and whether or not a person has a current temple recommend, takes the sacrament, has a calling or posts religious memes on social media.

 

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Riess’ interest in the subject prompted her to conduct a study where around 600 former Mormons were surveyed. In her sample of former Mormons, Riess found the main social reason people left the church (tied for first place) is because they felt “judged or misunderstood.”

One woman Riess interviewed for a book said she felt judged in her college years and never forgot it. The woman explained how as a young woman, she was preparing to give a talk in a foreign language (she was visiting Mexico with a study abroad program).

Before Sacrament meeting, another woman from the congregation came up to her and covered the young woman’s legs with her coat because she thought her dress was too short.

This left the woman even more insecure than she felt before. She was nervous to give the talk, nervous to speak in a foreign language, and now she felt exposed, judged and unsure of herself.

Luckily, Riess said, the woman who felt judged was able to use that experience from her college days as a reference point to avoid judging young women she works with now as an adult. She never wanted them to feel the way she did.

BYU graduate Liese Rodgers, from Mission Viejo, California, now lives in Salt Lake where she works full time. She remembers going to Smith’s on a Sunday to get medicine when she was sick. She saw a couple she knew while there, and they joked about not needing to provide an explanation since she was breaking the sabbath, too.

“(In Provo,) everyone around you is LDS and in your ward,” Rodgers said. “You feel watched all the time. You think, ‘Everyone is going to judge me if I go get medicine. They’ll look out the window and I’m coming back with a Smith’s bag.’”

Living in Salt Lake, Rodgers said she doesn’t feel as monitored as she did in Provo. She finds it easier to keep the sabbath, attend meetings, etc., because she’s doing those things because she wants to and not because she feels pressured.

Rodgers said she has had many friends leave the church. She asks them why, and it’s often because when they were struggling with something and came to church, they didn’t feel loved. Instead, they were often sitting alone in the corner with a “scarlet A” on their chests instead of sitting with a support group.

“It breaks my heart, it makes me start to cry,” Rodgers said. “They’re going for the right reasons, they’re looking to feel Christ’s love. Within a ward, that love isn’t just from the Spirit.”

Provo native Greg Vandagriff has had bouts of church inactivity in the last ten years since returning from his LDS mission. The longest consecutive amount of time he was inactive was about a year. Vandagriff said he used to be an extremely judgmental person.

“Everyone is kind of judgmental until life happens to them,” Vandagriff said.

Vandagriff told the story of how his father once told him a non-white shirt looked good on him and said a lot of different things — but it didn’t say humble servant of God. After that, Vandagriff always wore a white shirt to church and judged people who didn’t.

But then “life happened.”

“When you stop attending church, period, you no longer have the right to criticize someone for wearing a blue shirt because you’re not even there,” Vandagriff said. “At least they’re showing up. They may have facial hair but at least they’re showing up and you’re not. And that’s a humbling experience. That was kind of my punch in the mouth.”

 

Read more at http://universe.byu.edu/2017/01/31/mormon-cultural-judgments-snap-judgments1/

You can also read more at lds.org.

 

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4 comments
  1. We all make mistakes they may define what we’ve done but not who we are, We are ALL children of The Heavenly Father, we are all
    brethren searching for the same thing, why hinder others while search for the same thing you are?

  2. I have tried off and on over the years to return and it has been decades since I have been truly active. There are a lot of reasons why I do not grow in the church most of which are of my own creation. This article hits on one that I think is worth thinking about. I don’t live in Utah so I can’t imagine how bad this can be for those who this is an issue for, it is bad here though, or at least I think people are judging me when I start getting to know members in my ward. I recognize that I need to focus on my self and not focus on what others are thinking, but it happens and that needs to be considered.

    1. Curt–thank you for this comment. We wish you the best of luck on your faith journey. You give some great advice–a person should focus on himself or herself, and help others on their way. Avoid judging wherever possible; we only see what people do, but not their motivations. If we understood why they did what they did, I do think we would be more sympathetic and understanding.

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