Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Mormon Stereotypes (#2) - Elizabeth Gillespie

I feel like most of us, if not all, have experienced some kind of prejudice concerning our faith. As a Mormon, I have been referred to by employers, friends, and strangers as a polygamist, a nun, part of a cult, the list goes on.

My opinion is that with a lot of the stereotypes in today's society, much is being done to dispel those stereotypes and that needs to be recognized. However, there is always room for improvement.

Here are a few representations of Mormon stereotypes:


I met a younger man on my mission who desperately wanted to get baptized. He said to me, "Once I am baptized, when do I get my badge?" I asked, "What do you mean?" He responded, "Well, all of the mormons have those badges, don't they?" I realized that he, along with many others, assumed that all mormons walked around dressed up with a badge. I quickly explained to him what missionaries were and that, no, most members of the church led very different lives than that of a full-time missionary.


People often associate mormons with polygamy, especially in the media. Although it has been explained again and again by church leaders, many still have a skewed view of the church's stance. My first day on the job with a woman I was working for in Texas, she asked me, "So, how many wives does your father have?"

http://www.ldsliving.com/Mormon-Media-Observer-Enough-with-the-Mormon-stereotypes-/s/68052

More often than not, stereotypes are spread by anti-mormons or baptized mormons who are no longer practicing.




President Hinckley on Larry King Live - Several stereotypes were addressed during this excellent segment with the prophet and Larry King

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAsNMWwRXvs



6 comments:

  1. I love this! We need to realize that discrimination happens to almost everyone.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Haha I love this. It's interesting that people also discriminate us as the ones that do the discriminating, as they are putting their own discriminations against us. -- Hannah Nelson

    ReplyDelete
  3. I really enjoyed reading your article about Mormons. i love this! I actually forwarded it on to some of my non-member family members and they found it to be really interesting as well!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great article. I too share this same issue with my extended family. My uncles and my mother's cousins opinion of my family was that we were boring, that we didn't know how to be fun. That all changed once they came to the parties we had and church events we invited them too. They realized we weren't some boring cult. haha.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I agree that the Mormon stereotypes are extreme and widely accepted. It is frustrating to be accuse of that sometimes. I think that how we react in those situations may help resolve them bit by bit. At least, I hope so.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your insight was interesting because as most of us, if not all, in this class are Mormon we can easily relate to this single story. It is important that we realize that we have experienced this and are careful not to do it to other people.

    ReplyDelete