Mormons Are People Too

I am at times very critical of people who are LDS. I don't think LDS members are bad people, or that they're evil. Most of my extended family is LDS, with various levels of devotion.

Sometimes I forget about all of that when I talk about the religion, because there are so many things I don't like about what that religion does to the people who don't fit in with them. In my subjective experience, that religion does bad things for people and bad things for society.

For the devout, their subjective experience is very different from my own. They fit in and it works for them. I think that's a good thing generally. Maybe in the bigger picture, it's not a good thing because I think (because of my subjective experiences) that particular flavor of religion is really good at breaking people and causing a lot of dysfunction.

I read something interesting online today about talking with Scientologists. I think there's a lot of universal truth there that can apply to talking with mormons.

One of my dearest friends is LDS. She's smart - earning her master's degree in nursing while working at the same time. She loves her family and wants to be close to them. A while back I mentioned that I was living with my boyfriend (we're not living together anymore, but I digress). She said something in reference to cohabitation, something like, "I couldn't do something illegal." (Illegal was the key word I remember her using) I thought that was a misguided statement, even though I didn't tell her so.

We don't talk about religion. I think it would break the friendship if we did. But I like being her friend and I definitely do think we get something positive out of being friends with one another.

I've had many discussions with a fellow I knew in high school, a returned missionary. Reality check - trying to have a rational conversation about religion with an otherwise-intelligent adherant of said religion is highly unproductive. You can show them blatent black-and-white proof of a religion's brokenness and it's like dust on a Pledge-protected tabletop.

I still think it's fair game to go after modest dresses called "Lolita", though. That's just ridiculous, and I've never read the book.

And here are some well-put-together truths you can read.

I think on some level I need to just accept that I had a substandard education and environment in my adolescence, and be OK with that. Last night I was at my book club (we had read an essay on existentialism) and I had absolutely zero to contribute, mostly because:

1) I know very, very little about philosophy
2) I know even less about existentialism
3) I thought the essay was difficult to read

On the drive home, my boyfriend asked me if I took philosophy in high school, and was shocked to find out that, not only did I not take philosophy in high school, but that it was never offered.

Guess what - I didn't have to read Camus (The Stranger was another book club selection) in high school either. I had never even heard of Camus until last year. So now I can even say that, despite their claims of valuing education, school boards in the hearts of Utah don't require reading something as basic and enjoyable as Camus in high school. Apparently, keeping the literacy level for Utah adults around grade 8 or so is OK and even welcomed.