ACRAthens
Senior Member
Hi guys.
In the wake of Romney loosing the election I've heard/read a number of people that supported him while he was running express their opinion that they hope they are "never forced to vote for a Mormon again" and that they hope within their lifetime they "never see a Mormon president."
I'm not shocked to hear that opinion but I will say it ruffles my feathers. I've received a lot of flak over my life for being "Mormon" and for what people perceive we think and believe. I wanted to clear the air here if I may for a moment in regards to where our loyalties lie.
I am a proud American, though honestly a bit more loyal to the state of Georgia. I grew up in Georgia and though I have lived/worked in other places for a time I've chosen to raise my children here where I was raised. I come from a farming family in southwestern Virginia and we go back to some of the first settlers in Virginia. Old blood.
My Methodist mother and grandparents met Mormon missionaries in the 1950s and joined after a few years of looking into the church and what it stood for. I was raised in the Mormon church and was a missionary in Mexico and have been married in a Mormon temple.
It hasn't been easy being a Mormon here. Southerners see me as a outsider, even though I was born and raised here and I hunt/fish/play music/love sports, family, community just like they do. Other Western Mormons that live here also see me as an outsider for some of those same reasons. As you can see, southern Mormons don't quite belong anywhere.
Growing up, my friend's parents were always suspicious of me being Mormon. I can count at least a dozen friends/girlfriends I've lost growing up because of their fear of my chosen religion. Now my kids face the same behavior in school; even some after-school social groups have disallowed my children from attending solely based on us being "Mormon."
Truth is, I have no idea what some are afraid of? So we don't believe in the Trinity, we believe God has a perfected body, that we're Jesus' true church (who doesn't believe that about their own faith?) we believe in modern-day prophets, in temples, in preaching and baptizing, etc etc etc. So what? We may not fit the current definition of "Christian" but we believe that we believe in the same Christ you do. Who cares if we don't believe the same things if we are loyal, safe, good neighbors that support the American way of life? Can we not disagree without being feared?
I've heard enough crazy fears to last a lifetime: that we have a points system whereby if we convert someone we can earn our way into heaven; that we kill members of our church who want to leave; that we do all sorts of sexual and violent acts in our temples; that we force our young to get married and have children early; that we don't fight in the military; that we hope to overthrow the US government from within; the list goes on and on...
I don't know who or what organization perpetuates that kind of talk but it is patently false. I've been a member of this church since my youth and have seen its good and bad sides enough to say that these are good people, sometimes culturally different, but truly GOOD. Not of Satan, not anti-Americans, but GOOD God-fearing people that make great neighbors and loyal friends. They've proven it by their good fruit and "by their fruits ye shall know them."
I, for one, (and I'm sure I speak for many Mormons in saying this) have no other "agenda" other than to do well at my job, raise my family and worship in peace and have kind relationships with my neighbors. (And hunt and fish A LOT.
)
Let us be your friends, kindly laugh at our peculiarities - we don't mind so much - but try not to see us as outsiders or enemies when we have proven ourselves time and time again as loyal Americans just as much as the next guy.
Thanks for listening!
ACRAthens
In the wake of Romney loosing the election I've heard/read a number of people that supported him while he was running express their opinion that they hope they are "never forced to vote for a Mormon again" and that they hope within their lifetime they "never see a Mormon president."
I'm not shocked to hear that opinion but I will say it ruffles my feathers. I've received a lot of flak over my life for being "Mormon" and for what people perceive we think and believe. I wanted to clear the air here if I may for a moment in regards to where our loyalties lie.
I am a proud American, though honestly a bit more loyal to the state of Georgia. I grew up in Georgia and though I have lived/worked in other places for a time I've chosen to raise my children here where I was raised. I come from a farming family in southwestern Virginia and we go back to some of the first settlers in Virginia. Old blood.
My Methodist mother and grandparents met Mormon missionaries in the 1950s and joined after a few years of looking into the church and what it stood for. I was raised in the Mormon church and was a missionary in Mexico and have been married in a Mormon temple.
It hasn't been easy being a Mormon here. Southerners see me as a outsider, even though I was born and raised here and I hunt/fish/play music/love sports, family, community just like they do. Other Western Mormons that live here also see me as an outsider for some of those same reasons. As you can see, southern Mormons don't quite belong anywhere.
Growing up, my friend's parents were always suspicious of me being Mormon. I can count at least a dozen friends/girlfriends I've lost growing up because of their fear of my chosen religion. Now my kids face the same behavior in school; even some after-school social groups have disallowed my children from attending solely based on us being "Mormon."
Truth is, I have no idea what some are afraid of? So we don't believe in the Trinity, we believe God has a perfected body, that we're Jesus' true church (who doesn't believe that about their own faith?) we believe in modern-day prophets, in temples, in preaching and baptizing, etc etc etc. So what? We may not fit the current definition of "Christian" but we believe that we believe in the same Christ you do. Who cares if we don't believe the same things if we are loyal, safe, good neighbors that support the American way of life? Can we not disagree without being feared?
I've heard enough crazy fears to last a lifetime: that we have a points system whereby if we convert someone we can earn our way into heaven; that we kill members of our church who want to leave; that we do all sorts of sexual and violent acts in our temples; that we force our young to get married and have children early; that we don't fight in the military; that we hope to overthrow the US government from within; the list goes on and on...
I don't know who or what organization perpetuates that kind of talk but it is patently false. I've been a member of this church since my youth and have seen its good and bad sides enough to say that these are good people, sometimes culturally different, but truly GOOD. Not of Satan, not anti-Americans, but GOOD God-fearing people that make great neighbors and loyal friends. They've proven it by their good fruit and "by their fruits ye shall know them."
I, for one, (and I'm sure I speak for many Mormons in saying this) have no other "agenda" other than to do well at my job, raise my family and worship in peace and have kind relationships with my neighbors. (And hunt and fish A LOT.
)Let us be your friends, kindly laugh at our peculiarities - we don't mind so much - but try not to see us as outsiders or enemies when we have proven ourselves time and time again as loyal Americans just as much as the next guy.
Thanks for listening!
ACRAthens
