Colin McEnroe Show: Mormons In Connecticut
The LDS Church is bigger in the state than you might imagine
No religion that I can think of transformed its reputation as rapidly as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
To their fellow Americans of the mid-19th century, the the implications and baggage of the term "Mormon" were pretty close to what sticks to the term "Islamic fundamentalist" today. Mormons were alien, possibly dangerous, weird and to be shunned. But in this presidential election cycle, it's quite possible that we'll have two serious Mormon contenders for the Republican nomination, Mitt Romney and John Hunstman.
And yet, here in Connecticut , I sense that Mormons are not fully accepted. I'd divide that phenomenon into two classes: the belief that Mormons are exotic people who must live somewhere else, - in Utah or in special enclaves - and the belief that the fundamental tenets of Mormonism, as a revealed religion, are just plain weird. We'll deal with both.
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Colin,
I am a member of NPR and enjoy so many of the programs offered and was pleased to hear that you would be discussing something so close to my heart. I am also a memeber of the Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-day Saints. Your questions were thoughtful, genuine and your guests (two of whom I know) helped to dispel rumors and the 'lack of knowledge' discussed that we Mormons encounter so frequently. However, much of this warm fuzzy feeling inside was shattered when after the podcast Kyone Wolf (sp?) made an unecessary joke refering to "special underwear". It is tasteless remarks like this that fuel the rumors and speculations and just as you say in your intro make Mormons feel "not fully accepted".
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