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Letters
Washington Monthly, June, 2001
Mormonizing?
I was disappointed with Stephanie Mencimer's article criticizing the influence of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah ("Theocracy in America," April 2000). Even as a non-Mormon who has spent only a week in Utah, I found numerous inaccuracies in her critique.
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The use of the word "Gentile" to mean "non-Mormon" has been gradually declining among Mormons for years; the Church itself discourages it, and non-Mormons are now just non-members. The Mountain Meadows Massacre happened in 1857, not 1848. Young Mormon missionaries are certainly not required "to get married within six months of their return, and produce a baby within a year after that." Many may do that, but that's not much different from the Baptists I grew up with in rural North Carolina, who often got married and had babies right out of high school. (The only difference is that the Mormon grooms are two years older and have some worldly experience under their belts.) Also, young Mormon males aren't even required to become missionaries--there is a lot of pressure for them serve on a mission, and most faithful ones do, but many do not.
Recruitment of Mormons by the CIA (for which Mencimer provides no statistics) probably has more to do with the language skills and the familiarity with foreign cultures that they pick up as missionaries than with any spying on members done by the LDS Church (which Mencimer also does not document). Her references to Mormon history, such as attributing polygamy solely to Joseph Smith's lust and mocking the literary quality of the Book of Mormon, are only repeats of the oldest and crudest attacks by anti-Mormons. Mencimer ignores the extensive work of modern historians and scholars of religion, both Mormon and nonMormon, who have attempted to treat Mormonism with the same respect and seriousness as any other world religion.
There are, no doubt, many things to criticize about the conduct of the Church in Utah, but Mencimer details few incidents besides the most obvious that have been picked up by the mass media. Other than that, she repeats the standard negative stereotypes about Mormons being priggish, a cult, etc., and spends most of her time criticizing them on the grounds that she simply felt uncomfortable living among them--which is nothing more than classic prejudice.
SAMUEL BELL Raleigh, NC.
Down `n' Out in Ogden
What an excellent article! Stephanie Mencimer's "Theocracy in America" perfectly articulated what it is like to grow up and live as a non-Mormon in Utah. My hope is that people around the country--outside the state of Utah or those who aren't aware of how insidious the Mormon church can be--will take this article seriously and not think that Ms. Mencimer is just someone with a chip on her shoulder. Often when I try to describe the theocratic and downright unconstitutional situation in Utah to someone outside of the state, they think I am being mean-spirited or even paranoid. I am really happy to see this article of complete accuracy appear in a national publication. I hope supporters of getting more "religion in public life," including President Bush, will reconsider the ramifications of government faith-based initiatives.
JENEAN LINDLEY Bountiful, Utah
Incoming!
Thanks, Mr. Webb for "The Myth of Military Poverty" (April 2001). It's nice to know that my fiscal status after nearly 18 years in the Army is completely my fault. It makes complete sense now: My paycheck is only supposed to be "pocket money," and the real compensation is in the hundreds of special payments, allowances, and benefits I get. (Although, according to you, I wouldn't recognize them if they reached down from my wallet and scratched my rear end.)
In principle I agree that some of our young soldiers are living (and procreating) beyond their means, but don't insult me by implying that my pay is good if you add up the bennies. How about slicing your pay in half in exchange for those bennies? Those bennies include, by the way, a move every few years, so forget building 15 years of equity in your home. You'll rent, either at significant out-of-pocket expense or in really lousy apartments, or live in those nice 40-year-old on-post apartments the Army doesn't have the money to fix. And tell your spouse her career will never take off since she has to leave her job every two years to go with you. Or perhaps she'll decide to stay in America with the kids while you're in Korea or Turkey this Christmas. Then she can buy jewelry and clothes at the PX at a fraction of retail cost, usually the same fraction as a decent sale or shopper's warehouse her civilian girlfriends shop at. And by the way, most of our "special pays" involve doing something nobody in their right mind would do, like defusing bombs, risking being shot, and jumping from airplanes. Or they're for jobs that you'd get paid a hell of a lot more to do as a civilian, like flying planes or translating Arabic. You should know better, Mister I-was-in-the-Coast-Guard. So don't tell me I need a class on how to live within my means. I do. I pay my family's bills; I fix my own 15-year-old car; and I put food on the table. If I were working somewhere else, I'd have a lot more left over.
