Dear HCN,
I want to belatedly thank
you for Barbara Schuster’s fantastic article on silencing LDS trash
talk (HCN, 2/4/02: Why the bad rap for Mormons?). I grew up in the
Idaho end of Cache Valley and was never a part of the “Salt Lake
Society,” thus missing things here in SLC at that time. I grew up
with neighbors and friends who were and weren’t “Mormons”; one of
my best friends (she still is) and I adopted each other as “little
brother” and “big sister.” She is not LDS; I
am.
I spent over 35 years in Arizona; Boise,
Idaho, and California before moving to Utah. I was shocked and
appalled when I moved to Salt Lake. I have never before heard such
vitriolic and vile defamation of a group, religious or ethnic, as I
heard against Mormons. I know there are a lot of dopey and some
bigoted LDS, but I have never heard anything approaching this from
a Mormon. I wish more of the “minority” (and majority) could learn
that the best way to get along in peace and harmony is not to hate
the “majority” just because there are jerks in that group. No group
has a lock on the jerk category. I wish every resident of the
Mountain West would read and take to heart your approach to looking
for the good around you.
Nick
Rust
Salt Lake City,
Utah
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Re: ‘Looking for the good’.
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