Mormon stereotypes

I've gotten the following:

-- killing cats
-- sacrificing virgins
-- worshipping Satan (THAT one my Resident Advisor -- who had known me for
TWO YEARS -- brought to me, because her pastor had said that's what us
Mormons did and she was worried about my moral well-being)
-- polygamy/many wives (for the record it's been against Church rules since
1896 -- we were threatened by Congress and capitulated -- and it's the
easiest way to get excommunicated AND put in jail if you're in Utah, just
ask the Greens...)
-- lots of restrictions on what we can/can't eat (the only actual "rules"
are: no coffee, no tea, no alcohol, no drugs; the jury is out on soda, and
anyway those only keep you from getting a temple recommend)
-- forced to give up tithing (it's voluntary though not doing it is likely
to keep you from getting a temple recommend)
-- "excessively" or "forcibly" socialized (that one's recent; people seem to
have developed a "creepy cult of church social attendees" view of us...)
-- actually physically baptising dead people (umm, ewww...)

There are others, but those are the ones I've heard from more than a few
people, in more than just one region.  What amazes me is that my religion
gets more comments than my physical appearance (I have a large red birthmark
on my face -- kids notice it all the time, but adults jump straight to the
scintillating details of my personal beliefs).

Sarah Marie Parker-Allen
lloannna@surfside.net
http://www.geocities.com/lloannna.geo
http://lloannna.blogspot.com

"I will not turn into a snake. It never helps." -- Rules for the Evil
Overlord

> -----Original Message-----
> Behalf Of Douglas Koller, Latin & French
> >What *are* stereotypes of Mormons?  The only thing that comes to *my*
> >mind as stereotypes would be somewhat dull, but very
> >straight-and-narrow-path.
>
> Yeah, that's one, but my stereotype is rabid polygamists.
> Documentaries abound here constantly decrying the seamy side of
> Mountain-time-zone polygamy. And in light of the Parker case...,
> unless you're a landscape photographer, just avoid Utah.
>
> Kou
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