Lissann Lichtenstein

SOC 2630-005
Race and Ethnicity Group Paper
Introduction
The ethnic group I will be writing about is the members of the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, otherwise known as the Mormons. Within
the LDS church, like in many other religions, there is a unique system of
expectations that lead to a different way of life from many others. The
unique rules, language, clothing, food, etc. found in the LDS church, in fact,
help define the church as an ethnic group. After all, according to The New
Oxford American Dictionary, ethnicity is defined as the fact or state of
belonging to a social group that has a common national or cultural tradition:
I am a member of this church and served as a representative for the church
while on my full-time, 18-month long service mission. In this paper I will
explore how certain fallacies (ahistorical and individualistic) mostly
associated with racism apply to inequality and faithism towards the LDS
church.
Background
The story of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints starts with
Joseph Smith. As a young man in 1820, he desired to know the truth about
God and what the Lord would have him do. However, he felt confused by the
many different faiths around him. So he decided to study the various
religions he was surrounded by and the Bible to see what he could find. He
took his findings to the Lord in prayer and had an experience members refer
to as The First Vision, when Joseph was visited and taught by God and

Jesus Christ. Over the next several years, Joseph was continually taught, the
Book of Mormon was translated and published, missionaries were sent forth
to preach to people in many nations, and the beginnings of organization
were coming forth. Then, on April 6, 1830, Joseph Smith founded and
organized the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Fayette, New
York. From there, the church has grown across the world and currently has
over 15 million members.
There are several unique characteristics of the LDS church. While there
is no specific dress code, members are asked to dress modestly to show
respect for their bodies. There is a unique vocabulary within the church to
define many positions, roles, procedures and events done within the church,
such as General Conference, Relief Society, ward/stake and lingerlonger/mingle to name just a few. Many events are often held within our
meetinghouses, often in the main chapel or the cultural hall, such as
wedding receptions, funeral services, New Years Eve parties, and general
fellowship building activities. Also, the LDS church builds temples all over the
world as a way to honor Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father. In these
temples, sacred ordinances are performed for the living and the dead that
we believe are needed for ones eternal progression. The LDS church places
a high value on the family unit. We believe that we are all children of a loving
God and we should emulate that divine relationship within the home. So it is
normal that many LDS members have families and some have large ones at
that. We believe that men and women are equal in the sight of God, but that

they were created differently to fulfill different roles in the family and society.
Not to say that women are meant to stay at home and men must be the ones
in the workforce, but that both have different qualities to bring into a family
that can help make their family unit more successful and happy. My
association with the LDS church began in my infancy. Both my parents were
members before I was born, so when I came along, I was blessed as a baby
there and attended meetings each Sunday in our local LDS chapel. Once I
got older, I pondered on the teachings of the church and decided, after much
prayer and meditation, that I believed the teachings and wanted to continue
my religious pursuits as a Mormon.
Sociological Concept
The sociological aspect I have decided to explore is inequality and
faithism. While not per say theories, I discovered some interesting
connections between inequality I have experienced and 2 of the 5 fallacies of
race. As this paper is not about race, I take the liberty of generalizing the
basics of the fallacies to better suit the needs of my paper. The Ahistorical
Fallacy encompasses those who believe that history is behind us and has
nothing to do with how things are going on now. The Individualistic Fallacy
encompasses those who believe that prejudice and discrimination are only in
the realm of ideas and attitudes and is on an individual basis. I feel that both
of these fallacies help to explain some of the reasons why some people have
such hatred towards the LDS church. I served my mission in the West
Virginia, Virginia, and Kentucky region of the US, right in the middle of the

Bible Belt. Because of that, I witnessed quite a lot of reactions from people
when we showed up on their doorsteps. While many people were pleasant to
us, regardless of whether they agreed with our views or not, many people
were very intolerant and some were downright nasty. As I have pondered on
why this could be (as a 19 year old, I didnt really feel all that threatening), I
have found these two fallacies cover a few of the reasons that I believed
were behind the persecution and prejudice.
In context with the ahistorical fallacy, many people would say that the
history of the church has no importance in our day and age because it made
no sense to them why certain things were done and because they cant be
held at fault for what their ancestors did to our ancestors. However, and this
always perplexed me, one of the greatest arguments anyone ever has
against us dealt with our religious history and the aspects they dont agree
with, such as the Book of Mormon and polygamy. If the history doesnt
matter, then why is that such a major issue? As well, the same ideas and
prejudices about and against the church have been passed down from
generation to generation (Some that I heard were that we have horns and
tails, we dont celebrate holidays, that your mother must be one of many
wives to your father and your family must be huge, and that we believe in a
different Jesus then other Christian faiths). The material isnt changing, either
in creativity or in truthfulness. But that doesnt make it any less annoying to
deal with.

In context of the individualistic fallacy, I must agree in the validity that

there is huge variation in the degree of dislike and the willingness to actually
have us/allow us to defend ourselves. However, I disagree that all prejudice
is solely individually based. As a missionary, I discovered that there were a
few churches that actually published anti-Mormon/the Mormons are special
people who need gentle, yet firm, corrections literature and that there were
preachers teaching these same things in their sermons and Sunday School
classes. And while many of these people told us that they attended the same
church where these things were taught, they often would say that their
opinion of us wasnt influenced by these sermons. I could never fully
understand or believe that, particularly when they would insist their preacher
was an always-truthful saint and that they had no interest in hearing what
we had to say about our own religion. And, as I stated above, when these
ideas have been passed down from generation to generation (I heard more
then once the My granddaddy told me. speech), they then cant be only
the opinion of one individual.

Conclusion
In conclusion, I must say that writing this paper was an interesting way
to look at myself and this major part of my life. I had always known that my
religion meant a lot to me, but this the process of writing this paper brought
out a lot more of the why it matters so much. The LDS church is unique in a
lot of its customs and some of its doctrine, but it really isnt that different

from many other religions. And one of the very real realities of being in a
group not of the norm is that there is judgment and prejudice. However, with
the proper understanding of why someone feels a certain way and a personal
understanding of why their view is not necessarily the correct one (when it
comes to ones own life), it allows for the ability to let go of those judgments
and continue to be happy with who you are.
Bibliography:
Ethnicity. The New Oxford American Dictionary Second Edition. New York:
Oxford
UP, 2005. Electronic.