Thursday, February 07, 2008

MY MORMON EXPERIENCES

Here's what I know about Mormons, based solely on my own interactions with them over the years.

A friend with whom I worked at Carnation (now Nestle, U.S.A.) in Los Angeles didn't wish to believe there was caffeine in hot chocolate because he loved hot chocolate. I've known and worked with a number of Mormons and found them all to be forthright (except for that chocolate addiction thingie), moral, cleancut, straightforward and generally, the "salt of the earth" despite their various differences from a Catholic like me.

I learned that you NEVER help a Mormon move. They believe in setting by a store of food to last for many months - so there's one horrendous amount of pantry and often many, many pounds of wheat to make their own bread.

I know that Mormons believe in community in the sense that beyond physical location, a Mormon in trouble or economic turmoil can absolutely count on the assistance of other Mormons to get them through a crisis.

Unlike Scientologists (I encountered way more than my share when I lived in L.A.), the vast majority of Mormons are pretty honest in business, generally quite moral in their lifestyle, and pretty good friends to have. All my Mormon friends are kind, funny and not nearly as boring as Mitt seems to be. They are, in overwhelming percentages, hard working, generous and dependable.

Ignorance is the great impediment to understanding one another - and unfortunately for understanding in this instance, many Americans base all they know about Mormons on The Osmond family!

For those of you who happen to live in Columbus, Ohio - there's a Mormon attorney who drives as though his tailfeathers are on fire! He is, despite that, a good and ethical guy in all other respects. But seriously Theran - Mountain Dew DOES have lots of caffeine.

So would I vote for a Mormon? That depends on the Mormon. I don't choose my favored candidate based on religion, skin color, ethnicity, or gender - I choose my favored candidates based on character, belief system and strength of their dedication to this country's survival.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well said Ms. Miller...

I experienced the most ugly expression regarding Mormons these past Months.

As a Christian, I was embarrassed.

As a Conservative Republican, I was disgusted.

Anonymous said...

I voted for Romney today, as well as all-Romney delegates to the convention. Who knows how things will turn out, so I decided I'd do my part in case Mitt needs those votes down the road! When it comes to the election in November, I'll have to cast my vote for the person with the "R" after the name ~ certainly I could never vote for Monica's boyfriend's wife, or Hussein-Obama.

Anonymous said...

How honest and refreshing a view you have. That made me laugh a few times.