Question How would the LDS Church might view Mutants?

I'm thinking of setting an Origin story in Provo. Any thoughts on how the most conservative city in America (thats what Wikipedia says) would view mutants.

We haven't had much mention of Utah in the Canon as of yet. Though we do know that Salt Lake City has a Super team.

Hmmm. Mormon superheroes... I wonder how would they look, for starters. I mean, temple garments and spandex are probably a bad combo.

Sir Lee wrote: Hmmm. Mormon superheroes... I wonder how would they look, for starters. I mean, temple garments and spandex are probably a bad combo.

I'm fairly sure that not all Mormons wear Temple garments. The only member of the Salt Lake Supers we have met so far was female. I don't recall her religeon bening mentioned.

The only Mormon I know of to have commented on the topic of super powers is more likely to be a supervillain than a hero .

I'd imagine that their views wouldn't differ significantly from other mainstream religious groups.

edited

I would say they would be the biggest city of H1! members in the USA!

Hmm. I'd expect them to be more on the passive aggressive side then the overt agression expressed by H1. This is probably what I'd go with. They might go as far as to rule that Mutants bear the mark of cain and can't be baptised into the church. Maybe peopule in the area would stright out act as if Mutants didn't exist and refuse to serve them etc.

Another alternative that occured to me was, what if the rate of mutation was higher than average among Mormons. In the real world the historical practice of polygamy coupled with having bein an insular and isolated group for several generations has lead to a bunch of recessive genetic conditions being more common then avarage among old Mormon families. So what if some of the early church founder had the metagne complex. As an example Brigham Younge had 56 children, who themseleves had enough children and grandchildren that by 1902 he had over 1000 living decendents.

If it was higher they might see it as a mark of god, getting praised and pointed out as being particularly good people. Of course they'd insist that the mutant be of high moral standing, with a quiet or else behind it.

fine edited

In my humble opinion, asking a question like this, then helping turn the conversation to ridiculing a large religious group with whom you disagree is asking for an argument. If you think they're nutters, fine. If you disagree, at least be polite enough to RESPECTFULLY disagree. Engaging in hyperbole and comparing the Mormons, who choose to argue their religious philosophy in a democratic way, to a group that goes into public places shooting and blowing up innocent people is quite over-the-top.

Nasty, diatribe-filled invective against opinions and groups with whom you disagree is hardly respectful. It sure doesn't make you sound like a rational, logical argument.

Well, speaking as a member of the LDS Church, I don't think there would be a lot of hating going on, that's for sure.
Rather, I think there would be official anti-discriminatory statements made. Love all of God's children, stuff like that.

Quorry, I don't mean to be disrespectful or to single out Mormons (which I have very little direct contact with, so I cannot give a personal evaluation), but...

From the inside, all religions are good and loving and tolerant. The faithful (of any faith) just have a hard time putting themselves in the position of the outsiders, and therefore seeing how some action the faithful consider loving may be considered obnoxious or even hateful by outsiders.

I could give specific examples, but I don't want this to devolve into a religious flame war. I just hope that this serves to explain why us heathens might take your claim that there wouldn't be discrimination on the part of the Mormons with a soupçon of salt.

Quorry wrote: Well, speaking as a member of the LDS Church, I don't think there would be a lot of hating going on, that's for sure.
Rather, I think there would be official anti-discriminatory statements made. Love all of God's children, stuff like that.

Can you really say that with a stright face while this controversy is unfolding ?

Right now the LDS church is saying that children of same sex couples can't be baptized untill they are 18, and then only if they disavow their parents. And this is hardly the first discriminatory policy that the church has held. Sure some of them are quire understandable when considered in historical context, but that does not really exuse them. Joseph Smith wasn't at all controversial, for his time, when he incoporated the whole black skin is the mark of Cain idea into his religeon.

konzill wrote:

Quorry wrote: Well, speaking as a member of the LDS Church, I don't think there would be a lot of hating going on, that's for sure.
Rather, I think there would be official anti-discriminatory statements made. Love all of God's children, stuff like that.

Can you really say that with a stright face while this controversy is unfolding ?

Right now the LDS church is saying that children of same sex couples can't be baptized untill they are 18, and then only if they disavow their parents. And this is hardly the first discriminatory policy that the church has held. Sure some of them are quire understandable when considered in historical context, but that does not really exuse them. Joseph Smith wasn't at all controversial, for his time, when he incoporated the whole black skin is the mark of Cain idea into his religeon.

Several things to consider:

The link specifies a time that is several years in the future given the time frame that is currently in the Whateley universe.

Another is that the Whateley universe is diverged from our world as they have significant changes in it that does not parallel in ours.

Another is as was pointed out in Sir Lee's message and I agree as I consider myself a religious person but 'will not' bring my beliefs into play and thus we must refrain from doing so. Failure will result in unwanted/unwarranted beliefs. If it doesn't pertain to Whateley in this respect I respectably request that we forgo our personal beliefs for the sake of the site.

Ibi

Setting aside personal beliefs (or trying, possibly failing), I can definitely see individuals of any religion discriminating against mutants. The leadership of church organizations would probably take stances on the issue that do not wholly reflect the views of every member. Though I am not entirely sure about the stance the LDS church would take on those mutants that changed genders, I am relatively certain that the policy for most mutants would be tolerance, at least. Also, I don't really get the purpose of this thread, unless someone is considering the involvement of the LDS church in the Whately universe.

Quorry wrote: Also, I don't really get the purpose of this thread, unless someone is considering the involvement of the LDS church in the Whately universe.

As I said in my opening Post. I'm setting starting a Fanfi, emergence story in Provo Utah, A city which according to Wikipedia 88% of the cities Population is Mormon.

Sorry about that. I did read it, but somehow forgot. The setting is Provo, do you need to know anything at all about how things are within the church, or is it only about interactions between members and nonmembers?

Everyone please take a deep breath and pause. This is not a good discussion but is starting to devolve into something we should avoid - arguments about religion.

It is known that in the Whateleyverse, homophobia and treatment of gay people is far different from us - far less tolerant. So a direct extrapolation of OUR universe to Whateley is not possible Example - several French people got upset at my portrayal of France in Charge 1. Oh, well - they're comparing apples and oranges. Same here.

Please, before posting and continuing this, ask yourself if you're politely discussing what MIGHT BE in the Whateleyverse or if you're getting into an argument about OUR universe. If it goes further, we might lock the thread for a short 'time-out'.

The first experience the leadership has with mutants could make a difference. A beloved grandchild needing protection is more likely to get a good reaction than villains robbing and destroying the Temple would.

Sorry you posted while I was working on post.

Maybe being a mutant would be considered a trial to test the person, and those with more difficult tests would receive greater rewards. In that case there would probably in some circumstances be infuriating amounts of pity/condescension going on. That wouldn't mean most people wouldn't just let a mutant into their midst, as many are dangerous. Self- and family preservation would probably drive many to keep their distance or act downright hostile, but probably not violent to the point of a mob. The Church has a history of being on the receiving end of mobs. Is that history the same in the Whately Universe? If the church is there, probably it is mostly the same, because the church's formation was in the 1800s, and if I remember right, WWI is when mutants started appearing a lot.
(trying to be realistic here. no idea how well I'm doing)

I think I've decided how my story is going to play this, seeing as the particular setting hasn't appeared in any canon stories. The protagonists family will end be forced to leave the city. But as this will predominently be the result of being ostrazied, and such, things will not escalate to the angry mob point. A Mayor facing re-election and wanted to be seen as tough on the mutant threat will also play a part, as the protagonists a member of the city Police force.

Considering that Mormonism is a religion that doesn't enjoy (or suffer) a large amount of media attention, the only Whateley writers that would write about it would probably be Mormon and thus would probably have a positive view of LDS. This would mean that they would be fairly accepting of mutants.

nukestar wrote: Considering that Mormonism is a religion that doesn't enjoy (or suffer) a large amount of media attention,

Clearly you and I see very different media. I don't even live In the USA and I've seen pleanty of stories about the Mormon church. Then there are also the rather distinctive missionaries that they send out. Even if you discount the stories about the fundumentalsi mormon breakaway groups, they are still fairly prominent.

Yeah, they were even featured in "South Park." And a rather polemic TV series named "Big Love." And they had a first-tier candidate for PotUS, fer gossakes. I would say that they did get quite a bit of media attention.

Also the villains in the very first. Sherlock Holmes story, a Study in Scarlet where Mormons.

Most of their bad publicity comes from offshoot branches of the main church.

Sir Lee wrote: Yeah, they were even featured in "South Park." And a rather polemic TV series named "Big Love." And they had a first-tier candidate for PotUS, fer gossakes. I would say that they did get quite a bit of media attention.

Also the musical The Book of Mormon has done rather well for itself.

And don't forget that Spock did too much LDS in the '60s.