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Something's happening in Utah that's important for everyone in this country to see. This state is dominated by members of one church. That church believes in a living prophet, counsels its members to sustain their leaders, and has asked its members to wear masks. And yet:
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Was everyone in this room a member of the @Ch_JesusChrist? Not likely. But this happened at a government meeting in Utah County, where about 84% of residents are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. /2 https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2020/07/15/packed-meeting-utah/
Five days before the Utah County mask protest happened, the LDS church asked members to wear masks "in common purpose for the blessing and benefit of all." Here's a report on that statement from the church's own newspaper, @DeseretNews: /3 https://www.deseret.com/faith/2020/7/10/21320807/mormon-covid-19-pandemic-masks-church-latter-day-saints-in-utah
Yesterday, researchers from the LDS church's own university, @BYU, released a report detailing "convincing evidence from multiple controlled experiments and field observations that wearing masks reduces the transmission of COVID-19." /4 https://pws.byu.edu/covid-19-and-masks
Today, Utah's LDS lieutenant governor (and GOP nominee for governor, which essentially makes him guv-elect in this state) @SpencerJCox, tweeted his appreciation for @BYU's "yes, masks work" study. /5
Latter-day Saints call one another "brother" and "sister." Here's one brother's response to his state's future governor and fellow Saint. This sort of rhetoric is common here. /6
Why does this bother me? Well, because having lived in this state for the better part of two decades, I've learned that Latter-day Saints are overwhelmingly kind, generous, and compassionate people. They are also not prone to publicly disagree with church leaders. /7
We can go way back for examples, but let's just go back to the day I was born. That was the day the LDS church decided to end the practice of banning black members from full church rites. (Here's what went down, in the church's own words.) /8 https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays/race-and-the-priesthood?lang=eng
Before 1978, there were certainly those in the LDS church who were troubled by the racist ban, but did they pack meeting houses in protest? Did they permit their black brothers and sisters to engage in all rites anyway? Did they wantonly disobey? Nah, bra. /9
Perhaps the most famous Latter-day Saintâa man who has proven a willingness to speak truth to powerâis @MittRomney. He was 31 when the ban was lifted. He says he wept for joy. But is there any record of him speaking out against it before then? No. /10 https://www.bendbulletin.com/localstate/former-ban-on-black-priests-still-reverberates-through-mormon-faith/article_51cacb21-a5f5-57af-8de7-c81c22c75e69.html
Are the late-70s a very distant memory to you or waaaay before your time? Alrighty, let's talk about the time, a few months ago, when BYU gaslit its LGBTQ students right out of the closet. /11 https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2020/03/04/after-byu-honor-code/
Many of my LDS students were exceptionally troubled by what happened to their brothers and sisters at BYU. So I asked them: "OK, will you speak out?" and almost to a person they said "no, but we'll pray even harder for our leaders to have a change of heart." /12
Likewise, many of my LDS students are troubled that women are banned from the priesthood (boys can be ordained when they are 12) but when I ask them: "OK, will you speak out?" they say "no, but we'll pray for our leaders to have a change of heart." /13 https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/the-latter-day-saint-woman-basic-manual-for-women-part-a/women-in-the-church/lesson-13-women-and-the-priesthood?lang=eng
I want to be clear: Prayer ain't no small thing to the Saints. They believe in its power. I honor that. But I've often wondered: What does it take to get Latter-day Saints to do more than pray when they feel a heartfelt disagreement with their leaders? /13
Well, now we know. For many LDS members, the thing that got them to publicly revolt against church leadership wasn't racism, sexism, or heterosexism; it was masks. /14
Important context: Many Utah Republicans (a tight but not perfectly overlapping Venn diagram with Saints in this state) at least tolerate the idea of mask-wearing, although fewer actually wear 'em. Not every Saint is revolting. /15 https://www.sltrib.com/news/2020/06/14/poll-utah-republican/
So why is this important outside of Utah? Because it's a waypoint in a journey we're all in together. /16
We have reached the point in which contempt for science, distrust of media, and extremist notions of personal liberty now trump religious piety for many Americans. Past this point, it becomes very hard to plea to the better angels of a person's nature. /17
This doesn't mean that these people are lost. What it means is that the stories they are being told are exceptionally powerful â more powerful, even, than the guidance of their religious leaders. /18
The stories we tell must be even more powerful. And to this end, please know: Shame doesn't work. Contempt doesn't work. Hate doesn't work. And here's the scary part: Facts (alone) don't work. /19 https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/02/27/why-facts-dont-change-our-minds
Before we had anything called religion, we had stories. As a species, our survival across evolutionary time depended on our ability to collect and share stories. That has not been lost. /20
Storytelling that builds empathy changes minds. Storytelling that creates understanding changes minds. Storytelling that connects us to others changes minds. And today, when we change someone's mind, we might be saving someone else's life.
Those are the stakes.
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Those are the stakes.
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Across the nation, local journalists like @sltrib's @CourtneyLTanner (who wrote the story linked in the second post on this thread) and Rick Egan (who took the photos from the Utah County meeting) are working hard to tell these stories, often with dwindling resources. /22
You might detest and distrust global news organizations, but local journalists are members of your community, and they work hard to tell stories that are true, build empathy, create understanding, and connect us to one another. If you can, please support their work. /23
But please also remember: This is everyone's work. If you know people who aren't masking up and practicing social distancing, is the story you're telling, in subtle and not-so-subtle ways, on social media helping change their minds?
I pray so.
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I pray so.
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