Yes. I am a Mormon.
But that’s not what people hear when I reveal my religion. They hear words like “polygamist,” “cult,” and even “this-girl-has-horns-on-her-head-hidden-beneath-her-hair.”
Growing up in South Carolina, a primarily Baptist community, I heard all kinds of interesting outlooks that surprised me. But the one fact that never escaped me was that, upon introduction, I was immediately judged and catagorized by my religion.
I am not only Mormon.
I am also a female. I am a writer, capturing the world on paper and displaying it through my own choice of words. I am an artist, displaying the inner caverns of my mind for all to see. I am American, and under our red, white, and blue flag I stand proudly. I am Sadie, with many facets of my identity that are all a part of “Sadie,” not just my religion.
Although this is an example on an individual level, this happens around the world to entire civilizations. It is unfair, and Amartya Sen agrees, to rob people of their plural identities and define them by religion alone. “The Islamic World” is a term that brushes away any individuality of the people, squeezing them under one catagory that dismisses any true understanding of those people.
Trying to fit anyone under just one label is a practice that will eventually dehumanize our world.
We are not just Christians or Americans or males.
We are people.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I absolutely agree. As unfortunate as it is, we as human beings seem naturally inclined toward blanket judgement. Often, we are not only victims of this judgement though, but are the one doing the judging, despite best efforts. I think it is important for us to realize that the only way a difference can come about, is by first changing the way we see others. The next time we meet some crazy pastafarian (look it up, it is no joke!), we should try to see them as a concert pianist, an organic chemistry scientist, or just a beneficial member of society. As we do this, we will make a change in others, because, after all, the best leaders lead by EXAMPLE.
ReplyDeleteIntroductions in Utah, more specifically at BYU, are much harder than they were in Illinois.
ReplyDeleteIn Illinois, I was the Mormon kid and I was the smart kid to everyone that didn't know me on a personal level.
Here, EVERYONE is Mormon and EVERYONE is smart. So what do I have left? I suppose this is where my plural identity comes into play. That's why I really appreciated this article. In NSO people would ask me about what I like to do, and I'd come up blank. I don't play any sports and video games are okay, but I'm not crazy about them. Sooo....I enjoy stimulating conversation? I thought I was weird and boring. I didn't do anything, did I?
I came to realize that yes, I do have a multifaceted identity, but not all of those facets are popular.
Yay self-discovery.
Ahh, pastafarians.
ReplyDeleteI completely understand where you and Ethan are coming from. Back home, I was simply “everybody’s favorite Mormon.” (Cuz I was the only one they knew!) That was the one thing my friends would say is the most interesting thing about me. Here, it isn’t interesting at all. So, I have to point out all the other things that make me who I am; my love for writing and film and guacamole, the fact that I think Jim Halpert is the best man in human existence, or simply the fact my dream is to travel the world. Everybody has many different layers, as do civilizations, and the only way to truly understand them is to peel back those layers and discover all that’s hidden underneath. Just like Shrek :)
Amartya Sen brings up an interesting observation. It's true that generalizations are often crude and inaccurate. I'm not in favor of judging individuals based solely on a generalized description, or of racism, or anything like it. However, can you imagine how our world would react if we suddenly cut all boundaries? The generalized groups at least call for some sense of organization. It is only when we generalize in a fashion that is cruel and degrading that we run into trouble, and we could just as easily make the same hasty judgements for an individual as for a group.
ReplyDeleteI guess what I'm getting at is that there are some good things about organizing people into countries and cultures. History class would get a lot more complicated if you worried about every individual rather than an entire country. Many times, people have pride in being part of a group. A shared culture, even if it is only by name, can create a sense of unity and belonging.
Idealistically, the individual is more important than the group. Realistically, our world cannot make that transition right now.
Ethan, I completely agree with you. The funny thing is that I'm from Illinois too. Back home, everyone just knew me as the Mormon kid who got good grades. But like you said, everyone here is like that. Don't get me wrong, I love it here. But it is a lot harder to individualize yourself here. I'm sure it's going to be hard for all of us. But at least we know that we're not the only ones going through this.
ReplyDeleteAnd Eileen, that was a great comment that you said at the end of your entry: "Idealistically, the individual is more important than the group. Realistically, our world cannot make that transition right now." I'm the type of person who takes a long time transferring my thoughts into words, but for me, that just hit the nail on the head.
Amartya Sen's idea of plural identities really speaks to me.
ReplyDeleteIt's human nature to categorize and simplify things. We want to label the nerdy kid in our math class a Geek or the mousy girl who who sits by herself a Loner. It's easier for us because then we don't have to bother with getting to know the person. We don't have to care that the guy's dad left when he was five or that the girl is abused. It's so easy to distance ourselves.
Unfortunately, the danger lies in that easiness.
We can't let ourselves fall back on natural man tendencies. People are just people, and when we label and categorize, we are robbing. Robbing ourselves of a potential friend, and more cruelly, robbing our victims of their true identity.
I, too, am also from South Carolina, and I totally understand where you’re coming from. People do judge you based upon your religion, and often times it’s really frustrating. In South Carolina, religion is a huge part of the culture, and it’s hard to ignore that aspect of life. But I find a common interest in religion with my fellow South Carolinians and have discovered that we can share our similarities instead of only pointing out our differences.
ReplyDeleteI think Sen says that it is unfair for people to judge simply based upon one characteristic and not even recognize past that. When people categorize someone as British or French, do we look at simply one characteristic of their culture and ignore the rest? I would say that no, we don’t, but that one characteristic that we do look at, of where they’re from, unifies all of the people living in that country.
I say that we can be unified by where we live, by similar cultures, and yet we can also rejoice in the differences that make up that culture.
That was the biggest hardship for me when I came here. At school in Florida I was one of about four Mormons and it made us very distinct and interesting. My time in South Carolina did that for me, too. I completely agree, Erin, that it is frustrating, but I did enjoy the fact that it made me unique; that I felt like I was standing for something.
ReplyDeleteBut I've learned that I can be an individual even outside of my religion. I write, I draw, I think some things are funny and some things aren't. I really, really love pasta.
I think recognizing our plural identities is not difficult; it's just a matter of who we are. None of us on here are "just Mormon." We're all different, and that's what gives us unique sparks that make us real people, and not just numbers in a population.
I think we often put people in boxes so that we know how to think of them and act towards them. We feel more comfortable when we can label people. We feel uncomfortable and insecure with not knowing how people will act or think and so we form opinions on them in order to make ourselves feel comfortable. When we have preconceptions about stereotypes, we allow those stereotypes to dictate how we treat people. However, if we fight this basic human instinct and approach people with an open and unbiased mind, we often are pleasantly surprised at what we encounter.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article, as well as everyone else's comments, I was struck by how I gained my own individuality because I was only a "number". Many of you grew up in states where you were considered unique for being a Latter Day Saint. I grew up in Utah where you were unique if you weren't. Because of this, many of us found ways to have an identity without it being based exclusively on religion. So don't give up, things will get better for you here at BYU! :)
ReplyDeleteSen emphasized that civilizational categories are crude and inconsistent, and I completely agree, but the fact of the matter is that our world has functioned in this manner for hundreds of thousands of years. Since the destruction of the Tower of Babel. This issue is not something that can be easily corrected, if it can be corrected at all. Eileen stated it perfectly when she said, "Idealistically, the individual is more important than the group. Realistically, our world cannot make that transition right now."
Although the world may not be able to change right now, we can still make a difference one person at a time, starting with ourselves.
I definitely agree with everyone else's comments. I do think that those of us that didn't grow up around a lot of lds people do categorize ourselves as such because it is part of who we are. That is important, but like a lot of you said, we should also explore the many different things that make us, us. Whether it's what we do with our spare time, a quirky personality trait, or a sport we play. I really like Amartya Sen's last sentence "The robbing of our plural identities not only reduces us; it impoverishes the world." It really does. It takes away the variety and spice that makes life interesting when we simply lump groups together.
ReplyDeleteI can't help but notice how Sadie complains that people only see her as a member of the LDS church, and then all of these out-of-state students complain about no longer being able to use their religion as a conversation piece now that they live in Provo.
ReplyDeleteHaving grown up in Utah my whole life, maybe I don't relate to this circumstance. Though at the least, I can definitely see there are multiple perspectives to this.
Most members of the church are not timid about sharing their religion with others. And yet (I love starting sentences with conjunctions) we all want ALL of our talents, interest, and personality to be recognized with others.
This is true on both ends of the spectrum. LDS people living outside of Utah want people to recognize them for more than their their religion. LDS people living in Utah want people want to distinguish themselves as more than "just another Mormon" as well.
It's interesting how different each of our experiences are. My personal history is the polar opposite of my South Carolina friends -- in my part of California, you didn't talk about religion. Religion was a matter that was almost shameful, and never to be discussed. If it was brought up, people changed the conversation swiftly. It came about because of any number of factors: embarassment, ignorance, and lack of interest, disrespect. And so, I ran into the problem that people where they would recognize me as Mormon, but they refused to see that as any part of my identity.
ReplyDeleteIt was quite frustrating at times, actually, because it meant I had to explain to my friends again and again why I did or did not do certain things -- they could not see that this religion was most definitely a significant part of who I was. They ignored it, forgot it, blocked it out, hushed it up, swept it under a metaphorical rug, never to be brought up again.
So, I guess what I am saying is this -- I want people to recognize me as Mormon. It's an odd response, and I recognize that. But I think it is very important. Of course, I have been subject to traditional stereotyping as well, so I am of two minds on this. I am of an odd, backwards experience where stereotyping and its opposite have both come into play.
More than saying that words are not identities, the author questions the notions of nationalism. Should a nation, on its own, choose to define itself by a religion? What should produce national cohesion? To Sen, sharing trials is at least as important as sharing values. Values are too personal to be shared very broadly. That's how I read him, anyways.
ReplyDeleteI agree that categorizing someone based off their religion is ignorant and definitely not ok. I grew up in a place where there was a lot of religious diversity. My next door neighbors were Muslim and my two best friends were Catholic and the other Jewish. I also knew a few Jehovah's Witnesses and many nondemoninational Christians. It was really nice growing up in a diverse place like that because it allowed for a little bit more tolerance and respect.
ReplyDeleteEven though there was a good amount of tolerance, I was still labeled the Mormon girl at my high school and people definitely looked at me and treated me differently once they found out that I'm LDS. Sometimes it bothered me, especially when people have the wrong idea about my religion. One girl in 8th grade asked me if we believed that aliens were going to come and infiltrate our planet. Furthermore, numerous people have asked if we still practice polygomy.
A lot of people have the wrong idea about Mormons. For example, from experiences I've had in the community I grew up in and in my high school, people think that we are fun-hating people that have rules up to our eyeballs. Whenever someone would learn that I'm Mormon they would usually say, "Wait, does that mean you can't go out on Sunday or drink alcohol or smoke or watch rated R movies?!!" The rules of our church were the only thing they would focus on, not the gospel of Jesus Christ.
It is our job as Mormons to remind others what our church is about and why we have such high standards, because we want to reach the celestial kingdom someday and live with God once more. There is more to me than being a Mormon, but by golly, I am so very proud to be one.