Mormons-My Experiences

I can’t really understand what the deal is with Mitt Romney and his religion.

Now I can make, and have made, fun of Mormon beliefs, some of which frankly are kind of hard to believe. (But not as funny as Scientology, of course.) Then again, Christianity, Judaism and Islam have many traditions which require an awful lot of faith to believe. More faith than I ever had.

But…when I was a teenager we had a Mormon family as neighbors. That’s when I learned they really refer to themselves as Latter Day Saints (LDS), but were cool with being called Mormons. And the Mormons and Baptists (my family) got along terrifically. We all were each other’s houses all the time; I never knew a better family than the Williamsons.

I was the only non-Mormon playing on the Mormon softball and basketball teams. We often played other church teams and Seminole tribe youth teams throughout a few counties in South Florida. Not once was I made to feel like an outsider-I was just another kid having fun with other kids-and not once was any effort made to convert me. That just doesn’t seem to be what Mormons do. If I asked a question about LDS, they would answer but never went any further. I think it was because they knew what my family’s religion was and didn’t want to overstep. They also appreciated my family not discussing our religion with their kids. And really, isn’t that what most of us prefer?

There’s an episode of South Park which made some fun of Mormons, but also put the Mormons in a good light. That episode seemed real to me. Yes, some Mormon beliefs are and were odd to me. But the Mormons I knew were good people-no different from anyone else I knew.

So Mitt Romney is a Mormon, huh? It gives me a good feeling knowing that.