Monday, September 27, 2004

I just *love* easily offended Mormons.

"I can't... I'm Mormon." These are the words which have raised the ire of BYU students and faculty. In the Daily Universe there was an ad for the t-shirts with that slogan on it. I read the article today after seeing a short ad on television about it. Here's some quotes from the article that show both sides:

"Many Latter-day Saints living outside Utah, he [Ramos and t-shirt creator] noted, utter the phrase every day when asked to partake of activities - such as drink coffee or watch racy movies - that violate church standards."

And...

"I don't like it when people perpetuate these Mormon stereotypes," [Steve Brady] said. "I'm not a big fan of Mormon movies like 'Singles Ward' and 'Home Teachers' for the same reason."

I'm going to stand by Ramos. So many LDS here in Happy Valley (most of them grew up here) don't understand or think that LDS humor is appropriate. Unfortunately they have very shrill voices and like to make those shrill voices heard. I think the slogan is humorous and not offensive. So I'm okay... But people who find mild humor offensive need to ignore it. I'm going to trot out a term again... Utah Mormons. You can find them the quickest just by uttering that phrase. They'll be the ones who are standing up and getting red in the face. I've lived here in Utah myself about fifteen years and I have succumbed to some Utah Mormon ways. But I can see it in myself. Anyway, to the point: Utah Mormons will find shirts and slogans like this offensive, but ignore a lot of the more important things.

So I will happily proclaim: I can't... I'm Mormon!

3 comments:

Sobek said...

I find that whole post very offensive.

Anonymous said...

I have seen that "I can't, I'm Mormon" in a local mall. It made me smile. I few weeks later I was reading the church news, and there was a article about that shirt. In the article it said the author as well smiled, and thought it was a postive thing for LDS youth. The author did say, that if he/she was the one making the shirts that it would read "I won't, I'm Mormon" Of course that shirt would not sell as well.

bb said...

Hey BigRed,
I am a "Utah Mormon" that hasn't lived in Utah for a lot of years so I have noticed the differences between Mormon "cultures" from state to state. However (there's always a however), I feel that if you lump the whole LDS population in Utah as being a "Utah Mormon" you're being a bit unfair...
I know that there are people that get offended at the drop of a dime but I think (at least hope), that they are not the majority. I'm just offering my own perspective when I say that there are quite a few LDS people in Utah that are very broad minded.
By the way, I think the shirt is pretty funny and people need to not take humor so seriously. I like your blog.