[Tonchi]

Every bit of this "progress" and integration of the gentiles into SLC residence has taken place since the 1960's, when their Prophet received a revelation straight from God that Black people were really human after all and therefore were fit to give their money to the Mormon Church and "aspire" to the priesthood (not necessarily REACH it, but may "aspire"). Revelations like this always follow the Church leaders' being informed that the Feds will withhold money and contracts if they do not get themselves in line with the rest of the country and stop all the weird enforcement of laws to suit themselves (the last big Revelation was "get rid of those extra wives because they won't let us have statehood unless we do"). The state of Utah wanted all the bases and government facilities to stay and needed the federal funding for schools and highways and such, so God stepped in an saved the day. When they realized that they would actually be allowed to get jobs in SLC now, whereas previously positions were all reserved for Mormons, outsiders began to move there and large companies felt free to start branches there. The more visible barriers fell (or rather were moved out of sight) and the Mormon Church eventually made a huge leap into Asia, Africa, and other locations where the (previously) anathema races lived, to spread the truth of the one true AMERICAN religion, an ironic concept since after about 4 years ago the Mormon church now has more members enrolled OUTSIDE this country than homegrown ones. The Feds and the Mormons have several very interesting relationships now (I will not discuss Brigham Young's prophesy that the Mormons would take over the government of the US after a genocidal war which was to come, and usher in the kingdom of God and Joseph Smith on this continent, which when it didn't come true in 1898, led to the Revelation about plural marriage instead) because Mormons are heavily represented in the FBI and the Presidential bodyguards. They also took over the Boy Scouts of America by requiring all of their boys to join, then ran into a brick wall with the Feds again when they tried to ban gays.

There are very few Mormons who know any factual version of their own history; actually, the Church busily rewrites it when inconvenient facts crop up. This does not bother the majority of the Utah faithful, anyway, who treasure the closeness of belonging much more than they bother with pesky facts. High youth suicide rates and divorce figures are also dirty little secrets that are swept under the rug. Actually, many people DO leave the church nowdays, but there are too many more, like my uncle, who get sucked in to replace them. You were very lucky that your parent's slack ties with the church insulated you from being shunned by your extended family in Utah, but many others are devestated by the way they are erased from the lives of everybody they knew since birth.

Discussing religion is more of a dead-end topic than even politics, but when I realize I dislike something strongly I make it my duty to find out as much as possible so that I am not just led by emotion. After considerable experience and investigation, I consider this "religion" to be a cult instead, and an evil one at that. Not as dangerous as Scientology at least, but a plague anyway.