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On the other hand, I guess that I can see where, outside of the big things (Law of Chastity), there are some big differences on the local/regional/”folk” level. Heck, even with “big” things like the Word of Wisdom, interpretation noticeably differs by area (how about that caffeinated soda?)

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Mormon culture (that is, culture of Mormonism) isn’t that different from East Coast to Utah…because the church is correlated.

Oh, stop talking like a GA. =p The Church is interested in maintaining its structure everywhere for its own purposes, but unless you pick up a bunch of white people from Utah and plant them everywhere, or assimilate people 100%, the Church will manifest differently in different places. I am more interested in seeing the differences and seeing how the institution tries to force sameness, rather than seeing the sameness as a result of institutional forces. The “standardized product” is packaged by people; it itself doesn’t standardize people. Although I’m open to being convinced given that a “Law of Chasity,” for example, is straightforward. But it still takes people’s interpretations to maintain it. Look at homosexuality and the Bible.

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Hellmut, whenever I want to talk Mormon culture, I try to distinguish it from geographic culture. In my opinion, Mormon culture (that is, culture of Mormonism) isn’t that different from East Coast to Utah…because the church is correlated. It is certainly true that Utah culture is different than “mission field” culture, but this isn’t *Mormon* culture, which is the standardized product around which all the regional cultures are centered.

I do not think, then, that American Mormon’s love affair with the GOP is the cultural aspect of Mormonism. On the other hand, I think that certain phrases we use, such as being “in the world but not of it,” a “peculiar people,” valuing the “burning in the bosom” AND being able to say “I know…” — these are aspects of Mormon culture for me (you addressed these parts a bit in your message in comment 5). So to are actions like adhering to the Word of Wisdom, Law of Chastity, etc., Even if someone breaks these, if they have grown up sufficiently involved in the church, then they should have — maybe if only for a couple of seconds — a hesitation where the WoW or LoC pops in. It might only pop up as, “Wow, this is what I believed xx years ago,” but that history is there.

Does that make any sense?

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Since Mormons believe that feelings are the most reliable source of knowledge, Mormons and non-Mormons cannot reason with each other about religion and cosmogony. You cannot question another person’s feelings.

But if knowledge instead of faith is the foundation of religion then everyone should agree with you about religion. If you disagree then you are either too stupid and too evil to get it.

It’s a formidable obstacle that sustains boundaries powerfully.

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The first thing to recognize is that there are multiple Mormon cultures. Mormon culture is different in Utah than it is on the East Coast. Converts tend to follow different patterns than legacy Mormons.

Mormonism abroad is different from American Mormonism.

For example, American Mormons are famous for their devotion to the GOP. Well, in Europe, it is more common to encounter Greens and other hippies than conservatives.

If you are conservative, there are precious few reasons to join some obscure religion from America. (Lets leave aside the fact that there really are precious few philosophical conservatives in America generally and among Mormons particularly.)

In Utah, open minded is a dirty word. If you are a Mormon in Britain or Germany, you probably wouldn’t be a Mormon if you were not open minded.

To be sure, there are dogmatic Mormons in western Europe but those are people who tend to be socially isolated with all the usual attributes associated with that trait.

Even on the bloggernacle and among posties, I find myself often isolated because other Mormons cannot relate to the convert experience.

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Third Culture Mormon® TCM for short?

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