At 15:00. That's part of the problem. Members bases reality on the local knowledge. However that is not facts. Utah is radically different than it was 25 years ago. Migration has changed all that, with people moving in from California and other states.

4th generational non Mormon here. European Catholic relatives migrated to Utah around 1890. Lived in SLC my whole life (now I’m in my mid 60’s). My world revolved around being Catholic. All my friends and family were Catholic. I really didn’t know or interact with Mormons. My mom’s side were all liberal Democrats and my dad’s side were all conservative Republicans. I’m still on the Catholic rolls but I would identify as non religious.

As someone who has left the church (but can't leave it alone since my whole family is still in), i follow Mormon interest stories pretty closely (from all sides. I still watch every FAIR presentation, most Mormon Stories, your channel, and even the BYU speeches). Your channel is consistently one of the most interesting, because you don't attack but you don't blindly defend. You find interesting people who have something academic to say about Mormonism, and let them say it. Then you trust your audience to make of it what they will. I respected that already when i was a full-in, temple-recommend-holding (technically still am for another 29 days), doing-all-the-things member. Now that i count myself as no longer Mormon (probably some flavor of atheist at this point, though I'm trying not to label myself so readily anymore), the value of your content has only gone up, because it is genuinely difficult to find content that aims for neutrality. Even Mormonism with the Murph has changed flavor to be much more pro-lds lately, though he still does try to serve up all sides to a degree. I don't care about every guest that you have on, but when you get a good interview, it is great! I especially remember the neuroscientist that you had on a year or so ago, who talked about the science of belief, and the researcher who had interesting concepts about the dictation of the book of Mormon (that was probably closer to 18 months ago), and your thoughts from RLDS conference. Keep up the great work.

I loved every Sociology and Psychology class I ever took. It is like watching the scene from "Sabrina" where Harrison Ford and Julia Ormond are at the beach house and he takes the camera and looks thru the lens and sees the guy walking to the lighthouse. He just sees a regular guy, she sees and wonders about the whole story of why a man would work at a lighthouse.

Very interesting interview series, Rick - thank you for your work! I’m not surprised by the rise of secularism and the 2nd set of non-religious at all. I think a large factor in causing this has been ready access to information via the Internet. I think the decline of people’s affiliation with a single group in many aspects of society is in decline - political, career, school, and even family groups just to name a few. I have a few friends that have legally changed their given names and surnames because they no longer want to be associated with their families.

Wouldn't it be easy to ask for self identification and for formal membership? That way you could easily see without speculation where the gap comes from. It could also come from lost membership records of people who have left the state.

I heard this "News" several years ago.

@GospelTangents

6 ай бұрын

As we mentioned in the interview, the Salt Lake Tribune has been reporting as recently as 2020 that LDS Church numbers were 60%. Ryan is the first to do a survey. Instead of relying on baptism numbers, he counts those who self-identify, which is a very different method than the LDS Church. It's the first of its kind, so I'm not sure what you heard several years ago.

@pererau

6 ай бұрын

​@@GospelTangentsperhaps the news about Salt Lake City. I was visiting a year or two ago when the news announced that SLC was no longer Mormon majority. At the time, I was a believing member, and felt very sad about the news because my mindset was "if they aren't for me, they are against me." Now as I've left the church, my mindset has changed a lot, and I'm glad that there is not a monolithic majority that can push down (at least not as much) on minority cultures and beliefs within their ranks. Another commenter above talks unironically about how every Mormon they know is happy with their politically conservative Mormon state and don't want people to ruin it. This kind of attitude only works if you are in the majority, but it is incredibly damaging for anybody who falls outside because you are counting them as less than and a net negative, even though they have so much good that they and their diverse backgrounds can bring.

Post the others, you monsters

I have enjoyed Utah being a Mormon State (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). The people for the most part respect the law and generally good and conservative politically. This State could lose its appeal as other States have, with an influx of people who bring a different political or social ideology. I would bet most generational non mormons would agree that Utah has been a pretty good place to live. I hope it stays a good and safe place to raise a family.

@bryankelley4861

6 ай бұрын

Congratulations 🎉. You stepped up to the next level in Heaven.

I like this guy but the fact he always ends a statement with “right?” is very condescending and pretentious.

@GospelTangents

6 ай бұрын

Lots of people say "right." Ryan was super cordial and not pretentious at all.

@jdweston-ff8mq

6 ай бұрын

People that use the word “right” in frequency like Dr. Cragun come off to me as pretentious. It’s difficult to appreciate the substance of someone’s speech if you’re treated like an idiot. I’m sure he is a very cordial person, and I’m sure I’ll get over the fact his use of the word “right” bothers me. ☮️

@personofinterest8731

6 ай бұрын

It's just a habit of speech. Lecturers might use it to check if everyone's keeping up. Imo. Thanks for an interesting interview.

@melanieaveryeasthope3980

6 ай бұрын

Canadians would say “eh” Right is not pretentious.