In the 19th century, because of persecution and subsequent isolation, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints succeeded in forming their own separate ethnic group, according to a Sunstone Symposium speaker Saturday.
However, former Brigham Young University history professor Steve Epperson said that in the 20th century the distinct Mormon identity began to erode, to the point where Mormons now are culturally indistinguishable from the rest of Western civilization."Drive down to Orem now and you could be in Plano, Texas," he said. ". . . Generally, Mormons have divested themselves of the distinctive practices that have set them apart."
Back in pioneer days, people newly converted to the LDS Church who gathered in the Great Basin from the eastern United States, Great Britain and Scandinavia were quickly inculcated not only with doctrine but with Mormon culture.
As part of a well-established social as well as religious organization, Mormons were integrated into wards and stakes, becoming part of a people which, by design, was peculiar to North America and the world. They were self-sufficient, insular, devoted to religion, hard-working and distrustful of outsiders.
"There was a conversion of `Swedes' and `Scots' into `Mormons,' " Epperson said.
The Mormon identity was so well-established that 19th century political cartoonist Thomas Nast lumped Mormons together with the Irish, Jews and Indians as troublesome American ethnic groups.
"Ethnic," by the way, does not refer solely to racial origin. "Ethnicity is about distinctiveness, both self-determined and imposed (from without)," said Daryl White, Spelman College (Atlanta) professor of anthropology and sociology, who also spoke at the seminar.
But 15 years of conflict in the Midwest and 40 years of isolation in the West was not enough time to set the Mormons apart permanently. After the turn of the century, military service, commerce with non-Mormon and non-Utah firms and increased social interaction with "Gentiles" caused Mormons gradually to enter main-stream American society.
That's not necessarily bad, Epperson said. With the church now a force worldwide, a narrow Utah ethnic identity on the part of Anglo-American Mormons would create a split in the membership, undermining the goal of the church to have the gospel "sounded in every ear."
There remain, nonetheless, residual opinions that Mormons are culturally separate. White cited an example: When he was in graduate school, a faculty member in a speech referred to Mormons as ethnically distinct.
"It gave me some currency within the department," he said with a laugh, "(but) it caused me problems at department dinners when I was asked to bring something `ethnically Mormon.' "
His attempt to do so - potato salad - was met with quizzical looks. "At that time I was unaware of the Jell-O matrix," he said.
In addition to Mormon ethnicity, Saturday symposium topics included politics and morality, litigation involving the LDS Church, and humanitarian service. Most notable, however, were the six seminars about homosexuals within the Church.
"Gays are a big thing now," said Elbert Peck, executive director of the Sunstone Foundation. "I'm facilitating the issues that people are talking about."
Peck noted that hot issues come and go, citing, for example, the heyday of feminism two decades ago that was likewise heavily represented among Sunstone symposia topics.
Jan Shipps, author of "Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition" and the symposium's keynote speaker, said LDS Church members aren't the only ones wrestling with concerns regarding homosexuality.
"It is the issue facing every church in the United States. . . . It is tearing religions apart," she said. "It's a significant issue for people, and Mormons are people."