After “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” star Heather Gay announced Bravo’s upcoming series, “Surviving Mormonism,” members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints started a trend on X of what “surviving” church is like for them.
The trailer was released on Tuesday and shows the series is focused on allegations of abuse within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Productions like “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” and “Surviving Mormonism,” highlight mostly negative aspects of the faith, leaving the impression for some that religious bigotry is involved in the framing of the show.
Members of the church who disagree with that framing decided to respond in a light-hearted way by showing how they “survive” positive aspects of the faith.
Others have taken a more serious-minded approach to critiquing Bravo’s new show.
One X user said, “I’d love a bit more journalistic integrity from Bravo that would isolate these incidences instead of painting an entire group of people a certain way because of a handful of bad apples.”
Another wrote, “‘Surviving Mormonism’ may be a truthful title if the church was corrupt and destructive. But it is not. Some bad (even awful) experiences of people in relation to a couple of members of that church does not allow them to say that they ‘survived’ the church, in any honest or genuine way.”
What does ‘surviving Mormonism’ look like to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?
The memes about “surviving” church life began as a trickle and turned into a fire hose on Thursday.
Jared Bell, who lives in Utah County, posted a photo from his doorbell of a man in his congregation holding a plate of cookies on his porch.
He captioned his post, “’Surviving Mormonism,’ but it’s just my minister bringing me cookies and checking up on how my family is doing.”
Bell told the Deseret News, “I wanted to capture what it really means to be ‘surviving Mormonism’ ya know? Having to deal with lovely people all the time? It’s tough. Them always being concerned about me and praying for my family and I? People that feel a desire to serve their neighbors. Can you imagine?”
He added jokingly, “We really have to claw our way out of the loving, sharing and inviting nature of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”
Thomas Stevenson, a member of the church and an editor at The Post Millennial based in Washington, D.C., posted on Thursday, “Just out here surviving ‘Mormonism’ on a Link scooter.”
Stevenson told the Deseret News that Bravo’s new miniseries “looks like another weak attack on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”
But “seeing members respond the way they did — lightheartedly, expressing their faith with some humor — shows what the church is really like," he said.
Other posts showed humorous elements of church culture, like young men impressing girls at church by putting away as many folding chairs as possible or playing Latter-day Saint Jon Schmidt’s “Waterfall” on public pianos at Brigham Young University.
Abel Chirino, with the X username ElGranCheerio, told the Deseret News, “It’s absurd to suggest ‘Mormonism’ is something one must ‘survive.’ I survive because of the gospel.”
“The gospel — and by extension, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — is the greatest force for good in my life," he said, adding that it pains him “to see media companies and critics exploit vulnerable, emotionally hurt individuals to attack the Church.”
But the way members of the church have reacted to the miniseries shows they are “normal, happy people who simply want to follow Christ.”
And as Halloween approaches, many congregations are gathering for chili cook-offs and trunk-or-treats.
Sang Kim posted a photo of himself at church on Thursday, balancing a muffin tin filled with 12 different chilies and a plate of cornbread.
He captioned it, “’Surviving Mormonism,’ but it’s me trying to make room in my stomach to honor every contestant at our ward’s annual chili cook-off.”
One user commented on Kim’s post, “The worth of bowls is great in the eyes of God.” Another said, “This should be ‘surviving the next morning.’”
Latter-day Saints receive national attention
Members of the church have been the center of national attention online and in the news, following a shooting at a meetinghouse of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, Michigan, on Sept. 28.
Latter-day Saints have raised almost $400,000 for the wife and child of the deceased shooter in a GiveSendGo.