Mormon Phenomenon

Some things are peculiarly Mormon. Here’s an interesting one. What do you make of it?

Did you know Mormons once took sacrament (communion) from a common cup? Do you know why that practice changed? You can read more about it here. Its a great piece of social history as well as an insight into how a Mormon prophet makes decisions. Turns out the Mormon prophet is just some bloke passing the buck.

 

The Perfect Problem

Dr Kris Doty, Assistant Professor - Psychology-Behavioral (sic) Science, Utah Valley University is currently studying what she calls toxic perfectionism in Utah.

“Dr. Doty says she was inspired to find out what was going on during her emergency room crisis work. When she worked Sunday shifts, she saw several women from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints coming to the hospital with depression.  They would be very anxious and depressed, and it was triggered by a talk or lesson they had heard that day.  In other words, they felt they couldn't live up to what they felt was expected of them, to be perfect.”

LDS herself, she insists, “its not the church,its the culture,” but are these two things so easily separated? Or does one have a major impact on the other? It will be interesting to see her results, although those of us familiar with Mormonism probably have our own explanation based on personal experience. Certainly, anyone who took seriously Spencer W Kimball’s 1969 book The Miracle of Forgiveness might well end up in Dr Doty’s office.

Read about the study and watch a short video interview on ABC4Utah You can also take part in the study if you are a Utah woman, although that might just make you feel more guilty for daring to admit there’s a problem.

nomophobia

I so wanted Nomophobia to be fear of being without a Mormon. Imagine how a doctor would treat that! (“Take two missionaries and a bishop three times a week”) It turns out nomphobia is fear of going for any length of time without a mobile phone (or cell-phone as Americans call it)

Robert Kirby of the Salt Lake Tribune writes:

“How long could you go without your cellphone? Assuming that you didn’t need it for work or as part of court-ordered electronic monitoring, how long could you stand to be without mobile service?

If you immediately thought in terms of minutes or even a few hours, there’s a good chance you have a serious emotional problem.

There’s even a name for your derangement. "Nomophobia" is the fear of being without a mobile phone. It comes from "no mobile phone" phobia.

Note: I confess that I first thought no-mo-phobia meant a fear of being without a Mormon. But this is Utah. How could anyone suffer from that here?” Read more here

What Mormon phobias might be out there though?

Caffophobia: the fear of being seen drinking coffee.

Archaeophobia: the fear of yet another trip to “Book of Mormon Lands.”

Jellophobia: the fear of travelling too far away from a source of jello. Common in Mormon missionaries.

Homeophobia: the fear of being at home when your home teachers call.

Suggestions in the comments section below.