It appears that “Finn” may become the GOP nominee for vice president of the USA.
Such a ticket, though, would lose to the Democratic nominees–big. To some Evangelicals, those “bigoted Mormons” would be the scapegoats, since they don’t see “Finn’s” anti-Mormon cracks as the reason for the lack of LDS enthusiasm. Moreover, I imagine that these and other Evangelicals would see this loss as yet another instance of being persecuted.
Unlike militant Evangelicals who claim that Latter-day Saints lie about being persecuted, I categorically affirm that Evangelicals are also victims of persecution. As Glenn Beck might put it, “Here’s how I got there:”
Some years ago, some people sued the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to block construction of the Orlando and Boston Temples. Their claim was that the Temples were “attractive nuisances” that would make nearby homes “unmarketable.” After the plaintiffs lost their suits, I tested their thesis, and found that, far from making local homes “unmarketable,” the Orlando Temple, for instance, added roughly $53,000 to the value of each neighbouring home within one mile.
I have just completed follow-up research. (All that’s left is to actually write the article!) I reasoned that if Evangelical “megachurches” detract from local home values, as their opponents charge, I could see why people would reason that the same would happen with LDS Temples. However, if such detraction did not occur, the case for anti-religious bias would seem strong. My regression analysis showed that Lakeland, Florida’s 10,000-seat Without Walls Central, for example, adds almost $40,000 in value to nearby homes. While its impact is less than the Orlando Temple’s, it is still significant–and substantial.
What is particularly telling from my two-part research is that there is absolutely no evidentiary basis for claiming that large religious buildings make homes “unmarketable.” Furthermore, I wonder why this claim isn’t echoed for large non-religious edifices. As I recall, Raymond James Stadium in Tampa was marketed as a revenue enhancer. The fact that both Protestant megachurches and LDS Temples are entirely self-financed, while local citizens finance sports venues only highlights to me the anti-Christian (including the LDS!) bias.
More and more, a large subset of Evangelical Christianity seems like an abused child beating up his little brother, who is also abused.
“Unlike militant Evangelicals who claim that Latter-day Saints lie about being persecuted, I categorically affirm that Evangelicals are also victims of persecution”
But militant evangelicals do claim that they are victims of persecution. So in that you don’t seem to be unlike them.
You make a good case that the knock against megachurches and temples is wrong. But making some significant conclusion of persecution (beyond: some folks out there don’t like Mormons) on this basis seems hasty. The whole reason that the property value claim is wrong is because in fact people don’t mind so much living next to an LDS temple or megachurch! Besides, being wrong isn’t itself evidence of bad motive. The plaintiffs could have been right or wrong about the effect on property values and still been or not been bigots, since not everyone who worries about the value of their home automatically knows about the evidence you’ve brought forward.
We live in a diverse society where we don’t all like each others’ tastes, beliefs, habits, etc. And we’re free to announce our complaints and work them into some form of lawsuit. As a Mormon I don’t think think that we’re uniquely or unusually hurt by this kind of dislike. Evangelicals even less.
Hi Jeremiah!
You make some good points worthy of comment:
“But militant evangelicals do claim that they are victims of persecution. So in that you don’t seem to be unlike them.”
Indeed, they do, but that wasn’t my point. My point was that the militant Evangelicals deny that the LDS are being persecuted, while I categorically affirm that Evangelicals are. In short, they don’t acknowledge our pain, but I acknowledge theirs.
“You make a good case that the knock against megachurches and temples is wrong. But making some significant conclusion of persecution (beyond: some folks out there don’t like Mormons) on this basis seems hasty.”
Perhaps, but very few of us would forego a gain of 10-25% in what is for most of us the biggest investment of our lives–especially with no strings attached. Something must explain why they would give up about a year’s pay for the average American, and biases seem to do that. After all, the US South chose to endure decades of economic backwardness rather than end their racist Jim Crow regime.
“I don’t think think that we’re uniquely or unusually hurt by this kind of dislike. Evangelicals even less.”
You’re right; we aren’t uniquely hurt, which was one of my points. Another is that, since we’re all suffering, both Evangelical and LDS time would be better served trying to alleviate that suffering rather than damaging the other.