Frustration!

Okay, this is going to be controversial and probably to some offensive today. My topic today has been weighing heavily on me for a couple of years now, and I'm going to address it in a proactive manner. I don't like to beat around the bush, but I will try to remain as unoffensive as possible. The views expressed here are completely my own, I'm not borrowing from anyone else.

What is my frustration? I don't even know what to call it, but it begins and ends with a select group of people living on the Wasatch Front with what appears to be a strong out posts in South Eastern Idaho and South West Wyoming. They are not just Mormons, or BYU fans, but usually they are. It's the women that sat at home with their Cricket making anti-Proposition 8 materials to ship to California. It's BYU fans that pat themselves on the back for kicking star players off their basketball team (they are the only ones who care btw). It's cheerleaders that call the news to let them know that they chose to quit their squad because there were two events scheduled for Sundays this year. It's people who make a big deal about going to the edited versions of R rated movies. Mostly, it's the people who need to be in the spot light for doing things that are not necessarily part of the LDS Religion at all, but oh my, they are making a stand.

It's generally the worst part of any group that gets the spot light, mostly because they are interesting I guess. Nobody cares that there are millions of members of the LDS Church who are not attention craving basket cases. Plenty of us who are doing our best to live our religion in the best way that we as individuals can. There are those among us who struggle with addiction, and mental illness, and all kinds of heavy things; and we are able to work on it without turning it into a circus. The actual Gospel part of our church is a beautiful message, and a wonderful way to choose to live. The pop culture that has popped up around it is a big ugly mess. No wonder outsiders to the our church think we are a raving mad cult.

I personally am not out to convert all my friends through my shining star example--I'm not a shiny example of happiness and piety. I won't be handing out church materials with my cookie trays during Christmas, and I won't be giving disapproving looks to people who make different life choices than I did. What you can expect from me is this: I love the actual message of my church and that is why I participate. I think its just fine that you don't. I keep an eye on people I care about; and if I think you need help, I will serve you in the best way that I can with no strings attached. What I ask of you is this, when you see Crazy Mormons on the street, or on TV, please don't include me in that group. Realize that like any other group, it's the crazies that get the most attention. There are plenty of us out there that aren't letting our BYU freak flag fly (because we don't have one), in fact we are the majority.