Quote:
Originally Posted by Requiem
I work with a woman of the Jewish faith (Deborah) who experienced the ugliness of ostracism firsthand while living in Bountiful, UT. At the time her family moved to Bountiful, she was the mother of two beautiful girls aged 16 and 13. They transferred from LA to Bountiful in 2003 and eagerly looked forward to the excitement of moving into a lovely new home.
As the moving van started to unload, Deborah was approached by several new neighbors and the first question they asked was "are you members"? Unknown to Deborah, this was the beginning of a two year nightmare of exclusion and intolerance at the hands of her supposedly Christlike LDS neighbors. Her children were excluded from social activities, camps, neighborhood gatherings and treated with disdain at school. Her oldest daughter never dated because the boys were told they could not date "non-members". Deborah and her family made every effort to be social and outgoing to the point of inviting their neighbors to dinners, parties, etc. The typical response was a polite "no thanks".
After two years, Deborah and her family left Bountiful and moved to the east coast. She is now a wonderful friend. Many times we have discussed the contradiction between LDS doctrines and behavior. She is not bitter, just disappointed by how her children were isolated and ostracized. I have told her over and over that her Bountiful neighbors are not a fair representation of the Church. Unfortunately her only experience was negative. Intolerance has a home in Bountiful.
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If I had been told I could not socialize with non-members, I almost never would've socialized at all.
I believe President Hinckley came out sharply against this type of behavior a decade or more ago.