Now that the “Mormon in Americas” survey has been published (You can read the whole survey results here), the boobirds and naysayers are reacting. The survey results are quite clear in that they represent 1000 people who self-identify as “Mormon.” The Pew Research Center used a group of Mormon scholars to assist them in their research, which, of course, make it suspicious to those critics as well. As far as Daymon Smith is concerned, it is a conspiracy by the Pew Group and Church Leaders. You can read his take here. He fancies himself quite the expert on the Church because he “worked” in the Church Office Building.
I was under the impression that the Pew Group was somehow connected to the Church because all the people I know with the name “Pew” are LDS. But it turns out that the Pew Charitable Trusts, which funds the Research Group was started by family members of Joseph N. Pew, founder of Sunoco Oil and they were Presbyterians. So that theory is over.
I do not attempt to rehash the results of the survey, but provide some of my own commentary about it and a few interesting bits..
My own take is that Mormons are generally “pleasers” who like to give answers that people expect of them. So I am not so surprised at the results. If the majority of these “self-identified” are active Church members, then the answers are to be expected and it is what they believe!
However, the one answer I found that sort of breaks the mold for me was the question:
| Being a Good Mormon? | ||||
| How important is each of these for being a good Mormon? | Essential | Important, but not essential | Not too/ Not at all important | DK/ REF |
| % | % | % | % | |
| Believing Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ | 80 | 13 | 6 | 2=100 |
| Working to help the poor | 73 | 24 | 3 | *=100 |
| Regular family home evenings | 51 | 45 | 4 | *=100 |
| Not drinking coffee and tea | 49 | 32 | 17 | 1=100 |
| Not watching R-rated movies | 32 | 47 | 19 | 2=100 |
| 2011 National Survey of Mormons, Oct. 25-Nov. 16, 2011 Q411. Figures may not add to 100% because of rounding.PEW RESEARCH CENTER’S FORUM ON RELIGION & PUBLIC LIFE | ||||
While I expected the Joseph Smith’s First Vision and helping the poor to be high on the list, I would have thought the bottom two, Word of Wisdom and R-rated Movies to be considered more essential since Mormons tend to value their “observances” very highly. The fact that observing the WoW is not considered essential by a majority is bizarre to me. And saying that FHE is essential when most of us struggle with that one is also strange.
I do agree with Daymon on one point, I though the answer on Polygamy was also a bit odd, but certainly reflects the fact that mainstream LDS want people to disassociate Polygamy with the LDS Church, in spite of the fact that is remains a doctrine of the Church albeit, a suspended practice.
The rest of it pretty much fell in line with what I would expect Mormons to answer.
So, this is by no means an exhaustive survey of the attitudes and religious practices of folks who are on the roles of the Church. The Church would have had to fully cooperate with the Pew Group to conduct a survey like that. But it is interesting to the general public, if not the members themselves as to what this group of self-identified “Mormons” think about religious practice, politics, etc.
So, what is your impression of the results? Are you in the “Interesting” camp, the “Daymon Smith Dismissive” camp? Or somewhere in between?
Ok, let’s hash it out.
Wheat & Tares 
I think they got a more observant than normal sample, by the way they filtered.
But I found it interesting that more of the sample felt homosexuals were discriminated against than felt Mormons were discriminated against.
In a survey of the “more devout” there is a definite belief that homosexuals are subject to discrimination (almost 2/3rds felt that way) and I think that is significant.
As I said in my comment over at BCC, I was a respondant to this survey. Some of the questions were strange to me — strange in wording or didn’t quite capture what I really thought, so it was tough in the moment sometimes to make a choice. (My call came just as we finished dinner and the kids were getting ready for bed; I was not completely undistracted.)
In the five questions you (and Pew) showed in your chart here were my answers:
Believing Joseph saw God — I said important, not essential. This was a split-second in-the-moment choice that I would have made differently had I had more time to think about it. But I thought my testimony of Jesus Christ and the restoration is not solely dependent upon Joseph’s seeing God. It is a foundational experience, but not The Foundation of my testimony. In retrospect, I think it is normative for “good” church members to believe this, and I do believe it.
Working to help the poor — I said essential — this is a clear message of the Book of Mormon, a key element of the Law of the Fast (see Isaiah 58) and now one of the core purposes of the church.
Regular Family Home Evenings — I said Important because there are blessings associated with following this counsel, but I could still get a temple recommend even if I didn’t do it every week. (We do hold FHE regularly in our family.)
Not drinking coffee and tea — I said essential because of the TR questions.
Not watching R-Rated movies — I said important mostly because the general counsel is no longer so specific about R-Rated movies (even FTSOY). I don’t watch R-Rated movies as a rule, and there are plenty of PG-13 movies I won’t watch. But the R-Rating is just a signal, not the reason for not watching.
Actually, Stephen, I disagree that the study indicates increasing tolerance for GLBT neighbors. The study reports that 59% of U.S. Mormons believe there is “a lot of discrimination” against gays and lesbians, while 65% of U.S. Mormons (77% of U.S. Mormons with “high religious committment”) believe homosexuality “should be discouraged by society.” With that sort of distinction, it sounds like a large portion of U.S. Mormons are thinking there’s not quite enough discrimination against gays and lesbians.
Nick, I did not say more tolerance, but an acknowledgement of discrimination.
Paul,
Thanks for revealing your particpation. I would have answered much as you have. I am not as strong on FHE since we have had such a hard time with it in our family. OTOH, my kids are mostly not active so maybe it is a cause and effect. I don’t know. The coffee and tea answer was the one that floored me.
I found the high percentages of people who believed interesting all of them were above 90%. Which shows that correlation has been very successful. But then part of me does wonder about how nuanced the questions were given the choice of do you believe, do not believe and I don’t know then its going to make it seem more homogenous.
The other point I thought was interesting is that 71% of Mormons in Utah are satisfied with their community compared to 44% outside of the west. The implication being that living amongst the saints is a sure pathway to being satisfied with your life. Although I struggle to believe that only 1% of people in Utah are unsatisfied with their community.
I also thought it was interesting that the more educated a Mormon is the more committed they are to the church. (only 18% have doubts about some believes) Which seems to me to be a paradox. As for me the more I study the harder I find it to maintain an orthodox belief. But the survey suggests that doubts generally go down among Mormon students as they study more.
I like how Pew asked people to rank the importance of:
Yet — you said:
Not only is the “essential” nature of the word of wisdom debatable — the survey didn’t ask about the word of wisdom.
It asked about tea and coffee, which its inclusion with D&C 89 is itself debatable as well.
So the lack of uniformity in thought about “tea and coffee” makes sense to me.
I also thought it was interesting that the more educated a Mormon is the more committed they are to the church. (only 18% have doubts about some believes) Which seems to me to be a paradox. As for me the more I study the harder I find it to maintain an orthodox belief.
Yes, this is surprising at first glance, but there may be a very different explanation. The survey was given to those who identified as Mormons. Anyone who has ceased to identify as Mormon is outside the study’s parameters–including any “highly educated” individuals who left the LDS church as a result of studying its history, etc. Rather than high levels of education causing greater committment to the LDS church, perhaps only those who already had greater committment levels survive their “higher education” as self-identified Mormons. In other words, education may have a winnowing effect, eliminating individuals who began with lower levels of religious committment from the study pool.
If the study is statically relevant, it can only apply to the group who self-identify as “Mormons. The results could not apply in any other way.
There is no indication that so-called “highly educated people” leave the Church as a result of their “education” in any greater numbers than those who stay in. And this survey does not address it.
The data also suggest that more LDS men want women ordained to the priesthood than LDS women do.
What say the LDS feminists?
One problem with the questions as worded is what the respondents consider to be “being a good Mormon”.
To many, that simply means “having a temple recommend”, which may color the responses as to ‘essential’ versus merely ‘important’.
Some items are considered important by virtually all members, but if they’re not included in the temple recommend questions, they can’t technically be considered “essential” under that interpretation.
“Working to help the poor” falls in this category — important, but not literally “essential” to being a member in good standing as far as temple, callings, etc…
(An obvious question: should it be?)
Yeah, Nick, that might be an explanation – but I could come up with probably a dozen other explanations or more that are just as plausible.
For example, off the top of my head with no prior thought, perhaps the more educated members tend to be the ones most likely to study deeply and develop an individual perspective that allows them to avoid the degree of dissonance that makes the less educated accept anti-Mormon arguments and, therefore, tbey stay in the Church at a higher rate. Maybe they are the ones least likely to care about “issues” and prioritize personal experience. Maybe they are the ones most likely to serve in callings that require more commitment. I could go on and on and on, but it’s all speculation. How we speculate probably says more about us personally than it does about the people about whom we speculate.
Just saying.
Jeff, I think you misunderstood me. I’m only saying that it may be inaccurate to assume that the study tells us that “higher education” results in greater religious committment among U.S. Mormons. Such an interpretation is tempting, of course, given that in general, higher levels of education correllate with lower levels of religious committment. The implication becomes one that “it’s really smart to be a Mormon, so those who are highly educated become even stronger Mormons,” which is quite useful for proselyting.
However, this isn’t what the study actually says. The study only shows that among those who self-identify as Mormons, higher education correlates with higher levels of religious committment. At least two explanations are possible:
(a) More education makes Mormons even more committed to their faith; or,
(b) More education weeds out less-committed Mormons, because the less-committed Mormons leave their church after obtaining more education.
Ray, I completely agree that the possibilities you suggest are equally plausible. Since you and Jeff both protested, I obviously didn’t communicate well. All I’m saying is that the study doesn’t automatically support the “it’s smart to be a Mormon, so being smarter makes you even more Mormon” meme.
Nor, I should say, does “higher education” make you smarter! LOL!
Nick,
Agree on both issues! the study only can apply to self-identified Mormons and folks like them, not the population in general.
Merely being highly educated does not correspond to being highly educated about theological and historical issues surrounding Mormonism. An actuary with a graduate mathematics degree may not be all that interested in the translation process of the BOM, but they may be very interested in happiness through a moral lifestyle and apply the same tenacity that helped them attain their education to fulfill the commitments required by their religion.
Nick, I never would have dreamed to take it that way. We agree.
Interesting. I agree with Justin. The question was about coffee and tea, not the WoW. I imagine it would be a different response if the question had been about alcohol. In my experience, Mormons consider the injunction against alcohol more important than the one against coffee and tea. The survey seems to corroborate my experience since 54% surveyed said alcohol was morally wrong (weird that a drink is morally wrong). However, even so, I’m also a bit surprised by that result.
JMB,
“The question was about coffee and tea, not the WoW”
Yeah, I get that, but in the WoW, there is no moral weight given to one thing over another.
I suppose if one extrapolates a bit the morality of alcohol is inherent in its potential abuse and the consequences of that abuse. Coffee and Tea don’t rise to the same level in that way. But, they are equal in the WoW.
The questions are abit weirdly worded, I admit, but in my experince, the poll questions asked is seldom the ones you want to answer.
I think the speculation about higher education and commitment to the church does reveal a lot about our own position. I tend to think that education, rather then simply information or intellegence, has the effect of broadening ones mind. This has as Nick points out can either strengthen the existing beliefs they hold and make them more committed or it can cause them to question their beliefs. Questioning can have two effects of either eroding faith or strengthening it.
dpc raises a good point that a Maths graduate is not going to be overly concerned with the theological and historical issues. I think for this reason it is interesting that we have no professional theologian in the twelve, and overwhelmingly the majority have non-arts degrees.
Paul:
Were you also a participant in the 2007 Pew Religious Landscape Survey? My impression from reading the Exec Summary is that the questions may have been prepared with the assistance of a panel of experts, the sample of Mormons was a subset of those who had been found by random in the multi-denominational 2007 survey, and the LDS church had no input in selecting who would be surveyed. Is that correct?
Re Jeff-
Yeah, I hear you. I definitely think it comes out that way though in practice. If I had to guess it’s what you said, but additionally a legacy view largely influenced by Grant and his very heavy endorsement of prohibition and the evils of alcohol. Seriously, I don’t think any Pres. of the church has spoken out so vehemently against alcohol.
Yeah, it’s frustrating. I suppose it’s good I’m never a respondent in any polls. At least so far.
FT, no I did not. I wad living overseas in 2007. I was called once but was not available, so they left a message with a callback number. When I called back theyarranged a time for an interview call.
Paul:
So what is your theory about how they knew you were a Mormon? That gets directly to the question of any sampling bias that might be built into the study, so that’s why I’m asking.
One of the early questions was about my religious affiliation. (There’s a copy of the questionnaire at the Pew Center website.) When I answered I was, they then determined which “Mormon” I was (CoJCoLDS, Community of Christ, or “other”).
Just as a point of reference, I asked my Sunday School class today if they saw the “Mormons in America” poll data and most had not even known about it. No one admitted to being in the poll.
I was a bit surprised.
“The other point I thought was interesting is that 71% of Mormons in Utah are satisfied with their community compared to 44% outside of the west.” This could just be because people who stay in one place and are not restless tend to be happier in their community. People who move around a lot (like many Mormons outside of Utah) are less content.