Sometimes on the Mormon blogs, we get the idea that our church is unique in its issues and problems and the Provo/Orem area, “Happy Valley”, is like no other place in the United States. My eyes were opened reading an article in “Buzzfeed” about the town of Waco Texas, the Antioch church that is pervasive in the town, and how “HGTV stars Chip and Joanna Gaines helped convert a sleepy Texas town into a tourist mecca.” To continue the comparison to Provo, Waco has Baylor University, which didn’t accept its first black students until 1964, and didn’t allow dancing on campus until 1996!
From reading the Buzzfeed article, it became clear that what we see in the Mormon Church is pretty common with any conservative Christian sect.
See this from the article:
Within Waco, Antioch has taken on a position that, depending on who you talk to, is either life-centering or psychologically destructive. “I had so many good experiences at Antioch, mixed in with the bad,” one former member told me. “It was so easy to get addicted to it.” Ultimately, however, she came to see it as “a harmful place, with cultic tendencies, that doesn’t put the interest of the individuals who attend church there first.”
Like many religious organizations, there’s a spectrum of involvement; several former members described it to me as similar, in structure, to an MLM, with spiritual incentives and social pressure to invest more time and money (in “Life Groups,” in discipleship school, and, eventually, on overseas missions) while always recruiting more members to “disciple.”
“There’s some abuse of the culture of authority,” the wife of a former Antioch member told me. “People who say, ‘I don’t think you’re dating the right girl, and I’m your leader, and you need to listen to me.’ But those are college students making those proclamations.” A psychologist in town meets regularly with a group of self-described “Antioch survivors.” Former members told me stories of crises of faith after being made to feel unwelcome by the church, either for life decisions (declining to go on a mission) or for their identity (coming out as gay). (Seibert said, “It is not our practice or teaching to encourage people to cut off contact with those who leave the church. Additionally, it is rare that we would formally ask anyone to leave. Every church has guidelines for what they believe and who they aspire to be. People are welcome to join or leave as they feel God is leading them.”)
You could replace the word Antioch with Mormon in the above without any problem. They also have a very conservative view of homosexuality, so much so that in some ways it makes the Mormon Church look progressive!
Following the Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage in 2015, Seibert, who is Antioch’s lead pastor, reaffirmed the church’s belief that homosexuality is a sin, suggesting that 90% of people in a same-sex relationship were “abused in some way.” Seibert advised local business owners not to soften their stances toward homosexuality, praising those “willing to stand to lose even a deal or two or ten or even lose their business.”
And the influence of the church on the town leadership sounds just like any small Utah town
Towns like Waco have long been steered by religious leaders; that’s not anything new. What’s new is how integral the Antioch vision is to so much of the business and real estate development happening now, in which Christian entrepreneurs, as “pioneer-spirits,” map a course for Waco as if settling it for the first time.
Have you ever lived in an area that that had a non-LDS church dominate the people, culture and town the way the Mormon church does in Utah?
Wheat & Tares 
“Have you ever lived in an area that that had a non-LDS church dominate the people, culture and town the way the Mormon church does in Utah? ”
My entire mission in some smaller towns in Spain…
With that, I wonder at the cultural differences between living in a more homogeneous larger society where there is a dominant religion vs living in a non-homogeneous society where a religion (or other tribal entity) dominants a specific/defined geographical location within the larger culture.
I grew up in Jerry Falwell’s hometown and home of the Lord’s university, aka Liberty University. Where I quickly learned that people were nice to you to get you to come to their church, then stopped speaking to you when you weren’t interested. Where kids are told they are going to hell for not attending the correct church (southern baptist is the only acceptable kind). Where the interests of Thomas Road Baptist Church were taken into account for every city decision. Where 20,000 students swarmed the town every year and interrogated everyone they met about whether they had been saved. I see a lot of similarities between the cultures and I don’t like either very much.
I read the Buzzfeed article this week and used references to it in the Relief Society lesson I gave today from Elder Uchtdorf’s talk on missionary work. May seem like a strange juxtaposition, but I saw the authenticity of Elder Uchtdorf’s exhortation the exact opposite of the practices of the Antioch church.
Yeah, it was called Waco.
Another parallel not previously mentioned: Waco was the site of the cult compound that went up in flames after a siege by federal agents in 1993. I’m not sure what Waco’s fringe extremist religious landscape looks like today, but Utah County and the surrounding region have no shortage of Mormon-connected extremists (fundys/polygamists, doomsday hoarders, Snufferites, Birchers, Bundy supporters, assorted whackjobs, etc.), any of whom are only one federal warrant away from starting an armed standoff with the authorities, and would feel divinely justified in doing so.
What Jack said ^
Jack Hughes’ observations about centers of religions that have rigorous expectations of their members (Waco and the Antioch Church, Provo and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), having extremist groups operating around the edges, which extremist groups migrate from attempts to faithfully adhere to a demanding religion, into weird and often violent fringe groups, is, in my opinion, spot-on.
The fascinating question is, to me, why does this happen? I am neither expert in, nor student of ,psychology, so take my uninspired theory for what it is worth. But it is my belief that there is a basic human need to consider one’s self as better than others. If I live in a devout, orthodox religious community, well then, I need to become more devout and orthodox than the other people in my community.
In this context, in the Church, when we are counseled to “follow the brethren,” there is a tendency to think, “Others are giving 100 percent, so I am going to give 110 percent!” Rather than just being grateful when we get to 90 percent, which is pretty darn good. In my opinion, this is one of the sources (but certainly not the only one) of religious extremism. Anyone shooting for 110 percent is going to become a crank.
The only way that I can think of to deal with this problem (and it is a problem in the Church — in 45 years of Church membership, I have seen way too many zealots leave the Church), is to apply the lesson taught by the Savior in Luke 18: 9-14, about “certain who trusted that they were righteous, and despised others.” This is the parable of the Pharisee and the publican. And to apply this lesson broadly across Church membership requires a sustained shift away from a mindset of checking off the items on a religious observance checklist.
The way I try, not very successfully, to avoid this trap, is to attempt to be rigorous in my faith, but not legalistic, and to be accepting of my weaknesses and others.
Thoughts?