Have you heard of the Zion Curtain? It's like the Iron Curtain, except that communism is replaced by Mormonism. (it also refers to a glass wall blocking a bartender from the customer... but that's another story) That's where I live. That's where I've always lived. That's where I'll probably live my entire life. My ancestors have lived here since the first settlement - 1847 - and I anticipate most of my descendants will live here until the Second Coming. Not because we can't leave, but because we can't see a reason why we should. Now don't get me wrong, I've thought about moving away. I've dreamed about moving away. But now, I love it here, and I'm fine staying put. Why? Because I realize how unique it is, and I like that!
The town I live in has a population of about 40,000 (10,000 of those are technically in the neighboring city's boundaries, but are usually considered part of our town since a 4-mile wide farm and a highway separates them from the rest of their city.) Guess what? Up until a year ago, there were NO non-Mormon churches in our town. Not one. Not even home churches or Bible study groups. Seriously. Last fall some church planters heard our secret and moved halfway across the country to take advantage. They've got about 50 regular attenders (including the 15 who moved here to start the church). There's also a small Baptist church trying to get off the ground, meeting in a home with about 10 people. So, does that mean there are 39,940 Mormons and 60 Christians? No.
Life behind the Zion Curtain has a culture all it's own, for sure. Anyone who's spent some time here will attest to that. But the interesting thing is that most people are either Mormon or not religious. We like it that way, and for the most part, we leave each other alone. My street is a pretty good example:
There are 12 homes on my street.
5 of us are practicing Mormon families and attend the local ward (congregation).
1 is a gay couple, both of whom grew up Mormon but are no longer practicing.
1 couple drives 20 minutes one way to attend a moderately sized Assemblies of God church.
1 family attends a Christian church, I assume they're pretty involved as they host a weekly Bible study group at their house.
4 families don't attend church. It's pretty safe to assume at least one of them is Catholic, as the Catholic population here is relatively high.
Total: 4 Mormon families, 2 Christian families, 5 non-religious families.
Up until recently, the only place you could buy alcohol was a can of beer (but no wine) at the grocery store, there was not a single place to buy a cup of coffee, and the only place open on Sunday was the gas station. I never even noticed until I had some Catholic neighbors move in from the East Coast (now gone) who were shocked. No coffee shop? No bars? One liquor store within a 10 mile radius? What are we supposed to do on Sunday? We let our kids leave school for one class period to walk barely off campus for religious classes (this doesn't just apply to Mormons). Most of the neighborhood parties are hosted at Mormon church buildings. The department store clearance racks are overflowing with tank tops. Grocery stores hold semi-annual bulk food sales.
That's the culture. We like being special.
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