Has anyone else noticed this? The young men at my local ward ALL carry pocket knives. And not just a case knife. Knives that are clearly meant to be quasi-military, including one family that gave their boys switchblades when they turned 18, in violation of Texas laws. Now, as a knife collector i can identify most of the blades they carry and can say that theyre marketed toward that exact age group, teenagers looking for knives that look cool and scary, not practical knives. Now, I realize this is texas, but every young man i have seen has had a knife clipped to his pocket, some kids as young as seven, even when theyre in their suits. All mormons, or are texas mormons just knife nuts?

Umm... maybe just your area?

It is probably a attempt to gain back some manhood, as the church methodically attempts to cut your balls off. Probably a self esteem issue.

I don't notice them carrying knives but a lot of them seem obsessed with collecting knives. Most of my teenage son's LDS friends have a pocket knife collection - even the one whose parents won't let him paintball because they say it sends the wrong message. My guess is that since Boy Scouts approve of pocket knives, they are the only weapon even very TBM parents can approve of too. So if you aren't allowed a shotgun or paintball gun or bow and arrow etc., you can still feel OK about your son's Boy Scout knife.

Mormon priesthooders used to collect wives, now they collect knives.

The change in probably for the best.

You're in Texas. Just be amazed they are not carrying six shooters.

The funny thing is, im in vt right now on vacation, where they actually COULD carry a revolver around.

What else. The knife is a phallic symbol to those boys.

I heard the story about J Golden Kimball being sent to a ward in southern Utah where the young men were coming into the meetings carrying guns.

Said J Golden….” I hear tell that some of you young men are coming into meetings carrying six guns in your back pocket……you all better watch out or the damn things will go off and you’ll blow your brains out.”

...and I thought it was just my brothers.

Yikes.

They've got hormones, extreme sexual repression, and Mormonism dumping loads of crap into the critical thinking portion of their brain to jamb the gears. Who wouldn't be annoyed. And there is the Mormon male sense of entitlement that they are dealing with, often dealing poorly with it.

Symptoms:
knife obsession
gun obsession
bomb threats to schools
pipe bombs in fields
pipe bombs in schools
aggressive driving, particularly on freeways
domestic violence, hazing, date rape
polygamist cult groups
survivalist cult groups

This is why Utah has way more than its fair share of Angry White Males, both criminal and political. Mark Hacking, Josh Powell, Steve Powell, the Singer/Swapps, the Allreds, the Jeffs, the LeBarons, the Kingstons, Richard Worthington, Ted Bundy (not Mo, but attracted to Utah), Ted Kozinsky(also not Mo, but mailed at least one of his bombs from BYU), Super Del (resident nutcase), Richard Worthington, the Laffertys, Mark Hoffman, Mike Lee, Bo Greitz. Most of the Montana Freemen (remember them?) were Utah Mormons. Gordon Call in ND had been Mormon, but he was too nuts even for them. He shot and killed a federal agent. Oh, and how could I forget David Mitchell?

Considering that Utah is less than 1% of the US population, that is a pretty impressive list of Angry White Males. Iowa has the same population as Utah. Give me a similar list of Angry White Iowa Males!!! I know from ATF reports that Utah is near the top of states for bomb threats and actual bombs found, even allowing for the fact that it is a mining state, so explosives are more available than in many states. It beats out other mining states, like CO, NV, ID, WVa.

Like I said, lot of free-floating anger among Mormon males. Probably among the women too, but they'll take Prozac.

Yes, most Mormon males are more or less normal, and there are nut cases everywhere, not just in Utah. But Utah has way more than its fair share.