I personally love this state. It is my home. This land is old and beautiful. To see it freed from Morg control would be awesome. What do you guys think?
I think they've already lost control over salt lake city. But their political influence over the state as a whole is heavy, it'll take a long long time before non Mormons get elected to high positions as a majority. Until that happens, the Mormon leaders will be able to influence most goings on as they wish.
I expect Mormons to lose the majority in Utah in 20-30 years or so.
I expect the political power of Mormons to continue well beyond that, given that they have the infrastructure to maintain that power. Mormons have historically voted in higher percentages than non-Mormons, so they have turnout in their favor, too.
Much depends on Utah's economy. A robust economy that attracts workers from outside the state will attract mostly non-Mormons. Conversely a weaker economy will tend to maintain the status quo.
Only some cataclysmic event within the church (evidence of malfeasance, high-level defections/whistle-blowing) or from outside the church (a blow to tax-exempt status) might hasten the process, IMO. (We'd all love it if a couple members of the Quorum held a joint press conference and declared "It's all BS!" but they've got too much invested to rock the boat. Ain't gonna happen.)
That would be soooo cool. People doing what they want and drinking what they want without it having to pass the total fucking bullshit scrutiny of the LDS POLICE STATE.
I don't think so because the bretheren wrote the Utah Constitution. It has so many provisions that are in place to benefit lds inc. The Utah office of Education, the governors office, and other offices are all run by politicians that are mormons. That's how they got their places, they knew who's but to kiss.
When I first moved here I was stunned by how mormon the laws were. But, on an individual basis a lot of mormons I met bucked the morg inside the polling booth. So, I think it will happen sooner rather than later. The leadership pushed a 3rd party candidate. But polling shows a vast majority (like 15 points) for the Rep candidate! So, the bucking of the morg is out in the open.....somewhat.