When I left Mormon Utah and Idaho (where I had grown up) to do my graduate studies I considered myself to be an unofficial missionary for Mormonism. When I approached fellow students and tried to convert them I discovered that faithful Protestants and Catholics knew more about Mormonism than I did. It was all lies, of course, which I had to check in order to set them straight. But after lots of checking I found that what they said was mostly true. It was the thing that started me on my way out.
I had two friends who got married in Bozeman MT a year and a half ago, he a lapsed Canadian Anglican who has known me his entire life.
Their honeymoon was taking them through SLC. He quipped that he would let me know if he runs into the One Mighty and Strong. He had read Under the Banner of Heaven, and had clearly paid attention!
I also attended BoM musical in London, and the audience laughed in all the right places. Except for a couple seated directly in front of me. They were wearing Mormon Sunday clothes (suit and dress), looked late middle-age. They laughed at very little in the show. I’d bet the entire farm that they were LDS!
I've got to admit I've been underwhelmed by the videos I've seen. I'm not a big fan of musicals and the humor seems to be of the "low hanging fruit" variety.
I suppose it depends what you mean by "know". One of my friends knows about the church via South Park and Jack Chick tracts. I pointed out neither were 100% accurate, certainly not the Chick tracts! He collects Chick tracts because he has a strange sense of humor.
My experience has been that your average nevermo associates Mormonism with polygamy, even all these years later. They may know about Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. My sister-in-law did not know that JS had plural "wives." Apart from that, it's what they pick up from the broader culture.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/23/2024 06:09AM by summer.
I think generally those outside Mormonism know disjoined pieces about Mormonism, some of it quite false. My experience is that those with other beliefs generally focus on specific beliefs or issues they disagree with but without much ability to connect things together. Not sure why it would be otherwise.