"Polite Polarization" & Latter-day Saints
A few behind the scenes notes on my latest piece with the American Community Project
Researching a community famous for its politeness turned out to require a lot of rejection tolerance. Though, I get it. While I did get 4 interviews from random people, most people did not want to talk about politics with a stranger on the street even if it was “for a research project.” I think people have a fear of going viral for a terrible take or me setting them up for a gotcha of some sort. I would likely feel the same way.
This week, I published an article on Latter-day Saints and Polite Polarization (scroll to the bottom for the link) which turned out to be a very fun project. A few comments previously have mentioned wanting some qualitative color to my typical charts and data here at Mormon Metrics, so I figured some of you may appreciate this.
I will say the qualitative work is definitely a bit out of my comfort zone, but I think the article came together well and it was fun to hear people’s stories in person.
The premise of the project is essentially… the LDS Enclaves region(Utah and southern Idaho) reports feeling more worried about political polarization & extremism than every other community in the US. Why?
I had a total of 6 interviewees (though only 5 are included in the article; one sent me their answers after I submitted it) and I found them LDS missionary style:
knocking on doors in Utah County (mostly knocked in Lehi)
I approached random people at the University Place mall in Orem, Utah
I had a few friends of friends by referral who were willing to interview
Here is my hope for the article:
Help the outsider understand some theological aspects of Mormonism (e.g. recent focus on peacemaking and more context of the word “contention”)
Challenge the negative outsider with positive aspects of Mormonism such as missions helping with world exposure and communities that arguably are closer and function better than many other communities in the country today.
But also, challenge Latter-day Saint readers in the costs of committing to a life without contention.
Give the article a read and tell me what you think. Very open to your thoughts and feedback 🙂 Do you agree or disagree with my qualitative analysis? Do you see “polite polarization” in your own experience?
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Thanks for doing the extra work!
I would argue that the silence creates further contention through the illusion of the “supermajority”. Instead of discussing issues and adhering to their beliefs and values, many continue to join a party they do not agree with in the hope of “changing it from within”. Though change can be brought about from within when people agree on basic principles and values, when worldview does not align, contention is what is brought about. This is why republican conventions in the state are always deemed controversial or contentious. We’ve not only lost the art of staying friends with a neighbor after we agree to disagree on politics, we’ve become keyboard warriors, and given into public silent acquiesces.
I understand the feelings of not wanting to show weakness to the outside. However, maybe we should think about it more like the family that we are; we can have internal disagreements, but no one else makes fun of our siblings. That is when we rally the troops and tighten the wagons. Show that we are the best of humanity in standing for what we believe in whatever sphere that may be. Disagreement can be done without grudges or low blows. But the disagree better campaign has got to go.