Mormonism is one of the most practiced form of religious sects in the Midwest of the United States. Officially known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), the church was founded in 1830 with origins in the East Coast of the United States. During its inception, the LDS Church was not tolerated by mainstream churches, with some considering it a cult even. To escape persecution, then church leader Brigham Young led his followers, known as the Mormon Pioneers across the United States in 1847 to an isolated land and founded Salt Lake City.
Though Salt Lake Valley sits on a great location, many fail to appreciate its strategic value and consider it a desolate place. On the surface, Salt Lake Valley was indeed so. It was located in a vast desert, but it is next to a large Great Salt Lake. The lake holds two elements that proved to be most vital to human survival when Salt Lake City was founded. The first was water and the second was salt. Salt happens to be the most easily overlooked element in this context. In fact, before the Westward Movement, people in the Midwest had to make yearly trips to the east coast to farm sea salt every year. Salt is abundant in Salt Lake Valley, and the very reason that the LDS Church established Salt Lake City was to control such key resources in the Midwest.
The LDS Church is extremely conservative. The Brigham Young University (BYU), founded and sponsored by the church, stipulates that each student needs to sign the Honor Code prior to enrolment. The code includes preserving academic integrity, adhering to dress codes, prohibition of premarital sex, drug use, caffeine drinks and alcohol consumption. The church abides by the code at all times and expects students to do the same. In 2011, leading BYU rebounder Brandon Davies was dismissed from the basketball team for premarital sex. If a celebrity like Davies could be dismissed, what more an ordinary follower of the church?
A part of the LDS Church tradition involves tithing and polygamy. Tithing is defined as making a one-tenth payment to the church based off one's annual income. It is practiced in other churches too, like the Roman Catholic Church. Such payment is mandatory in the LDS Church, and some devout followers are even willing to shell out as much as 30% of their income as tithes to the church. As for polygamy, Utah was the last to join the Union, and a war almost broke out over the matter. Later, the LDS Church changed its stance and renounced polygamy. Still, with Utah being the largest city in Salt Lake City, Utah's largest city, polygamy is still occasionally practiced. Even today, if a man were found to have multiple wives in Salt Lake City, he would only be fined US$750 and sentenced to community service.
The LDS Church exerted great power in the Midwest during Westward Movement, owing to its early presence and prominence in the area. It boasted, and still boasts an elaborate organizational system. It also possessed its own militia, making it a major force in the Midwest. However, the new emigrants needed the church's support of the church, else they would face much hardships. One example is the Mountain Meadows massacre in 1857, where emigrants from Arkansas were massacred by the LDS Church and Southern Paiute Native Americans, claiming 100-140 lives in the process. The massacre was largely caused by Brigham Young's prohibition of receiving emigrants and conducting trade transactions in Mormon areas in response to possible invasion by the U.S. federal government. Therefore, Mormons actually won a valuable space in the Midwest to develop and grow, and happens to be one of the greatest beneficiaries of the Westward Movement.
Today, the LDS Church remains largely influential throughout all Midwestern states. Our fieldwork observations show this is a result of the strict Mormon organizational system. Its churches are scattered throughout the city and country, it is often unmistakable for its immaculate appearance. The LDS Church plays a large role in its followers 'lives, which is why they are highly devoted to the church. If the man of a Mormon household suddenly passes on, the church will step in to support his next of kin, often helping to find jobs for their family, raise funds, and put the children through school. Clearly, the church is a powerful social organization system that transcends bipartisan politics but favors the Republican Party in Midwestern states.
The social organization system is still very much present in modern day United States today and seems to have an increasing influence.
Former presidential candidate of the United States George Romney is a LDS Church member, as is the family that owns Marriott Hotel. Other Mormons include David P. Gardner, president of the University of California and Bruce Christensen, president of CBS. The church saw a rise in influence in Washington during the Reagan era. President Reagan's long-term personal assistant David Fischer was a Mormon himself, alongside former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rex Lee, and Reagan's political adviser Richard Wirthlin.
Orrin G. Hatch, one of the two Republican senators from Utah, played an important role in appointing judges with more conservative views to reshape the federal judiciary. The other senator Jack Garn, was the first member of Congress to enter space, and both of them were LDS Church members. In most cases, the church's strong organizational system plays a major role in their lives. Mormons are quick to oblige to their church leaders' requests. One time, church members were asked to fast for a day and donate their money to victims of the Ethiopian famine. A week later, their donations exceeded US$ 6 million. When church leaders requested their members to help protest against the proposed federal equal rights amendment, they did so too.
The church's influence on the Midwest economy is equally huge. From Arizona to Montana, the most beautiful plains and valleys were, and still are Mormon settlements. Wyoming may be the poorest state in the United States, but it lies at the narrow strip where the Star Valley is located, with its pastoral scenery that resembles a Swiss valley. Roadside signage shows that this is yet another LDS turf.
In Utah, Colorado, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and Arizona, the industries that belong to LDS Church members are mainly land and agriculture. Additionally, some are heads in the real estate, education and finance industry. Time magazine once speculated that the church's assets totaled US$10 billion, making it the most prosperous religion in the United States. These Mormon assets include 800,000 acres of arable land, Western United Life Insurance, Zion Securities, a bunch of media, a large development company, Brigham Young University, and a number of hotels. In the center of Salt Lake City, it has 40 acres of land and a famous Cherry Creek Shopping Center. Meanwhile in Kansas City, it holds another 4,400 acres of land that is currently being developed.
In Midwestern states, Mormon businesses remains prominent and its influence vast. When asked if such situation has changed in recent time, the answer to that is "little to none".
