{"id":61289,"date":"2018-05-26T14:16:46","date_gmt":"2018-05-26T20:16:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=61289"},"modified":"2018-09-05T09:53:40","modified_gmt":"2018-09-05T15:53:40","slug":"on-the-unpopularity-of-utah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/05\/on-the-unpopularity-of-utah.html","title":{"rendered":"On the unpopularity of Utah"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
Mount Timpanogos, Utah, looms above Utah Valley, where the Provo campus of Brigham Young University (BYU) is situated. \u00a0\u00a0(Wikimedia CC photo by Brian Smith)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Not too long ago,\u00a0a study from Public Policy Polling<\/a> found that my beloved home state of California is the least popular state in the Union these days.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not altogether surprised.\u00a0 The leftist self-righteousness of Hollywood and its relentless immorality haven\u2019t endeared the place to many Americans.\u00a0 And the descent of the Golden State into the financial abyss where Greece, Italy, Spain, and Portugal now dwell has tarnished it considerably \u2014 and will probably, eventually, end up obliging the taxpayers of more prudent states to foot the bill for California\u2019s profligate legislators and voters.\u00a0 And so on, and so forth.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Five states of the fifty \u2014 just five \u2014 received negative ratings from those surveyed.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

California earned the lowest score, by a considerable distance.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Illinois came next.\u00a0 Which, given the antics of its ridiculously corrupt politicians (Rod Blagojevich<\/a> comes nowhere close to exhausting the list), is not so terribly surprising.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

New Jersey and Mississippi \u2014 respectively the third and fourth least popular states \u2014 weren\u2019t particularly surprising to me, either.\u00a0 Mississippi has had a bad image since at least the assassination of Medgar Evers<\/a>.\u00a0 And New Jersey?\u00a0 Well, think of Jersey Shore<\/a> and The Sopranos.<\/a>\u00a0 And, for that matter, of Chris Christie.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the fifth least popular state, the fifth of the five states with a negative rating, was Utah.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Utah?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n
\"Utah's<\/a>
Delicate Arch, in Utah\u2019s Arches National Park
Public domain photo from the National Park Service<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I admit that this surprised me a very great deal.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019m pretty sure that my adopted state isn\u2019t unpopular because of its excellent skiing.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I doubt that Utah is unfashionable because of Robert Redford\u2019s Sundance Institute and Sundance Film Festival<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Or because of the Tuacahn Amphitheater<\/a>, shown here:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Tuacahn,<\/a>
This photograph of the Tuacahn stage actually doesn\u2019t do justice to the red sandstone cliff out of the picture to the left. \u00a0(Wikimedia Commons public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Or because of the Tony-Award-winning Utah Shakespearean Festival<\/a>.\u00a0 Or because of Ballet West<\/a> or the Utah Symphony<\/a>.\u00a0 Or because of the Utah Opera<\/a> or the Pioneer Theater Company<\/a> or the Utah Festival Opera<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Or the Hale theaters:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
I\u2019ve taken this beautiful photograph from the Hale Centre Theatre\u2019s website.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Or because of its respected colleges and universities.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t imagine that it\u2019s because of the Utah Jazz. \u00a0Or because of University of Utah basketball. \u00a0Or because of BYU football.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Or because of the golf courses in St. George:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Southern<\/a>
Sky Mountain Golf Course in Hurricane, near St. George, Utah<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Or because of Utah\u2019s hunting and fishing.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Or because of its national historic site, its five national parks, its seven national monuments, its six national forests, and its two national recreation areas.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Tippets Valley, in southern Utah (Wikimedia Commons public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Herr<\/a>
A photograph taken by Wolfgang Staudt at Lake Powell, which straddles the border between Utah and Arizona \u00a0 \u00a0(Wikimedia Commons public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

No, I\u2019m quite confident that it\u2019s the predominance of Mormons<\/i> in Utah that has made the place unfashionable, just as it\u2019s Mitt Romney\u2019s Mormonism<\/a> that has kept the current Republican nominating process going on so long.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Do you realize that South Dakota ranked, in the Public Policy Polling survey, as the fourth most popular state?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

South Dakota??????<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

And that Utah was outpolled \u2014 and sometimes by a considerable distance \u2014 by states like Arkansas, Alabama, Nebraska, Iowa, North Dakota, Nevada, and Kansas?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Really?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

There seems no plausible explanation for this except widespread public disdain for Mormonism.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Well, here\u2019s another reason for some to disdain us:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

New York Times<\/em>: \u00a0\u201cWhat Islamophobic Politicians Can Learn From Mormons\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

And if it does earn us contempt in certain quarters, I\u2019m fine with that. \u00a0(If you examine the friend of the court brief mentioned in the article, you\u2019ll easily find my name among the signatories.)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Posted from Paris, France<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 Not too long ago,\u00a0a study from Public Policy Polling found that my beloved home state of California is the least popular state in the Union these days. \u00a0 I\u2019m not altogether surprised.\u00a0 The leftist self-righteousness of Hollywood and its relentless immorality haven\u2019t endeared the place to many Americans.\u00a0 And the descent of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nOn the unpopularity of Utah<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    Not too long ago,\u00a0a study from Public Policy Polling found that my beloved home state of California is the least popular state in the Union\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, 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