Pioneer Day.
It's considered a Utah holiday, but for me it's honestly just an extra day in the summer that I can light off fireworks. Of course not this summer, but normally, when things aren't so dry. The day itself is to commemorate the founding of Utah by the Utah Pioneers. Those persevering Mormons driven from their homes because hate and bigotry. Not just directed at the Mormons, but coming from the Mormons as well, but perhaps that's another post. The point of this post is that the Days of 47 celebrates Utah as a state, and it makes no sense, and really, is just a religious holiday.
I'm ok with religious holidays. I'm not religious. In fact I'm an anti-theist agnostic, but do in fact still celebrate Christmas.
But really, what is heralded as a state holiday (and it is treated as a state holiday) is little more than a religious holiday. If the state honestly wanted to celebrate it's statehood it would celebrate in January (the 4th specifically) as that's when it became a state (in 1896). Hell if the people coming up for the celebration of statehood wanted to dial it back a bit they could have the holiday be on September 9th, the day the Utah became an actual U.S. territory (in 1850). But instead we celebrate July 24th, the day the Mormons discovered the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, saw how dismal the place was and rightly reasoned that nobody would bother them. Oh yeah, and they called it Deseret.
I don't have a problem with the holiday. I do have a problem that with the idea that I'm supposed to celebrate it and get in on the hype of it because it's a state holiday. It is, but not really. It's biggest promoter is the LDS church, or church members. Sure a lot of communities do things for it, but when you consider 60% of the population is LDS (and most of the 40% that's not is in the Salt Lake Valley area) of course they're going to do something. Most of the people on my Facebook feed that had something to say about it are LDS (come to think of it, all of them were) including several friends and family members who are members of the LDS church.
So yeah, it's a religious holiday. I don't belong to that religion. Yeah, I pseudo celebrate it with bbq's and fireworks now and then, but I could care very little about the miraculous overtones of the day itself. I don't think about St. Patrick "chasing the snakes out of Ireland" when I'm deep into my cups on St. Patties Day, why would I care about any of the myths surrounding the Mormons settling the Salt Lake Valley?
Ok, so part of the last paragraph isn't true. I love Irish Mythology. LOVE IT! It is by far my favorite cycle of myths followed closely by the Norse. That being said, I don't know anybody who actually believes in the myths anymore. Not that there isn't, just, I have never met them. There's actually a lot of cool Mormon myths. Some epic stuff going on in that little book of theirs. The problem is (and the same thing holds true for the Bible as well) there are too many people who believe in it for me to really delve in the mythology of it all. When the find out you know about it, they become excited. Start asking questions about where you served your mission, or what ward you belong too. When you tell them you don't believe in it at all, just think the stories are cool... woooo... they don't like that. Usually that results in them trying to convert you. No thanks, seen what you had to offer, not my thing, not interested.
I'd be interested in the truth. Or at least as close approximation of the truth as I can get to. I'm not a Mormon historian, but if I had the cash I'd almost be willing to drop it on the current small press printings of A Journal of Discourses just to be able to have the history accessible to my finger tips. Some of the stuff in those books 26 books have actually caused people to question their faith. The LDS prophets and their apostles didn't mix words back in the day, and honestly a lot of stuff in the early Mormon Church (and the middle years as well) would just not sit well with today's population (or a lot of today's members).
There are a lot of people who celebrate Pioneer Day here in Utah (read 80 to 90% of the state) and there are, honestly, quite a few non LDS folk that contribute to the day. But when the state shuts down (though nothing that is at a federal level of course) what more can you do than get in on the celebration? I suppose I'm just becoming a grouch, but really Pioneer is not a celebration of Utah's statehood, it's a celebration of Mormons. Hey, that's ok. With all the flak the LDS church has been getting lately, perhaps I should just let this one go.
I won't. But I probably should.
Labels: Bias, Personal, Religious Criticism
posted by F.G. Shaw @ 12:24 AM
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