Alexander Morrison, executive director of the local Alliance for Unity and an emeritus general authority of the LDS Church, said Utah's religious divide is not really about religion, but about power and who wields it. While public discussion of painful issues is often helpful, "I fear that such a single-minded, almost obsessive focus (on divisions) soon becomes not only self-indulgent carping and complaining but ultimately evolves into a self-fulfilling prophecy.

"Divisiveness readily can beget more of itself, within limits. The more it is fed, the more it grows. If prejudice is not now present, talk and behave as though it and little else exist, and it soon will."

He said focusing simply on the divide, rather than bridges to unite the community, is fruitless. He suggested Utahns have much in common, including the needs of their children, care for the poor and the needy, and a quest to provide service to each other and the community.

"The great divide is much less about religion than it is about perceived inequality in the distribution of power," he said, suggesting that those who hope to bridge the divide must correctly diagnosis its cause, rather than treating it as simply a religious issue. To do otherwise is "to aggravate the level of cynicism, mistrust and polarization."

While many Utahns believe The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints controls public policy making through the state Legislature — the vast majority of whom are LDS — Morrison said in reality the church gets involved in only a handful of issues, and does so publicly rather than privately.

He called on Utahns to practice civility and respect in their public and private discourse, and to recognize the freedom of all individuals "to express and propagate their beliefs even in the public forum, provided they are not misrepresenting or ridiculing the beliefs of others or threatening the just public order."

Most would do well to "listen respectfully to others and, perhaps, talk less ourselves."

Community activist Pamela Atkinson said most people — Utahns included — don't negotiate differences like race, language, sexual orientation, education, religion or culture very well. She suggested revisiting the story of "Beauty and the Beast," whose moral is "that if we can love rather than judging and hating, we can transform everything around us. We can all make a choice as how we can transact and react with people."

Prejudice is communicated not only with words, but in nonverbal ways, she said. One woman who observed her hugging two homeless men asked her how she dared do so. When she responded that they were her friends, "and we hug our friends," the woman remarked that they were dirty. Atkinson told her she hadn't noticed.

"What a wonderful world it would be if we had eyes to see our differences as a gift and not as a burden."

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E-mail: carrie@desnews.com