Deseret News | Mormon Lite: Mormon-themed restaurant chain

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Mormon Lite: Mormon-themed restaurant chain

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Bill in South Dakota | 9:31 a.m. Sept. 6, 2007

Lighten up folks! I was born and raised behind the zion curtain. I now live in a decidedly non-mormon area. Old as it is this joke is funny! I now have another opportunity to explain to my colleagues and friends that I do not go to a buffet diner to attend conferences... The idea that I have to constantly explain and counter myths and misconceptions to nonmembers is lame. What a wonderful opportunity to talk in a nonthreatening manner.

Central Cal | 9:43 a.m. Sept. 6, 2007

Nebraskan from Utah makes an excellent point. Having work in public affairs in central california I know exactly what you are saying. While I thought this article was funny, it will require some explaining to non-LDS friends.

Terry | 9:43 a.m. Sept. 6, 2007

funny!

Comments continue below

Mr Brick Pants | 9:44 a.m. Sept. 6, 2007

Sacri-delicious!

Shaking my head | 9:50 a.m. Sept. 6, 2007

Wow. As if any geographical location can make the church truer or less true.... It's what INSIDE that counts, people! Not who/where. I dont care if your father is the stake president, I don't care if you live in Mormon Valley or outside. I have lived in MD, UT, CA, and AZ, among other places, and yes, there is a distinct culture to most of these places. But I think non-mormons would find each place to have its own culture as well.
What I can't stomach is the smugness of whoever says our place is better than yours. you're dumb if you think that. etc.

Bring on the Mormon Lite! Yes this was a "joke" I've heard before, and I was mildly amused but not enough to laugh out loud (maybe I'm just too tired this morning) but I say, bring on the Mormon Lites! This ought to be a lite in our day - maybe it would be for more people if people wouldnt immediately go looking for an excuse to snuff it out.

Fred Vader | 9:56 a.m. Sept. 6, 2007

To CWJ:

Actually I was more offended that you have seen "Stripes" (rated R you know...) Oh, good ole' Sgt. Hulka our favorite "big toe".....

Jim | 9:58 a.m. Sept. 6, 2007

I agree with Sansbox. Humor is of course a risk, cause when it doesn't work it falls so very flat. Religious humor is even worse. If it works, its priceless, if not, it falls extremely flat and can even get people angry. Porterhouse Rockwell Steak and Eliza R. Snow Crablegs is unfunny but at least harmless. But getting into things considered sacred like Adam-Ondi-Aman (part of this word is considered a name for diety) and using such sacred phrases and twisting them for humor is getting a little out of bounds. People say lighten up!, which I always agree with. But there are inifinite ways to lighten up without cheapening things that are considered sacred to Latter-day Saints.

Dessert? | 10:30 a.m. Sept. 6, 2007

I would just like a slice of "Better than... making-out cake!"

A in LA | 10:45 a.m. Sept. 6, 2007

After reading all the depressing news printed all month about the mine dissaster, downtown's re-design, your quirky Mayor, non-LDS vs LDS views etc. and all the negative blogs that went with each subject, It was so refreshing to read this article this morning. It made me laugh right out loud. Thank you Deseret News for printing it. And, for you who are choosing to look at this article negatively - get a life! Not EVERYTHING has to be so down and ugly quite trying to find the bad in everything!!!

Truth is stranger than... | 11:15 a.m. Sept. 6, 2007

I spent some LDS time in SoCal, and one of the stake presidents at the time had a restaurant. So we had both a Stake House and a Steak House...
I get such a kick out of the distinction that Mormons outside of Utah draw for themselves. I thought we were all brothers in Christ. Guess I got that wrong. Lighten up.

John Burrows | 11:35 a.m. Sept. 6, 2007

I personally think the D-News has allowed the website to become too "interactive." Too many ranting comments and too much access to submit plagiarized material. I left Utah in 1999 and am a better Church member for it.

So Cal Mormon | 11:35 a.m. Sept. 6, 2007

There's so much innapporpriate humor these days that this was a breath of fresh air for me. It seems to me that some of the Utah haters out there need to relax and stop criticizing the whole Utah Mormon thing. The high concentration of Mormons in Utah makes it easier to see some of the stereotypes, but there are just as many "denim jumper" Mormons out here in Orange County, believe me.

Virginian outside "Zion Curtain" | 11:39 a.m. Sept. 6, 2007

While I find this article mildly amusing, I find the readers' responses HIGHLY amusing.

Ryan | 11:45 a.m. Sept. 6, 2007

The Utah-Mormon haters are reaching here.
By my count, very few of the "jokes" listed were exclusive to the church in Utah.
What? You don't have Deacons in So-Cal? No one named Eliza R. Snow in your history books? You don't meet in Stake centers?
Quit trying to create a divide, you're embarrassing yourselves.

SoCAL Stereotype | 11:46 a.m. Sept. 6, 2007

Here's a stereotype for you, which I am finding to be more true each day: None of the LDS youth have jobs out here in southern California. I know because I am a sunday school teacher of 16 yr olds and my wife in the YW. They all drive very nice cars, listen to iPods, and surf the web on expensive computers after school. But when it comes time to working a job to help pay for those things, these kids won't have any part of it. The parents don't make them work either. And very few of these young people are involved in organized sports. During my junior high years (in Utah), I had a job mowing 5-6 lawns every saturday. Then in high school, I worked about 20 hrs per week at a different job, plus mowed lawns, all while playing on the football, basketball, and baseball teams at my high school.

G | 11:49 a.m. Sept. 6, 2007

This is NOT Mormon humor. This is Utah humor. THERE IS A HUGE DIFFERENCE. The Utah people are just very strange.

Happy Valley Ed | 11:59 a.m. Sept. 6, 2007

That was possibly the most sophomoric attempt at humor I've ever read: like reading an old Yorgenson novel while my class of 22 6th graders was jumping up and down around me scratching their fingernails on the chalkboards.

Son of Burrows | 12:01 p.m. Sept. 6, 2007

Would this joke be funny to the Saints in Nigeria? or in Hong Kong?

Happy Valley Ed | 12:08 p.m. Sept. 6, 2007

Two Mormon missionaries, the Pope, a Rabbi, and a duck walk into a bar. The bartender looks up and asks, "What is this, a joke?"

A IN LA | 12:36 p.m. Sept. 6, 2007

SoCAL Steriotype, Your facts are INCORRECT. In the first place you don't KNOW all the LDS youth down here! MANY young people I know down here in SoCal work very hard at summer jobs, do not even have a car, and are involved in doing a great many good things. Open your eyes and look around. There are lots of good things going on that your missing...Maybe you got snow blind as you walked 20 miles in the snow to school each day as you were growing up doing those many wonderous things......

Confused | 12:44 p.m. Sept. 6, 2007

An earlier commenter claimed he was amused by the comments. I am more confused. How is this Utah humor? All of the Stake Centers I've been in outside of Utah (I'm a SoCal, myself) have basketball hoops in the cultural hall. We always ate on long tables while sitting on metal folding chairs - until some Relief Societies decided they needed round tables to properly enrich the persons, homes, and families. The punny menu names had nothing Utahish about them. I served at many a dinner when I was a Deacon - although I did have my own ties! And I've never been to a ward activity where I didn't stay and clean up afterwards. It all sounded pretty accurate to me.

Granted, there are buildings which lack cultural halls and basketball hoops. (Many of the buildings I've visited in Latin America have soccer goals instead of or in addition to basketball hoops, and they're in the parking lot.) Even so, this humor is hardly limited to Utah relevance.

Also, for those complaining of the plagiarism, please reread the last line of the column - your friend Eric D. Snider is clearly credited!

me from OUTSIDE UTAH | 12:59 p.m. Sept. 6, 2007

G - This IS Mormon humor. We are not in/from Utah and we (5 of us) found it funny. Utah people may or maynot be strange - don't know any, but this was something we NON Utahns could identify with and we enjoyed it.

Happy Valley Ed - It was cleverly written. Maybe you should pay more attention to your studants.

Son of Burrows - This is not Mormon Doctrine, it is just funny satire. Nigerian and Hong Kong Saints probably could care less!

Offended Reader - You really must be looking hard for something to offend you! This article was delightful. I hope the black clouds over your head go away soon so you can enjoy a sunnier disposition!

Correction | 1:03 p.m. Sept. 6, 2007

He is credited now, but he wasn't for the first 24 hours that this was posted. It was credited to someone else.

Florida 22 Utah 6 Other 11 | 1:15 p.m. Sept. 6, 2007

How many Elders does it take to change a light bulb? 5, one to bring it, one to actually do it and 3 to not show up.

How many High Priests does it take to change a light bulb? 7, one to bring it, one to put it in, 2 to push the other 2 in the their wheelchairs as they watch, and one to write the history of the light bulb.

How many members of the Relief Society does it take to change a light bulb? 9, one to bring it, one to put it in, one to bring the center piece, two to bring the refreshments, one to lead the music, one to play the piano, two to clean up afterwards.

How many young men does it take to change a light bulb? Just one to hold it in while the whole world revolves around him.

Florida 22 Utah 6 Other 11 | 1:22 p.m. Sept. 6, 2007

How many Elders does it take to change a light bulb? 5, one to bring it, one to actually do it and 3 to not show up.

How many High Priests does it take to change a light bulb? 7, one to bring it, one to put it in, 2 to push the other 2 in the their wheelchairs as they watch, and one to write the history of the light bulb.
More Mormon Humor:

How many members of the Relief Society does it take to change a light bulb? 9, one to bring it, one to put it in, one to bring the center piece, two to bring the refreshments, one to lead the music, one to play the piano, two to clean up afterwards.

How many young men does it take to change a light bulb? Just one to hold it in while the whole world revolves around him.

Chiming In | 1:40 p.m. Sept. 6, 2007

I lived in Northern California for 10 years as a youth, we moved to Utah when I was in high school, I married and lived in Utah with my wife for another 8 years after college, and we have now been raising our four boys in Sunny Southern California for 6 years. I am here to tell you that there are beautiful people, hard working youth, and faithful christians where ever you are! We have some of our dearest friends still in Utah, while we have some wonderful friends here too. I just don't get this wierd comparison! Life is hard enough without taking yourselves so seriously and putting down others - look for the good in others, it will make you happier. I wonder how a silly little joke turned into this crazed attacking session. Lighten up! It's a joke!

BeeDub | 1:54 p.m. Sept. 6, 2007

It's always a delight to hear from people who can't distinguish between LDS culture and LDS doctrine, and who believe that poking fun at the former is automatically making a mockery of the latter. It ain't so, folks. Try some deep breathing or something.

Ken | 2:18 p.m. Sept. 6, 2007

What Utah Mormons fail to understand (bless their hearts) is that when supposedly public newspapers like the Deseret Morning News publish humor that only certain parts of the readership will understand (see "steak center", and "Gadianton" references), they unwittingly make the non-members in their midst feel excluded. By so doing, they appear to be continuing the clique-ish ways of yesteryear, and then sometimes, perhaps, wonder why others might find them irritating, close-minded, or amusing.

I say keep the Mormon jokes to the e-mail chains and Elders Quorum, and not in the public fishwrap....

It's just humor! :-) | 2:33 p.m. Sept. 6, 2007

To Quote the beloved Homer J. Simpon and alter Mr. Brick Pant comment above.

"mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....sacrelicious"

Anonymous | 2:50 p.m. Sept. 6, 2007

Surely this wasn't published in the D-news... surely this was only a web 'special' right?...

Bizzert | 2:58 p.m. Sept. 6, 2007

It sounds an aweful lot like my wedding reception! I'd eat there anytime.

Wyoming Mormon in Utah | 2:58 p.m. Sept. 6, 2007

"It's just humor! :-) | 2:33 p.m. Sept. 6, 2007
To Quote the beloved Homer J. Simpon and alter Mr. Brick Pant comment above.

"mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....sacrelicious" "

This one had me laughing more than the article.

Aaronic Presley | 3:02 p.m. Sept. 6, 2007

Big Amen to Ken - these "jokes" really don't further the work of the Church, and Ben Olson is not a role model.

LDSmomof7 | 3:18 p.m. Sept. 6, 2007

It's green jello with shredded carrots!! Remember that for the next ward potluck or funeral! I can't believe I actually had that as a dish for a Relief Society dinner many many years ago!! HILARIOUS!

As a member having never ever lived in Utah, and only have visited Utah only a handful of times in my 37 yrs, I find these jokes funny. I mean, are Utah Mormons really that way? No. I personally don't think so.

Great article in the Ensign this month about Laughter. Maybe everyone should read it. :-)

Happy Valley Ed | 3:18 p.m. Sept. 6, 2007

Balkanization sentiments of the Saints seems to be more real than imagined. Moving to Utah Valley myself from Cal years ago, I still don't see the difference between Utah Saints, California Saints, New England Saints, Floridian Saints, African Saints, Polynesian Saints, Latin Saints, European Saints, or New Orlean Saints--except maybe for USCB religious affiliation density statistics. Folks is folks.

Perhaps the debate in this e-mail string should be whether you think the article of origin was humorous or not? Doesn't matter either way. It's all only opinion.

I do wonder, tho, based on the level of vigor and ad-hominum in the e-jousting, if 1300 years from now, we too may have 2 main divisions ("Utah" and "Other" Saints) blasting at each other with Jetsons-like space-car bombs.

. . . And I know if we're in the millennium we don't have 1300 years left--it's just a metaphor for "Who really cares where you live as a Mormon. Depending on your sense of humor the original article was either lame or funny." I say, in my never-always-correct opinion, it was on the lame side.

. . . And yes, I need to get a life, get off the string, and get back to my creative writing students.

Love y'all where ever ya are.

BeeDub | 3:23 p.m. Sept. 6, 2007

Wait... Mormon jokes now have to further the work of the Church? When did this happen?

Hey Everybody | 3:24 p.m. Sept. 6, 2007

I don't know who are members of the church or not on this board, but I know plenty of non-members who know more about the church than most members, and don't feel excluded when we tell jokes about our culture because they understand what we are talking about. Anyone who has lived in utah long enough can usually pick up on mormon phrases, member or not. If anyone is offended by a little joke, they are taking life too seriously and need to lighten up. Come on people, its rediculous that this article has received so much attention. All of these posts just make me laugh.

former nonmember | 3:39 p.m. Sept. 6, 2007

I remember the first time I was invited to a Stake Center for a dance: I was 16 and disappointed that I didn't get any steak that night!!! Now 20+ years later I laugh at this!

I also don't think you give non LDS people in Utah credit. A lot of them know all about our weird habits. They are not clueless.

As for in vs out of Utah LDS; We are ALL a peculiar people...embrace it!!!!

As a culture we are known to laugh at ourselves... why do you think movies such as Singles Ward and the Home Teachers became popular? It isn't because we shouldn't watch R rated movies.

There is nothing in the Church doctrine that says we have to be uptight... People who are, choose to be that way. (Free Agency!)

As for me I choose to love life! Thanks for the levity!

Moved Unwillingly 2 UT & LOVE it | 3:47 p.m. Sept. 6, 2007

The article made me smile, as it was intended to do (not frown, stomp my foot and write about how offended I am!). However, I am TRULY smiling and laughing reading all these comments. HILARIOUS! It's nice to know that, despite the Molly-Mormon, Peter-Priesthood,"Utah-Mormon" stigmas, there are "stick-in-the-muds" everywhere! I hope everyone gets a better laugh out of all these comments than the actual piece itself!

RangerGordon | 4:21 p.m. Sept. 6, 2007

I thought this restaurant was called "Chuck-a-Rama" ...

Elvis "Burrows" Presley | 4:24 p.m. Sept. 6, 2007

Perhaps the question is...to what extent do cheesy jokes and movies distract from the true mission of the Church and serve as a stumbling block to the weaker saints? If you spend any time outside Utah you might find it refreshing. I hope with every fiber of my doubtless shadow that you agree with me.

Ken | 4:25 p.m. Sept. 6, 2007

It's a joke when something so religiously "insider" is seen by the local media AND community as being acceptable for a secular public forum!

Could you imagine seeing humor of only Jewish interest printed on the front page of the Salt Lake Tribune ("Hey, it's only humor!", "We Jews love this stuff; keep it in!!") and the general public finding that applicable to readership as a whole??

It's like all you Utah Mormons are having a behind-your-backs conversation in public, and then you're shocked when other people find that a bit distasteful!!

Keep the Mormon humor in Mormon forums, not public ones.

SillyBilly | 5:00 p.m. Sept. 6, 2007

This article made me smile, too, because it's a big stereotype (not a bad thing). Stereotyping cultures, races, religions, countries, etc is a fun thing to do because it makes other people so mad. If I were a comedian, I would base my whole act on stereotyping Jews, blacks, Mormons, whites, the french, etc. I'd make millions.

Me again | 5:05 p.m. Sept. 6, 2007

KEN GET A LIFE! I am not a "Utah Mormon", & I don't live in Utah. I have showed this to a lot of people today at work - who know Mormons -but are definitely NOT Mormons themselves. They all loved it. They especially laughed when I showed them many of the comments - including yours. They can't believe you think Mormon culture is so closed that the world doesn't know what they are talking about. They totally got the article! You need to catch up to the current century my friend!

former | 5:06 p.m. Sept. 6, 2007

I have lived most of my life outside of Utah (37 in fact and only 6 - 7 in state) and in fact never wanted to move here because of all the uptight self righteous members. And I have lived in small towns, major cities, west coast, east coast and the deep south. I have been lucky to experience many wards and many friends...not all in the church (gasp!)

Now I am I wondering if maybe all the uptight self righteous finger pointers don't all live outside of Utah! LOL!

former | 5:10 p.m. Sept. 6, 2007

Yikes | 5:25 p.m. Sept. 6, 2007

I haven't lived in Utah for 20 years, but I remember going to BYU and hearing the same tired arguments of LDS students from California and Arizona; that is, that Utah Mormons are somehow geekier, more cheesy Mormons.

You have to be kidding. There's plenty of this kind of Cheese in SoCal--I go their regularly with my wife to visit her parents. Just a month ago I saw the dumbest, cheeiest Singles Conference video on youtube I have ever seen.

But seriously, the condescending attitude of non-Utah Mormons toward Utah Mormons is really annoying and old. Somehow non-Utah Mormons seem to think they are "normal" and Utah Mormons are weird.

Newsflash: much of the weird stuff in Utah happens in local wards all over California. Trust me: I've lived extensively in both places.

Response to Ken | 5:26 p.m. Sept. 6, 2007

Ken, just because the Deseret News is made available to everybody, doesn't mean that it's not a Mormon forum. "Deseret" is a word from Mormon culture (Book of Mormon) and the newspaper is distributed in a state that is predominantly Mormon and we should feel at liberty to print tasteful Mormon humor. So we will keep Mormon humor in Mormon forums, such as the Deseret news. And people of other faiths who live in Utah know full well that the community they live in (along with it's newspapers) displays Mormon-like tendencies. Similar to the situation in Kaysville, where the people decided to ban Monday night youth basketball practices. Non-Mormons in Kaysville had to live with that decision because the majority of that community wanted it.

Out of Stater | 5:33 p.m. Sept. 6, 2007

My out of state mormon friends/ward members spend so much time and energy trying to put down Utah mormons and thinking of ways in which they are better than Utah mormons. The opposite is rarely true.

Anonymous | 5:43 p.m. Sept. 6, 2007

Out of Stater - that's because the out-of-state Mormons are tired of Utah Mormons imposing a parochial Mormonism on the rest of the Church.

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