A Guide to Promoting a Religion in "Mormon-Dominated Utah"

My older sister was always good at wanting to be with me.  When I was about twelve years old she took me and other siblings with her to go hang out with her friends.  They were all big fans of the then-recent movie The Emperors New Groove; of course they went to the Llama Fest.

I have a decent number of memories at that take place at the Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork. That's why I decided to choose it for my analysis.

This is what I discovered:

If I'm curling my younger sister's hair while having her read to me from the Krishna website, I will not be the only one listening.

As my father passed through the room, he asked questions about what my sister read.  He made comments.  He went about his business.  Just about the same thing happened when my Mom heard us.

That's when I realized how well the Sri Krishna devotees had crafted their website.  As I browsed around later, I found one particular page that emphasized my realization.  At the top of the page, I read this: 

"The thesis of this paper will address one major question: Why would a Hare Krishna consider locating a temple in [a] low density, rural area of Mormon-dominated Utah?"

It amused me how appropriately worded the heading was.  It was tactful and informative.  Directly below the tactful, informative sentence I read this:

"'Utah's Krishna Pioneers'

by Chad Young
This piece was written for a history class at BYU in 1994"

It was then that I got an idea.  As I read Chad Young's history article, my ideas became more concrete.  I decided to analyze the Krishna website by outlining the rhetorical tactics they used to describe their religion to their Mormon-dominated audience.

Thus was born The Guide.

Trying to establish a religion in a land dominated by Mormons?  Try following these simple steps to success!

Step one: Remember Religion.

Utah is already full of religious nuts.  There isn't a need to worry much about the agnostic and/or atheist who would potentially require a religious foundation; you can jump straight into building them up with your religion.  Most of them have been going to church since birth anyway.

Since Mormons have been learning their principles for so long, it's good if your religion has values similar to theirs.  Don't forget to mention them.  Some favorites are:

• sexual abstinence
• abstinence from intoxicating substances

Be sure to use words like "spirit" and "family" and "spiritual family".  

(This isn't finished.  But I freaked out 'cause the internet is unreliable.  So is blogger sometimes.)