East vs. West, who is more uptight?

Hate to burst your bubble Peter - you didn't get me. I've been starting at my computer for too long today and needed some entertainment. I had you pegged as a troll but I was expecting some third-party criticism for my obvious dickishness. I wasn't really expecting the Mormon card to get played so quickly. Dan blew his wad pretty early.

Which brings me to a serious question - why is Mormon-baiting\Mormon-bashing so acceptable on MP? I rarely (never) see anyone say something about hating Muslims, Jews, Catholics, or any other Christian sect. Why is that? Are Mormons that much scarier? More risible? Just an easier target? Imagine the following posts:

"The Gunks has some great climbing - but being that close to so many Jews really makes me nervous. Their big noses, funny words, and control of the diamond industry are really infuriating. I think the Jews should stay in Israel, where they belong."

or

"It's a good thing there's no climbing near Dearborn, Michigan. I'd hate having to be that close to so many Muslims. Conservative beliefs, misogynist tendencies...why don't they all stay in Arabia?"

Would succeeding posters pile onto the hate? Would people continue to make jokes about the Jews or the Muslims? Or would most people say something like "Dude - not cool. I don't believe what they believe either but that's no cause for religious bigotry." I imagine it would be the latter? Why the special exception for Mormons? What makes it acceptable to hate on us without fear of reprisal or backlash?

Dan Austin wrote: I would say that Westerners are less uptight in general, but I tend not to count Mormons as Westerners, despite their typical geographic circumstance, so that likely skews my perceptions.

And what does my religion have to do with my posts? It was typical MP internet bullshit controversy - how does my religion factor in at all with what I said? I talked about his blog and his grammar; I didn't condemn him to hell for not being a Mormon. I'll mail you a set of brand new Nano biners if you can give me a reasoned, logical response to the questions posed above. No shit.

Raptor Jesus!!!!!Can't say shit about my faith

Dude - if religion were settled by having the Gods fight it out I'd join up with you today.

All jokes aside though poking fun at your faith = fail. I'm not Mormon but have alot of friends who are, great people.

Can someone post a link to more information about this "sucker punch incident"? It sounds interesting, and I'd love to see what the internet has to say about it....

Greg D wrote:OP. Yours question doesn't seem climbing specific and neither is my answer. I spent half of my life in the east and half in the west. So, the answer... it depends. East coasters get upset over stupid shit like "you are driving to slow in the left lane. you are going to make me 10 seconds late so I'm gonna shoot you". Westerners get upset over stupid shit like "you didn't recycle that bottle. you are killing the planet. I'm gonna report you to Obama".

HA! That is classic and so perfectly accurate!

Mike Anderson wrote:Can someone post a link to more information about this "sucker punch incident"? It sounds interesting, and I'd love to see what the internet has to say about it....

I'm not sure it ever got talked about online but it happened at the Red, I think at "The Lode." Sorry, I just can't call it that w/o the quotes.

Story I heard was that some "non-local" was spending too much time on said sucker punch guy's project at the Madness Cave and they had a bitch fight about it. Then later in the day, self-proclaimed "RRG Local" goes up and punches the other dude in the back of the head.

I wasn't so interested until I found out who the puncher was... and when I did I laughed for half and hour and sent him a Facebook post about it just to make sure it was out in public. He's a friend but that doesn't mean I think it's OK to go around hitting people in the back of the head!

camhead was there, he's the one who told me about the punch. And since he's friends w/ the OP and has a really cool and laid back family in UT but spends most of his time living in the midwest and climbing in the east I'm sure he'll have a lot to say about all topics in this thread, including Mormon bashing.

Sorry to put you on the spot camhead, but your opinions are wanted!

Unfortunately for the rest of us there seems to be enough uptight people to go around. The good thing is you can avoid them by climbing stiffly graded trad climbs, whatever the area.

Bill Matlin wrote:Unfortunately for the rest of us there seems to be enough uptight people to go around. The good thing is you can avoid them by climbing stiffly graded trad climbs, whatever the area.

Correct on both counts.

Austin Baird wrote:Which brings me to a serious question - why is Mormon-baiting\Mormon-bashing so acceptable on MP?

I'll bite, first off I have found that it never works to judge people based on race or religion. I have met lots of great people and plenty of complete dicks. Doesn't seem to matter if your white, black, or blue, believe in God, the devil, or little green men. Some people are easy going and some have a chip on their shoulder, I prefer the company of the former.

As far as I know none of the other religious groups you mention have taken control of an entire state. Jews may control the diamond industry and some would say the media as well, I wasn't aware that Dearborn had a lot of Muslims living there, doesn't bother me in the least bit. As you say there isn't a lot of climbing there so it's off the MP radar.

Utah however has a lot of climbing and other outdoor activities that attract a lot of people. As does Colorado but you can bring what ever kind of beer you want to into CO. There is supposed to be such a thing as the separation of church and state in this country. As far as I know no other state is so controlled by any one religion. So sure people are annoyed with the Mormon religion and that spills over into Mormon bashing. If we were here to discuss diamonds or the media we would likely have a different target. No doubt there is some Muslim bashing going on in MI, no doubt it is totally unfounded, and likely blatant bigotry, and not what this country is really supposed to be about, but that's human nature.

Just my .02

Oh and don't get me started on Mormon boy scouts HA HA........

Tim McCabe wrote: Utah however has a lot of climbing and other outdoor activities that attract a lot of people. As does Colorado but you can bring what ever kind of beer you want to into CO. There is supposed to be such a thing as the separation of church and state in this country. As far as I know no other state is so controlled by any one religion. So sure people are annoyed with the Mormon religion and that spills over into Mormon bashing. If we were here to discuss diamonds or the media we would likely have a different target. No doubt there is some Muslim bashing going on in MI, no doubt it is totally unfounded, and likely blatant bigotry, and not what this country is really supposed to be about, but that's human nature. Just my .02 Oh and don't get me started on Mormon boy scouts HA HA........

Tim,

There are beach communities up and down the East Coast that are "dry" and guess what? These communities are not Mormon. In Colorado you cannot buy liquor in a gas station or supermarket, in Pennsylvania you must buy at a State Liquor store and so on and so on.

The separation of Church and State is very much arguable since when the Constitution was written there were religious states. Maryland was the Catholic Colony, then state. The folks who wrote the constitution were alive while this was in fact the case and apparently had no problem with it. It seems pretty clear that the establishment clause was aimed at the federal government, it was not until the 20th Century that the Supreme Court "interpreted" the Constitution the way it does today. Another example of how the amendment process has been circumvented in favor of just "interpreting" the Constitution to mean what we want.

Jews controlling the media is 100% conspiratorial crap, I don't think you meant to repeat that here as fact so I just wanted to clear that up.

Rick-

I don't think comparing dry counties to entire state regulations is quite the same.

Secondly, it's not just alcohol laws; it's everything.

Thirdly, you live in CO. You'd understand more if you lived here in Utah.

Lastly, the bashing isn't good, but people are human, they are going to complain. And isn't it somewhat justified as the minority to complain about what the majority is doing?

Ryan Williams wrote:Sorry to put you on the spot camhead, but your opinions are wanted!

Speak for yourself, sir. I've had the personal misfortune to read a lot of camhead's opinions and "jokes" and strenuously object to seeing more.

Propers to Angry though, East vs. West is always a good troll.

Clearly the answer is neither, Midwesteners take the prize. That whole "Minnesota nice" thing? Purely cover for those evil bastards. You saw Fargo, they're so uptight they huck people into a wood chipper over a simple disagreement!

Rick Blair wrote:Jews controlling the media is 100% conspiratorial crap, I don't think you meant to repeat that here as fact so I just wanted to clear that up.

I didn't expect anything that I said here to be repeated as fact.

Surely, Austin is just trolling more.The irony of a Mormon complaining about intolerance and unsolicited hate is down right hillarious. East is more uptight, west is more ubnoxious.

johnL wrote:I am swelling with pride and/or erections.

+1

Not plus one erection...i meant...I agree with your...pride in your erection?...well this is awkward.

East Coast...I lived in boulder for a few years and climbed there for more. At first I thought it was a strange place but as I started to know more people/climbers my opinion slowly changed.(They also have some very good dispensaries there and this is worth some serious points) I would agree that Boulder has an attitude, always from the boulderers and sport climbers though, especially BRC/Spot climbers(though most are cool folks).
I was thinking that most anger starts from fear. Trad/free soloing force one to face their fears and cope...bouldering (not including High Ball) and sport climbing inherently control the sense of fear. While Trad climbers...the orthodox trad climbers out east are also way more crazy with conviction. I think about Eldorado Canyon VS North Conway...actually that's a bit of a toss up.
My vote..East Coast, just in general is way uptight. Though I have found the climbing community here to be generally accepting and most the people that are dicks don't climb that hard anyways.

Austin Baird wrote:Which brings me to a serious question - why is Mormon-baiting\Mormon-bashing so acceptable on MP? I rarely (never) see anyone say something about hating Muslims, Jews, Catholics, or any other Christian sect. Why is that? Are Mormons that much scarier? More risible? Just an easier target? Imagine the following posts: "The Gunks has some great climbing - but being that close to so many Jews really makes me nervous. Their big noses, funny words, and control of the diamond industry are really infuriating. I think the Jews should stay in Israel, where they belong." or "It's a good thing there's no climbing near Dearborn, Michigan. I'd hate having to be that close to so many Muslims. Conservative beliefs, misogynist tendencies...why don't they all stay in Arabia?" Would succeeding posters pile onto the hate? Would people continue to make jokes about the Jews or the Muslims? Or would most people say something like "Dude - not cool. I don't believe what they believe either but that's no cause for religious bigotry." I imagine it would be the latter? Why the special exception for Mormons? What makes it acceptable to hate on us without fear of reprisal or backlash?

Soooooo Funny!!!