Mormons and Other People

I sometimes hear people claim that Mormons are only allowed to have Mormon friends and that the only time they associate with others is to do missionary work. This is not true. Mormons try to model their lives after Jesus Christ and even a casual reading of the New Testament tells us that Jesus spent most of His time with non-Christians—otherwise, He wouldn’t have converted anyone at all. He was constantly on the lookout for those who were not members and then became their friends. Through His love—not given for purposes of conversion but out of pure love—many of them became Christians.

Mormons have friends of many faiths.Mormons live in ordinary communities, take on ordinary careers, send their children to public or private schools in their community (unless they decide to homeschool), and essentially live ordinary lives. They don’t live in private, gathered communities as they once had to for safety and communication. This means they have friends of all faiths. If they live outside of the western United States, their children are often the only Mormons in their schools, and most Mormons are also the only members in their neighborhoods or in their employment, and so they naturally have friends in all those places, and most are not Mormon.

Now, it is true that Mormons tend to have a lot of Mormon friends, but that is not by commandment. Most people choose friends who have similar values and lifestyles and who are in the places they are. Because Mormons have a lay church, everyone helps with the work load. In the process of doing their callings (volunteer church assignments) they tend to make friends. However, most Mormons have friends who are not Mormon as well.

Studies have shown that when people know a real Mormon, their opinions of Mormons are more favorable. Certainly, then, it is to their advantage to have friends who are not Mormon. The truth is, though, that the main reason Mormons have friends who are not Mormon is simply because they tend to be friendly people. Mormons as a group are surprisingly diverse with a wide range of interests. If I love to write, but there are no writers in my congregation, I look elsewhere to find people to talk to about writing and those people often become my friends. In fact, in my case, I have more writer friends than Mormon friends, although there is a certain amount of overlap in that field—I do know Mormon writers.

Mormons, unlike many religions, do not believe you have to be Mormon to be a “real” Christian or a good person. We are taught that good is found in many religions and in many aspects of life. Mormon leaders frequently quote non-Mormons in their talks and that reminds us God puts people wherever they can do the most good, and it may not always be in the Church. With that in mind, Mormons are very comfortable having friends who aren’t Mormon.

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This website is not owned by or affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church. The views expressed by individual users are the responsibility of those users and do not necessarily represent the position of the Church. For the official Church websites, please visit churchofjesuschrist.org or comeuntochrist.org.

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