Item Detail
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25386
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1
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0
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English
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Making Mormons : An Introduction to Formative Customs and Traditions
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Latter-day Lore : Mormon Folklore Studies
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Salt Lake City
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University of Utah Press
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93-101
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Some Latter-day Saints are born into the covenant. Raised from birth in the church, these young Mormons are enculturated by virtue of being surrounded by the repeated patterns of Mormon cultural life. Other Latter-day Saints are converts, born of parents of other religious faiths or no religion at all. The content of one’s conversion narrative may reference this origin, confirming difference, while the genre itself can paradoxically act as an equalizer since all Latter-day Saints must consciously choose the church. Even those born into the covenant, who have known no other faith, typically refer to this choice as their conversion experience. The result is that all Mormons are made. No matter how righteous one’s parents, no matter if one’s last name is Young or Smith or Snow, all members must become Mormon. [From the text]