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− | ==Criticism==
| + | #REDIRECT [[Question: In Utah, are more people leaving the Church than are joining the Church?]] |
− | * "Within the state of Utah, the number of Mormons has steadily declined over the past 10 years."
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− | * In Utah, more people are leaving the Church than are joining the Church.
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− | ===Source(s) of the criticism===
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− | *''Search for the Truth'' DVD pre-distribution letter, March 2007.{{wikilink|url=Search for the Truth DVD/Letter}}
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− | * Agence France-Press, "Mormons to lose dominance of US state of Utah within 30 years: figures Agence France-Press" (28 July 2005).
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− | ==Response==
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− | Critics of the Church and misinformed members of the mainstream media sometimes claim that the number of Latter-day Saints in Utah has fallen. This belief led the producers of the anti-Mormon video [[Search for the Truth DVD| ''Search for the Truth'']] to claim that "within Utah, we are doing a fairly good job of combating Mormonism" and therefore "the Mormon Church is vulnerable" to anti-Mormon criticisms.
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− | But such authors are simply incorrect, according to figures from the U.S. Census and the ''LDS Church Almanac'':
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− | <table>
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− | <tr>
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− | <th style="border-bottom: solid" width="120"> </th>
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− | <th style="border-bottom: solid" width="110">Utah: Total</th>
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− | <th style="border-bottom: solid" width="110">Utah: LDS</th>
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− | <th style="border-bottom: solid" width="110">Utah: Non-LDS</th>
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− | </tr>
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− | <tr>
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− | <td style="border-bottom: thin solid">31-Dec-1990</td>
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− | <td style="border-bottom: thin solid; text-align: right">1,722,850</td>
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− | <td style="border-bottom: thin solid; text-align: right">1,236,242</td>
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− | <td style="border-bottom: thin solid; text-align: right">486,608</td>
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− | </tr>
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− | <tr>
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− | <td style="border-bottom: thin solid">31-Dec-2005</td>
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− | <td style="border-bottom: thin solid; text-align: right">2,469,585</td>
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− | <td style="border-bottom: thin solid; text-align: right">1,752,467</td>
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− | <td style="border-bottom: thin solid; text-align: right">717,118</td>
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− | </tr>
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− | <tr>
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− | <td style="border-bottom: thin solid">15-year growth</td>
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− | <td style="border-bottom: thin solid; text-align: right">43.34%</td>
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− | <td style="border-bottom: thin solid; text-align: right">41.76%</td>
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− | <td style="border-bottom: thin solid; text-align: right">47.37%</td>
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− | </tr>
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− | <tr>
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− | <td style="border-bottom: thin solid">annualized growth</td>
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− | <td style="border-bottom: thin solid; text-align: right">'''2.89%'''</td>
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− | <td style="border-bottom: thin solid; text-align: right">'''2.78%'''</td>
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− | <td style="border-bottom: thin solid; text-align: right">'''3.16%'''</td>
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− | </tr>
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− | </table>
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− | As the table shows, the LDS population in Utah ''is'' growing—it is just growing at a slower rate than the non-LDS population. The primary reason for this is the high non-LDS immigration into Utah over the last two decades.
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− | According to a recent article in the ''Salt Lake Tribute:''
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− | :Utah's ongoing religious diversification has little to do with the LDS Church or its teachings, but rather is a reflection of the economy.... When economic growth goes up, minority population goes up, and this is kind of a code word for non-Mormons.... While continuing to grow in actual members, the LDS share of the state population showed a slow but constant decline every year from 1989 to 2004.{{ref|tribune1}}
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− | ==Data Sources==
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− | *Deseret News ''Church Almanac,'' 2005.
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− | *http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/49000.html
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− | *http://www.adherents.com/largecom/com_lds.html
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− | *http://www.ams.usda.gov/statesummaries/UT/MSA/MSA.pdf/Utah.pdf
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− | ==Endnotes==
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− | #{{note|tribune1}} Matt Canham, "Mormon portion of Utah population steadily shrinking," ''Salt Lake Tribune'' (22 June 2006).{{link|url=http://www.sltrib.com/search/ci_2886596}} <small>(accessed 20 March 2007)</small>
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− | ==Further reading==
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− | ===FAIR wiki articles===
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− | {{StatsWiki}}
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− | ===FAIR web site===
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− | {{StatsFAIR}}
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− | ===External links===
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− | {{StatsLinks}}
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− | ===Printed material===
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− | {{StatsPrint}}
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