Some anti-Mormons cite negative statistics about the state of Utah to demonstrate serious social problems among members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which are presumably caused by their adherence to their faith. Here's an example from Jude3Faith on the Mormonism Discussed message board:
"I still have trouble understanding how Utah claims to be at least 70 percent Mormon with such high values,but why is it Utah is so high in teenage pregnancies,the use of prescription drugs,teen suicide,and abuse of all kinds?"
The website Holy Hooks claims that:
"Salt Lake City, Utah is a community whose populace is strongly influenced by the Mormon church (70% of the people who live in Utah are Mormons) However, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City have lower crime rates. {FBI crime statistics for 1994 and 1995}. In spite of the Mormon church's stress on family values in their television ads, the rates of child abuse, divorce, suicide and unwed teenage pregnancy in Utah are above the United States average, unless one uses statistics provided by Mormon apologists."
But are such claims true? Some of them are. But others are exaggerated, misleading, or outright false.
Some neutral religious websites have noticed and commented on the practice of reporting inaccurate Utah/LDS statistics. Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance has a brief section on its Mormon Church Criticism page debunking statistical claims made by Walter Martin. The LDS Demographics page on Adherents.com states:
"We are aware of additional figures, not cited here, which are circulated by groups which desire to disparage Utahns and/or Latter-day Saints. Such figures do not appear to be connected to actual federal or academic sources; many such figures appear to simply be fabricated."
In the interest of providing accurate information to debunk false notions about Utah that have been perpetuated by certain critics of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I have researched some of these claims and am reporting the results here. All of the data I present can be backed up by statistics provided by federal or state governments or other reliable sources.
Click on the links below for information on these topics.
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