Every week, a group of Aragon students wakes up early in the morning to attend a 45-minute class that begins at 6:15 a.m. This class, so unlike any offered at Aragon, is called a seminary. Mormon students attend the seminary to read and interpret different books of scripture of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, more commonly called the Mormon church.
“They’re a small group, but they really stand out,” says Spanish teacher Luisa Hardy of Aragon’s Mormon students. “They’re kind and respectful, teachers admire them, and they seem to live to higher standards than other kids do.”
Hardy, a Mormon herself, often sees this group of Mormon students at Aragon on the early mornings they attend class. Her four children, one of which graduated from Aragon last year, were all accepted to Brigham Young University, a Mormon private college in Utah.
Football coach Steve Sell has quite a few Mormons on his football team. “They tend to be pretty disciplined kids,” he says. “If you had forty of them on your team—at the risk of making a generalization—you’d win a lot of games and have very few problems. On their own merits, they tend to be great kids to have on your team.”
As one of the students who regularly attends morning seminary, junior Nathaniel Blood doesn’t mind being a part of the Mormon minority at Aragon. “I was baptized into the Church when I was eight, which is the youngest age at which you can get baptized… I’ve decided that [the Church] is a great influence in my life, and I’ve been doing my best to live its teachings ever since,” he says.
Both Hardy and Blood understand that when it comes to popular opinion of Mormonism, many people tend to think about polygamy, the practice of having more than one wife or husband at the same time. However, polygamy was officially banned from the Church in 1890. “Those people who still practice polygamy are no longer a part of the Church,” Hardy comments. “The Church would never recognize a polygamist, and there is no such thing as an ‘extreme polygamist Mormon.’”
Blood remembers moments when people reacted oddly upon hearing about his Mormon faith. He recalls, “The strangest reactions are when people are like, ‘Oh that’s weird,’ or, ‘Why would you do that to yourself?’ [Their reactions] are mostly in response to the Mormon beliefs of no drugs, alcohol, swearing, or premarital sex.”
“One thing that is controversial in the Christian world is that we consider ourselves Christian because of our belief that Jesus Christ is our Savior,” Blood adds. “The weirdest thing I’ve heard, though, is when someone confused us Mormons with Amish people. Quite frankly, I just didn’t know how to respond to that one. Being raised in the Church, I see most of these things as obvious, but then I realize that others don’t know what I know.”
While religion in itself tends to be quite a controversial subject, religion linked with politics can become even more controversial. During the past presidential election, it was known that Mitt Romney practices Mormonism. Although this may have affected some people’s views of Romney, both Hardy and Blood agree that, for the most part, religion was not the deciding factor in whether or not Mormons supported Romney.
“Not all Republicans are Mormon, and not all Mormons are Republican,” says Hardy. “We don’t follow a political banner.”
Many of the misconceptions of the Mormon religion have been brought to the stage in the recent Broadway musical “The Book of Mormon,” which comes to San Francisco this winter. Written by Matt Stone and Trey Parker—the creators of the television show South Park—the musical tells a satirical story of two young missionaries who travel to an impoverished area of Africa to spread their faith. While extremely popular, much of the musical is very profane and portrays both Mormons and African people in a harshly cynical light.
Unsurprisingly, Mormon views on the musical remain mixed. According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, even devout Mormons can be drawn to its “rude” but “sweet” humor. However, Mormons like Hardy and Blood won’t be seeing the musical anytime soon.
“I refuse to support something that mocks a religion, a group of people, and a sacred book,” Hardy says. “If you’re going to slam a religion for teaching the Gospel, make sure you show that the Church is also doing great things in Africa.”
While some students at Aragon remain largely uneducated about Mormonism, learning about it may present an opportunity to forgo common misconceptions about the religion. “I feel like [the concept of] Mormonism should be studied more in school,” says freshman Regina Lisinker.
