I need to know for professional reasons. If the person is, I cannot refer to this person for the serices they provide, without telling some LDS background to the person being referred by me.

Not in good conscience, anyway, as I believe what the person tells the possible LDS person may be misused against them for purposes not disclosed to them by the possible LDS person.

I suspect they are, d/t profession, name, visiting lecturers, etc they have worked with, where they currently live, and associations with the editor of heritagequest magazine.

How can I tell without asking, and also disclosing my concerns? It may backfire on me if I do; the person I am speaking of is big in my field.

Could you give an example, using "Person A" and "Person B" notation? Understanding is needed before people can make intelligent comments.

Yeah more information is needed..someone at work asked me outright when they asked where I was from, but when I paused and said not anymore he backed out very quickly of his question and said don't say anymore..just because someone looks LDS or has an LDS background doesn't mean they are currently practicing.

;-)

Don't want to say too much, but Person X (possible LDS) shares a sideline in volunteerism (genealogy) with me, as well as a paid occupation. I will soon be moving back to where Person X lives, works, and teaches.

How one sort of unconnected referral turned to family trees and my referral possibly providing Person X with bunches of family names, is beyond me. I can ask my referral that, but that may send up a red flag to her. She knows I do this, too; it's how she got the very trees she may soon be giving Person X.

I generally do not discuss LDS proxy baptisms with anyone, unless asked. Nor do I deter people from using LDs records to form their own trees. If asked,or if anyone talks, I do speak up, clearly. And i ask them to ask LDS people about the connection, for/by LDS people.

Person X offers classes at the local CC, and at a prestigious university in the area, re: genealogy. Associated family members are (first)named Reed; she lives near an LDS church; she has repeatedly asked many LDS-university and business (or associated) people to lecture as guests at county genealogical society meetings, from what I can gather by looking at some stuff online. She uses wording regarding the genealogical records (using the word blessings in relation to them a few times, in odd contexts) that make me think she may be LDS.

I don't want to talk about the real reason for the referral to Person X; but my least minor concern relates to their giving Person X all their family data as a sort of adjunct/aside to the main reason she is being referred to Person X, by me.

Person X asked her for them at some point. Not sure how/why, but it was a red flag, for me. It's what got my gears going in this direction, and made me wonder if Person X is in fact LDS.

My other concern for the referral is that if Person X is LDS, Person X may not be the best person for my referral to seek guidance from, for this particular life issue. I gave three names from a list my agency provided to me; my referral chose this Person X from that list by herself. I did not know at the time that Person X may be LDS.

I am concerned that by merely broaching the subject of records and what might be done with them by an active LDS person in the temple, Person X may hear of it through my referral and get mad, and this may hurt the referral. It may flow over into the professional arena Person X and I share.

This could be very problematic. Not so much for me professionally (screw her if Person X does that, I can take care of myself); I am concerned more for the referral, on both counts. She is seeking help for a medical problem, not conversion to a faith, or dead dunking for her kin.

If Person X is using her county genealogical post, teaching post or other job to troll for names to enrich the LDS church or win Brownie point sfor herself--without informing those she takes those names from--she will be hearing from me, and both of her state licensing boards, I guarantee that.

And my referral would be very upset to learn that family trees or personal records are used in temple work/for proxy baptisms, w/o her knowing that.

Never mind; Person X is LDS. In a BIG, BIG way. She apparently told my referral some LDS hogwash about Romney and how she knows he's right for the White House b/c of what my referral calls a "hanging thread".

I need to do some more checking up on the one profession being used to troll for names from clients from the other profession, for reasons/purposes Person X is not disclosing while practising either.

I don't know if that is fraud or not, but to me it is more than just a little bit unethical. I need to think on this...

Secret handshake.

Or ask them out for a cup of coffee.

+1. Or offer them some coffee straight-out, and make sure it's good stuff.

I do not think that a person can "tell" if every Mormon they meet is Mormon...but, it really shows on some people more than others. This is not just the case with Mormonism, but with other "sects" as well.

Example: 1985, Memphis Tennessee. I was there involved in a seminar for insurance agents. I, along with 2 others of my group, stepped into the elevator that already had 3 people in it. One of the three looked like a missionary minus the name tag. Without even thinking about it, I ask him, "Where did you serve your mission?" He answered and about that time, the door opened and I and my group exited the elevator.

Now, all of us, men as well as women, were dressed in business suits, hair neat and well groomed. What was it about this person that immediately stood out as a returned Mormon Missionary among similar dressed and groomed people? The people in my group wanted to know just how I knew that he was Mormon.

My reply, "How could I not!"

It wasn't just that I could tell that he was Mormon, but that I could tell that he was a returned missionary. He was still (to me) wearing the "missionary air".

My father's side of the family is die-hard Church of Christ. To this day, I can still pick out a die-hard C of C person after only a few minutes in their presence.

I had step-cousins who were Catholic. I can usually spot a Catholic.

I once lived in a largely Pentacostal town. Even those that didn't really dress the part still had that Pentacostal "air" about them.

Humans are able to pick up many subliminal clues without even being aware that they are doing so.

In the case of discovering if someone is Mormon without asking...that is easy! Put a "mormon" word or phrase in the conversation and watch their reaction.

Mormon: eyes blinking sequence momentarily changes, pupils dilate, slight upturn of one or both corners of the mouth, maybe they will try to make some sort of "connection" with you; move closer, smile, make eye contact.

Non-Mormon: Will overlook the verbal signal or the eyebrows will momentarily draw together at the use of an unusal phrase or word.

Ex-Mormon: Will probably shoot you a full-on or sharp side-wise look you will instantly recognize!

Have fun with it!

Ask easy questions;

1. What is your favorite football team/ who do you root for? If it's BYU move them to the "very likely" catagory. If it is any other Utah School put them in a "maybe". 2. Who are you rooting for in the upcomming presidetial election? (I don't think I need to explain this one.)

Not a fan of sports or politics? then try 3. Did you watch "The Sing Off"? who did you root for? (vocal point) Who is you alltime favorite American Idol cont.?(archuletta)favorite "Dancing with the Stars" pros (either of the Huffs) They will make it easy to tell. Mormons will always be fans of other mormons.

If all else fails and you are desperate to know, just say something like "...I'm just not happy with my current church,...It seems like something is missing..." and then go on trying to change the subject. You will either find out on the spot as they try to "help" you, or you will find out a week later when the mishies come a knocking.

The fact that you don't already know they are Mormon leads me to believe that they are not, or if they are, they are not so wrapped up in it that it will be a problem for you either way.

If you have been Mormon, or been around them, you know. If you think they are, they probably are.

For instance: when my mom died, her doctor couldn't be bothered to come in and pronounce. It was a Sunday, he was an LDS active and sent his associate.

Baby sis was okay with this. Apparently, the doctor was big in her LDS world. And when the person from the mortuary showed up to take mom to the funeral home, she was suddenly all smiles. I looked at the guy and knew he was LDS. I just knew.

Out here in East Texas, I was taking some stuff up to my son at college. He lives in an apartment complex and I stopped in at the office to let them know I would be dropping stuff in (so they would not call the police or whatever) and be on my way. And I looked at the manager and knew he was an RM. My son confirmed it later ('Yeah, Mom, broomstick up his backside RM').

After a while, you just know.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/13/2012 11:03AM by nwmcare.

...i.e. exmo but has not resigned, then that inactive person could go to his stake website, to "member search," and put in your professional guy's name. If he is listed, he is Mormon. If not, he isn't.

Good luck. I can appreciate why this is important!

What's your favorite scripter lol

"Sorry for being rude, but do you happen to belong to that rude church, the Mormons?"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/05/2014 05:43AM by steve benson.

Wear a crucifix and see if they shrink away like a vampire.

Hahahahahaha! I like that one, Steve B.!

Just say "Give Said the Little Stream"

If a person is a no-mo, you'll get a blank stare or a WTF look.

If they're a member, they will look down and smile. Or they will finish the song.

"Would you like a cup of coffee?"

"How do you feel about working on Sunday?"

"Show me your underpants..."

Like Stray Mutt suggested, drop some mormon jargon. Say, "did you watch conference?"

You could look for the telltale signs of the holey garments. If it's a man, look for the clothing ridge just below the collar line on his back, or a clothing ridge about mid-thigh if he is wearing slacks. If a woman, look for garment ridge lines around her neck, but don't get caught sneaking a peek!

Ask if he has ever been involved in the Boy Scouts. You don't have to be Mormon to do that, but a mormon will talk like a mormon about his calling.

In southern Alberta I can damn near tell by looking at some of them.

RB



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/03/2016 11:03PM by Lethbridge Reprobate.

It's a look they have in their eyes--kind of blank--like they're brainwashed. They seldom smile, and when they do, their mouth still turns down at the corners, like a frown-smile. The eyes keep the same fixed stare, whether they are smiling or not.

I agree that you can recognize Mormons by their language and phraseology. Also, their voice cadence is unusual, and the voice drops at the end of each sentence. Mormon women swallow their words, and speak softly. Some Mormon women whisper, some almost talk baby-talk.

Why would it matter if someone is LDS? It's a "so what" issue, with me, anyhow. If I know, fine, if I don't know, fine.

If I offer someone coffee, for instance and they decline they may or may not be LDS. Some people don't drink coffee, don't like it.

The OP (four years ago!) was apparently concerned he would be feeding this person info that would be used for LDS dead-dunking purposes.

If what you are saying is that there is someone who is a professional geneologist who you fear will have someone else's info baptized behind their back, I don't see the problem. Nowadays you cannot have people baptized without the permission of the next of kin (whom you have to identify and give contact information so that the church can personally verify, which it at least does randomly IME, if they don't each one (which I cannot know).

You could ask this person a question like, "how do you protect your client's info so it doesn't get MORMON ordinances" --- That would be pertinent whatever his faith is.

But you should know that lots of people who post here could tell you that a whole resume that screams MORMON doesn't make you someone who will misuse a client's info in that way or any way.

turn it back on them.....garment check (feel-up).

search the local ward directory or look for online sign-ups for church/Temple duty....sometimes those aren't password-protected. oops, I didn't mean for the Church to know that!

Give 'em a cross.

Look for the "little smile"
Listen for verbal give-aways - one person I spoke with the other day (2000 miles from Utah) mentioned "The glory of God is intelligence" - guess what he is?

The smile coupled with looking like they just worked 30 hours overtime. I practice LDS or not LDS while eating my $1.62 hot dog and Pepsi at Costco while watching other customers walk out