The long-standing cultural practice of courting, pursuing or wooing prospective romantic partners by asking them out to dinner, a movie, a hike or a play is often called the “dating game” — and for a reason.
There are rules, sometimes written but mostly unwritten. There are bad moves and good moves. There are winners and losers.
In Utah, this tradition takes on additional twists, turns and even, as some see it, traps. Some members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for instance, desire to date only fellow believers so that if the couple marry someday, they can be “sealed” in one of the faith’s temples.
Others rule out ever dating a Latter-day Saint, worried perhaps that they may be pressured to convert or at least hoping to avoid any entanglements with the religion.
All of these factors — plus a multitude of other scenarios — make dating a pinch point in the “Unspoken Divide” between those who belong to the state’s predominant faith and those who don’t.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Dusty Hulet and Kristen Jex on a date in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024.
On this week’s show, Utahns Kristen Jex and Jimmy Henderson, two single Latter-day Saints, discuss those dating dynamics.
(Jimmy Henderson) Jimmy Henderson, 26, is an actor and Latter-day Saint. Henderson speaks about the struggles of dating within the religious divide as someone who is focused on his career.
Listen to the podcast:
