Utah/Statistical claims

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Utah statistical claims and charges

Questions

Critics like to use statistical information related to the population of Utah to draw some sort of conclusion about the status or overall health of the Church.

Topics

Pornography use in Utah

Summary: Why does Utah lead the United States in subscriptions to online adult entertainment? Utah has significant restrictions on the display and sales of hard core pornographic materials. The Utah Statutes [1] have the effect of making it much more difficult to get easy access to adult material. This forces those who might otherwise buy magazines or other adult materials to use the web to get access to that information. In Utah, access to most adult entertainment requires the use of the Internet. Therefore, the number of Internet users of pornography would be higher than states with different laws if all other factors were the same.

Bankruptcy rate in Utah

Summary: Is it true that Utah has the highest personal bankruptcy rate in the United States? If so, what does this say about Latter-day Saint attitudes toward wealth and materialism?

Suicide rate among Latter-day Saints in Utah

Summary: Critics charge that the suicide rate in Utah is higher than the national average, and that this demonstrates that being a Latter-day Saint is psychologically unhealthy.

Use of antidepressants in Utah

Summary: Critics charge that the rate of antidepressant use is much higher among Mormons than the general population. They claim this is evidence that participation in the LDS Church is inordinately stressful due to pressure for Mormons to appear "perfect."

LDS population in Utah

Summary: 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 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. But such authors are simply incorrect, according to figures from the U.S. Census and the LDS Church Almanac.