Thinking globally

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has experienced stable growth in Taiwan since the first four missionaries arrived in 1956. Even in recent years, when the growth of the Church has slowed considerably in many countries including those in East Asia, LDS growth in Taiwan remains robust. Thus, something distinctive characterizes Mormonism in Taiwan compared to Mormonism in neighboring countries. Some scholars have used diminishing growth rates in the past decade or two to argue that Mormonism remains marginal in many countries.1 I argue, somewhat differently, that despite its stable growth, the LDS experience in Taiwan shows signs of cultural marginalization that are not much different from its marginalization elsewhere. Like Mormonism in many places outside the American continent, Taiwan’s Mormons also face a double marginalization, a marginalization manifest both inside the Church and in their own country. Taiwan is at the periphery of internal LDS dialogues. The land and the people there remain unknown to most of the LDS population. Stories about Church development on the island, foreign missionaries’ encounters with the local population, members’ cultural conflicts and adjustments, and their gospel outlook and identity struggles await a telling. Externally, comprising a small proportion of society in Taiwan, Mormonism continues to be seen as a cult-like religion. Its foreignness, and particularly its Americanness, is positively exotic and