Last week I participated in another conversation about religion on KSL’s “Studio 5” show. The segment focused on words/phrases that are LDS specific. Both LDS and non-LDS women shared their thoughts, experiences, and suggestions to help minimize misperceptions. You can watch the “Breaking the Mormon Code” segment here. It’s 12 minutes long – the live discussion begins after 3 minutes of prerecorded sound bites.

The morning of the show, “Studio 5” posted the following on their Facebook page: “Be sure to tune in to Studio 5 today. It’s the BIG discussion on whether Utah Mormons take insider talk on religion…too far. So speak up for solutions: What do you want people of other faiths to know about you?”

Many of the comments were productive, positive and supportive of highlighting the issue. But the thread went in other directions; dismissive of – almost irritated by – the topic, defensive, accusing, and argumentative (the arguer clearly still licking a wound rooted in religious differences, but unrelated to the “Studio 5” Facebook post or television segment). Many of the negative comments appeared before the segment even aired.

The producer emailed me the day after the piece ran and said that feedback from colleagues and higher-ups at the station was overwhelmingly positive. The subject was handled in a balanced, honest, harmless way. I felt that the women who shared in the prerecorded commentary were intelligent, thoughtful, and fair. A few of them moved me.

At the end of the segment, I casually mentioned my Bunco group. I said that I happened to be the only nonmember in the group and would feel hurt if my friends felt the need to filter Church-related conversations. (They don’t, and haven’t for many years. It’s wonderful!)

One of my friends – and Bunco-mates – watched the segment and jokingly thanked me for the Bunco plug.

I seriously replied, “The last thing I want to do is get excommunicated from Bunco.”

Chrisy Ross is the author of To Mormons, with Love: A Little Something from the New Girl in Utah. She lives in Alpine with her husband and three sons, and blogs at ChrisyRoss.com.