Letter: Ira Glass' intolerant show

I attended Ira Glass' performance for This American Life at Kingsbury Hall on April 12. While I found Ira to be engaging, I am disappointed with his decision to add an anti-Mormon diatribe during the middle of his show.

He included a writer for the show who lives in Salt Lake City. The writer read a story relating his experience with a bad tooth that required four root canals. He ended up at a dentist who skipped his lunch hour and then spent 45 minutes working on his tooth. During that time, the writer found out that the dentist and the assistant were Mormons. He mentioned that he had been raised in Salt Lake City and had friends who were Mormon but that the older he gets the more intolerant of Mormons he becomes.

He then proceeded to make fun of Mormon beliefs. So with his statement "more intolerant of Mormons," may I suggest taking out the word Mormon and try substituting other words - Jews, Blacks, Muslims, Gays, Catholics, etc.

See the picture? For a show that tries to be tolerant of the American life, I can't understand why Ira thought it was appropriate to add this segment into what could have been a completely entertaining evening. I am disappointed, as was my sister who was with me. Not only was the venue wrong - adding this in his performance in Utah ­— but it is wrong in general. We all need to be more tolerant of others regardless of our age.

Lisa Anderson

West Point