By Michael Patrick O’Brien–
Most people not here in Utah think the place is a Latter-day Saint monolith. In fact, my home state is much more religiously diverse than many might think.
According to the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, roughly 76 percent of Utahns identify with a religion. Pew Research data, however, shows that Latter-day Saints make up only half of Utah’s population.
What about the other half? There are Catholics and numerous other Christian denominations here alongside Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindus, as well as other faith traditions and even atheists or agnostics.
As an Irish Catholic growing up in what felt like a much less diverse Utah a half century ago, I sometimes wondered if I was a lonely little petunia in an onion patch. Now I am learning more each day about the rich history of Irish Catholic immigrants, miners, priests, nuns, and merchants who helped form the Beehive State alongside their Latter-day Saint friends and neighbors.
Some of them were even lawyers like me.
The principles of diversity and belonging should matter to everyone, despite recent attempts to make them sound evil or anti-American. Inclusion is important even for old white guys like me and even within the legal profession.
Accordingly, nearly a decade ago, several distinguished Utah lawyers and judges formed a statewide nonprofit organization focused on advancing fairness, opportunity, and inclusion in Utah’s legal profession. To fulfill this worthy mission, the Utah Center for Legal Inclusion (UCLI) sponsors several initiatives to advance the notion that we all belong in that community.
In early 2026, UCLI released one of the fruits of its many wonderful efforts—a seven-minute video called “Belief and Belonging in Utah’s Legal Community.” You can watch it here.
I was honored to help.
Besides me, the video includes several other lawyers—a Latter-day Saint, a Buddhist, a Jew, and a Muslim. We each talk about the importance of being who we are in our workplaces and communities, and of helping others belong too.
UCLI has a great description for the project: “As Utah’s population becomes less homogeneous, it is essential that individuals from all backgrounds feel seen, valued, and represented in every aspect of civic life. The legal profession is no exception. Law touches people at their most vulnerable moments – during disputes, crises, and life-changing decisions. When attorneys feel able to bring their full identities into their work, including their faith, they are often better equipped to serve clients with empathy, integrity, and understanding.”
A couple hundred members of the legal profession joined us in a webinar in late January 2026 to launch the video and talk about belief and belonging. We shared insights of how faith informs our work and offered advice for persons of faith just joining the profession.
I think UCLI really sums it all up quite well: “These stories highlight a broader truth: belonging matters.”
*Mike O’Brien (author website here) is a writer and attorney living in Salt Lake City, Utah. Paraclete Press published his book Monastery Mornings, about growing up with the monks at the old Trappist monastery in Huntsville, Utah, in August 2021. The League of Utah Writers chose it as the best non-fiction book of 2022. Mike’s new holiday novel, tentatively titled “The Merry Matchmaker Monks,” will be published in time for Christmas 2026.
