When too much of too little is a bad thing

The other day while at work, I had an interesting conversation with one of my coworkers.

She was writing a story about some LDS (Mormon for you non Utahans) characters. After reading her story and commenting on it, she asked me if I thought any of the terms she used were "Utah/LDS jargon" and wouldn't be understood by an outsider.

A short list of the words she was worried about were: bishop, ward, hymn, and sacrament.

What made this conversation so interesting me however, was that she said that in various creative writing classes throughout her college career, other LDS students wondered whether these words "belonged" if you will, to Utah and Mormons.

I was disturbed. I am by no means the most versed individual in religions and faiths outside of my own. I did attend Catholic grade school, and the majority of my friends growing up were LDS. I have known Buddhists, in college was friends with a Muslim, I took two semesters of world religions, and briefly considered dating a Wiccan. Some of my closest friends today are Jews, and of course, I know plenty of agnostics and atheists, and for a religion class credit, I attended a Jehovah's Witness' Kingdom Hall meeting.

All this experience aside, I have had very little contact with and have very little understanding of other faiths and religions, but I do know that many, many other religions incorporate these aspects into their religious practices.

But what experience I do have seems to, in light of this conversation, be light years more than your average LDS. Why is this I wonder?

I can understand a parent's desire to not introduce their child(ren) to faiths outside of the one practiced at home, because they do not want outside influences eroding the groundwork of belief they are trying to lay.

But this does not explain LDS college student's naiveté.

Extrapolating all this to a broader view:

How are we as a nation ever going to be able to reach out to nations whose ideals, morals, values, and world views may differ from our own, and work with them with honor, trust, and respect in the face of such blatant and willing ignorance?