WASHINGTON (ABP) — While a Mormon presidential candidate continues to occupy a prominent place in the race for the White House, a recent study has found that most Americans say they know little about the practices of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and large majorities say their own faith is very different from the Mormon faith.
The survey, conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, found that 51 percent of Americans have little or no awareness of the precepts and practices of Mormonism, and 53 percent say they have a favorable opinion of Mormons.
Researchers reported their findings the same day the leader of a controversial sect — the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints — was convicted of being an accessory to the rape of a 14-year-old girl forced to marry her cousin. While the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints discontinued its practice of polygamy in 1890, many of its members say misinformation and lack of communication continue to tie the larger church to the fundamentalist group in the public consciousness.
That connection leads to negative perceptions of Latter-day Saints — a group eager to prove its similarity in social and political ideology to evangelicals.
“I think [misunderstanding] is a lot of it,” said Lee Christensen, who attends the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Topeka, Kan. “You have this tiny little sect, and yet they get so much media attention instead of the actual Mormon Church, and people still don't quite know the difference.
“People assume the worst, and they have to be proven wrong. It's not like we should have to prove it over and over again, but we do.”
The Mormon religion has gained national visibility in recent years. Founded in 1830 in New York and now boasting 13 million members worldwide, the church's official website lists it as the fourth largest denomination in the United States.
But when asked to describe their impression of the Mormon religion in a single word, 27 percent of survey respondents gave negative words like “polygamy” and “bigamy” when asked to describe Mormons. Among the 23 percent of respondents who used positive words to describe them, “family” was the most frequent response — reflecting the church's prominent pro-family ad campaigns.
When Pew researchers further divided survey results, they found that just 46 percent of white evangelical Protestants reported having a favorable impression of Mormons. Officials from church headquarters did not respond to a request for comment on this survey.
Despite what Christensen called “discouraging” statistics, the rise of former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney on the national political scene has contributed to the growing awareness of the Mormon religion, especially among evangelicals, since the two groups share concerns regarding issues like gay marriage and abortion rights.
Nancy French, who maintains the website www.evangelicalsformitt.org, said she is encouraged by the 53 percent approval rating listed in the survey. As an evangelical Presbyterian living in Columbia, Tenn., she said she encounters many Bible-belt believers who say they “don't quite get” Mormonism but who know Mormon families and respect their values.
Theology does matter to evangelical voters, and there are certain religions that evangelicals won't vote for, French said. But if voters look at how Mormon theology “manifests itself politically, we really, really agree,” she added.
“There's a lot of people in the South who have these really deep theological issues with Mormonism, and they don't want Governor Romney teaching a Sunday school class, but they realize that we're so close on the social issues, that Mormons and evangelicals are married on these issues,” she said.
The differences in theology are distinct in theory but sometimes subtle in conversation. Latter-day Saints believe that divine apostolic authority was lost after the death of the biblical apostles and then restored by Joseph Smith in the early 1800s.
Adherents say Smith received new divine revelation. Therefore, in addition to the Bible, Latter-day Saints adhere to the Book of Mormon, subtitled Another Testament of Jesus Christ, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price, all of which are writings from Smith and other Mormon presidents.
When it comes to salvation, Mormons believe in a “plan of salvation” that includes a “pre-mortal” state and the ability to become heavenly beings after death. The post-death state continues earthly relationships, like marriage, and temple rites can be performed for those who have already died.
Latter-day Saints also refer to God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit as “the Godhead,” which includes the Heavenly Father and the Son, both with glorified physical bodies, and the Holy Ghost. They also have a doctrine of the Heavenly Mother, wife of the Heavenly Father.
Among other distinctives, Latter-day Saints abstain from alcohol, tobacco, tea and coffee. Their churches employ no full-time vocational clergy and strongly encourage one- or two-year-long mission trips for young people.
In a May conference on religion, politics and public life, Richard Bushman, a former professor at Columbia University and expert on Mormon history, discussed the relationship between the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and American politics. He also addressed a question that nags at the conscience of many evangelical voters: Are Mormons Christians?
Most modern Latter-day Saints consider themselves Christians — and as a reform group from the early 19th century, the church has historically identified itself as Christian. But, Bushman suggested, it seems as if Mormons still have to prove their legitimacy.
Mormons “have always thought of themselves as Christian — as more Christian than the Christians themselves,” he said at the event, which was organized by the Pew Forum. “It's become more crucial to Mormons to insist on that identity, since all these other groups have tried to exclude us from the Christian circle. There is almost an overemphasis on saying, ‘We are Christian.' The fact is, we know we're Christians — why can't that satisfy us?”
Most evangelical groups do not recognize the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a Christian entity, and even sympathizing with them has caused furor in evangelical circles. In 2004, Fuller Theological Seminary President Richard Mouw received strong criticism from evangelical leaders after comments he made at LDS headquarters in Salt Lake City. Mouw had apologized for having “sinned against” Mormons and “seriously misrepresenting the beliefs and practices of members of the LDS faith.”
According to Rob Bowman, the manager of apologetics and interfaith evangelism at the Southern Baptist-affiliated North American Mission Board, said the issue for evangelicals is whether the Mormon Church is “a valid, authentic, faithful expression of the Christian faith,” he said.
On that question, it seems evangelicals and Latter-day Saints must agree to disagree.
“From an evangelical perspective, Mormonism is not faithfully or soundly Christian because it deviates from historic, biblical standards of orthodox Christianity,” Bowman said, adding that “the New Testament instructs us as believers in Christ to dissociate ourselves religiously from groups that teach … doctrines that deviate in crucial ways from the apostolic message.”
NAMB has no single strategy or policy regarding outreach to Latter-day Saints, although it encourages Southern Baptists to share, with “love and understanding,” the “biblical, historic Christian message about Jesus Christ,” Bowman said in an e-mail.
The conclusion that the Mormon faith isn't “Christian” shouldn't lead to animosity, Bowman said, adding that devout Mormons are good citizens with high moral values.
According to the Pew report, one's view of whether or not Mormonism is a Christian religion has a greater impact on overall opinions of Mormons than knowing a Mormon personally.
Among non-Mormons who say Mormons are Christian, 68 percent expressed a favorable view of Mormons, twice as many as those who say Mormonism is not a Christian religion. A full 42 percent of those who said the Mormon religion is not Christian also said they would be less likely to vote for a Mormon for president.
Despite those numbers, French said she believes evangelical voters are more sophisticated than they are perceived — and they won't necessarily vote for the most “Christian” candidate in the bunch.
“It's not offensive to say that we have different doctrine,” she said of Mormons. “That's why they're not Presbyterian. It's very liberating to say, ‘Hey, we disagree.'”
In short, French would “walk over glass to vote for a Mormon” who supported “life and marriage” rather than vote for a Christian who did not, she said.
Bushman said much the same. Voters will have to take Romney for what he says rather than what his religion says he should be, Bushman said.
“In terms of his natural allies, ideologically, I don't think there's a group that's going to be closer than the conservative Christians, on the social issues, anyway,” he said. “I think his appeal will be on the basis of competence. He's been very effective in virtually everything he's done. There's a kind of a technocratic voter, let's say, who just wants efficiency — someone who can run a tight ship and make it work.
“Not everyone is divided into religious ideological camps, and he may get that group.”
Many average Mormons see Romney's run for the presidency as both helpful and hurtful to the public image of their religion. On one hand, Romney has increased awareness and communication between Mormons and potential voters. He is a “good example of what we aspire to in most things,” Christensen said.
On the other hand, one individual cannot hope to represent such a large group of people. For instance, Romney's stance on abortion rights (he has “evolved” from supporting “safe, legal” abortions to saying he is pro-life and opposes Roe v. Wade) is a cause of concern for many Mormons, Christensen said.
“I think he always personally was against it but thought it shouldn't be legislated, which I think is garbage,” the Mormon historian said. “I think a lot of people are still undecided. We're right there with the rest of the evangelical community with that being a major concern.”
In the end, that solidarity may form a bond between mainline Protestants and Latter-day Saints. Some progress has been made: The latest Pew results say 62 percent of white mainline Protestants and 59 percent of non-Hispanic Catholics say that Mormons are Christians, and 66 percent of people living in the West say they know a great deal about the Mormon religion — both of which are major factors in having favorable opinions of the religion.
As for Christensen, he said his biggest concern is the general lack of understanding many Americans have when it comes to Latter-day Saints. So he plans to keep talking as much as he can, as positively as he can, about his faith.
“We believe in Christ,” he said. “That's the whole focus of our church — to bring people to Christ. It's what we spend our time teaching our children. That's our whole life.”
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