Meridian Magazine :: Faith and Politics: Should Latter-day Saints Shrink from Scrutiny?

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One phenomenon surrounding Mitt Romney’s presidential run has been quite striking to me: Many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints wish Romney were not running, because they fear the unpleasant, unflattering and unfair attention the Church will receive as a result.

For example, this Los AngelesTimes article reported on the reaction of the local Mormon community to Romney’s run, included this quote (from a person who happens to be my wife) expressing the feelings of many Mormons we know:

The majority [of California Mormons] welcomed the interest in the Church. But there are some that have been nervous about it, as any person would feel about their faith ... in a situation like this. They don't appreciate seeing it torn apart in 1 1/2 minutes on the TV news.

As much as I sympathize with that fear, I think we Mormons should reject it.

The Reality of Anti-LDS Bias: The Mainstream News Media

I am not saying that the Church is not frequently subjected to indignity and unfairness; on the contrary, one thing I’ve learned in 20 months of daily reading and blogging at Article VI Blog is that, well, a lot of folks find our religion — and particularly its success — very upsetting. One result of that antipathy seems to be that we don’t get a fair shake in the news media.

I found the lead to this Dallas Morning News article intriguing:

Mike Huckabee's political rise has been fueled by a vast network of local Christian leaders largely unknown to the general public but powerfully influential in evangelical circles.

That strategy — methodically rolling up the support of these grass-roots networks — has paid big dividends, helping catapult Mr. Huckabee ahead in Iowa and boosting his prospects in the Republican field.

If this report is true, no one seems very upset about it. And yet when it was even hinted that Romney's campaign might do something similar through official Mormon channels, the Boston Globe and many other mainstream news media outlets seemed very exercised about that.

Note: There was no use of such channels to help Romney, only one very innocent meeting with a General Authority and some unfortunate emails that were quickly corrected.

But the Globe certainly thought something important was going on. Its headline screamed, "Romney camp consulted with Mormon leaders; Eyes nationwide network to aid White House bid." The story's reported facts resulted from Globe reporters actually staking out the Church Administration building in Salt Lake City to see whether Romney campaign representatives entered and left. We got deeply into that story here, with related analysis here.

Why was that non-story such a big deal, while what Governor Huckabee is reportedly doing seems to drawing only yawns from the mainstream media?

I am not saying Mormons are being picked on. I'm just wondering.

More Anti-LDS Bias: Our Evangelical Friends

I personally believe that only a relatively a small but vocal element within Evangelical Christianity engages in outright “Mormon-bashing.” Mainstream news media reporters love the story lines that grow out of that element, however. Here’s how one newspaper reported on the South Carolina primary:

Many evangelicals are taking the high road, avoiding any public attacks on Romney or his faith. Many remain tight-lipped on the issue.

But they make no secret of what they will do when they walk into the voting booth on Jan. 19, when South Carolina holds its Republican primary.

They will vote for Huckabee.

Maybe, maybe not. But more than a few Evangelicals seem to be making this easy for the MSM. A leading Evangelical, Joe Carter of Evangelical Outpost, told John and me in an interview that he thinks many Evangelicals will say they're voting against Romney for non-religious reasons (e.g., Romney’s so-called "flip-flopping"), but the real basis for their vote is that Romney is a Mormon.

Joe's comments in that regard are quite significant; he announced his support for Huckabee last October, and he was the Huckabee campaign's research director until December 17, when he resigned. Joe was also prominent in the campaign's outreach efforts to Evangelicals, and it's no surprise that Joe's blog postings mark him as deeply partisan. We have Joe's interview with us recorded but have been too preoccupied with other things to transcribe it. We hope to publish it soon.

My point? The MSM is ready to jump on such attitudes. In my experience, the MSM’s love for a fight is matched only by their disdain for people who are both politically conservative and religious. When people like Joe Carter (whose candor is admirable) say what they really think, it's music to MSM ears and it will get published.

So what does this all mean for Mormons? Is it better for people of faith to keep out of national politics if their involvement brings out religious bigotry against their faith?

That second question arises from an op-ed piece by Ken Jennings of Jeopardy fame. Brother Jennings is a Mormon and, I understand, a Democrat. Nothing terribly unusual about that — Mormons are on both sides of the political aisle, and should be. So Brother Jennings is presumably not planning to vote for Mitt Romney, and as a Republican, I find it difficult to imagine ever voting for Harry Reid.

Jennings, who is a clear, persuasive writer, has joined in the increasingly raucous discussion surrounding what we call The Question. His New York Daily News op-ed is here. The entire piece is worth reading. I was struck by Jennings’ conclusion:

I'm tired of being a punch line and a punching bag. If the only way to get Mormonism out of the arena is to get Romney out of the race, then I'm counting the days. This is one Mormon who would rather have a little civility and tolerance than one of our own in the White House.

It’s not surprising that a member of the Church who disagrees politically with Mitt Romney would not be unhappy to see Romney’s campaign end. Even so, think we Mormons should remember Harry Truman’s advice: “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” We need to be able to stand the heat.

I posted a little more about that on The Hedgehog Blog (my other, much-neglected blog). My co-blogger there, Ralph Kostant, is an Orthodox Jew. He offered these provocative comments:

You would be surprised at the number of Jews, Orthodox and otherwise, who were "uncomfortable" with the Vice Presidential candidacy of Joe Lieberman in 2000, not because of any political differences, but because of concern that the mass media would focus on and ridicule his Orthodox Jewish practices and beliefs. After all, he prays in a synagogue where men and women sit separately, divided by a barrier, and women cannot become Orthodox Jewish rabbis.

As it turned out, he more or less got a pass on religious practices and beliefs, but to this day is harshly criticized by the media elites for his attacks on the social depravity depicted in movies, on television and in popular music.

Just this past week I heard a prominent Jewish Democratic Party centrist activist and long-time U.S. Senate staffer respond to a question about whether Joe Lieberman might be a fit Vice Presidential nominee in the unlikely event that John McCain receives the GOP nomination for President. He said that the higher a monkey climbs up a tree, the more its rear end is exposed. That's poor biology, but it certainly reflects the "Ken Jennings" outlook.

One part of the political "gospel" we preach at Article VI Blog is that it's important that America does not allow religious people to be driven from the public square for fear that their religious beliefs (which are a matter of conscience, after all) will be lampooned, distorted, or simply misrepresented. If we allow that to be done to the Jews or the Mormons, it will be done to everyone. That's not the American way.

My co-blogger at Article VI Blog, John Schroeder, is a Presbyterian and an Evangelical Christian. John chimed in with this perspective:

Frankly, it is precisely Jennings’ thought patterns that drove much of what are considered the older "mainline" creedal Christian denominations (Presbyterian, Methodist, Episcopalian) into hiding and eventually liberalization. This paved the way for the rise of the often less thoughtful and certainly more militant brands of creedal Christianity that are Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism to rise to the fore politically, and particularly on the conservative side of the equation.

There are a couple of important lessons in this for Mormons. The first is that this kind of political “hiding” seems inevitably to lead to liberalization and secondly that leads to a declining church, for all those denominations, mine foremost among them, are dying a slow, painful death.

I don’t think there is much danger that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will hide from public attention, uncomfortable as such scrutiny may be. My guess is that we will get more of such attention in the coming years, no matter what happens with Mitt Romney’s candidacy. And I think we’d better get used to that.

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About the Author:

Lowell C. Brown is co-author of Article VI Blog, http://www.article6blog.com, which is devoted to discussion and analysis of the religious issues surrounding the 2008 presidential election. Lowell is also a Los Angeles-based attorney who is a partner in Arent Fox LLP, where he practices corporate health law for institutional health care providers. He describes himself as an active, committed, convinced Mormon and has served in a number of callings in the Church, his favorite of which was Scoutmaster. The views expressed here are Lowell's own.