The Challenge of Stereotypes - ABC News (Video)

It is not so much the Mormon faith that presents a challenge for Huntsman and Romney, as it is the (mostly incorrect) stereotypes surrounding that faith.

Mormon Mission: Mitt Romney, Jon Huntsman Challenged by Stereotypes

By LAUREN VANCE

June 25, 2011

Mitt Romney, considered the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, and Jon Huntsman, the GOP candidate who may just be the one the White House fears most, share something that makes them different from anyone ever elected president: They are Mormons.

For the full story, go here

For the real stereotype I would hope we would come to be known for, watch below

Huntsman v Romney - Marketwatch

MarketWatch Blogs

Political Watch

June 21, 2011, 12:20 PM ET

Sizing up Huntsman, Romney, Mormons for president

Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman are both Mormons who went to college in Utah and share similar views on taxes and regulation. Both try to appeal to moderates as well as conservatives and they have occasionally broken ranks with Republicans on issues such as global warming and health care. Both of their fathers served briefly in the Nixon administration and they are even distant cousins.

Yet the two presidential contenders for the 2012 Republican nomination also have plenty of differences.

The more soft-spoken Huntsman, who announced his candidacy on Tuesday, is not....

For the full article, go here.

Teen Puts AU$1.5 million on Hold for a Mission - Sydney Morning Herald

And you thought the choice between a car and/or a girlfriend and a mission was tough....

Battle of Will: clubs all want a piece of Hoppa, says agent

Wanted ... William Hopoate has become hot property with a number of clubs vying for his attention. Photo: Getty Images

Daniel Lane

June 22, 2011

WILLIAM HOPOATE might be spending two years out of the NRL on a Mormon mission, but that has not stopped several clubs trying to sign him for the 2014 season.

It had been assumed that if Hopoate decided to resume his post-missionary football career it would be with his club, Manly. However, his manager, Tyran Smith, has revealed there has been "a lot of interest" from several clubs, although he has declined to name which clubs have made approaches.

It is understood the 19-year-old Hopoate will announce where his long-term football future lies before the end of the season. "I'm going through contract negotiations now," said Smith, a former New Zealand international. "But, we aren't rushing things. There's been no need to rush things.''

To read the full article, go here.

Flash....Mormon! Choir Surprises Visitors to Colonial Williamsburg

If you have never been to Colonial Williamsburg, this would have been the day to have gone.

Mormon Tabernacle Choir surprises visitors

Members of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir laugh with eachother after their surprise flashmob appearance. Scott (foreground), was one of the first men to start the song off. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir made a surprise appearance during Colonial Williamsburg's 'Revolutionary City' adventure program. (Alyssa Ki, Daily Press / June 21, 2011)

By Cara R. Anthony, cranthony@dailypress|247-7429

8:53 p.m. EDT, June 21, 2011

WILLIAMSBURG — Sightseers' jaws dropped in Colonial Williamsburg when the 360-member Mormon Tabernacle Choir broke out into flash mob-like performance Tuesday.

Just after noon, harmonized voices suddenly erupted from a large crowd that gathered to watch a historical presentation about the American Revolution.

For the full article, go here.

Click below for a video of the performance. Music starts at 3:27

A New Type of Mormon Ad - Boston Globe

The Boston Globe discusses the ad campaign going up in New York City.

Mormons’ image campaign

Ads coincide with church’s greater visibility in 2012 race

A Times Square billboard in New York is part of a Mormon ad campaign to counter negative attitudes toward the faith. (Peter Foley for The Boston Globe)

By Lisa Wangsness

Globe Staff / June 20, 2011

SALT LAKE CITY — In the fall of 2008, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints convened focus groups across the country as part of a major market-research study to learn more about anti-Mormon sentiment in America.

The researchers found that the most common negative associations with Mormonism included being “pushy,’’ “cultish,’’ “secretive,’’ “controlling,’’ “sexist,’’ “antigay,’’ and “polygamist.’’ There was scant interest among those surveyed in learning more about Mormon doctrine, but they did display curiosity about Mormons as people.

“I’ll never forget this one woman,’’ said Stephen B. Allen, managing director of the church’s missionary program. When participants were asked how they would feel about doing community service with Mormons, “She said’’ — Allen adopted a stage whisper — “if you are serving alongside them, you can ask them the questions you always wanted to ask.’’

To read the rest of the article, go here.

To see my wife's "I'm A Mormon" bio, go here.

The "Real" Reason Romney and Huntsman Will Struggle - Foreign Policy

I am usually a fan of Foreign Policy magazine...its articles generally get me thinking.

This article, however, was a little harder to understand. She talks about Mormons, and she talks about Romney and Huntsman. But I had to read it a few times to get what she was trying to say with the following tagline:

Mormonism will affect the foreign policies of Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman -- just not in the way you might expect

Her basic thesis (I think) is that Romney and Huntsman's Mormon upbringing make them pragmatists and patriots. She does so while distancing the current candidates from Joseph Smith (whom she paints in a pretty negative light).

That "pragmatic" and "patriotic" thesis is not so bad....I think.

In the end, she states that Romney's and Huntsman's (Mormon-bred) pragmatism will be their downfall as (she believes) voters tend to want more polarized figures.

While her statements on Joseph Smith illustrate she tends to listen closer to those antagonistic about him, her opinions on Romney and Huntsman are that, while highly qualified and have good intentions, they will have a harder time getting to the White House for reasons most scholars are overlooking.

So here is the article.

The Missionary Position

Mormonism will affect the foreign policies of Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman -- just not in the way you might expect.

BY MOLLY WORTHEN | JUNE 13, 2011

When Joseph Smith, the religious genius and sometime-treasure hunter who founded the Mormon faith, announced in 1844 that he was running for president of the United States, international affairs were not his top priority. In a pamphlet outlining his campaign platform, Smith quoted James Madison's inaugural address declaring that he would "cherish peace and friendly intercourse with all nations." But he never got the chance to elaborate on his foreign policy: Later that year, while Smith was in jail awaiting trial on charges that he had ordered the destruction of an anti-Mormon newspaper, a mob of armed men stormed his cell and fatally shot him as he jumped out of the window.

To read the full article, go here.

Mormons are becoming a ‘true part of the American culture’ - Anniston Star

A little ditty about the Mormon faith written by a newspaper in Alabama.

You'd think that one story covering everything from the church's founding to TLC's "Sister Wives" to Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman to the Tony award winning The Book of Mormon would be biting off more than one journalist (or their readers) could chew.

But it is a great overview of the Church.

This

is as American as

This?

And This?

Using as sources, a local Bishop (and converted Mormon), a fellow journalist (also Mormon), the "foremost non-Mormon scholar of the Latter Day Saint movement" (so says Wikipedia about Jan Shipps), and a University of Richmond professor (and Mormon), the author gets a pretty good understanding of how many Mormons feel about themselves and how many of them view themselves in history.

Mormons rising: Mormons are becoming a ‘true part of the American culture’

by Brett Buckner

Special to The Star

Sid Kooyman has never felt like a stranger in a strange land.

Since moving to Jacksonville in 1986 to teach ROTC at Jacksonville State University, the career soldier assimilated himself within this close-knit college community by doing the things that virtually everyone else does, including regularly attending church. But it is where Kooyman worships that occasionally raises the eyebrows of his faithful peers.

To read the rest of the story, go here.

Anti-Mormonism: The "Thinking Man’s Prejudice" - Washington Post

Did the Washington Post really print an op-ed that called Mormons "subhuman freak(s)?"

Obviously written tongue in cheek, but there is nothing funny about saying she had to "sanitize" her surfaces after having sat next to somone she thought was one on a bus.

It really was written intended as a bit of humor. She equates being "self-proclaimed enlightened and tolerant" with being a liberal Democrat.

To read the entire opinion piece, go here.

ps - Ms. Petri, BYU offers a number of courses studying the Book of Revelation. You can study it as an undergrad, as a graduate, you can study it online, you can study it in Jerusalem. Every four years Mormons study it as part of their Sunday School courses.

And every four years, Mormon high school students the nation (and the world) over are up in a classroom studying it while other high school students are still in bed.

A group of Mormon high school students finishing "early morning seminary" (scripture study in a classroom)...at 6:45 am

What many high school students look like at 6:45 am.

pps - And did you know that John the Beloved actually penned the Gospel of John after he wrote the Book of Revelation?

ppps - The leadership of the Mormon church (between the President, his two counselors, and the 12 Apostles) have amongst them numerous degrees from Ivy League Schools (four graduate degrees)...and other prominent universities such as the University of Chicago and Duke (law school at each) and George Washington University. I would say that is pretty enlightened.

Is America ready for a President who is Mormon? - The Economist

Joseph Smith tried it. Mitt Romney and his father have both run. David O. McKay asked former Secretary of Agriculture (and then Apostle) Ezra Taft Benson not to run.

The current Senate Majority leader is Mormon. Is America ready for a President who is Mormon?

Mormons

They're here, they're square, get used to it!

"There's a significant possibility that 2012 will be the year that America confronts the question of whether a Mormon can be president. It seems like a question with an obvious answer ("I don't know. Can he?"). But surveys in recent years have consistently found that a large minority of voters are set against the idea, and the prejudice may be even more deeply rooted among a Republican primary electorate."

To read the full article, go here.

Huntsman Takes On Romney - The Economist

What exactly is the author trying to say?

The Republican nomination

In the hunt

Jon Huntsman is "just the sort of candidate this presidential race needs."

"Mitt Romney, who has been riding surprisingly high in recent polls,...may be able to abandon the health-care reforms he introduced whilst governor of Massachusetts, but he would never give up his Mormonism."

To read the full article, go here.

Why Harvard Hopes They Call You On A Mission - Businessweek

JetBlue, Bain Capital, Fisher Price, Dell Computers, Bank of Credit Suisse, Deloitte Touche, American Express, and Lufthansa have all had executives who served missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Yeah, they wore white shirts with black name tags, skipped dating for two years, and knocked on doors telling people about the Mormon church. Businessweek magazine, among others, looks at leaders that emerge from two year missions.

God's MBAs: Why Mormon Missions Produce Leaders

Many of the men who trained to be Mormon missionaries have gone on to become among the most distinguished persons in American business and civic life

From the article:

Mormons "compose less than 2 percent of the U.S. population...Yet Latter-Day Saints hold, or have held, a seemingly disproportionate number of top jobs at...major corporations...(I)n 2010 Goldman Sachs hired 31 grads from BYU, the same number it hired from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School."

To read the full article, go here.

How Comfortable Are People With a Mormon Presidential Candidate - Politico

Sixty percent of people are either comfortable or somewhat comfortable with a Mormon in the White House.

Hmmmm....I am thinking the other 40% do not realize those neighbors they like so much who live behind them are actually Mormons.

To see what America thinks of other faiths in the White House, check out the full article here.

Then make sure to share this video with all your friends so they can see that coupled with Mitt Romney's 2002 Olympic experience and Jon Huntsman time in China, those Mormon's foreign policies aren't so bad after all.

An Intro...What People Are Saying About Mormons

2012 is approaching. I am not sure it is going to be the end of the world, but it is going to be the year that two high profile Mormons are going to be in the race for the President of the United States of America.

I sometimes come across articles that mention Mormons in places that others may not see these articles. So I thought I would start this blog...what others are saying about Mormons...

Please feel free to comment on any of the articles posted. By posting them, I do not necessarily agree with what is in the articles, I am just posting them so you, the reader, can see what people are saying about the Mormons.