What are the long term ramifications of the Romney campaign?

[_harmony]

"I don't think that any of us had any idea how much anti-Mormon stuff was out there," said Armand Mauss, a Mormon sociologist who has written extensively about church culture, in an interview last week. "The Romney campaign has given the church a wake-up call. There is the equivalent of anti-Semitism still out there."

And

“There will be a long-term consequence in the Mormon church,” says Mr. Mauss, the Mormon sociologist. “I think there is going to be a wholesale reconsideration with how Mormons should deal with the latent and overt anti-Mormon propaganda. I don’t think the Mormons are ever again going to sorrowfully turn away and close the door and just keep out of the fray."

edit to insert the link: http://www.romneyexperience.com/2008/02 ... ir-moment/

What long term consequences? What changes will be coming? Will we withdraw into ourselves? Change the way we do business? Open up? Or unleash the attack dogs? Is a purge coming?

[_karl61]

I don't know if what will happen in the long run: I think that the LDS church could point out that they believe in the book of samuel and judges too even though they are likely myth. I think people hope (me too) that Romney will get the VP spot and if he does then Mormonism will be talked about for sometime. If he does get the VP then he will be groomed for the Presidency. People are also pretty sharp as to the church giving in to civil rights groups to avoid tax exempt status from being pulled or giving up polygamy or face the consequences - I posted a while back on MAD : if the Church was ready for the media to explain to TBM's about Joseph Smith's thirty plus wives - or marrying other men's wives who were still legally married to other men. People don't take too kindly to stuff like that as Parley P. Pratt found out.

[_Boaz & Lidia]

There is the equivalent of anti-Semitism still out there.

I wish the idiots out there would stop comparing the actions of Nazi anti-Semitism with everyday people who simply think that Mormons are weird.

Huge difference there.

Finally the Mormons are getting what they gave out for over one hundred years, and now they cry. Pathetic.

[_Jason Bourne]

There is the equivalent of anti-Semitism still out there.

I wish the idiots out there would stop comparing the actions of Nazi anti-Semitism with everyday people who simply think that Mormons are weird.

Nobody compared it to Nazi anti Semitism, just anti Semitism.

Huge difference there.

Huge difference when one reads it as written.

Finally the Mormons are getting what they gave out for over one hundred years,

really? What's that?

and now they cry.

Who is crying?

Pathetic.

yes , you are.[/quote]

[_truth dancer]

I think Mauss is recognizing what many know... the LDS church is not viewed by much of the world as a mainstream church.

My observation is that when someone is immersed in Mormonism it is easy to be blinded to what others think... believers not only do not care because they think they are right (tares and wheat thing), but more importantly they are surrounded by like minded folks so they miss what others may say, or how they react to the LDS religion.

My experience having lived in many parts of the country is that Mauss is correct. Mormonism is seen as a very fundamentalist, odd religion, along the same lines as FLDS, Amish, JWs, etc. etc. etc.

To mainstream, in my opinion, the church would have to let go of some of the more odd and, some would suggest cruel practices... things like not allowing family and friends to participate in weddings of members, garments and polygamy for sure, work for the dead, temple stuff, etc. etc. etc.

I do not think Romney helped to normalize Mormonism, I wish he had but I wonder if the campaign is just making the odd aspects of it more visible.

in my opinion, much of the PR stuff as of late is produced with the idea that most people consider the LDS religion another mainstream Christian sect, but my observation is that this is just not so.

Most likely all the fuss will die down and the church will continue on its ways. We'll see. :-)

~dancer~

[_Coggins7]

I do not think Romney helped to normalize Mormonism, I wish he had but I wonder if the campaign is just making the odd aspects of it more visible.

Oh please. Who could be more "normal' than Mitt Romney?

And, as you have no empirics to back up your baseless claims regarding how the Church is viewed in general, I'll make it clear that I have rarely encountered, during my lifetime, such views of the Church. The two exceptions here are fundamentalists who have no real conception of what we believe, and very liberal individuals who feel personally threatened by the Gospel's social and moral teachings, and who also have, usually, no real clear conception of what we believe.

Kind of like you TD. No real clear conception at all, and stubbornly resistant to developing such.

[_truth dancer]

Oh please. Who could be more "normal' than Mitt Romney?

I didn't say Mitt wasn't normal. I said I do not think he helped normalize the church... agreeing with Mauss.

And, as you have no empirics to back up your baseless claims regarding how the Church is viewed in general, I'll make it clear that I have rarely encountered, during my lifetime, such views of the Church. The two exceptions here are fundamentalists who have no real conception of what we believe, and very liberal individuals who feel personally threatened by the Gospel's social and moral teachings, and who also have, usually, no real clear conception of what we believe.

Good for you. I OTOH have had many experiences that tell me those outside Mormonism do not think it is a mainstream Christian church.

Kind of like you TD. No real clear conception at all, and stubbornly resistant to developing such.

Why are you always so nasty? Is there something we could do to help you?

I have no idea why you think I am stubbornly resistant to developing a clear conception. Hmmm... personally I think I am pretty open to learning and growing. Because my experience does not match yours doesn't mean I am stubbornly resistent nor does it mean I do not have a clear conception. It means our experiences differ.

~dancer~

[_christopher]

Oh please. Who could be more "normal' than Mitt Romney?

Someone who had not vowed to slit their throat or disembowel themselves. Someone who doesn't think that there are three over 1000 year old guys roaming the earth helping people out. Someone who doesn't think that you need special handshakes and signs to get all the way into heaven, etc., etc......


Chris <><

[_DonBradley]

"I don't think that any of us had any idea how much anti-Mormon stuff was out there," said Armand Mauss, a Mormon sociologist who has written extensively about church culture, in an interview last week. "The Romney campaign has given the church a wake-up call. There is the equivalent of anti-Semitism still out there."

The equivalent of anti-Semitism?? With its millennia long roots, millions of murders, and the violence it inspires among many of the world's billion Muslims, I would think anti-Semitism might edge out anti-Mormonism in its severity, consequences, and ineradicability. But, who am I to say?

I think Armand, whom I know and greatly respect, has vastly overstated here.

Obviously there is prejudice against Mormons. Is this news? Myriad Mormon young men, myself among them, have served missions in the Bible Belt, and we're only just learning that many of the folks there have a quite bad impression of us???

There is survey research showing just how much trust or mistrust 'average' Americans have for individuals of various religious denominations. Mormons fall toward the lower end of the range, but not to an extreme. Oddly, or ironically, the most mistrusted group--by far--in the United States are atheists. The prejudice against Mormons doesn't even come close. Historically, prejudice has run many times over higher for Mormons than it now is, and they are nowhere near the most mistrusted religious identification. So, while I think Mormons might rightly become more acutely aware of anti-Mormon sentiment as a result of some tiny part of the election rhetoric, Mormons ought not be discouraged in the least. The Romney campaign showed that a Mormon can play rather well on the national stage. And, who knows, perhaps before terribly long the Mormons will have their JFK.

Don

[_Coggins7]

Someone who had not vowed to slit their throat or disembowel themselves. Someone who doesn't think that there are three over 1000 year old guys roaming the earth helping people out. Someone who doesn't think that you need special handshakes and signs to get all the way into heaven, etc., etc......

Yes, yes, but what does any of this have to do with being President. JFK believed that the wafer of the Holy Communion actually turned into the flesh of Christ as he ate it. Huckabee probably believes the earth is no more than 6,000 years old. McCain actually believes in AGW.


So?