Thursday, July 17, 2008 | 4:23 p.m.
I will never view Mormon missionaries in quite the same way after a gander at the young men featured in the "Mormons Exposed: Men on a Mission" calendar. Maybe that's exactly what rankles some members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints about these harbingers of morality being depicted as just so much beefcake - global-minded, community-oriented, engaged-in-good-works beefcake, but beefcake nonetheless.
Yes, there's more to these missionaries than bike helmets, nerdy ties and short-sleeve white shirts. And there must be something more to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' extreme response to this tongue-in-cheek attempt to offer a glimpse beneath the religious undergarments, to expose missionaries as mere mortals and maybe spread a little religious tolerance in the process.
Why would a church dedicated to good works frown on a calendar that shares its profits with 12 charities throughout the world? What about all those Mormons who make a living in fields frowned upon by the church... like gaming? Are they, too, in danger of excommunication? We explore some possibilities tonight with recently excommunicated calendar creator Chad Hardy and his non-Mormon business partner, Fred Brodsky, and hear about the divine inspiration for the 2009 edition.
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