Seeing ignorance, Mormon church seeks to inform

Monday, Sept. 17, 2007 | 7:12 a.m.

Pity the Mormon Church.

A few years ago thousands of reporters descended on Utah for the Olympics and brought with them some unflattering and uninformed impressions of Mormonism.

Now comes Mitt Romney, the Latter-day Saint running for president as a Republican.

Political reporters, it turns out, can handle theology about as well as sportswriters, in the church's view.

"I think you could write on a postage stamp what a lot of political journalists know about these things," lamented Michael Otterson, the senior spokesman for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

So the church has embarked on a campaign to spread its point of view and make sure that when journalists have a question about Mormonism, the church is a source they call.

About a year ago the church leadership hit the national media in Washington and New York, giving background briefings to reporters and editors - and asked that the sessions remain off the record.

Last week the church began reaching out to regional newspapers. First on the list are Phoenix and Las Vegas. The markets are in Salt Lake City's back yard, Otterson explained. Journalists know (and sometimes are themselves) members of the church. The plan is to eventually make its way across the country.

Other efforts to get its message out include steering journalists to more informed academics, upgrading and updating its Web site and making its senior church leadership available for interviews about church doctrine.

The outreach is because "this is a big moment for the church," said John Green, a senior fellow at the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. There's a new focus on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Romney's campaign is the big fuel for the debate, but there's other kindling: polygamist Warren Jeffs' trial, Nevada Sen. Harry Reid's ascendancy to Senate majority leader, the release of a movie about a massacre by Mormons in the 19th century and "Big Love" on HBO.

Some Mormons believe that if the church handles it correctly, it could be accepted as a major religion in the country, Green said.

"There is this sense that with all the attention, Mormons may be recognized as a mainstream faith in the United States."

The newfound attention, though, could also become a negative.

"Much of it can be quite positive for them. There's the real possibility, though, some of it could be negative," he said.

What's the fear?

CBS News recently asked on its Web site, What branch of Christianity is the Mormon religion most like?

The expert the network turned to said Mormons were most similar to Moonies.

Not exactly the message the church wants out there.

(That would be this, from Otterson: "Where I like to start, to begin with, it's important to recognize there are many, many things we hold in common with other Christian faiths." Some evangelicals disagree, saying they do not consider them Christians.)

"They'd like to be a major source of information on their own faith," Green said. "What they're saying to journalists is, if you have questions about Latter-day Saints, talk to us first."

The danger of their outreach, Otterson concedes, is that the church could be seen as a stalking horse campaign for Romney.

"There's a brick wall between us and any campaign," Otterson insists. "But we can't allow that to force us into silence when there's a national debate going on about the Mormon faith."