mitt.jpgMitt, you might have heard, is running for president of the United States. Whether you should vote for him based on his stance on political matters is one thing, but some have said that “a vote for Mitt Romney is a vote for Satan” (Bill Keller, a televangelist)

The last Mormon to run for president* and also gather considerable media attention was LDS church founder Joseph Smith. Joseph ran during the height of Mormon persecutions, primarily in an effort to call attention to their plight. Critics of Joseph Smith, many of them religious leaders, flooded the press with lies to further poison the public perception of the Saints. Not much has changed in that regard in the last 164 years; protestant ministers, especially evangelicals, still spew out venomous denunciations of Mormons. Why they feel so threatened, I can’t say, but their rabid vituperations clearly attest to a deeply-seated terror.

Mormons, they ignorantly/deceitfully warn, have multiple wives, reject electricity, eat children, desecrate the Bible and worship Brigham Young; Mormons are demons to fear. Except for the six million American Mormons who lead the pack in annual volunteer hours. Except for during disasters when LDS churches open their doors to the displaced, and who arrive in coordinated droves with food and supplies and equipment. Except for the educated, hard-working, family-oriented, cheerful, patriotic members which comprise her ranks. Mormons might be easy to hate in the abstract, but in the particular, it has to be difficult.

Are Mormons Christian? Jesus gave a good litmus test for this, “Ye shall know them by their fruits.” (Matthew 7:16)

* Mormons running for president include Joseph Smith (1844), Parley Christensen (1920), George Romney (1968), Mo Udall (1976), Orrin Hatch (2000), Mitt Romney (2008). Sort-of Mormon candidates include: Eldredge Cleaver (1968), Bo Gritz (1992)