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By Bill Rife

“I won’t vote for Romney because he’s a Mormon.” At least this guy admits it! That declaration comes not from a southern evangelical but a right-wing Republican: a major corporation VP whose issues are not Romney care, his purported flip-flops or insufficient conservatism. It’s the religion, dummy!

This businessman is not alone. Although the prevailing narrative is that he’s not a “true conservative,” (See “Mitt Romney as the Nominee: Conservatism Dies and Barack Obama Wins” by Erick Erickson in www.redstate.com November 9 2011)  a significant, hard core of establishment Republicans feels that Romney, because he’s a Mormon, is not electable to the presidency. The Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-Day Saints is the target du jour. Liberals attack the institution as racist. Feminists have problems with the LDS’s history of polygamy and a perceived submissive role for women. Additionally, there is a deeply-rooted, pervasive, anti-Mormon mind-set across the land which extends far beyond agitated lefties, bra-burning feminists, antediluvian bible-thumpers, or fat-cat Republicans.

An anti-Mormon bias persists among Democrats. Byron York, writing in the Washington Examiner last June, explains “In a survey that cuts against the media stereotype, a new Gallup Poll has found that more Democrats than Republicans say they would not vote for a Mormon for president. Twenty-seven percent of Democrats say they wouldn’t vote for a Mormon, while eighteen percent of Republicans say the same. For independents, the figure is nineteen percent.” York continues citing the poll, “’The stability in U.S. bias voting for a Mormon presidential candidate contrasts markedly with steep declines in similar views toward several other groups over the past half century, including blacks, women, Catholics and Jews,’ writes Gallup. ‘The last time as many as twenty-two percent  of Americans said they would not vote for any of these groups (the same level opposed to voting for a Mormon today) was 1959 for Catholics, 1961 for Jews, 1971 for blacks and 1975 for women. Voting for each of these has since tapered off to single digits.’” But opposition to Mormons remains the same.

Polygamy is the easy target for LDS bashers. They associate Mormonism with the periodic eruptions of polygamist fringe groups or crazed, multi-wived individuals. Polygamy, however, has been officially outlawed in Mormon Church since 1890. Members who marry more than one woman at a time are excommunicated. But selective condemnation has generated blatant hypocrisy: Christian fundamentalists who decline to attack Judaism for the historical polygamy of its patriarchs savage Mormons for that long since abandoned practice.

On gender equality, the LDS is belatedly catching up. Its hierarchy is still 100% male. Women cannot become priests and the church proclaims the men must “preside over the household.”  But there is now a progressive side.  Mormon writer Joanna Brooks explains, “Our concept of God is not exclusively male. We believe in a Heavenly Father and a Heavenly Mother. All individuals can receive inspiration directly from God. Their history contains many strong, independent-minded women; e.g., 19^th Century suffragist Emmeline Wells and writer Eliza Snow. “

“Mormon feminism” is no longer an oxymoron. There is actually an activist Mormon feminist organization, Women Advocating for Voice and Equality (WAVE). This association (also open to men) seeks to “put action to all the words, hope and pain that have been shared over the years by Mormon feminists on and off the Internet.” On their website www.ldswave.org/ “there is a place share your experience as an LDS woman, participate in social justice causes worldwide, access opinions of LDS woment to include in your lessons and talks, a resource and support section to answer questions about feminism in general and Mormon feminism specifically.”

The other major area of Mormon vulnerability is the “racism” tag. As with gender discrimination, the church had been slow to enter even the 20^th Century. Until 1978, although Mormons had always welcomed all races, no one of African descent could achieve LDS Priesthood. That year church leaders ceased the restriction policy for black men, declaring that they had received a revelation instructing them to do so. By 1997, there were approximately 500,000 black members of the LDS Church, 5% of the total membership. Most of those are in Africa, Brazil and the Caribbean.

Far from “racist,” Mormons have an exemplary record of recruiting “people of color.” Now the fourth-largest denomination in America, it is a truly global religion with 14.1 million members, worldwide. Fewer than half live in the United States. Joanna Brooks tells us “More LDS Church members live in South America (about 2.1million) than in Utah (1.9 million). There are significant Mormon populations in the Philippines, Tonga, Soma and other Pacific Islands, and the church is growing in Africa. In the United States, a majority of converts in recent years have been Latinos. Worldwide, 4.5 million LDS Church members speak Spanish.”

Then there’s the ingrained perception that Mormons believe and practice “weird stuff” which arouses suspicion and solidifies their reputation as a “cult.” Funny underwear (the garment of the holy priesthood) for men and women, and Joseph Smith’s “magic glasses” are often cited.

But quirkiness and the hard-to-believe exist in most religions. Baptists find the Roman Catholic belief in transubstantiation  or exorcism implausible. Jews and other non-Christians have problems with the virgin birth. Mohommed’s flying rock ,the Islamic Naqib and the Jewish Kaparot are ridiculed. Scientology’s E-meter is seen as a scam and Jehovah’s Witness refusal of blood transfusions defies medical science. Is Baptism a form of water-boarding?

Every dogma has its day.

And so Mormonism, a native American religion of model citizens and high achievers, remains under assault. In 2012 that bigotry could sink the candidacy of, far and away, the most qualified presidential hopeful in years; the one canidate who is also the most likely to beat Obama.

There may be legitimate reasons not to vote for Mitt Romney. “Because he’s a Mormon” is not one of them.

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