The author, Sheldon Rampton (center) in a photo from his days as a Mormon missionary.

BY SHELDON RAMPTON

Reprinted with permission from PRWatch.org

I posted a brief item [on PRWatch.org] recently about the PR nightmare facing the Mormon Church as a result of the prominent role it played this year promoting Proposition 8 to ban same-sex marriage in California. At the urging of church leaders, Mormons spent about $20 million on the effort, which probably provided the margin that enabled the proposition to pass.

I’ve been involved in a bit of a debate over on Jewish Journal.  My latest post was in reply to a Mormon who simply can’t see why it’s so scary when people try to invoke their God into the laws of man.   I felt it was sufficient to simply quote from this 1954 talk by Mormon Elder Mark E. Peterson at BYU.  More on the history of Mormon racism can be found here.   Here is a partial excerpt.