Editor's Letter: Mocking the Mormons
In recent polls, 22 percent of Americans said flat-out they wouldn’t vote for a Mormon—more than double the number who admit prejudice against blacks, Jews, or women.
I finally got to see The Book of Mormon last weekend, and as Variety might say, it was “uproarious fun”—“the theatrical event of the year.” My wife and I were swept up in the audience’s convulsive laughter, as a chorus line of earnest Mormon missionaries belted out songs about their sexual repression and strange theological beliefs. (Heaven, it seems, is actually on a planet named Kolob.) But amid the hilarity, I felt a small stirring of unease. Would this audience of sophisticates (I saw Keith Olbermann in the second row) be laughing so hard and so easily if the play were mocking Orthodox Jews, or Rastafarians, or Hindus? I suspect not.
As evangelical minister Robert Jeffress demonstrated last week (Best columns: The U.S.), disdain for Mormons remains one of our society’s acceptable prejudices. In recent polls, 22 percent of Americans said flat-out they wouldn’t vote for a Mormon—more than double the number who admit prejudice against blacks, Jews, or women. Democrats were even more hostile to Mormons than Republicans, with 31 percent saying they’d be less likely to vote for a candidate of that religion. The justifications for this bigotry vary: Evangelicals think Mormons are a blasphemous “cult,” while liberals resent the church’s activist opposition to gay marriage. But Mitt Romney is not running for president as a Mormon, any more than John Kennedy ran as a Catholic, or George H.W. Bush as an Episcopalian. He doesn’t flaunt or discuss his private religious views, which is as it should be. Unlike, say, Iran, our Constitution specifically prohibits “religious tests” for office. It’s a sound idea, and maybe we ought to give it a try.
William Falk
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
AI is causing concern among the LGBTQ community
In the Spotlight One critic believes that AI will 'always fail LGBTQ people'
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
'Modern presidents exercise power undreamed of by the Founding Fathers'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Today's political cartoons - April 15, 2024
Cartoons Monday's cartoons - flamingos in flight, taxes, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Death of a dissident
Opinion How Navalny's fight against Putin will endure
By Susan Caskie Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published