Mitt Romney's political activities certainly focused a lot of attention on the Church over the past many months. Now that the dust is settling, many are reflecting on the impact and their reaction to it.

Consider, for example, Maurine Proctor's excellent article, “Religious Bias and Mitt Romney” and the many reader comments about it. Many Latter-day Saints thought we were pretty well accepted, even respected by Americans, as a whole. But current news raises some questions about that impression.

Recently the Wall Street Journal published several articles that are typical of much that appeared elsewhere in print and in blogs. One was entitled Tabernacle On Trial, Mormons Dismayed by Harsh Spotlight:

An article in the Washington Post was even more pessimistic:

Well that's a bit over the top, when compared to 1850 (when a plank in the Republican Party was explicitly anti-Mormon), or in the 1890's (when the Church was faced with seizure of its properties over the issue of polygamy), or 1898 (when Congress refused to seat B.H.Roberts), or shortly after that when Reed Smoot went through four years of hearings before being admitted to the Senate. I've heard that the turning point in that standoff was when one of the Senators commented, “Well, I'd rather have a polygamist that doesn't polyg, than a monogamist that doesn't monog.”

There have certainly been some outrageous things said about us recently! But there have also been a lot of very decent things. I've collected quite a file of both kinds of comments.

In a recent New York Times article, Noah Feldman observed that, “In just a century, the leaders of the Latter-day Saints have gone from being murdered outcasts to being appointed to the Cabinet. Mormons began to succeed in national business and came to be seen as exemplars of the patriotic American ethos.”

What a paradox: as individuals we are well respected but our history, doctrines and religious practices are widely ridiculed. There is something wrong here. The Savior taught that, “By their fruits ye shall know them,” and that a bad tree cannot bring forth good fruit. Our reputation and much of the rhetoric seem incompatible.

One thing is very clear: we are not well understood. Although the LDS Church is said to be the fourth largest church in America, it is probably the least well understood. Lack of information, misinformation and false teachings by anti-Mormons all contribute to this problem. And anti-Mormonism is an industry unto itself.

Wonderful as our literature is, almost everything has been written by members to members, and often requires considerable background to be properly understood. Ever since the early nineteen hundreds, when false statements have been made by our adversaries, our leaders have typically chosen not to respond, thus avoiding unproductive and potentially damaging arguments and debates. Without a doubt, this has helped our public image, but has probably caused many to conclude that what has been said must be true or it would have been challenged.

But this seems to be changing. Comments in the October 2007 General Conference, especially by President Hinckley, Elder Holland, and Elder Ballard, and his recent BYU Hawaii commencement address urging member involvement in sharing our message and trying to correct erroneous information, all suggest such a change.

How Should We React to this Situation?

Some members just wish the whole issue would go away — an understandable reaction, given the discomfort we all feel when being unjustly attacked and see our faith ridiculed.

Others see this situation as a precious opportunity. There has never been a more favorable time to speak out — but that opportunity won't last long. Right now we have the interest and attention of many and there clearly is a need to correct misconceptions and to answer questions our friends may have. What a wonderful chance to inform — and possibly prepare friends for the missionaries. The Holy Ghost confirms the truthfulness of Gospel principles. But for one to receive such confirmation, he or she usually must first become acquainted with the information.

A number of new blogs have appeared on the Internet. Most tend to be very technical or academic. Although I admire the authors' knowledge and skills, there is a risk that such an approach will just lead to arguments with those entrenched against us. You can see this happening in comments being posted online.

There is also the risk of the unintended consequence of furthering the objective of the anti-Mormons to cause focus to be on relatively inconsequential details rather than on what we need to communicate — the truth and beauty of the message of the Restoration. I am convinced that challenges to our “theology,” “doctrine,” and “history,” are in reality a smokescreen to make sure that the public is distracted from and has a lack of confidence in our core message. If we are not careful, we tend to legitimize their criticisms by focusing on details, which are out of context.

During the short time this attention and interest will last, we need a way to give our friends a simple yet comprehensive understanding of both what we believe and why we believe it .

Our message about the gospel and its restoration is both simple and complex. I don't know about you, but personally, I have had many gospel conversations, over the years, that went nowhere. Although this is not true of everyone, I believe most people need to see the “big picture” before they can really appreciate its beauty. And they are not likely to take it seriously until that happens. That's a real challenge.

Religion is profoundly important and very personal. If life has a purpose, only God can tell us what it is. Life can easily be wasted if we don't understand that purpose and how to achieve it. Yet, for most people, family and cultural traditions are the primary sources of one's religious beliefs and few people make the effort to learn about the origin, history, and validity of those traditions. This is especially true in times of prosperity. Today, for most people, attention is on things of the world, while things of the spirit are largely ignored.

At some point in life, we all need to try to understand the spiritual side of reality. Doing so should bring new insights and a change of heart, or the beginning of being “born again.” But it's hard to get people who feel they are succeeding in life to focus on such things. Many of the really good people I have known, who are strongly committed to Christian beliefs, values, and life styles, have no idea what they are missing. How can we help?

Several years ago I started gathering information and looking for a way to share things about the church, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and about its restoration, that I so profoundly appreciate. Reluctantly, (because I couldn't interest anybody else in doing the job) I decided to write a book. The following were some of the considerations and topics that I felt were important:

The biggest challenge in writing this book was to find a way to get the reader's interest and attention. When Mitt Romney announced his plan to seek the nomination for president of the United States, that problem was solved!

A Wonderful but Fleeting Opportunity

Now is definitely the time. I offer this book as an easy way for you provide information to your friends about the Church and the restoration of the gospel. I have no doubt that there are many others out there who could have done a better job than I have done, but, to my knowledge they haven't done so yet.

There are two common reasons why people write books — to make money and for recognition, both of which are quite legitimate. But I assure you that this book was not written for either of those reasons. It was written to try to solve a problem that I had often experienced and that, perhaps, you have also experienced — how to share our message effectively with friends and non-member relatives.

Since the book has only been out for a few weeks, it's a bit early to judge its effectiveness. Several of my friends have given copies to their friends and have come back for more. In several instances, they have indicated that questions that their friends have had, which they have had difficulty answering in the past, were quickly cleared up. I believe that this is because of the broad context of the information presented.

One of my friends reported that the day after he gave a copy to someone he had been working with for years, he received an email, time stamped 2:30 am that morning with the message, “Wow! Where did you get this book?”

In the next few days, I will be meeting with the in-laws of one of our daughters. Neither they nor their son are members. They requested a copy of the book, have read it, say that it answered many questions for them, and have asked for a meeting to go into its message in-depth. This is the first chance we have had to seriously discuss the church with them in the twenty or so years since our daughter and their son were married.

If this discussion, which was stimulated by the book, produces nothing more than understanding, mutual respect and good feelings, my entire effort will have been well rewarded! Of course, I'm hoping and praying for something more.

We also have wonderful neighbors of Indian decent who recently expressed their condolences on the passing of President Hinckley. They will be coming to our home soon to view some of the video tribute to President Hinckley. That should give them a good perspective on his great life and accomplishments, as well as the worldwide nature of the Church and some of the humanitarian projects. We plan to offer them a copy of the book before they leave, hoping that the video will spark an interest in learning more.

I've also downloaded the wonderful video from the lds.org Newsroom, which was originally produced as briefing material for the media covering the Salt Lake Winter Olympics. I have it in DVD format so I can use it as a shorter warm-up for a presentation of the book, as opportunities arise.

Some Suggestions

I hope the above examples of current experiences with and ways to use this book will give you some ideas. For a limited time, you can download a free, complete copy of the book in PDF format at the web site www.mysteryofmormonism.com. I hope you will do so, will read it, and if you like it will think of ways to share it with your friends. Please invite others to do likewise. Feel free to make additional copies. As I've said, the purpose of the book is to take advantage of this fleeting opportunity to share our message, while we have the interest and attention of many people.

If you or your friends would prefer a hard copy of the book, I have arranged with the publisher to make them available at a deeply discounted price. Go to the Internet address shown above, click on the order button at the bottom of the first page for this special offer.

If you are a stake or ward priesthood or Relief Society leader, I hope you will consider passing these ideas along to your members. If, per chance, you are a philanthropist, please consider the possibility of purchasing multiple copies for distribution by members. You can contact me by email at the web site listed above to explore such a possibility.