Anti-LDS bias running high

Results of a two-year study released this week show one-third of university faculty nationwide have an unfavorable impression of Latter-day Saints, while an equal proportion of the general population holds a favorable view.

The survey of 1,269 faculty members, done by the Institute for Jewish and Community Research, showed that among social sciences and humanities faculty, the "unfavorable" rating for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was at 38 percent.

The results come at a time when discussion of public perceptions about Latter-day Saints is top-of-mind for many Utahns. The Rev. Al Sharpton apologized Thursday to two top LDS leaders for his jab earlier this week at GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney's LDS faith. And last week, the four-hour PBS documentary "The Mormons" broke records for viewership at KUED. The ensuing discussion about whether the program accurately portrayed the LDS Church's history, doctrine and members was the topic of water-cooler discussion, news stories and Internet blogs for days.

Gary Tobin, president of the nonpartisan IJCR think tank in San Francisco, said the survey did not ask why the respondents hold the views they do. It simply measured whether faculty members held favorable, unfavorable or neutral views about a variety of faiths, including the LDS Church.

Similarly, evangelical Christians were viewed unfavorably by 53 percent of faculty, he said, noting that 71 percent agreed with the statement: "This country would be better off if Christian fundamentalists kept their religious beliefs out of politics."

The LDS Church had no comment on the survey results.

Tobin said he can only conjecture why the results came out the way they did, but he thinks there may be some stereotypes about who these religious groups are. "That's what we're trying to measure here."

Of faculty surveyed, 75 percent said religion is not important to them, and 65 percent said they are Democrats.

"For evangelicals, given that most faculty are Democrats and liberals, they are likely to see evangelicals as conservative and Republican," Tobin said. "For Mormons, we don't know what they see or what is their stereotype."

Tobin said he could only guess that, along with evangelicals, faculty see Latter-day Saints as either "too politically conservative or holding what many believe to be anti-intellectual religious views, whatever they might be." Faculty are more likely to support abortion, gun control, separation of church and state, he said, and thus are likely to see "evangelicals and Mormons as groups opposed morally and politically to what (faculty) believe."