White House campaign puts the focus on Mormons

To Don Lounsbury, it's just another chapter in the same old story — his church is being maligned, misrepresented and misunderstood — only this time it's happening as part of the campaign for the White House.

Like Republican candidate Mitt Romney, the 72-year-old retired teacher is a Mormon, and he is keenly aware of the white-hot spotlight Romney's run for president has focused on the faith.

"It's the same old thing," said Lounsbury, who retired to St. George, Utah, from Oregon 15 years ago. "We've always been picked on, but of course, so were the early Christians." ''I'm not bothered by it," he added. "Because I know the church is true."

His wife of 52 years, however, has some trepidation.

"I'm afraid of the backlash on the church," 69-year-old Ethie Lounsbury said. If Romney becomes president "and it doesn't go well, they will bash not only him, but the church."

Despite Romney's attempts to keep the campaign focused on issues, questions about Mormons and their religious practices such as wearing sacred undergarments and conducting secret ceremonies inside their temples have dogged the candidate and, by extension, the 178-year-old Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Some Mormons are frustrated by persistent misconceptions and stereotypes for example, that all Mormons are polygamists (The Mormon Church renounced polygamy in 1890) or have horns. They have also been hit with allegations that Mormonism is more cult than religion, that it is a heretical perversion of Christian doctrine, that it is secretive, exclusive, elitist and racist.

"You can feel persecuted just from having people every single day misunderstand what you believe," said Jana Riess, a Mormon convert and the Cincinnati-based co-editor of "Mormonism for Dummies."

Riess is frequently tapped by reporters as an expert on her faith. The good news, she said, is that the news media are getting it right most of the time. But "I'm not sure the memo is getting down to the people in the pews," she said. Sometimes "I'm banging my head against a wall."

Romney's first-place finish in Tuesday's Michigan primary suggests Mormons won't soon get a break from the scrutiny.

While some see the attention as an irritant, others regard it as a blessed opportunity to do what the faith says they are called to do — spread the Gospel.