And in a publication that should know better, Editor and Publisher magaine allowed ex-Mormon and political cartoonist Steve Benson a free pass to blast his former faith without any rebuttal from members.

In the columns and opinion writing category, surely the following merit grades:

"A" — The Christian Science Monitor for its editorial about how a large bias against a Mormon for president is the next barrier to fall in U.S. politics; a column by The Rev. Dr. Jack R. Van Ens, a Presbyterian minister, about no religious test for candidates in the Vail (Colo.) Daily; and an editorial in the Erie (Pa.) Times-News about not mixing religion and politics.

"B" — An interesting, but irreverent, column in Mother Jones about why Mitt Romney doesn't talk more about the strengths of his church, including Mormon voluntarism; and a column in the Santa Clarita (Calif.) Valley Signal about what the writer considers to be important Mormon history.

"F" — I sure am glad that Dallas Morning News columnist Rod Dreher decided he has the power to decide who is Christian or not; Greg Marchant, an Indiana columnist who claims little knowledge of the LDS Church, shows even greater ignorance by giving credence to the bigoted rant of Lawrence O'Donnell; and if there was something lower than "F" I would give it to this column by Timothy Garton Ash, a columnist in the British national newspaper The Guardian, who leads his column by suggesting that various derivations of the word "Moron" could be used in place of the word "Mormon." It is the kind of "sophisticated" wit you would expect in the worst of high school newspapers.

(Joel Campbell is an assistant professor in the Department of Communications at BYU. He was a reporter and editor at the Deseret Morning News for 15 years and has also worked in corporate communications. He holds a master's degree from the Ohio State University and a bachelor's degree from BYU.)