'Anti-Mormon slime machine' kicks into gear

Pastor Rodney-Browne went on to acknowledge that Latter-day Saints are "very honorable people, very clean — married, godly, family," but that their faith has been "doctored up and painted nicely."

"The problem is the addition to the scripture, which is the Book of Mormon, and all the other additives that Joseph Smith brought to the table," Rodney-Browne said.

The "cult" claims made by Rodney-Brown come just days after a similar charge was levied by Rev. Huey Mills, head of the South Carolina Association of Christian Schools and follows by three months the media furor caused by Pastor Robert Jeffress, a Rick Perry backer who took advantage of a political forum to label The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints a "cult."

"Labeling 14 million LDS Church members as a cult renders the term meaningless; it really just tells us that the speaker doesn't have any actual familiarity with Mormonism," said Gordon. "It's like what (British writer and author George) Orwell observed in 1944 about the term 'facism,' that it had come to simply mean 'something not desirable' instead of imparting any actual information or analysis."

There are longer, more in-depth articles on these and other subjects on the FAIR website, www.fairlds.org. FAIR is not in any way sponsored or sanctioned by the LDS Church.

EMAIL: jwalker@desnews.com