By coincidence, Lawrence's polling took place about the same time Mitt Romney became America's first viable Mormon presidential candidate.

The study's results confirm why Romney's campaign ran into so many public perception problems.

"Romney brought the latent anti-Mormonism to the surface," says Lawrence. "I think in the long run that can be a help if it prods (Mormons) to become determined to get more people to understand what we really believe and do not believe."

Lawrence has compiled all his data and published it in a book called "How Americans View Mormonism: Seven Steps to Improve Our Image."

Hot off the presses, the book includes detailed charts, eye-catching color photographs and thought-provoking quotes — all of it designed to catch someone's eye.

"We made it coffee table size so it might stick around in Mormon households and not gather dust on the bookshelf," says Lawrence, who has priced the book at $29.50 and made it available at www.howamericansviewmormonism.com.

"I'm not going to make any money on this, and I don't care to," he says. "I want to get it into Mormon homes. That's my motivation. I believe this is something (church members) need to see.

"As I see it, the church has a serious image problem, and that is causing increasing antagonism and fear of us," he says, cautioning that such a view is personal and in no way reflects any official church positions. "If I could, I'd like to help turn that around."

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Lee Benson's column runs Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Please send e-mail to benson@desnews.com and faxes to 801-237-2527.