New Study Examines American Mormons, Current Mormon Views

The Pew Research Center in Washington, D.C., released a study all about Mormons in America.

Of course, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a major part of the eastern Idaho community.

Pew calls it a “Mormon moment” here in America, asserting that more and more people who aren’t members of the church are starting to pay even more attention to the LDS community, which makes up only two percent of the U.S. population.

With “I’m a Mormon” spots running on television, plays like the Tony award-winning “Book of Mormon” running on Broadway, and Mormons Mitt Romney and Jon Hunstman running for president, many agree that America is in the midst of the “Mormon moment.”

So, Pew polled members of the LDS church on their views and asked some opinions of nonmembers.

“There’s a lot of popular Mormons out there and I feel like it’s a good thing,” said BYU-Idaho student Breanna Haddican.

The study says that 56 percent of Mormons believe that the greatest problems the church faces are associated with misperceptions about their religion.

Specifically, 51 percent of non-Mormons polled hold the belief that Mormons are not Christian. Three percent of the Mormons in the poll don’t believe they’re Christian.

“A lot of people don’t think we’re Christian because we have a Book of Mormon,” said Justin Barrick, another BYU-Idaho student. “They think we’re replacing the Bible but that’s not what it does. It testifies of Christ.”

Another issue is acceptance.

Sixty-three percent of Mormons believe that acceptance of the LDS church is rising among their fellow Americans. Still, 5 percent think it’s getting worse, 29 percent say acceptance hasn’t changed and 3 percent just don’t know.

“As long as we do our part and we’re good people and set good examples, they’re not so harsh about us and treat us well,” said Haddican.

Politics was another big point in this study.

Almost three-quarters of the Mormons polled identify themselves as Republicans. That’s compared to just under half of the U.S. general public.

As for Republican frontrunner Romney, 86 percent of the Mormons polled have a favorable view of him.

Eight percent of Mormons identify themselves as politically liberal.