Clergy feel LDS 'misguided'
Survey results are similar for Utah, California clergy
By Carrie A. Moore
Deseret News religion editor
A cross-section of Utah clergy hold basically the same views about the
LDS Church as their California counterparts, and nearly half say they are
"very knowledgeable" about Latter-day Saints. Yet the majority believes
members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are misguided in
their faith.
The attitudes are reflected in the results of a recently released
survey conducted by the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research
(FAIR), a group of Latter-day Saint scholars and members whose purpose is to
counter anti-Mormon rhetoric. Scott Gordon, president of FAIR, said the
survey of 500 clergy was split evenly between California and Utah.
Not surprisingly, he said, the numbers show that only 6 percent of the
95 respondents characterized Latter-day Saints as Christian, while 78
percent said they are non-Christian and 15 percent believe "some members are
Christian and some are not."
What did surprise Gordon was the consensus of opinion by clergy in
both states on their views about the LDS Church. "I thought going in that
the Utah group would have stronger feelings about the Latter-day Saints
either one way or another - that they either associate with them and their
friends are LDS, or stronger negative feelings. The numbers came out pretty
much identical." Responses to some questions add up to more than 100
percent, he said, because some clergy gave multiple answers to the same
question.
Gordon said when respondents were asked to choose a phrase that best
describes Latter-day Saints, 63 percent said they are "well-meaning but
misguided," 32 percent labeled them as "non-Christian cultists," while 12
percent said they are "a major threat to all Christian denominations." Only
2 percent said Mormons are "good Christians."
Dennis Egget of the Center for Statistical Research at Brigham Young
University helped Gordon with the statistical analysis of the survey and
said the results are legitimate, though he said there are concerns about
"why those who responded did so and why those who didn't respond did not."
The only way to correct for that type of potential bias, he said, is to
track every potential respondent down individually and get some type of
response.
Egget said he doesn't know of another comparable survey to examine
clergy attitudes toward Latter-day Saints.
Perceptions of Latter-day Saints apparently go beyond merely casual
investigation or observation for many, according to the survey, which found
that 66 percent of clergy had sponsored some type of gathering within their
congregation to discuss LDS beliefs. Of those who had, 93 percent labeled
the experience as "positive, productive and/or spiritually uplifting," and
43 percent said they plan to hold another such event.
Some 84 percent said they had read all or parts of the Book of Mormon,
revered as scripture on par with the Bible by Latter-day Saints, and of
those who had read it, 26 percent labeled it an "interesting book," while 51
percent said it was a "waste of time" and 23 percent called it "evil."
Every respondent said he/she was at least somewhat knowledgeable about
the LDS Church, with 48 percent saying they are "very knowledgeable" and
another 38 percent who are "moderately knowledgeable." Yet Gordon said he
was disturbed that all but one of the 93 sources of information clergy
listed as reference for their knowledge about the church are considered by
his group to be anti-Mormon literature.
Twelve listed the film "The Godmakers," which was denounced in 1984 by
both the National Council of Christians and Jews and the Anti-Defamation
League of B'nai B'rith as erroneous for using half-truths about LDS history
and theology. Nine respondents listed books by Gerald and Sandra Tanner, who
recently lost a court fight with the LDS Church after they posted
copyrighted information from the church's "Handbook of Instructions" on the
Internet.
Gordon, who teaches business and technology at a California community
college, said he decided to undertake the survey while he was an LDS bishop
serving on a local interfaith council.
After observing an uneasy feeling between pastors and LDS
representatives, he wanted to know "what they really thought of us. Were we
being begrudgingly accepted, or was it that, valuing diversity as our
country does, that we were just tolerated?"
Gordon said the results of the survey will be posted on FAIR's Web
site at www.fair-lds.org