We may complain about bad PR, but positive stories do happen, such as "More Than Mission Work," at the Wichita Eagle. The story starts by looking over the shoulders of two sister missionaries doing door-to-door contacting, then moves to the inevitable "Are they Christian?" section, which takes a refreshingly different approach to the question by simply citing survey data.
The [2007] survey was conducted by the Washington, D.C.-based Pew Research Center for the People and the Press and the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. Results showed that 51 percent of Americans know "nothing" or "not very much" about the Mormon religion.
The survey indicated that 23 percent of those polled used positive words -- such as "family," "dedicated" and "devout" -- to describe the religion. But 27 percent used negative words -- such as "polygamy," "bigamy" and "cult."
And 52 percent said that Mormonism is a Christian religion, but nearly one-in-three, 31 percent, said that it was not.
Yeah, and according to a recent national survey by the Pew Research Center, Americans are having a change of heart about mixing religion and politics. Their survey finds a narrow majority (52%) of the public saying that churches and other houses of worship should keep out of political matters and not express their views on day-to-day social and political matters.
Positive stories don't just "happen" in the real press (which I guess excludes many of your daily news sources, but anyway) ... they're the result of either doing something admirable (e.g. LDS efforts to help New Orleans) or of having a competent PR staff.
But, of course, blaming bad press on us liberals/heathens/whiners certainly makes your job easier, don't it?
Posted by: Chino Blanco | Oct 23, 2008 at 02:00 PM
Gee Chino,
Who pee'd in your Cheerios this morning?
Posted by: Seth R. | Oct 23, 2008 at 06:35 PM