A Note on Mormon Discrimination

To the extent that Mormons are identified with the right-wing and social conservatism, I think their impact on American society is negative in much the same way that the conservatism of the white South and Plains States is a negative.

That is far from excusing Andrew Sullivan's display of "Mormon sacred underwear" on his blog last Friday. What he was trying to do was incite bigotry against Mormons in the same way that right-wingers try to incite bigotry against gays by promoting lurid images of gay sex. Sullivan is gay and is very sensitive about discrimination against gays. He should have known better.

Sullivan was wrong and his actions are harmful to Mormons all over the U. S. My department at my university in Kentucky hired a Mormon government professor and it was a little over a year before some jerk started baiting her about Mormons wearing "leather underwear." We took it as an incident of religious discrimination and complained to our chair. I don't know what the ultimate disposition of the case was, but I was extremely saddened when the professor told me that she had been dealing with these kinds of comments "all her life."

People shouldn't have to deal with that garbage. I know that Mitt Romney is gearing up for a presidential run as a social conservative and I'll certainly oppose Romney as much as I can. But that's no more excuse for promoting bigotry against Mormons than Barack Obama's presidential aspirations are an excuse for white racism or Hillary Clinton's efforts are an excuse for sexism.