A Mormon moment (not really)
During the 2012 US presidential election, much* was made of Mitt Romney's Mormon faith, and how it was seen as a negative trait for his candidature. But it's useful to reflect on the fact that not all Mormons are the same, and their faith doesn't dictate an identical world view.
For example, Dave Mason, who is the author of My Mormonism: A Primer for Non-Mormons and Mormons Alike, doesn't agree with Romney's policies.
"It did feel like Romney was trotted out like an icon of how we are, and that's very hard to take, when I'm very much not," Mason says. Roughly one in five Mormons did not vote for Romney, and Mason resents the way Mormons are often assumed to be conservative in their political views. He supports gay marriage, for example, and Obama's healthcare programme, and says these opinions stem from his interpretation of Mormon values. "I think Romney is a perfectly legitimate Mormon - he's just as Mormon as I am. But it doesn't require us to think the same way about anything," he says. Indeed, this campaign saw some Mormons actively campaigning for the Democratic Party - for example LDS Dems, which formed in Utah in last year.
Cordelia Hebblethwaite, BBC News
All of this may be blindingly obvious to Mormons, and even to some US citizens who are not Mormon, but it's not so obvious to the rest of the world where the Mormons are just a weird cult
. As an outsider, Romney's Mormon faith was an unknown element compared to his more apparent general scariness.
At least Mormons share one common denominator though…magic underwear!