Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints may be going on a public relations offensive.
It recently came out with an online video about temple garments, asking people to drop the "magic Mormon underwear" label and give the vestments "the same degree of respect and sensitivity that would be afforded to any other faith by people of good will."
Watch the video:
As well, a couple weeks ago, the Church came out with a feature length film called "Meet the Mormons," designed to dispel misconceptions about the church.
Joel Campbell is a journalism professor at Brigham Young University in Utah. He said this is "the most recent iteration of what the Church has been doing since the 1800s to present its side of an image that is often maligned and made fun of."
"I think that historically, [the Church] has been an outsider. You know, geographically, first of all. It left the United States, went to what was then, Mexico; kinda had this very secretive nature, wasn't really part of the United States; and then announced publicly their practice in polygamy . . . I think that kind of carries in some degree to this day -- that they're weird, they're different," he said.
Now it seems the LDS Church thinks transparency may be the key to dispelling misconceptions about the modern Mormon Church. Campbell, who is Mormon himself, said, "I think the idea now is, 'Let's tell our own story...we're not trying to convert you, we just want you to understand us better'."