Mormon beliefs are out there for all to see. In fact, Mormons are more than happy to tell people about those beliefs, including the traditionally Christian (“Jesus was resurrected”) and the unconventional (“Joseph Smith was a new apostle appointed by Christ”). Mormons teach those things to each other and to other people every Sunday. Professional anti-Mormons, who make their money from scaring people about the “menace of Mormonism”, make a business out of taking Mormon teachings out of context. Even if Elder Ballard and other Mormons said nothing further about Mormon doctrines that some people consider odd, the professional anti-Mormons are going to be publicizing them for us, taking them out of context, and without acknowledging that a lot of secular critics of Christianity think that people who think a man could walk on water are just as looney as we Mormons are.

Elections are not the place where American voters choose their religious beliefs, and electing a Mormon, a Jew, a Buddhist or a Muslim does not make it more likely that you or your children or your neighbors are going to join any of those religions. For gosh sakes, Mormons are elected to public office in Utah, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon and California on a recurring basis, but there is NO visible effect on the religious affiliation of the citizens of those states. The election of Barack Obama has had no visible effect in reversing the longstanding downward spiral of membership in the United Church of Christ that he belongs to. Has there been a “Harry Reid bump” in LDS Church membership in Nevada since he was elected? Is his likely defeat in the next election going to decrease Mormon membership in Nevada? Of course not.

The fear that some Evangelical ministers expressed in Hewett’s book, that a Romney presidency would “legitimize” Mormonism, is irrational. But what it would do is undeniably demonstrate that at least one Mormon is an intelligent, well-educated leader of great integrity. It would demonstrate that ministers who have told their congregations that Mormons are stupid, deranged or evil have been lying. Just as was the case for racial prejudice, those who actively engage in teaching bigotry have an investment in continuing bigotry and opposing integration and equality. So, like the sheriff in Birmingham, Alabama, who arrested Martin Luther King, and like Mike Huckabee, they fear a man who puts the lie to their biases.

The Republican Party doesn’t need people who mainly vote their religious prejudices against other people. As you noted recently, the Catholic bishops would see more of their public policy goals achieved if many of the Catholics in Congress were replaced by Mormons and Muslims. There are broad public policies that attract traditional Americans that cut across lines of ethnicity and religion. The way the Republican Party can win elections is by appealing to those unifying themes, not by trying to appeal to people who refuse to grant full citizenship to other Republicans.