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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A nonprofit group that defends Mormon beliefs to critics on Thursday launched a new organization and website designed to help journalists, political operatives and others better understand the faith.
The Mormon Defense League aims to dispel myths and explain the history, theology and other aspects of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, co-founder Scott Gordon said.
You can take any religion or beliefs and look at the doctrine and find ways to make them look silly. We're going to try and fill in the context and the gaps.
–Scott Gordon
The all-volunteer organization is an extension of the group FAIR, the Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research. Gordon, FAIR's president since 2001, announced plans for the league during the opening session of FAIR's 13th annual conference in Sandy Thursday morning.
The idea for the Mormon Defense League grew out of what Gordon said were volumes of misinformation about the church that circulated in 2008 when Mormon Mitt Romney sought the GOP presidential nomination.
"What we've seen is that as the church becomes more and more in the limelight, people say and report things that are often bigoted or false," Gordon said. "We wanted to provide an organization that could assist journalists and others get the story right and offer some gentle correction when they didn't."
In recent years, the Utah-based church, which has more than 14 million members worldwide, has been increasingly in the spotlight. Romney is again seeking the GOP presidential nomination, as is former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman. Broadway is home to the Tony Award-winning "Book of Mormon" musical, and the church played a central role in a 2008 political battle over gay marriage in California.
Misinformation or misperceptions about Mormonism stem from a lack of understanding of the church's history, doctrine and culture, Gordon said.
He said a team of Mormon Defense League volunteers will post articles and explainers to the organization's website, MDL.org; will answer questions through email exchanges or interviews; and will monitor news about the church to watch for missteps.
"If you come out with an article that says Mormons believe Jesus and Satan are brothers, we're going to say, `OK, this is why you'll find Mormons objecting to that characterization,"" said Gordon, who explains that such statements are considered code for suggesting Mormons are not Christians.
"The problem is that you can take any religion or beliefs and look at the doctrine and find ways to make them look silly," he said. "We're going to try and fill in the context and the gaps."
Neither FAIR nor the Mormon Defense League are affiliated with or sanctioned by the LDS church, although church spokesman Eric Hawkins told The Associated Press the faith favors "sincere efforts to correct misconceptions and inaccuracies."
Nothing about the Mormon Defense League is intended to replace the work of the church's paid public relations staff, Gordon said. But league contributors aren't hampered by an institutional process.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
