(Image Source:  Wikimedia Commons)

BY ALYSSA CARTEE

ANCHOR LAUREN GORES

Some are calling it a “Mormon Moment.”  From television to presidential candidates: some say acceptance of the Mormon faith in America is growing.  But some of that attention isn’t so positive.

Show’s like HBO’s Big Love...

“An act for the legalization of plural marriage...”

While the hugely popular Tony award winning musical “Book of Mormon” doesn’t dance around poking fun at the religion.

Pew released a survey of adult Mormons, of whom nearly half say they face discrimination.  

But the church combats the negativity with a new widespread ad campaign featuring Mormons living their everyday lives no differently than anyone else.  One ad even features The Killers front man Brandon Flowers who is Mormon.

Television shows, musicals, and advertisements are one thing. But are Americans embracing Mormonism enough to elect a member as president?

The Christian Science Monitor puts it like this:

“While Mormons view Mr. Romney in a very positive light, only 56 percent think Americans are ready to elect someone of their faith as president.”

But CNN puts a positive spin on things saying simply--

“...most Mormons also say the country is ready for a Mormon president.”

One journalist told MSNBC religion will be a factor in the GOP primary but not because of Mitt Romney’s Mormonism.

“The Evangelical Vote: you have two Catholics -- Newt and Santorum. They don’t really resonate as much with that crowd. … I don’t see anyone else coming to the forefront. Not because Mitt is a great candidate and they love him but there’s just simply no one else in the field that can handle him right now.”

A blogger for The Huffington Post expresses concerns over some passages in the Book of Mormon -- not the musical.

“What concerns me is this: the Book of Mormon, the book that Mitt Romney and all Mormons embrace as divinely revealed scripture that is more sacred, more true, and more inerrant than any other holy book on earth, declares that black people are cursed.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/obery-m-hendricks-jr-phd/mitt-romney-curse-blackness_b_1200470.html

Still -- Mitt Romney is the race’s front-runner and a writer for The Salt Lake Tribune thinks that says a lot.

“... despite the large population of evangelicals in Iowa, Romney was able to win the caucus there. This challenges whether the fact that Romney is a Latter-day Saint is really a large problem to the major percentage of voters, or just a “flaw” that the evangelicals tried to find in this man’s armor.”

Jon Huntsman, who placed third in the New Hampshire primary, is also a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. According to the survey, 63% of Mormons say Americans are “becoming more likely to see Mormonism as part of mainstream society.”