IS ANTI-MORMON BIGOTRY ACCEPTABLE IN ACADEMIA? Apparently so. “I’ve attended numerous scholarly conferences since that lunch where Mormonism has been discussed, and it is amazing to confront snide and disdainful comments and even overt prejudice. . . . And it seems perfectly acceptable to express this bias. Mormons are abnormal, outside the mainstream; everybody knows that.” Academia talks about tolerance and equality far more than it practices either.

Plus this: “Many of the academics consider themselves liberal, socially responsible, and broad-minded individuals, the repository of the best in America. They’re proud of themselves for voting for Barack Obama (a bit too smug maybe?). They would splutter and bluster and be generally outraged to be considered prejudiced. None would consider saying anything similar about African-Americans, Muslims, Jews, Native Americans . . . well, you get the idea. But anti-Mormonism is part of the same continuum that contains discrimination against any group. Why, then, is it allowable publicly express bias against Mormons?” Well, they’re not a Democratic Party constituency group.