As a writer for LDS.net, I can tell you that as Latter-day Saints we are often on the receiving end of unfair accusations and criticism. Fortunately our friends and neighbors are often willing to stand up for us. While internet comments speed this process up, the exact same pattern existed in 1900. A woman from Boston wrote a letter to criticize a Salt Lake City attorney who had said he respected the Mormon faith.
“You will forgive me for protesting against your intimation that you “respect the Mormon faith.” Did you not rather intend to say that you respect the men, despite their faith?”
The woman went on to complain that there was no “moral or spiritual faith” in the teachings of LDS leaders. She even called the temple, “the center from which will spring gross materialism.”
The man sent the letter and his response to the local paper. They were also both published in “The Millennial Star,” the Church’s British magazine at the time.
Read the rest of the story at I LOVE THE BOOK OF MORMON.
