This morning, I turned on the car radio just in time to hear the voice of Gordon B. Hinckley solemnly imploring his listeners to know as he did, that "this is God's work." I was momentarily disoriented by the familiar, gravelly drone, but then I was brought back by the chirpy voice of uber-annoying Amanda Dickson reminding me that it's been a year since the man had passed away. She read copy that said Hinckley's 13 years as church president were marked by an unprecedented jump in temple building.

What struck me, however, is how much has changed since he left the scene. Hinckley was always conscious of the church's image and did as much as he could to assure the outside world that Mormons weren't "weird" and that the problematic parts of its history and theology were "behind us" and "in the past." Members of the church around the world spoke in reverent tones about how this one man had raised the church's profile and improved its public image.

But after his death, two things undid much of his PR work. First, Mitt Romney's presidential campaign led the media to investigate the reality behind the church's carefully crafted public face, and what they found was indeed "weird," Hinckley's protestations notwithstanding. People learned for the first time about temple garments, seer stones, institutionalized racism, and a whole host of facts the church had long tried to bury.

Then came Proposition 8. The church's clumsy and ham-fisted excursion into sexual politics has been a disaster for the church. They may have scored some points with right-wing Christian groups, but then those are the same people who have long demonized Mormons as "not Christian," anyway. So, few potential converts are among that crowd. For the rest of the US, however, the church showed its retrograde Victorian attitudes about sex and gender, and of course it aligned itself with the right-wing religious nut jobs. Either way, it did itsef no favors over the last year, except maybe to reassure members that it actually does stand for something beyond tithing.

Anyway, if Gordon B. Hinckley is at all conscious somewhere in the universe, it must be eating at him to see all of his work so completely unraveled.

Oh he'd have loved the FLDS disaster too, - Heresy

and Chad Hardy's publicity, the economic climate for his mall is deteriorating, and a squabble between apologists on where the BoM took place.

He should have stuck around another year. The Lord needed him here!

I completely agree with Hinckley on one thing... - danboyle

the church is either 100% true, or it's a giant fraud...there can be no middle ground.

Thanks for clearing that up for us Gordy.

I vote fraud.

Don't forget about the YFZ ranch incident. - Pompous S Monson

Despite what the apostate mormons say, the media and people believe that the people in FLDS are also mormon.

Thanks Larry King - Me Too

It was actually one of his interviews on national TV (Mike Wallace or Larry King - don't remember) that first got me wondering about all of the shit I believed.

Hinckley, isn't he that guy who shot Reagan? - Not from Utah

People outside of Mormon Utah, Arizona and Idaho have no idea who Mormon Hinckley is. Mention Hinckley and they recall Reagan - some legacy.

Top flop news story of 2008 - in the world of Utah but not of the world of Utah

You must have missed KSL TV's traditional end-of-year look-back that news shows typically do when a year comes to an end. For 2008, they were labeling various stories as "top human interest story, top (whatever) story, and then at the end they picked a top news story overall for 2008.

Was it that our first African-American President had been elected? Nope. Was it all the bad news about the economy? Nope.

The TOP STORY OF 2008 was: The death of President Gordon B. Hinkley with all the clips being played of people singing hymns and waving canes in the streets of SLC and gushing about what a great man he was and how they'd miss him in interviews. I was sitting there thinking that, even at my TBM-est, there is no way that would have been even close to the "top news story" coming out of 2008.

The Hinckster was my first "wake-up" call - I believed this all, once.

Yes, all of Hinckely's butt-kissing PR work has been completely erased in a few short months.

I once was a true believer, and picked up "The Mormon Murders" expecting "my" church leaders to act in a wise and inspired way, causing admiration and perhaps even consideration of the "worldly" journalist into converting to "the true faith".

What I got was a rude awakening. It was the first piece of strictly factual reporting from a voice outside the church. That book, and Hinckley's behavior (clueless, arrogant, and deceitful) was my first BIG CLUE that the TSSC was all hooey.

Hinckley's so called expert PR work was a joke to begin with. - Rubicon

The only thing Gordon B. Hinckley had going for his was he held high office in the church. Mormons worship the office so anyone could be in his seat and get the same praise. Secondly, he told jokes and was likable for the most part and he was more visable than the average old geezer prophet with health problems.

Dear Bruce,

This image is a screen shot taken from your official Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints website - www.lds.org on November 21, 2005. This website provides "investigators" with "non-objective" information about your church. Please keep this image in mind as we review some of your public statements pertaining to what you deem as "unfair criticisms of the Church" by the media.

For example to Jamie Allen of cnn.com, you wrote "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints takes great exception to the report, "Separation of church and career in Salt Lake City," posted on CNN.com, 8 March 2001.

"I wonder how comfortable you would feel if you replaced the phrase Latter-day Saints with other religious groups. For example, "moving from New York because of the Jews" or "moving from Atlanta because of the Baptists." When did it become politically correct to disparage members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? This is not an issue the Church takes lightly."

"Your editorial comment: '.... it's quite possible to live there (Salt Lake City) and excel as a careerist, even if you don't follow the principles of the LDS Church' is simply unconscionable. It is not a journalist's prerogative to pass judgement on a religious faith, especially one whose members founded Salt Lake City. Latter-day Saints, as religious refugees, came to the Salt Lake Valley to escape the narrowminded judgement and prejudice you so openly displayed in your reporting of this story."

"Not only have you insulted the 11 million members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but you have done harm to the economic development of Salt Lake City with your misleading report. Because your article has broad circulation, we feel it is incumbent for us to make this letter public on PR Newswire with copies sent to the Anti-defamation League, the National Conference for Community and Justice, the Columbia Journalism Review, the Utah Division of Business & Economic Development and the Utah State Governor's Office."

Sincerely,

Bruce L. Olsen
Managing Director
Public Affairs Department

cc: Anti-defamation League
The National Conference for Community and Justice
The Columbia Journalism Review
The Utah Division of Business & Economic Development
The Utah State Governor's Office
CNN.com Online Managing Editor Chuck Westbrook
CNN.com Online Executive Editor Edwin Vidal

So Bruce, I wonder how comfortable you would feel if you replaced the phrase "wrong, abomination and corrupt" with other religious groups such as the The Utah Catholic Diocese, The Christ United Methodist Church, Alrasool Islamic Center, Temple Har Shalom.

When did it become politically correct for you to disparage members of the Catholic Church, the Methodist Church, the Islamic faith and the Jewish community? This is not an issue these people take lightly.

It is not a Mormon public relations professional's prerogative to pass judgement on a religious faith, especially on those whose members founded their faiths prior to Mormonism. Christians, Jews and Muslims, as religious refugees, have been persecuted around the globe, not just in the Salt Lake Valley where they still suffer from the narrowminded judgement and prejudice you so openly display on your official website.

Not only have you insulted millions of faithful decent people, but you have done harm to the ecuminical development of Salt Lake City and the world with your devisive web site. Because your web site has broad circulation, I feel it is incumbent for me to make this letter public on the Interent with copies sent to:

Richard Edelman - Edelman Public Relations Worldwide
The Anti-defamation League
The National Conference for Community and Justice
The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
The World Council of Churches
The Utah State Governor's Office.

Bruce, your overtly hostile attitude towards other organized religions and faiths may be why The Seventh Day Adventists, Assemblies of God and Jehova's Witnesses are currently "eating your temple cafeteria lunch" in the growth and expansion statistics.

Please show the world that you can wake up and "smell the Postum" by removing the ghastly Joseph Smith - History Chapter 1:19 from your web site today.

Sternly yours,

An investigator

For a public relations firm with a Jewish founder to take on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a client was an extraordinary step on Dan Edelman’s part. But the glue that has held the two organizations together these past years has been shared values.

Dan Edelman has always been a man of principle. His heart and his sense of right have caused Dan and his company to take on many causes that may not have been popular at the time. Values like honoring the memory of ancestors, love of God, strong family ties, integrity and honor are important to both organizations.

To the Mormon leaders in Salt Lake City, Dan Edelman is not just a highly respected public relations advisor, he is a trusted friend.

Dan, we salute you on this milestone, and hope for the benefit of many more years of your truly exceptional, professional caring.

We send our love to you, Ruth and each member of your family.

Posted at www.edelman.com/speakup/ by: Bruce Olsen - Managing Director Public Affairs Department LDS Church on June 18, 2005

Editor's Note to Bruce: Yes, values like a history of representing the tobacco industry while simultaneously representing the Mormon (Word of Wisdom) Church and The American Cancer Society. Maybe the Mr. Edelman recieved a revelation to stop representing tobacco companies from the same God who in 1978 commanded Spencer W. Kimball to stop discriminating against Blacks? Oh, was that the God of "embarrassing public pressure and negative political fallout?"

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Edelman works for the Mormon Church (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). While details of their work on the account are scarce, in 1997 Edelman did the PR for re-enactment of thousands of Mormons travelling from Illinois to Utah in covered wagons. http://www.odwyerpr.com/members/archived_stories_2001/march/0320mormons.htm

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Making plans to get the Mormon story out, someone at Edelman Public Relations in New York City—a firm that has a continuing contractual relationship with the LDS Church—had the bright idea of approaching the New Yorker and suggesting a profile of President Hinckley. (In view of his interviews with Mike Wallace and Larry King, Hinckley has become something of a media personality... for more: http://www.trincoll.edu/depts/csrpl/RINVol5No1/mormons%20score.htm

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High up in the church's public affairs office, spokesman Don LeFevre says the hiring of Edelman Public Relations has nothing to do with the upcoming Southern Baptist Convention. Still, it's apparent that the church is reshuffling its image in response to some outside force. http://weeklywire.com/ww/06-01-98/slc_story.html

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Referring to a Stake President interviewed on the Today Show: "Belnap was being deliberately disingenuous, as the Church has become more and more media-savvy, image-conscious and PR-friendly. Edelman does a good job for us, and sometimes it's more important to lie for the Lord than to be bold and assertive with our truth-claims." ~ Marnie | 11/07/05 15:17

Re whether people outside the US know the difference between LDS and FLDS:

Those who knock on doors with Bibles and books are either JW's or Mormons. People think they are one and the same - or related somehow as they are both American.

The Amish and Shakers are often lumped in with them both for some reason. The only people who are associated though with the polygamy debacle are mormons - who are all the same whether Fundie, Reorganised or simply Latter. Same book, same religion, same madness. - 01/14/2009 - by Brigantia [U.K.]