I saw a note from Ashley Elizabeth Jones about an article "Mormons in NYC" suggesting that Catholics could learn a few things from the success of the LDS Church in its marketing. Apparently the positive, simple message the Church is offering through Mormon.org and other sites has been effective and perhaps the Church has even benefited from the negative publicity coming from some other quarters. The important thing to me is that the Church's efforts really have opened people's eyes to realize that there is another side to the LDS religion that doesn't fit popular stereotypes or the hysterical hype of some of our critics. (One of whom, for example, got national publicity by writing a book attacking Mitch Romney for being part of a horrid--you guessed it--cult, filled with such oddities as a terribly "violent" Temple ceremony. Please don't let that defender of Christianity read the Old Testament or attend the graphic ritual of communion.)

It's easy to fall for hostile stereotypes when you don't know the actual people in this religion. Many people in the world don't have any close LDS friends and many don't even realize that they know any Mormons. Learning a little about real people on the Church's websites can help. We need to be more visible and more present in this world.

Here in China, though, it's a bit tricky. We are not allowed to promote our religion among Chinese citizens and to maintain the kind privilege of being allowed to meet and worship, we must be exceedingly careful about what we do. Even innocent questions people may ask us need to be gently deflected and the topic changed so that we do not run afoul of the law in letter and spirit. It's such a dramatic change. Before coming here, not talking about my religion was a sign of spiritual trouble. Now silence is an act of faith and obedience. I hope one day the rules will change, but for now, it's interesting to see how strict the Church is here in China in complying with the law, even being cautious to lock up hymnbooks when we are done since they are religious literature that we are not allowed to distribute.

While the conversation may not be very lively over here in China, I do think there is an increasing global conversation about religion and about the LDS faith, and I'm glad to see it picking in places like New York City and beyond. I hope more people will look into Mormon.org and more of you will become part of that conversation.

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