The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church or Mormons) is the only truly American religion that has survived and flourished since the "Second Great Awakening" religious revival movement of the early 19th century United States. In our modern times, this religious sect of Christianity is worthy of great respect and admiration from all Americans. It is quite shameful, especially for other Christians, to ridicule its creed and to spread outrageous falsehoods about it, however that seems to be the stock in trade of the religious intolerant. Kerfuffles suggests that “some” Christian churches would be better served in praising the Lord than defaming the Mormons.

The "Mormons", much as the ancient Jews, became strong because of the persecutions they had endured since their beginnings in 1830 at Fayette, New York. Much of their troubles came about because of the flamboyance of their founder Joseph Smith, however after his martyrdom and the ascendancy of the great leader Brigham Young, this new American religion has been greatly rewarded as detailed at the unbiased site Adherents.com.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the fourth largest religious body in the United States and the sixth largest body of Christians in the world. There are more than 16,000 Mormon meetinghouses throughout the world. Only 12% of Latter-day Saints live in the state of Utah and more than half of the Church’s members live outside of the United States.

At the death of Joseph Smith, some of his relatives broke away and formed a "Reorganized" LDS church, headquartered in Missouri. This group did not go on to Utah with Brigham Young. It is the second largest sect of Mormons, numbering about 250,000, and stirs little or no controversy, even though the "Book of Mormon" is included amongst its scriptures and the Prophet Joseph Smith is their historical legacy (see Community of Christ History). Recently, the Reorganized LDS Church has become enfolded into mainstream Protestantism as the Community of Christ Church.

At the time that Utah was granted statehood in the late 1800s, the LDS Church forbade further practice of plural marriage and it was this event that was the catalyst for smaller sects to break away from the main church. Although the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints claims more than twelve million active and inactive members, it is the much smaller groups of polygamous off-shoots that garner the mainstream media’s attention. The membership of all of these groups combined totals less than thirty thousand, yet it is the unlawful and dysfunctional antics of a few of these adherents that are portrayed in newspaper and television exposés.

The main LDS or Mormon church has no affiliation whatsoever with the Reorganized Church (Community of Christ) nor with the so-called "Fundamentalist Mormons", the polygamous sects. Contrary to published screeds and some defamatory, so-called Christian websites, the Mormon church does not condone the practice of polygamy and excommunicates any member involved with that practice.

American citizens have nothing to fear from practicing Mormons, yet some Christian sects tremble with trepidation at the Mormon’s successful proselytizing of the gospel, which was commanded by none other than Jesus Christ. Politicians as diverse as Senators Orrin Hatch and Harry Reid are faithful Latter-day Saints. Because the Mormon church believes, as do Catholics, in an all male priesthood, because the Church is opposed to abortion, because marriage between a man and a woman is fundamental to its orthodoxy, and because the Church has been so successful in spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the fires of hatred from some Leftist groups have been inflamed, and unbelievably, these feminist, gay-rights and anti-Christian advocates have managed to gain support from such unlikely bedfellows as Christian Fundamentalists and even some Catholic priests.

More Information: The Latter Day Saint Movement