LDS News Watch

Misleading Statements in Canada’s Largest Newspaper

The Globe and Mail, Canada’s largest national newspaper, published a book review by Alissa York that contained several false or misleading statements regarding the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The article, entitled, “Books of Mormon,” carried the subtitle: “One Latter-Day Saint is being tried for rape; another’s running for president.” While the latter comment, referring to Mitt Romney, is accurate, the former statement is false. The man Ms. York refers to being tried for rape, Warren Jeffs, is not and never has been a member of the Mormon Church. Referring to Jeffs a Latter-Day Saint is inaccurate. Ms. York also referred to “Mormon fundamentalists,” which is a misleading term. The sects she referred to were separate from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There is no such thing as a “Mormon fundamentalist.”

The article purports to review three books that provide information about the Mormonism. However, all three books Ms. York selected are written by critics of the Church. Her book selections appear to have been influenced by her own forthcoming novel about a 19th century polygamist family rather than a desire to provide accurate background information on the LDS Church. There are a wide variety of books and resources available about Mormonism and its founders that would provide much more accurate information on the faith. A recent LDS Newsroom release suggested:

“The Church fully appreciates that journalists and online writers like to use a variety of sources for their stories and that this is usually necessary to produce balance and context. But we do believe that the Church itself should be one of those sources.”

The Globe and Mail can be reached by email at letters@globeandmail.com or by using this Web form.