This past weekend, Kate Snow of Good Morning America posted a question to George Stephanopoulos about whether or not Mitt Romney’s LDS faith would be a big hurdle for him (politically speaking).

George’s demonstrated response and investigative journalism is shoddy to say the least.

Romney stated the following in a previous interview:

Our belief is just like it says in the Bible, that the Messiah will come to Jerusalem, stand on the Mount of Olives, and the Mount of Olives will be a place where there’s a great gathering, and so forth. It’s the same as the other Christian tradition.

To which George commented:

Actually, we checked in with a Mormon spokesman who said that’s not exactly true. They believe the New Jerusalem is here in the United States, in Missouri, and that’s where Jesus is going to come.”

“Actually,” George, do you really expect Mitt to give you a missionary discussion type response in the amount of time they provide for media interviews? A student of LDS theology will note that Mitt’s response is in full harmony with revealed doctrine, even though George’s journalistic diamond mine he uncovered is true as well.

Perhaps George could have read up a little more before unilaterally dictating what is and is not correct Mormon doctrine.

Besides, George, you didn’t even answer Kate’s question! Oh well, it’s not like it has anything to do with his political platform, anyways.

The Economist is running a story titled “A modern prophet goes global” about the LDS Church’s international expansion.

While mostly accurate and worthy of the reader’s attention, a couple parts are on shaky ground. One such example:

Douglas Davies, a professor at Britain’s Durham University, says the Latter-day Saints are too centralised to be a “world religion” in the full sense: only if different continents and cultures develop their own styles of Mormon worship can the religion be likened to universal ones like Buddhism or Islam.

While interesting to see this person’s perspective and suggestion, somebody might want to slip Professor Davies a note telling him to not hold his breath…

Peggy Fletcher Stack of The Salt Lake Tribune is the author of a recent article titled “Something about Mary“.

Stack attempts to portray why Mormons don’t consider Mary, the mother of Jesus, a central figure in their worship, unlike some other religions.

Mormons will drag Mary out of the shadows of their faith again this season and plop her into the annual Nativity scene. They’ll gush about her beauty in the various crèches they’ve been collecting from Mexico, Poland and Nigeria. They’ll read about her on Christmas Eve as the family gathers around the fire before bed.

During December, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints celebrate the “fairest of all virgins” who they believe was chosen before this life to be the Messiah’s mother. They herald her acceptance of that role and willingness to sacrifice herself and her reputation for the good of the world. To these believers, Mary is both noble and human, glorified but real. In some essential ways, she is just like them.

For most of the year, though, Mary is largely tucked away – respected for her submissiveness, admired for her faithfulness, but largely invisible. She does not adorn their chapel walls, nor stare down from stained-glass windows. She is not part of their weekly worship or routinely mentioned in prayers.

Ms. Stack then goes on to pontificate as to the possible reason why Mary exists in the “shadows of [our] faith”:

It could be that LDS leaders are uncomfortable with powerful female figures, as its ecclesiastical authority is limited to men. Or it could be an attempt to distance the church from more traditional brands of Christianity, especially Catholicism.

With no supporting evidence for the former sentence and a weak one for the latter, these reasons are unsubstantiated and worthy of correction. Ms. Stack, obviously somewhat familiar with LDS doctrine, is walking on thin ice with statements such as these.

Peggy Fletcher Stack can be contacted at pstack@sltrib.com or 801-257-8725. Send comments about this story to religioneditor@sltrib.com.