{"id":1635,"date":"2013-01-09T08:21:00","date_gmt":"2013-01-09T08:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/01\/2012-the-moment-of-mormon-diversity.html"},"modified":"2013-01-09T08:21:00","modified_gmt":"2013-01-09T08:21:00","slug":"2012-the-moment-of-mormon-diversity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/01\/2012-the-moment-of-mormon-diversity.html","title":{"rendered":"2012: The Moment of Mormon Diversity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/p>\n

While he officially secured the Republican nomination last March, Mitt Romney\u2019s primary victories in January 2012 all but guaranteed that, for the first time in American history, a Mormon would be nominated to a major party ticket for president. Romney\u2019s nomination also meant that his often misunderstood and maligned Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a> (LDS) would be the stuff of headlines, at least until Election Day.<\/div>\n
When Mitt Romney gave his concession speech in the late hours of November 6, campaign staff, political reporters and pundits closed their notebooks, packed their bags and headed home. It seemed inevitable that Romney\u2019s loss would signal the end of the 2012\u00a0Mormon moment<\/a>\u00a0in American public life.<\/div>\n
But three events since the election, and two in mid December\u2014one, the horrific death of a six-year-old\u00a0Mormon girl<\/a>\u00a0at the Sandy Hook elementary school; the other, the Mormon feminist-led \u201cWear Pants to Church Day<\/a>\u201d\u2014proved that the Mormon moment, it seems, lasted through December.<\/div>\n
In 2012, much of the focus was on Romney\u2019s LDS Church: its theology, its rituals, and its politics. But it wasn\u2019t just Romney\u2019s religion that found itself under the microscope in 2012. The\u00a0Mormon people\u00a0<\/i>also got a lot of attention. For the American society and polity, the most important take-away from this media scrutiny should be, perhaps fittingly (and perhaps ironically), the same message of the church\u2019s \u201cI am a Mormon<\/a>\u201d campaign: that Mormons<\/a> are just like the rest of Americans, in that they are a diverse people. Mormon Americans are straight and gay, conservative and liberal, and racially and ethnically diverse. And like all Americans, Mormons are sometimes the victims of unthinkable and heartbreaking crimes.<\/div>\n
Read the rest here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While he officially secured the Republican nomination last March, Mitt Romney\u2019s primary victories in January 2012 all but guaranteed that, for the first time in American history, a Mormon would be nominated to a major party ticket for president. Romney\u2019s nomination also meant that his often misunderstood and maligned Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2251,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n2012: The Moment of Mormon Diversity<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"While he officially secured the Republican nomination last March, Mitt Romney\u2019s primary victories in January 2012 all but guaranteed that, for the first\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/01\/2012-the-moment-of-mormon-diversity.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2012: The Moment of Mormon Diversity\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While he officially secured the Republican nomination last March, Mitt Romney\u2019s primary victories in January 2012 all but guaranteed that, for the first\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/01\/2012-the-moment-of-mormon-diversity.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rhetoric Race and Religion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-01-09T08:21:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Andre E. Johnson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Andre E. Johnson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/01\/2012-the-moment-of-mormon-diversity.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/01\/2012-the-moment-of-mormon-diversity.html\",\"name\":\"2012: The Moment of Mormon Diversity\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-01-09T08:21:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-01-09T08:21:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/892ad446aed3fd242a430151516a83fc\"},\"description\":\"While he officially secured the Republican nomination last March, Mitt Romney\u2019s primary victories in January 2012 all but guaranteed that, for the first\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/01\/2012-the-moment-of-mormon-diversity.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/01\/2012-the-moment-of-mormon-diversity.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/01\/2012-the-moment-of-mormon-diversity.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"2012: The Moment of Mormon Diversity\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/\",\"name\":\"Rhetoric Race and Religion\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/892ad446aed3fd242a430151516a83fc\",\"name\":\"Andre E. Johnson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8740442d3e2978d7a9dd204585be3ed0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8740442d3e2978d7a9dd204585be3ed0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Andre E. Johnson\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/author\/ajohnson\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"2012: The Moment of Mormon Diversity","description":"While he officially secured the Republican nomination last March, Mitt Romney\u2019s primary victories in January 2012 all but guaranteed that, for the first","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/01\/2012-the-moment-of-mormon-diversity.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"2012: The Moment of Mormon Diversity","og_description":"While he officially secured the Republican nomination last March, Mitt Romney\u2019s primary victories in January 2012 all but guaranteed that, for the first","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/01\/2012-the-moment-of-mormon-diversity.html","og_site_name":"Rhetoric Race and Religion","article_published_time":"2013-01-09T08:21:00+00:00","author":"Andre E. Johnson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Andre E. Johnson","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/01\/2012-the-moment-of-mormon-diversity.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/01\/2012-the-moment-of-mormon-diversity.html","name":"2012: The Moment of Mormon Diversity","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-01-09T08:21:00+00:00","dateModified":"2013-01-09T08:21:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/892ad446aed3fd242a430151516a83fc"},"description":"While he officially secured the Republican nomination last March, Mitt Romney\u2019s primary victories in January 2012 all but guaranteed that, for the first","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/01\/2012-the-moment-of-mormon-diversity.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/01\/2012-the-moment-of-mormon-diversity.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/2013\/01\/2012-the-moment-of-mormon-diversity.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"2012: The Moment of Mormon Diversity"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/","name":"Rhetoric Race and Religion","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/892ad446aed3fd242a430151516a83fc","name":"Andre E. Johnson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8740442d3e2978d7a9dd204585be3ed0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8740442d3e2978d7a9dd204585be3ed0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Andre E. Johnson"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/author\/ajohnson"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2251"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1635\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rhetoricraceandreligion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}