~by Michelle

You may have heard about the Newsweek magazine that hit the newsstands (and Internet) this week. The cover story is “The Mormon Moment.” Some have been put off by the cover, but I was glad I didn’t (as they might say) judge the magazine by its cover, if for no other reason than I would have probably assumed all that content was a caricature or criticism of our faith, and that wasn’t the case. (Part of what persuaded me to give it a chance was reading McKay Coppins’ perspective on working on this project…he’s a practicing Latter-day Saint.)

The main story, “Mormons Rock” discusses the political side of things as Mormon Mitt Romney recently announced his candidacy for President of the United States (and Jon Huntsman is considered to be another possible GOP candidate). (Other prominent Mormons like Stephanie Meyer, Harry Reid, and Glenn Beck are mentioned.) There is a story about Elizabeth Smart: Saved by her Faith, as well as (my favorite feature) Everyday Saints, brief quotes from nine members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (including some other Mormon politicians). As is foreshadowed on the cover art, the South Park Broadway musical “The Book of Mormon” is also briefly represented. (You can read more thoughts on that topic here and the Church’s official statements about that musical here.)

If you are interested in being involved in a live chat with McKay Coppins, a member of the Newsweek staff and a practicing Latter-day Saint, it will be held today at 1 p.m. EDT.

More thoughts on “The Mormon Moment” to come….

Note: The sharing of this information in no way implies an endorsement of Newsweek, or the Daily Beast, or of any of the political candidates or others mentioned. We share this because we imagine some people might be interested in reading some of these articles and might appreciate knowing about the opportunity to join the conversation with a Latter-day Saint journalist who participated in creating “The Mormon Moment.”