NEWS - MEMPHIS REPORTER MOCKS MORMON BELIEF

Memphis reporter mocks Mormon beliefs

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7/07

Written by: Dan Metcalf Jr.

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - A local Fox television news reporter in Memphis recently mocked the beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during a "man on the street" segment.

The segment is part of a series of reports on the Mormon faith which aired on WHBQ-TV (My Fox Memphis) in the past week.

During one report, conservative talk radio show host Ben Ferguson goes out to interview random people on the street to jokingly ask if they could identify the presidential candidate who believes good people will "get their own planet."

Ferguson laughs with the people who are not able to identify Mitt Romney. Ferguson has a few good laughs with the people, and in one part, he asks a woman if she wants her own planet.

Ferguson also jokes with people who did not know that Mormons believe that the Garden of Eden was located in Missouri.

In one of the other segments, a different reporter interviews a local LDS theater director about some of the LDS beliefs referenced in the recent Broadway hit musical "The Book of Mormon."

In another report, an apostle for the Church of Christ (formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) is presented as a member of the mainstream LDS Church and expert authority on mainstream LDS beliefs.

Yet another report profiles two LDS missionaries in the Memphis area.

Politico blogger Ben Smith called the Ferguson report a slam against Mormons, saying, "I've been of the mind that anti-Mormon sentiment has been overstated, but this segment on the Memphis Fox affiliate shakes that view a bit."