As Catholics, Jews and Muslims have known for centuries, such attention is inevitable once an institution or faith group reaches a size or prominence sufficient to attract notice. Yet Latter-day Saints – sometimes known as Mormons – still wonder whether and how they should respond when news or entertainment media insensitively trivialize or misrepresent sacred beliefs or practices.

This is the problem – what do you do when your beliefs are criticized, put down, or otherwise blown out of proportion, without your consent and without context?

You do what you do when a small child throws a temper tantrum to get negative attention – you ignore it.

From the article:

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as an institution does not call for boycotts. Such a step would simply generate the kind of controversy that the media loves and in the end would increase audiences for the series. As Elder M. Russell Ballard and Elder Robert D. Hales of the Council of the Twelve Apostles have both said recently, when expressing themselves in the public arena, Latter-day Saints should conduct themselves with dignity and thoughtfulness . . . There is no need to feel defensive when the Church is moving forward so rapidly. The Church’s strength is in its faithful members in 170-plus countries, and there is no evidence that extreme misrepresentations in the media that appeal only to a narrow audience have any long-term negative effect on the Church.

There have been many criticisms of the Church in the past, and there will continue to be criticisms in the future, but the best course of action for those who truly believe is to let the truth speak for itself. We can defend ourselves and our beliefs without stooping to the level of our attackers.