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Renowned historian speaks about LDS Church PR problems

With the passage of Proposition 8 in California - the one banning gay marriage - the LDS Church is now facing a "perfect storm" of negative publicity.

So said one of the nation's leading historians on the LDS Church.

Dr. Jan Shipps has been studying and writing about the LDS Church for decades and decades.

She was also the first non-Mormon to be elected president of the Mormon History Association.

She now suggests the Church is facing a Prop 8 backlash, one which may take years to heal.

"It’s a perfect storm. It’s a perfect PR storm"

That's how Shipps described what the LDS Church has dealt with this year.

Specifically, questions about Mitt Romney's religion, the FLDS polygamy crackdown and now Mormon backlash from Prop 8.

Shipps said, "I would wager that the LDS Church has not faced this kind of negative publicity all at once."

The 78 year old Shipps is respected and revered as a historian not just outside Utah, but in Mormon circles here as well.

She said 'surprised' is probably too mild a word to describe the LDS Church's reaction to what happened since Prop 8 passed two weeks ago.

"I think they are really astonished that there are demonstrations at temples all over the nation."
Read entire article at ABC4 (SLC, Utah)