With the impending vote, most Mormons may assume that Mitt Romney is the clear favorite. He has been the most consistent front runner for the Republican nomination for President this year, and his views may be most consistent with those of most Mormons. So why vote for Jon Huntsman, Jr.…

… for Mormon of the Year?

I think that the reason Jon Huntsman should be considered Mormon of the Year is his role in what has been called the “Mormon Moment.” We’ve seen Romney before. Alone, while Romney did garner a lot of attention when he ran in 2008, he didn’t gain as much attention as the combination of Romney and Huntsman does this time. Along with The Book of Mormon musical, Huntsman has simply added enough national attention to make the moment more than what we say in 2008. Simply put, without Huntsman, we might be seeing the same thing we saw in 2008.

There are, of course, other attractions to Huntsman. His style is certainly more hip than Romney’s. His daughters have given him unique attention among the presidential candidates, with their tweets and social media exploits. And his more centrist positions make him much more palatable for the general election.

I don’t know if that is enough to consider Huntsman the Mormon of the Year, but I think it is a good argument. Without Huntsman, would we have had as big a “Mormon Moment?”

Nominated and seconded:

• Stephen B. Allen — managing director of the Church’s missionary department and executive director of the “I’m a Mormon” campaign. I think this campaign has had a bigger impact both in and outside the church than anything else we’ve done in recent history. [2 results on Google News]
• Joanna Brooks—Brooks gained prominence this year as a religion and political commentator through her widely-read column on Religion Dispatches. For many non-Mormons she has made Mormonism approachable and understandable. [9 results on Google News]
• Presiding Bishop H. David Burton—”for his articulate and clear support for the immigration reform bill, which demonstrates a balanced and compassionate approach that many thought never could be attained. Not only did it instantly became a model for other states to follow, but it created a 180 degree turn in how many in the church approached immigration, and arguably sealed the defeat of Russel Pearce in Arizona.” [8 results on Google News]
• Brandon Davies—BYU Basketball player who was dismissed from the team for violating the school’s honor code, leading to a media frenzy over the honor code. Davies apologized to his teammates, accepted his discipline and eventually returned to BYU. [747 results on Google News]
• Jimmer Fredette — A hugely popular star basketball player at BYU, Jimmer led BYU deep into the NCAA championship during his final season with the team, and then was drafted into the NBA, ending up on the Sacramento Kings. [2,120 results on Google News]
• Will Hopoate — Despite a promising start to a hugely lucrative professional rugby career in Australia, Hopoate stunned fans down under when he announced he would pass on a contract worth millions and serve an LDS mission during the 2012 and 2013 seasons. The move gave Hopoate notoriety worldwide and among Mormons in the U.S. [85 results on Google News]
• Jon Huntsman, Jr. — Former Utah Governor and U.S. Ambassador to China, Huntsman formally entered the race for the Republican nomination for President this year, creating, for the first time, a presidential race with two Mormon candidates and significantly increasing the notoriety of what has been called the “Mormon Moment.” [9,450 results on Google News]
• Jerry Lewis—A political unknown before this year, Lewis defeated Arizona Senate President Russell Pearce, in effect mitigating the connection between Arizona’s harsh anti-immigration law and Mormonism.  [68 results on Google News]
• Stephenie Meyer – Like or hate her books, she is certainly the face of Mormonism among many people around the world, especially this year, with the success of the Twilight movies in theaters and news articles frequently mentioning her religion. [2,090 results on Google News]
• Neon Trees—Provo, Utah-based alternative rock band whose records include at least one platinum single, three singles that have made it into the top 40. The band gained national attention when it opened for The Killers. [84 results on Google News]
• Michael Otterson—The Director of Public Affairs for the Church, Otterson has been the public face of the Church and has received notice for his columns on the Washington Post’s On Faith blog. [6 results on Google News]
• Participants in the “I’m a Mormon” campaign—One of the significant elements of this year’s “Mormon Moment,” the “I’m a Mormon” campaign has attempted to show non-Mormons that Church members are just like everyone else.  [15 results on Google News]
• Mitt Romney—A previous Mormon of the Year (2008), Romney has been the front-runner for the GOP nomination for President of the United States. [26,900 results on Google News]
• Yeah Samake—Malian LDS Church member and BYU grad who is the leading candidate for President of Mali. Samake has been mayor of the city of Oulessebougou. [2 results on Google News]
• Rachel Vermillion—The BYU-Idaho student who was refused admittance to the on-campus testing center because she was wearing “skinny jeans” or because she looked “too curvy.”  [1 result on Google News]

Nominated, needs second:

• Brandon Flowers— [706 results on Google News]
• Johnny Whitaker— [8 results on Google News]
• Nate Oman— [no results on Google News]
• Matt Bowman— [37 results on Google News]
• Obert Skye (believed to be the pen name of Robert Farrell Smith)— [no results on Google News]
• Kevin Kloosterman— [no results on Google News]

For those who don’t remember, T&S selected Mitt Romney as the Mormon of the Year for 2008, Harry Reid for 2009, and Elizabeth Smart for 2010. As in the past, the choice does not mean that the person is a good Mormon or even a good person. This designation is solely about the impact the person has had.

Note: We have made one major change to the nomination procedure: Nominations must be seconded! We hope this will make sure that nominations are serious, and not in jest as some have been in the past.

I think the other ground rules are basically the same as in the past (suggestions about changes to the rules are welcome – we try to improve the rules each year):

• Nominees must be Mormon somehow — nominees must have been baptized and must claim to be Mormon.
• Nominees must have been living at some point during the year.
• The LDS Church First Presidency (including the Prophet) and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles are not eligible (because they would win every year, making the selection pointless).
• Nominees must have had enough of an impact to have made the news during the year.
• Collective nominees (i.e., all those who did x) are welcome.

Please do not try to vote YET!! We’re just calling for nominations at this point. Voting will begin January 1st.

When you nominate someone, please provide a link to somewhere (such as wikipedia, news stories, etc.) where we can get further information on them). AND, please give us some rationale for why you think this person should be Mormon of the Year. We will also look at the number of hits on Google News (http://news.google.com) that each nominee has.

You can make nominations in the comments to this post until New Year’s Eve. During that time, we will try to post profiles of the major nominees. If you would like to submit your own profile of any nominee not yet profiled, we will consider posting it here. We hope that these profiles will provide additional information on the nominees.

Starting January 1st, visitors to Times & Seasons will be able to indicate their preference in an online poll. However, the final selection of Mormon of the Year will be made by the permanent bloggers here on Times and Seasons. There is no prize or award associated with this selection, nor will we make any formal presentation or even notification to the person or persons selected.

I look forward to seeing the nominees and selection this year. An election year in the U.S. always leads to new faces in the news, Mormons who have had a great impact or influence on Mormons and Mormonism during 2009.

Here are my own nominations:

• Jon Huntsman, Jr. — Former Utah Governor and U.S. Ambassador to China, Huntsman formally entered the race for the Republican nomination for President this year, creating, for the first time, a presidential race with two Mormon candidates and significantly increasing the notoriety of what has been called the “Mormon Moment.” [9,450 results on Google News]
• Jimmer Fredette — A hugely popular star basketball player at BYU, Jimmer led BYU deep into the NCAA championship during his final season with the team, and then was drafted into the NBA, ending up on the Sacramento Kings. [2,120 results on Google News]
• Will Hopoate — Despite a promising start to a hugely lucrative professional rugby career in Australia, Hopoate stunned fans down under when he announced he would pass on a contract worth millions and serve an LDS mission during the 2012 and 2013 seasons. The move gave Hopoate notoriety worldwide and among Mormons in the U.S. [85 results on Google News]
• Stephenie Meyer – Like or hate her books, she is certainly the face of Mormonism among many people around the world, especially this year, with the success of the Twilight movies in theaters and news articles frequently mentioning her religion. [2,090 results on Google News]

And one nomination from my fellow blogger, James Olsen, sent to me by email earlier this year:

• Stephen B. Allen — managing director of the Church’s missionary department and executive director of the “I’m a Mormon” campaign. I think this campaign has had a bigger impact both in and outside the church than anything else we’ve done in recent history.

I’m certain that I’ve left out many people who have had a significant impact. That is why we open the nominations to you, our readers. Please help us nominate those who have had a significant impact.

To succeed in politics requires the ability to form coalitions with organized groups holding different opinions for the purpose of achieving common political goals. American political institutions do not reward parties or candidates who take ideological stands on narrow issues. The Theocons book relates the moderate success conservative Catholics and conservative Protestants (i.e., Evangelicals) have achieved while suppressing sectarian differences in the pursuit of conservative political objectives. There’s no reason that approach could not be extended to other religiously minded conservatives. But Romney’s candidacy in 2008 showed, I think, that did not happen. Sectarian differences overshadowed shared political goals and Romney’s candidacy faltered.

I’m not really interested in rehashing the Romney experience but in pondering the consequences for religious conservatives of the triumph of sectarianism over politics in this instance. First, let’s note that it was a rather surprising development. Romney could never quite surmout the label of “the Mormon candidate.” The religious affiliation of candidates is discussed in media coverage of candidates more now than a generation or two ago, but it has always been one issue among many, not a defining issue. For Romney it became a defining issue. It’s not clear to what extent the media controlled that framing or simply took cues from what readers were interested in reading, but clearly as a result the sectarian edge is sharper and more cutting now and going forward than it has been in the past.

Second, this has legitimized sectarian religious criticism in general, which was then directed at VP candidate Sarah Palin in the general election. One would think that Evangelicals and Catholics would learn from the Palin experience that sectarian criticism is a two-edged sword, leading to a renewed conviction to suppress overt sectarian rhetoric. But can you put this genie back in the bottle? I doubt it. Nevertheless, that is, I think, a necessary precondition for a successful 2012 candidacy by Romney or by any other conservative candidate that doesn’t pass the sectarian sniff test. It crosses the aisle as well — the media focus on the taking of communion by liberal Catholic politicians heightens the sectarian rhetoric and works against religious conservatives even when it is seemingly directed at liberal candidates.

Third, I think it has blunted the ability of the Republican Party to broaden its appeal, something it obviously needs to achieve in future elections. The subtitle to the Theocons book, “secular American under seige,” hardly rings true in 2009, when secular America seems in the ascendant. If religious conservatives have effectively tarnished their own brand (to use marketing terms), the most effective response by mainstream Republicans would be to move away from religious rhetoric and issues. In other words, the last thing the Republican Party needs is an Evangelical candidate in 2012.

No doubt others could offer more detailed political commentary. My general point is simply a recognition that the election of 2008 showed that the religious conservative or theocon movement was, in the end, not political enough to bury its sectarian differences, and that as a result that movement is effectively at a political dead end. People are now talking about banks and savings versus consumption and multipliers, not culture war issues. Politics is suddenly more secular. I’m inclined to think that’s good for Mormons and good for the country.

Note: Damon Linker, the author of Theocons, was kind enought to be a guest blogger at T&S in 2004 and write some very interesting posts. He presently writes a column at The New Republic.

As I mentioned on Monday, I received this unexpected and fun email message from Times and Seasons reader Last Lemming after we began selecting the 2008 Mormon of the Year. He had made his own selections for Mormon of the Year for each year since 1950!

I found the list fascinating, an entertaining look at Mormons in history over nearly 60 years, and really quite an impressive bit of work to pull together so much information. Last Lemming describes his criteria as follows:

I have generally followed a no-General-Authorities rule, except for McConkie (who was not acting in his G.A. capacity) and, arguably, Barbara B. Smith.  Otherwise, I was very flexible.  [Those selected] could be classified into three categories: 1) those influencing Mormon culture, 2) those representing Mormonism to the world, and 3) those influencing the broader culture  in ways not necessarily linked to their Mormonism.  I tried to limit [those selected] to people who were active at the time of their cited accomplishment. (Some, like Frank Moss, I would stand by even if he wasn’t really active because his accomplishment was easy to identify with his Mormonism.)

I have used my 20:30 hindsight when [making selections] (I can’t claim 20:20 hindsight when I can’t even fill all of the years).  I have not attempted to guess who might have won had Times and Seasons been around to conduct a vote.  Also, there are a fair number of people who could have won in any number of years.  I generally picked them in a year in which they had some notable accomplishment and little competition.

I did not pick anybody twice, unless their contributions were in different areas.  Thus, I gave George Romney two mentions (one for his business activities and one for his political activities), but gave Mitt Romney only one (nothing he did at Bain qualifies, and I treat his Olympics adventure as the beginning of his political career, not the end of his business career).  With regards to businessmen, I generally cited them for giving away their money, not for earning it.  Marriott is an exception, but the Books-of-Mormon-in-the-rooms phenomenon makes him different.

By posting this list, it is not my intention (nor that of Last Lemming, according to his email message submitting this information) to actually select anyone for these years. Rather, I’m posting this in part as a way for those of us who remember a portion of these people to remember, and for those who don’t to learn, and, undoubtedly, a something to be discussed.

I welcome your comments and suggested alternatives. On this particular portion, mostly before my time, I have a few alternatives to suggest. I’ll make my suggestions in the first comment. I’m sure others of you will have many more suggestions.

Like many of you readers, I have mixed feelings about some of the individuals mentioned here. But I can’t deny that all of them had a significant impact, and therefore could have been, at least in retrospect, Mormon of the Year.

1990:     Ty Detmer – for winning the Heisman Trophy after setting a whole bunch of NCAA passing records. (It’s not clear whether he had been baptized at the time.)

1991:    Laurel Thatcher Ulrich – for winning the Pulitzer Prize in history for A Midwife’s Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard based on her diary, 1785–1812.
Runner-up: Larry Miller – for building the Delta Center (now Energy Solutions Arena)

1992:    Stephen Robinson – for publishing Believing Christ.

1993:    Betty Eadie – for spending most of the year atop the New York Times Bestseller List for Nonfiction for Embraced by the Light.
Runners-up: Richard & Linda Eyre – for also hitting #1 with Teaching Children Values.

1994:    Steve Young – for winning his second NFL MVP award.

1995:    Jon Huntsman Sr. – for funding the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah.
Runner-up: Richard Paul Evans – for dominating the New York Times Best-Seller lists with The Christmas Box.

1996:    Bay Buchanan – for managing her brother Pat’s campaign for the Republican nomination for president, ultimately winning the New Hampshire primary and three others.

1997:    Alan Ashton – for opening Thanksgiving Point with some of the money he earned from WordPerfect.

1998:    Gerald Lund – for completing the The Work and the Glory series.  (He would be a plausible winner in any year between 1990 and 1998, but 1998 seemed to provide the least competition.)

1999:    Chris Cannon – for serving (in his capacity as a member of the House Judiciary Committee) as an impeachment “manager” (essentially a prosecutor) against Bill Clinton during his trial in the Senate.

2000:    The “Doe” Family – for winning their Supreme Court case against the Santa Fe Texas School District in which they (along with a similarly anonymous Catholic family) challenged the practice of public prayers at high school football games.
Runners-up: James Sorenson and Scott Woodward – for establishing the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation, which now has a database of over 100,000 DNA samples.
Preston J. Waite – for overseeing the 2000 Census and making the decision not to count overseas missionaries as Utah residents, thereby denying Utah an additional congressional seat. (He was serving as 1st Counselor in the Suitland, Maryland Stake presidency at the time.)
Rulon Gardner – for winning the Olympic gold medal in Greco-Roman Wrestling (heavyweight division) by defeating three-time defending champion Alexander Karelin, widely considered to be the greatest Greco-Roman wrestler of all time.

2001:    Darius Gray – for facilitating the release on CD of the Freedman’s Bank records (while serving as president of the Genesis Group).
Runner-up: Orrin Hatch – for his leadership on the stem-cell research issue in the face of strong opposition from his usual allies.

2002:    Mitt Romney – for rescuing the 2002 Winter Olympics and being elected Governor of Massachusetts.
Runner-up: Jay Bybee – for writing the “torture memo.”

2003:    Elizabeth Smart – for surviving her highly-publicized kidnapping.

2004:    Arthur “Killer” Kane – for being fascinating enough to make New York Doll, the documentary filmed about him during the year, so outstanding.
Runners-up: Jared & Jerusha Hess – for producing Napoleon Dynamite.
Ken Jennings – for kicking serious butt on Jeopardy.

2005:    Richard Bushman, Gregory Prince & William Robert Wright, and Edward Kimball – for publishing the most awesome trio of Mormon biographies ever; i.e. Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling, David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism, and Lengthen Your Stride:  The Presidency of Spencer W. Kimball.  (Either Bushman or Prince & Wright could have won this outright, but I didn’t want to omit any of them.)
Runner-up: Ryan Benson – for winning on The Biggest Loser.

2006:    Stephenie Meyer – for reaching #1 on the New York Times Best-Seller List for Children’s Chapter Books with New Moon, the second book in the Twilight series. (She would be a plausible winner in any year between 2005 and 2008, but 2006 seemed to provide the least competition.)
Runner-up: Benji Schwimmer – for winning on So You Think You Can Dance.

2007:    Harry Reid – for becoming Senate Majority Leader, the first Mormon to achieve that rank.
Runner-up: Dr. Jeffrey “Big Love” Cole (a fictional character on the TV show House M.D.) – for shattering all sorts of stereotypes, but not (unfortunately) House’s jaw.

In this first of three posts, we will include his suggestions for the years 1950 through 1969. We will follow on Wednesday morning with his picks for 1970 through 1989 and on Friday morning for 1990 through 2007. I suspect as these posts get into more familiar and more recent territory, more of you will have comments and suggestions about who Last Lemming suggested and who should have been suggested instead.

I found the list fascinating, an entertaining look at Mormons in history over nearly 60 years, and really quite an impressive bit of work to pull together so much information. Last Lemming describes his criteria as follows:

I have generally followed a no-General-Authorities rule, except for McConkie (who was not acting in his G.A. capacity) and, arguably, Barbara B. Smith.  Otherwise, I was very flexible.  [Those selected] could be classified into three categories: 1) those influencing Mormon culture, 2) those representing Mormonism to the world, and 3) those influencing the broader culture  in ways not necessarily linked to their Mormonism.  I tried to limit [those selected] to people who were active at the time of their cited accomplishment. (Some, like Frank Moss, I would stand by even if he wasn’t really active because his accomplishment was easy to identify with his Mormonism.)

I have used my 20:30 hindsight when [making selections] (I can’t claim 20:20 hindsight when I can’t even fill all of the years).  I have not attempted to guess who might have won had Times and Seasons been around to conduct a vote.  Also, there are a fair number of people who could have won in any number of years.  I generally picked them in a year in which they had some notable accomplishment and little competition.

I did not pick anybody twice, unless their contributions were in different areas.  Thus, I gave George Romney two mentions (one for his business activities and one for his political activities), but gave Mitt Romney only one (nothing he did at Bain qualifies, and I treat his Olympics adventure as the beginning of his political career, not the end of his business career).  With regards to businessmen, I generally cited them for giving away their money, not for earning it.  Marriott is an exception, but the Books-of-Mormon-in-the-rooms phenomenon makes him different.

By posting this list, it is not my intention (nor that of Last Lemming, according to his email message submitting this information) to actually select anyone for these years. Rather, I’m posting this in part as a way for those of us who know about at least some of this list to remember, and as a way for those who don’t know the list to learn, and, undoubtedly, as something to be discussed.

I welcome your comments and suggested alternatives. On this particular portion, mostly before my time, I have a couple alternatives to suggest. I’ll make my suggestions in the first comment. I’m sure others of you will have many more suggestions.

Like many of you readers, I have mixed feelings about some of the individuals mentioned here. But I can’t deny that all of them had a significant impact, and therefore could have been, at least in retrospect, Mormon of the Year.

1950:    Juanita Brooks – for publishing The Mountain Meadows Massacre.

1951:    Ernest L. Wilkinson – for taking the leadership of BYU, which he would totally reshape over the next 20 years.

1952:    Merlo J. Pusey – for winning the Pulitzer Prize for Biography for Charles Evans Hughes.
Runner-up: Pete Harman – for opening (in Salt Lake) the first Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant.

1953:

1954:    Arthur Watkins – for presiding over the Senate committee that censured Joseph McCarthy.
Runner-up: Douglas Stringfellow – for promoting to national audiences (while serving in Congress) his false claim to have changed the course of World War II, being exposed, and dumped from the Republican ticket.

1955:    Arnold Friberg – for completing his series of paintings illustrating the Book of Mormon.

1956:

1957:    J. Willard Marriott – for opening the first Marriott hotel (actually, a motel and I don’t know whether it had Books of Mormon in the drawers from the start).
Runner-up: Naomi Randall – for writing “I Am a Child of God.”

1958:    Bruce R. McConkie – for publishing Mormon Doctrine.

1959:    Billy Casper and Gene Fullmer – the former for winning the U.S. Open golf tournament; the latter for winning (for the second time) the middleweight boxing championship.
Runner-up: George Romney – for promoting the high-gas-mileage Rambler as part of a “dinosaur-busting” strategy as CEO of American Motors, and even initiating research into electric-powered cars.

1960:    Vernon Law – for winning Major League Baseball’s Cy Young award. (The award was not split between leagues until 1967.)

1961:    Hugh Nibley – for publishing The Myth Makers and beginning the series in the Improvement Era that would become Since Cumorah.  (Another lifetime achievement award that could go to another year.)

1962:    Reed Benson and W. Cleon Skousen – the former for becoming head of the Utah chapter of the John Birch Society; the latter for promoting the paperback copy of his like-minded book, The Naked Communist.

1963:    Vaun Clissold & Wendell Mendenhall – for realizing the visions of Matthew Cowley and David O. McKay for the Polynesian Cultural Center.
Runner-up: Helen Andelin – for publishing Fascinating Womanhood.

1964:

1965:    Henry Eyring – for being elected president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.  (Another lifetime achievement award.)

1966:     Eugene England & Wesley Johnson – for founding and serving as the initial editors of Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought.

1967:    George Romney – for generating a lot of buzz as a candidate for the Republican nomination for President, and for sabotaging the effort with his brainwashing remark.
Runner-up: David Kennedy for chairing the Presidents Commission on Budgetary Concepts, whose report informally governs the presentation of the federal budget to this day.

1968:

1969:    Jay Seegmiller – for receiving the United States Public Health Distinguished Service Award for his role in discovering the biochemical basis of the Lesch-Nyhan syndrome.

After careful consideration, the staff of Times and Seasons has selected Mitt Romney as Mormon of the Year, our annual designation of the Mormon who had the greatest impact or influence on Mormons and Mormonism in 2008.

During 2008 Romney concluded the most credible presidential campaign of any Mormon to date and dominated the U.S. national news early in the year like no single Mormon has in recent memory. He garnered a great deal of both praise and criticism, gaining him significant endorsements as well as important detractors. Remarkably, his supporters included many Evangelical Christians, which helped break down the unfortunate views of some Evangelicals toward Mormons. Also on the international scene, numerous press articles mentioned Romney’s membership in the Mormon Church, thus contributing to the image of the Church abroad.

Romney was not merely a very visible Mormon, however; his Mormonism was a major influence on the course of his campaign, in both positive and negative ways. Many called for Romney to distance himself from his religion, as JFK had done many years earlier. Instead, Romney responded by articulating the values he shares with many other Americans, which his faith supports, and by articulating the importance of all faiths in the life of the nation. Romney’s public image was inextricably tied to his Mormon beliefs, and this faith, which drove a myriad of storylines, appeared to contribute to the unease with him as a candidate, helping to derail his presidential hopes.

Times and Seasons has covered Mitt Romney before. You can see a list of posts that mention Romney here. However, given Romney’s continuing political participation and assumed aspirations, this recognition should not be seen as an endorsement of his political positions or aspirations.

The Mormon of the Year designation is a recognition of the effect that the person or group of persons recognized has had during the past year. It is not a prize or award, so nothing of value is being given to anyone as a result of this designation, and it is not necessarily meant to honor the person or persons recognized, so no effort will be made to contact or notify Romney.

We were very pleased by the interest in selecting the Mormon of the Year. The Times and Seasons readers nominated 21 possibilities in addition to the original 5 in the post. We learned a lot from those nominations, especially the range of our readers’ beliefs and feelings. We even learned about some Mormons who have done significant things and really deserve to be on a list of possible Mormons of the Year.

The LDS Church’s First Presidency (including the Prophet) and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles were excluded from nominations because their overwhelming influence would mean their selection every year. In many ways each of them, and especially the Prophet, are always the Mormon of the Year.

We also appreciate those who dropped by and participated in our online vote, which taught us a lot about the passion that many people have for their friends and those that they admire. Nearly 5,000 people voted in our poll, often coming from outside the bloggernacle, from fan sites associated with some of those nominated. We hope that those who dropped by enjoyed Times and Seasons and will drop by again.

Please plan on participating in next year’s Mormon of the Year nominations and designation. I’m sure that many of the nominees will show up in next year’s process, and those of us who were unfamiliar with some of the nominees can use that time to become more familiar with them. Certainly we will re-nominate some of them next year, if others do not. And, many of the fan favorites will get more attention in the coming year, since without a major election in the U.S., politicians aren’t as likely to be nominated.

• Mitt Romney’s presidential candidacy
• The confusion of the LDS Church with the FLDS Church in the news
• The Mormon role in the successful effort to pass Proposition 8.

But there were also smaller, important stories that happened during the year, especially if you include in News about Mormonism news about people who are Mormon.

So, what were the important news stories of the year that involved Mormons and Mormonism?

Personally, I’m most interested in stories from outside the United States — stories that demonstrate that Mormons aren’t just in Utah and the Intermountain West; and stories that help us go beyond the culture that the concentration of Mormons there represents.

But others may find that particularly interesting.

If you post a story, please give us a link to where we can read more about it.

Over the next few days I hope to go through the news sources I have available to me and I’ll add what I can find.

So let me pose the question: “Who should be the Mormon of the Year?”

Now, I do think there are some factors that should be taken into account in trying to make a selection. First, I think the Prophet should be excluded from consideration. I am NOT saying that the Prophet is not important, or even that the Prophet isn’t a good candidate for the Mormon of the Year. Quite to the opposite. My fear is that if the Prophet is a candidate, he will be selected as the Mormon of the Year every year.

We already love and respect the Prophet, so where is the advantage in making such a nomination? Doesn’t predictability turn the nomination into yet another empty and meaningless award? On the same basis I’d probably exclude the Apostles also – I’m afraid the designation would just rotate among them. Much more interesting, at least to me, is who deserves such a recognition without having the admiration that comes with these Church positions.

Another factor that should be considered is whether this recognition is about the person’s positive actions during the year, or whether it is simply about how much the person’s actions made the news. Time recognized Adolf Hitler as its Person of the Year in 1938 because of his impact, despite its negative nature. If the Mormon who makes the largest impact has made a negative impact, should that person be recognized? Or should that be some other designation? Personally, I’m not opposed to noting someone because of their negative impact, but I doubt everyone will agree with me on this.

The person’s membership in the LDS Church might be another factor. Non-LDS Church members, such as members of the FLDS Church and other organizations also consider themselves Mormons, as do many who are disaffected, inactive or excommunicated. Might they be considered also for Mormon of the Year? To those outside of the LDS Church, the difference seems minor, and the situation is perhaps analogous to our claim to be Christian. If we want to be considered Christian because we believe in Christ, despite the attempts of others to define us out of Christianity, shouldn’t we allow others to call themselves Mormon for reasons other than belonging to the LDS Church? Once again, I’m sure others will disagree with me on this.

While I’m interested in reading about your thoughts on these factors, I’m more interested in who might be considered for this recognition. So, I call for nominations. I’ve left out anyone that might run afowl of some of the above factors, but if you agree with me, feel free to suggest others that aren’t as conventional.

To get things started, I have a few names that, off the top of my head and without doing much of a search through the year’s news, might be considered:

• Mitt Romney – I know its kind of hard to reward a lack of success, but his candidacy in the past year has certainly brought attention to the Church and to Mormonism. And as far as LDS candidates for President go, he may have gone farther toward the Presidency than any other Mormon.
• Harry Reid – As the Senate Majority Leader, it is kind of hard to ignore Reid, since he is the highest ranking Mormon in government ever. He also provides a nice antidote to the assumption that Mormons must be Republicans (to say nothing of the fact that his politics are probably more in line with the vast majority of Mormons — when you take into account those that do not live in the United States).
• Stephanie Meyer – Like or hate her books, she is certainly the face of Mormonism among many people around the world, especially this year, with the first Twilight movie in theaters and news articles frequently mentioning her religion.
• David Neeleman – The JetBlue founder and well-known Mormon has started his fourth airline – this time in Brazil, bringing with it multiple profiles of Neeleman, why he was born in Brazil and how he served his mission there.
• David Archuleta – The American Idol finalist brought a lot of attention to Mormons during the show’s recent run.

I’m sure there are others who should be considered for this kind of recognition. I look forward to your suggestions, and to the inevitable criticism that this is somehow a waste of time or bad for the Church. I reject such criticisms, because, I might as well confess, my real motivation for this is: I own the domain name mormonoftheyear.com! [GRIN]

So what are some of the Olympic moments that you remember seeing or attending? I’m sure there are some true sports fans out there who have dozens of memories, but here are two of mine.

• Keri Strug’s final vault at the 1996 Games. It was the gutsiest performance I ever saw. The US Women’s gymnastics team was on the verge of their first-ever all-around gold, but in their final event the gymnast preceding Strug had two poor vaults. Strug, the last American competitor, landed very poorly on her first attempt, visibly injuring an ankle in the process. Nevertheless, she limped back to the runway, took her second vault, and nailed it for a 9.712. She landed it on one foot, saluted the judges, hopped around to salute the crowd, then collapsed. Incredible.
• Sting and Yo-Yo Ma on the ice at the 2002 Games. We were all holding our breath that the 2002 Games in Utah wouldn’t become some sort of Mormon fiasco — especially given the early financial scandal that threatened to tarnish the whole event. But Mitt Romney stepped up to the plate, fixed the mess, and the Games were a success and a proud moment for Utah. When I saw Sting and Ma performing at the opening ceremonies was when I knew it wouldn’t be a screw-up.

Despite the hype and the politics, there is still nothing on earth to match the Olympics and nothing as memorable as a true Olympic moment. Godspeed to all the athletes making their way to Beijing. Swifter, higher, stronger.