Religion writer Stephen Mansfield on Romney and the "Mormon moment Stephen Mansfield is the best-selling author of "The Faith of George W. Bush" and "The Faith of Barack Obama," books which plumbed the theological underpinnings of the last two presidents. Now he has written "The Mormonizing of America," a book scheduled for release next week that looks at the theology and influence of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - the religion of the Republican presumptive nominee for president. We asked Mansfield some questions about his book, the LDS religion and its most famous political adherent, Mitt Romney. Q) You wrote "The Faith of Barack Obama" and "The Faith of George W. Bush." You could have written "The Faith of Mitt Romney," but you didn't. A) Because I think there's a bigger story than Mitt Romney, and that is Mormons reaching critical mass in American society. It's what led Newsweek to call our current moment "the Mormon Moment." Obama was a bigger story than the existence of a Christian left. Bush was a bigger story than the existence of evangelicals. But Romney is not a bigger story than the Mormons reaching critical mass. Q) So, that said, how do you think Romney's faith has shaped his politics and the way he might lead? A) I think that there's no question it's shaped what you might call his worldview or his system of ethics, what he believes about the Constitution, what he believes about abortion, what he believes about American history -- I think all that grows organically out of his Mormonism. I think that his leadership is a product of his training and his gifts, but he does lead out of a sense of it being part of him qualifying, being found worthy, him passing the test of this life -- that's standard Mormon theology. Q) We are said to be living in this "Mormon Moment," but a new Gallup poll shows that American attitudes about Mormons haven't really changed for decades. Nearly one in five Americans say they won't vote for a Mormon for president. How big a barrier is that to Romney and would a Romney presidency be a game-changer in terms of Mormon acceptance? A) Yes, I think the answer to your second question [is], it would be a game changer in terms of Mormon acceptance. Because while people like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and like the individual Mormons that are prominent on the national scene, so far they haven't shown a willingness to embrace the religion as a whole as mainstream. It would be a massive game-changer. I know that we want to believe that we're beyond any kind of religious bigotry in politics, but I just don't think we're there yet. Gallup says the only group with worse numbers that they poll in terms of politics are gays and Muslims. Ed: atheists too. That doesn't bode well, and apparently that isn't turning around anytime soon. I think that's why the Romney camp has chosen the approach that it has. Eric Fehrnstrom, he's a senior advisor to Romney, thinks that Romney talked about his faith too much in 2008 and now he's shutting him down and telling him to keep it quiet. I think he realizes you aren't going to win the big fat Mormon theological issue in the culture, so let's just run a political race. I'm not sure that's going to be possible. Q) Would Romney be better off talking about it? A) If I was king of his campaign, I'd have folks out there talking about it for the campaign, unofficially, but I'd keep the candidate away from it. I'm not sure I'd want Romney talking about temple garments and gods on other planets and Joseph Smith. But I wouldn't mind having an articulate representative in the field, defending Mr. Romney's Mormonism in the campaign. And if I don't see that happen after the convention, I'm going to wonder how much they're aware in Romney headquarters how much this is an issue in the culture. Q) You write that the LDS church has "risen to unexpected heights in American society because the Mormon religion creates what can benevolently be called a Mormon Machine" - which sounds a little ominous. Explain what you're talking about. A) I don't mean anything pejorative at all. I mean that when Mormonism gets planted into a culture, it begins to create this sort of machine -- this sort of complementary system of families that believe that their unity is ordained and will be eternal and that all their individual salvations are tied to their family life. They believe they should invest radically in education. They believe they're in this life to pass tests, so they almost do it joyfully and with great energy. They stay away from drugs, they stay away from alcohol, they stay away from some of the addictions that tend to bring poverty and destruction and humiliation and divorce and embarrassment. They are big pro free-market people; they are hard workers; they are religiously called upon to faith; they are religiously called upon to give. When you look at all the parts of what Mormon doctrine produces at the practical, almost secular level for the Mormon community, it is the engine of economic success. And that's what I call the Mormon Machine. Q) Is Romney an exemplar of this? A) "Yes, I think so. Maybe even more than him alone is his family, meaning his father and so on, his mother. I mean, these people are overachievers on stun. It's Over-Achievement Central.