Orrin Hatch: “when Alexandr Lebed called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ``mold and scum'' he attacked my faith.…”

“when Alexandr Lebed called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ``mold and scum'' he attacked my faith. Russia's new security chief--the man who stands behind Boris Yeltsin--attacked the faith of America's 6th largest church. I believe this requires an immediate and forceful response, and my colleagues and I have drafted a letter to Boris Yeltsin, Ambassador Vorontsov and Secretary of State Christopher. In his campaign comments yesterday, Lebed struck the nationalist chord. He spoke of the ``officially recognized'' faiths of ``Orthodox Christianity, Islam and Buddhism.'' There is no mention of Russia's Jews, and that concerns me greatly. The Mormon faith is a ``security threat'' to Russia, according to Lebed. It is comparable to the Japanese cult that unleashed poison gas on Tokyo last year. Comparing the Christian faith of the Mormons to a murderous cult led by a deranged individual is a calumny. Referring to the Mormons as a security threat appears to be anti-democratic demoguogery reminiscent of communist propoganda. Remember that, in the old days of communist propaganda, the Russian people were kept in ignorance and fear with official myths of fabricated foreign threats. Remember that, in the old days of the communist regime, the totalitarian state disguised itself as a paternalistic state that denied all individual rights, including the freedom of religious practice. We shouldn't be surprised, after all.…”