But who does the LDS church want to appeal to? I half-believe that this is part of a (misguided) PR campaign to convince the fundamentalist douchebags in the South that the fundamentalist douchebags in the West aren't so different after all.

Honestly: if the rest of the fundamentalist crazies didn't find Mormons so distasteful, Mitt Romney would have cleaned up the nomination and posed a much stronger campaign against Obama.

Believing that the fundamentalist "mainstream" will accept Mormons is as delusional as expecting Sunnis and Shiites to get along, but we are talking about people who thought Iraq could be stabilized. Meanwhile, appealing to liberals is the furthest thing from their minds.

Regardless, the backfire is real and delicious.

What is this gratuitous reference to "magic underpants?" Is it supposed to be humorous?

It is certainly bigoted. Just add "magic" to any phrase, and voila, you have ridicule replacing sacred. Which is, of course, your point.

This sort of zealous nonsense will backfire on you...

Yes, Beowulf is correct. If you make fun of religious people's 'sacred' ceremonies, garments and beliefs then the Invisible Sky Daddy Who Lives In Another Dimension will punish you severely.

They do believe their underpants are magical. Unlike the sacred symbols of other religions, Mormons literally believe theirs have the power to protect against things like fire. Sounds like magic to me, at least when you apply a Lord of the Rings standard. Frodo should get some of that. Screw that Mithril crap.

Some Mormons may think their underwear are magical, but that isn't a teaching of the church. They are taught the garment is a protection in the sense they provide symbolic reminders of promises made to God. You can disagree with their teachings, but one should always know what they are talking about if they want to make a point.

Temple garments are often referred to as "armor", even if only figuratively or spiritually. However, there's plenty of history in the LDS church of people believing in the garments' physically protective qualities. So yes, many consider them to be 'magical'.

http://www.i4m.com/think/temples/mormon-ga…

They're also worn to keep people from fiddling with their naughty bits.

If you're just pissed that some of us see this as a bunch of delusional fantasy and hocus pocus then get over yourself. Perhaps you're not as strong in your faith as you think. Perhaps you should question what you believe and why.

For the record, I think the hijab is silly but for different reasons...like, you know...the whole oppression of women thing.