Gary Lawrence thinks so,
as related in an SL Trib piece. He’s the author of a new book, How
Americans View Mormonism: Seven Steps to Improve Our Image. Lawrence, a
pollster, sampled a thousand people. Here’s the bad news:

Forty-three percent said the church treated women as
second-class citizens, 39 percent said it used pressure tactics, 38
percent said it was pushy, 16 percent saw it as racist and 16 percent
said it was a “church to be feared.”

Here’s his prescription for dealing with the public perception problem.

To
combat these images, he recommends that Mormons listen before
commenting, avoid LDS jargon in their conversations, speak plainly and
follow the Golden Rule. They also should eliminate pressure tactics
from missionary outreach, he says.