I think the burning of the church was a message (Michigan)

[Vogon_Glory]

7. No, the old ghosts aren't dead. Mormon persecution is reviving

I’m a history buff and I see the Michigan church shootings differently from many DU’ers. I see it as a sign that the current bunch of Republicans, either through indifference or design, has allowed Fundamentalist/Evangelical bigots to start trashing the Latter-Day Saints the way many Christian sects were wont to do in the mid-19th century. This is one of the first times in recent decades that the sotto voce whispers have turned to bloodshed.

IMO, the Saints’ leadership and many of their church members have been living in an illusion that they’re accepted as full members in the reactionary Religious Right crusade. They’ve ignored the rumblings that many Fundamentalists would be happy to start persecuting them, too. And they’re still asleep at the switch.

So why should Democrats of our stripe care? Mormons tend to be socially conservative and vote that way. And so they have, including the 2024 election.

We should care not only because of our values but because IMO LDS’ers need a reminder that they’re on the edge of a persecution directed at them. Those Republican politicians they’ve given a free pass to are likely as not going to let them be future targets.

I don’t think that the LDS’ers are likely to make good Democrats. But if we can heighten their awareness that they risk persecution themselves, they might consider staying at home next elections, and in states like Utah, Nevada and Arizona, that could make a difference.