Mormon leaders, military veterans and elected officials reacted with anger to a new Department of Defense policy that does not consider The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be a Christian religion as part of a wider effort to cut down the U.S. military’s list of recognized faiths.

“The Pentagon’s decision to list The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints apart from other Christian faiths is wrong and needs to be corrected,” Republican Rep. Mike Kennedy, of heavily Mormon Utah, wrote on X on Sunday.

  • Rooskie91@discuss.online
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    1 day ago

    When you accept that others rights can be taken away, you must also accept that your own rights can be taken away.

    If you accept that groups can be excluded from society, you must also accept that your group may one day be excluded.

    If you accept that might makes right, you must accept that one mightier than yourself will one day come along.

    If you live by the sword, you will likely die by the sword.

    Idk how many times this has to happen throughout history before people act learn from it.

    • Leviathan@lemmy.world
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      7 hours ago

      Not just that, their society is fiercely hierarchical, so by its very nature there is already always someone directly above them, and this particular movement has already shown that they don’t see them as equals.

      In the wise words of Jello Biafra:

      In the real Fourth Reich you’ll be the first to go

  • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
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    24 hours ago

    They came for the Lefties, and the Mormons did nothing.

    They came for the Transgenders, and the Mormons did nothing.

    They came for the immigrants, and the Mormons did nothing.

    Now they’re coming for the Mormons, and…yeah, we could help, but fuck those treasonous pedophile weirdos.

    • Zetta@mander.xyz
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      One just has golden plates and the other doesn’t. Pretty much the same thing.

      • Leviathan@lemmy.world
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        It really isn’t. The amount of control they exercise over their congregants and money they require to stay in good standing is astronomical compared to lost other christian denominations. Their propaganda, investment and political arms make them the biggest existential threat to North American democracy and culture as a centralized religious organization.

        Not to mention the basis of the faith is that Jesus came to America and your skin color determines if your ancestors were sinners. That’s cuckoo bananas even by christian standards.

        • Zetta@mander.xyz
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          Yes well I was really just trying to be funny (poorly) I must admit, good points I’m glad you stated though.

        • ReluctantMuskrat@lemmy.world
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          22 hours ago

          This could impact a lot of Trump votes if not corrected too. I don’t think even he’s so dumb to alienate such a large voter base.

          • Leviathan@lemmy.world
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            7 hours ago

            I wish! I feel like they’ll vote Republican until one of their “prophets” tells them heavenly father told them otherwise.

        • binux@sh.itjust.works
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          The amount of control they exercise over their congregants and money they require to stay in good standing is astronomical compared to lost other christian denominations.

          Wait til you hear about how greedy the Catholic Church was before & during the Reformation. New denomination, same religion. This is just how faiths inevitably evolve.

          Also Mormonism—though I hate using this aphorism because it’s not even true—is as American as apple pie, there’s really no threat to be spoken of here in the usual sense of the word. It’s existed for more or less 200 years now, subsisting along with every other facet of its surrounding culture. Mormonism is American society, it wouldn’t have become so widespread without it.

    • skisnow@lemmy.ca
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      yeah we’re like three quarters of the way through that Niemöller poem now

  • A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    I wish Mormons would be outraged over something that mattered, like the sexual abuse in their church, or the fact their church supporting mormon thieves and scammers across the country, who have stolen over a billion dollars from their fellow Americans.

  • el_muerte@lemmy.ca
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    2 days ago

    I’m honestly more surprised that JWs and Christian Scientists are listed under “Christian” than that Mormons aren’t. All of those are considered cults, rather than legitimate denominations, by mainstream Christianity (Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant).

      • Bogus007@lemmy.zip
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        2 days ago

        Wasn’t it the Mormons whose founder got some glasses from an angel, which allowed him to read the bible? Well, that is what I call a fairytale.

          • Bogus007@lemmy.zip
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            24 hours ago

            If you read the Bible and take everything literally, I cannot help you. I assume, however, that you are well aware that certain parts were intended for different audiences or types of believers. Some passages convey a different message than, for example, the Quran or the Torah. As for the meaning of secularisation and the distinction between „religia“ and „ecclesia“, I’ll leave it to you to look it up on Wikipedia or another reliable source.

              • Bogus007@lemmy.zip
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                3 hours ago

                No prob with that. Keep just in mind that the Bible, especially the New Testament, is to a certain part a parable.

      • Holytimes@sh.itjust.works
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        If I recall the original definition of the modern cult vs religion division is just what ever the British crown recognized as legitimate. Lol

    • GalacticGrapefruit@lemmy.world
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      Mormonism is definitely a cult, zero bones about it. But the emotional attachment–and the subsequent damage–is very very real.

  • w3dd1e@lemmy.zip
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    I live by the location that Mormons believe Jesus will be when he returns. They built a church with a steeple that looks like a massive space ship on that location.

    But also fuck Pete Hegseth. They have a right to their beliefs as long as it’s not harming anyone else.

    • Lka1988@sh.itjust.works
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      If it’s the one I’m thinking of, that particular building is owned by the Community of Christ (formerly the “RLDS” church) which split from the “official” Mormon organization shortly after Smith was killed. It’s a wild design. I remember learning about it as a kid and being told that it was a “perversion” or whatever.

      Either way, it’s all culty bullshit.

      • w3dd1e@lemmy.zip
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        24 hours ago

        Yes! That’s the one! My bf lives by that one and I live by the other monument they built. This one is right in downtown Independence MO, which is also a very low-income area with a lot of homeless people. It’s jarring to see that sticking up amongst it all.

        For those of you who don’t know, there are a lot of Mormons in the KC area because some of them believe the Garden of Eden is a short drive north of KC and that Jesus will return to Independence, MO.

        I see more Mormon churches in the KC metro than any other religion, although, I don’t know any practicing Mormons myself.

    • Leviathan@lemmy.world
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      The purity shit they spend massive amounts of money pushing on social media alone is harmful as fuck.

    • Lka1988@sh.itjust.works
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      Brighamites, technically. Because the main organization decided to follow Brigham Young after Joseph Smith was killed. The Community of Christ is the one that broke off and reorganized themselves under one of Smith’s kids. The whole history of Mormonism is insane, but morbidly fascinating.