You Gotta Hand It To The Mormons
Not left but neither quite right, and recently morally courageous - BCB #167
By now you’ve probably heard that last Sunday, a gunman opened fire at a Mormon church in Michigan and killed four people, before setting the building on fire.
It was hard to write that. Covering conflict, it’s easy to get desensitized to how horrible these things actually are, but shooting people in a church hits particularly hard.
There are numerous fundraisers for the victims’ families, which have collectively raised hundreds of thousands of dollars.
What is more surprising is that there is also a fundraiser for the shooter’s family, which has now raised nearly $300,000. The comments from the mostly anonymous donors are incredible.
The fundraiser’s organizer, a lifelong Mormon, said in an interview,
We understand that there is a family that needs to be taken care of … I feel like I’m responding to an attack against us in the right way. Not to get revenge, not to get justice, not to blame the wrong people.
Biblical conflict advice
Forgiveness for violence is, of course, literally in the Bible in multiple places:
You have heard that it was said, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” But I say to you: Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also. …
You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?
My favorite articulation of this idea is from the Talmud. God parts the Red Sea, the Jews cross, and when the Egyptians try to follow, the sea closes on them:
The Egyptians were drowning in the sea. At the same time, the angels wanted to sing before God, and the Lord, God, said to them: “My creations are drowning and you are singing before me?”
Similar sentiments can be found in all major spiritual traditions. Forgiveness is a deeply religious concept. We’ve previously covered religious bridge-building organizations working in America.
Naturally, not everyone follows every precept of every ancient text, and often for good reasons. But it seems like it would have positive effects on worldly conflict dynamics if more people followed the bits about loving their enemies. As the above events demonstrate, the Mormons seem to be taking this more seriously than most.
Mormons as an American third side
One of the most basic patterns of conflict resolution is the third side: a neutral mediator, or someone with a different point of view who can break the deadlock between two sides. Mormons seem like they could carry this role in the American culture war. While the church’s culture and tradition is problematic for progressives and Mormons mostly (64%) voted for Trump in 2024, they aren’t quite down with MAGA either.
Moreover, many of the interesting culture war interventions we’ve covered come from Utah, such as the Dignity Index which is a project to track dehumanizing political language. Republican Governor Spencer Cox has been particularly active, spearheading the Disagree Better initiative and calling for an American “non-aggression pact” before it was cool. His speech following Kirk’s death was particularly moving.
The Mormons may yet prove to be strategic actors in our current conflict.
Quote of the Week
Using phrases like “The Left” or “The Right” to describe broad intellectual currents is fine, even necessary. Using phrases like “The Left” or “The Right” to assign blame to millions of people as though they’re a monolith acting in concert is dangerous, unserious bullshit
As a lifelong atheist, I never thought I'd find myself saying, "Thank God for the Mormons." But I'm deeply grateful they're here blazing their own trail.