See, Mormons and Muslims Really do Have Stuff in Common

While advocating for Donald Trump’s insistence that Muslim’s deserve less rights than other religious Americans, Katrina Pierson (who serves as The Donald’s new national spokeswoman, mind you) cited previous treatment of the Mormons as precedent for restricting religious rights. 

“This is no different than a Christian church, it’s not different than a Mormon church,” Pierson told Fox News’ Megyn Kelly on Wednesday, according to The Salt Lake Tribune’s Thomas Burr. Pierson then went on to explain that in the past the Department of Justice has investigated Mormon churches
“and shut them down”along with Seventh-day Adventists meetinghouses.

The reason I cite Burr’s Trib article, and not just the Fox News interview, is because it isn’t terribly clear what exactly Pierson is talking about. Burr does a good job of parsing out what on earth Pierson is talking about. According to Burr, it’s likely this is a reference to legal action taken against the FLDS church in recent years, and Trump’s spokesperson simply didn’t distinguish between the mainstream church and the fundamentalists.

Or maybe it’s a reference to the seizure of church-owned property during the polygamy years? Who knows.

Either way, I just think it goes to show that non-protestant religions that start with the letter “M” gotta stick together. Because apparently we’re super dangerous. And easily confused. Take this recent exchange on my post about Bill Maher being lame: Mormons. Muslims. Whateves.

Be sure to check out Burr’s article for more context and explanation. Also, here’s a great piece by Joanna Brooks and Tamarra Kemsley that examines the “shared struggle” of Mormons and Muslims as American religious outsiders.