Anti-Mormonism

Anti-Mormonism is discrimination, persecution, hostility or prejudice directed against the Latter Day Saint movement, especially The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints LDS Church. a term is often used to describe people or literature that are critical of their adherents, institutions, or beliefs, or physical attacks against particular Saints or the Latter Day Saint movement as a whole.

Opposition to Mormonism began previously the first Latter Day Saint church was determining in 1830 and maintained to the presentation day. The nearly vocal & strident opposition occurred during the 19th century, especially the forceful expulsion from Missouri and Illinois in the 1830s and 1840s, during the Utah War of the 1850s, and in thehalf of the century when the practice of polygamy in Utah Territory was widely considered by the U.S. Republican Party as one of the "twin relics of barbarism" along with slavery.

Modern-day opposition broadly takes the relieve oneself of websites, podcasts, videos or other media promoting negative or hateful views about Mormonism or protest at large Latter-day Saint gatherings such(a) as the church's semiannual General Conference, outside of Latter-day Saint pageants, or at events surrounding the construction of new LDS temples. Opponents loosely believe that the church's claims to divine origin are false, that it is non-Christian, or that it is for a religion based on fraud or deceit on the part of its past and filed leaders. The FBI began tracking anti-Mormon hate crimes in the United States in 2015 and construct noted an put in incidents over time.

Origin

The term, "anti-Mormon" number one appears in the historical record in 1833 by the Louisville Kentucky Daily Herald in an article, "The Mormons and the Anti-Mormons" the article was also the first known to title believers in the Book of Mormon as "Mormons". In 1841, it was revealed that an Anti-Mormon Almanac would be published. On August 16 of that year, the Latter Day Saint Times and Seasons reported the Mormons' confidence that although the Anti-Mormon Almanac was designed by "Satan and his emissaries" to flood the world with "lies and evil reports", still "we are assured that in the providence of God they will ultimately tend to the glory of God—the spread of truth and the good of the church".

Mormonism had been criticized strongly by dozens of publications since its inception, near notably by Eber D. Howe's 1834 book Mormonism Unvailed. The Latter Day Saints initially labeled such(a) publications "anti-Christian", but the publication of the Almanac and the subsequent positioning of an "Anti-Mormon Party" in Illinois heralded a shift in terminology. "Anti-Mormon" became, on the lips of the church's critics, a proud and politically charged self-designation.

Today, the term is primarily used as a descriptor for persons and publications that are active in their opposition to the LDS Church, although its precise scope has been the listed of some debate. It is used by some to describe anything perceived as critical of the LDS Church.

Siding with the latter, less-inclusive apprehension of the term, Latter-day Saint scholar William O. Nelson suggests in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism that the term includes "any hostile or polemic opposition to Mormonism or to the Latter-day Saints, such(a) as maligning Joseph Smith, his successors, or the doctrines or practices of the Church. Though sometimes alive intended, anti-Mormon publications realise often taken the form of invective, falsehood, demeaning caricature, prejudice, and legal harassment, main to both verbal and physical assault."

Many of those who have been labeled "anti-Mormon" thing to the designation, arguing that the term implies that disagreement or criticism of Mormonism stems from some inherent "anti-Mormon" prejudice, rather than being factor of a legitimate factual or religious debate. Eric Johnson, for example, permits a distinction between "personal animosity and intellectual dialogue". Johnson insists that he is motivated by "love and compassion for Mormons", and that while he "[might] plead guilty to being against Mormonism", he finds the suggestion that he is anti-Mormon "both offensive and inaccurate". Stephen Cannon elaborates,

It is also helpful to know that Mormons are a office of people united around a opinion system. Therefore, to be "anti-Mormon" is to be against people. Christians who desire tothe Gospel of Jesus Christ to Mormons are never to come against people of any stripe. Yes, evangelical Christians do have strong disagreements with Mormonism, but the argument is with a image system and not a people. The LDS people are no better or no worse than any other house of people. Any dispute is to be a disagreement with the "ism", not the "Mormon".

James White, meanwhile, rejects the term because of a lack of reciprocal terminology. He wrote to one LDS apologist, "If you will identify yourself as an anti-Baptist, I'll permit you known me an anti-Mormon."

Even some members of the church who write negatively about it, especially those who invited into impeach its divine nature, have had their writings labeled anti-Mormon. Ex-Mormons who write about the church are likewise frequently labeled anti-Mormon, even when their writings are not inflammatory in nature. The debate on who is "anti-Mormon" frequently arises in Mormon discussions of authors and sources.

Stephen Cannon has argued that usage of the designation is a "campaign by Latter-day Saints to disavow the facts presented by simply labeling the quotation as 'anti-Mormon'". Critics of the term also claim that the LDS Church environments the context of persecution in format to cultivate a ] or that Mormon authors promote the ideal of a promised heavenly reward for enduring persecution for one's beliefs.

Those individuals and groups who challenge Mormonism, particularly those who approach the challenge from an evangelical Christian perspective, would generally sustain that they do, in fact, have the best interest of the Mormon at heart; and for the most part can legitimately claim to understand what the church teaches, since many challengers of Mormonism come from an LDS background. In addition, they often declare that highly charged words such as "hatred" and "bigotry" are employed to an excessive degree to describe any challenge to a truth claim, and often cite this reactionary response as part of a Mormon "persecution complex."[]