so i had a less-than-graceful facebook argument with a bunch of mormons a while back on the ground zero mosque. it wasn’t my proudest moment.

by all logic, i should not get so worked up about this topic. i’m not muslim, i only know a handful of muslims, and i’ve only visited new york twice.

but when i see a mormon making the case against the ground zero mosque (i know, it’s really a community center), it fills me with the white hot fury of 1,000 suns.

the reason? for a group of people who so adamantly insist that we stick to “the principles the founding fathers set forth” almost 250 years ago, they seem to be incapable of showing empathy to muslims despite their religious history.

here’s the parellel i tried to use in my super embarrassing facebook fight:

suppose that mormon fundamentalists – a group with whom we share a common founder, but very little else – decided to hijack an airplane and crash it into the mall of america. a wide segment of people were killed in the crash – including a handful of mormons. national mourning ensues. now let’s imagine that several years later a group of mormons decide they want to build their chapel down the street from the mall of america. of course we see no connection to the tragedy carried out by the FLDS – but a group of politicians decide they want to take up this issue and protest our being there. how would you feel in this situation? does it make you think that maybe you have something in common with muslims, looking to shake the image that they are in any way associated with demented muslim fundamentalists?

of course the analogy was lost on everyone, and louder internet yelling ensued. the point i was trying to make is that is seems like mormons have generally forgotten what it’s like to be a persecuted people. the only thing that contemporary mormons have taken away from their pioneer ancestry is a feeling of superiority and a giant chip on their shoulder that get’s jostled whenever anyone points out a doctrinal anachronism.

that’s at least my take. if anyone else stumbles across this i’d be curious to get your take.