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Culture War Roundup for the week of September 5, 2022

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Criticizing Mormons is playing the social game on easy mode.

Among the juvenilia of Scott Alexander is a piece called Mormonism: The Control Group For Christianity. (There are other hints scattered across his blog that his father lives or lived at some point in Salt Lake City, and that Scott visited him there. Beyond that it's unclear to me what SA's connection with Mormonism is.) This particular case makes me wonder if Mormonism is also a suitable "control group," or at least a bellwether, for religious toleration.

Actually, Google tells me that there are approximately 15 million Jews in the world, and maybe 16 million Mormons. Judaism is a much older religion, has a dedicated ethnostate, boasts numerous special interest NGOs dedicated to defending it against anti-Semitism, and so forth. Mormons have not been subjected to a Holocaust, but were apparently subjected to a surprising amount of murder in their early days. Mormons did not trek through the wilderness for 40 years, but they did follow a bearded prophet into the desert and then settle in a not-that-pleasant place (sorry, the mountains are lovely but the fact is, inland from the Pacific coast the western United States is a barely habitable wasteland, and if you post a picture of the Grand Tetons I will respond with a picture of the Salt Flats). Is there an ADL for Mormons? (Google suggests no!) Are Mormons subjected to employment discrimination, etc.? (Google suggests yes!) Like Jews, Mormons punch above their weight politically, but again--not with the same oomph as Jews. Lists of "famous Mormons" have some interesting entries, as do lists of famous ex-Mormons (actress Amy Adams? New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Adern?), not quite to the degree that we see famous Jews in, say, Hollywood but certainly to an unusual extent considering the size of the sect.

And here it looks like Jewish universities are also culture war targets. I feel like I need an image macro along the lines of: "Mom, can we stop and get some Jews?--We have Jews at home!--The Jews at home:" [insert picture of Donny and Marie Osmond having dinner with Mitt Romney].