When Your Faith Becomes a Target
Two months ago, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints suffered a violent attack from a man driven by hate. But violence doesn’t begin with a gun. Rather, it begins with the way we talk about each other.
A former classmate used to say, “Okay, Mormon,” any time I asked a question in class. I’ve heard it now too many times to count.
I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. More often than not, I am referred to by the reductive name–Mormon–of my faith. It comes tacked on at the end of sentences that don’t need it, acting as a reminder that I am different. Being called Mormon as if it’s a joke and not an integral part of my identity immediately makes me feel smaller, less human.
When I go online, I see videos that proclaim my religion isn’t Christian, that I’m part of a cult, and that my church is filled with terrible people who would rather kill a puppy than drink coffee. But these minute long clips are blatantly untrue. Being a Latter-day Saint has allowed me to serve others in various countries, to be part of a community who believes in something greater than themselves, and to have faith that there is a brighter future ahead. Yet to the average person online, my religion is foreign, alien. The inaccurate videos, comments, and in-person conversations push a narrative that villainizes my faith, othering us. When a group of people becomes alien, dehumanization and violence becomes possible.
On September 28, 2025, Michigan resident Thomas Sanford drove his pickup truck into a Latter-day Saint meetinghouse, opening fire on the congregation before setting fire to the building, killing four people and injuring nine. To Sanford, members of my faith were villains. Over the course of his life, he built up a loathing for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). According to The Guardian, he often said that “Mormons are the antichrist” and that “they will take over the world.” He believed that my religion was the enemy to Christianity and humanity, that a person like me was a threat that needed to be killed.
This devastating shooting should be shocking. But my faith has been subject to persecution since our founding. In 1838, a Missouri extermination order made it legal to kill Latter-day Saints, forcing thousands of members to flee. In 1912, my great-grandmother was pushed out of her home in Mexico at gunpoint because she was LDS. In the 2000s, we stopped using guns and instead used words to undermine LDS beliefs. And in 2025, Sanford went back to guns. So it isn’t shocking, but it is frightening. If one man hates my church enough to do this, couldn’t there be others? And if that’s true, then there are people out there who hate me purely because I am a Latter-day Saint, purely because they don’t see me as human like them. The seemingly innocent “okay, Mormon” suddenly holds more weight.
Many have heard of the Book of Mormon–and I mean the musical. Over fall break, I saw advertisements for it everywhere on billboards, buses, storefronts, all adorned with a cheesily smiling missionary holding a Book of Mormon. These advertisements are for a musical that ridicules my faith in the name of “wickedly funny” entertainment.
Jokes and misconceptions like these become tiny darts people throw without thinking about where they land. One doesn’t do much. But once you throw enough darts, eventually the target doesn’t look human anymore. And the more darts you throw, it stops feeling like you’re hurting someone, just like you’re hitting a board. Thomas Sanford didn’t start with violence. Close friends said that his comments about Latter-day Saints weren’t initially threatening, more like venting, tirades built on misperceptions about LDS culture. In time, the seemingly benign rants took a darker turn. It became clear that he had a target–Latter-day Saints–and that to him, all members of my faith, which number in the millions, deserved to be destroyed. He didn’t start hating Latter-day Saints with the intent to kill. No person actually does.
The Latter-day Saints in Michigan were killed simply for attending church. And who are the people he hated so much? Men, women and children, gathered to worship a God of love. When Sanford rammed his truck into the church building, they rushed to his aid because they thought he’d been in an accident–and he opened fire. Yet, after Sanford died, another LDS member started a gofundme for Sanford’s wife and two small children. Messages and donations came by the thousands, offering love, support, and forgiveness. This is who the members of my faith truly are.
When a mosque is threatened, a synagogue vandalized, or a temple attacked, it’s because someone has been misinformed or hurt enough that they can villainize a group of people, no matter if the people are good, innocent, or kind. When any group is targeted, whether politically or religiously, it’s because someone decided to deny them the one thing that we all have in common–our humanity.