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A firmly scriptural “No” to Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN)

A firmly scriptural “No” to Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN)

Last updated on: March 9, 2026 at 4:14 pm by Dan Peterson

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A firmly scriptural “No” to Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN) 2026-03-09T16:14:36-06:00 Dan Peterson

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Gracie Mansion on a snowy day in 2009 (Wikimedia Commons public domain photograph)

New York City’s Gracie Mansion, the official home of the city’s mayor (currently Zohran Mamdani), was the site of a clash between the pardoned 6 January activist Jake Lang and a crowd of counterprotesters who had shown up at his “Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City” rally. Two improvised explosive devices were recovered there and, referring to the incident, Congressman Randy Fine (R-FL) posted the following on X yesterday afternoon:

The @nypost is reporting the Muslim terrorists who hurled bombs in New York are ISIS. ISIS. In America. But Mamdani and his fellow Democrats think we should be worried about Islamophobia. We SHOULD be afraid of Islam. We need to get these people the f out of our country.

If Mr. Fine is saying only that we should get ISIS (and other violent radical Islamist militants) out of our country, I have no quarrel with him at all. His previous comment, though, that “we should be afraid of Islam” as such, makes me nervous. And Congressman Andy Ogles (R-FL) — on whose storied career see here — left no real doubt about his stance, posting on X that

Muslims don’t belong in American society. Pluralism is a lie.

In my judgment, given sentiments such as that immediately above, Mr. Ogles doesn’t belong in Congress. I think, here, of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, a document of which I’m rather fond. It reads, in full, as follows, with my emphasis:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Nor, on this particular point, does Congressman Ogles deserve the support of any believing Latter-day Saint.

In fact, I wonder whether, if the question arose in any serious way, Mr. Ogles and other so-called “Christian nationalists” would feel any strong inclination to protect the religious freedoms of Latter-day Saints. (After all, we haven’t always been defended by our government. Think, for example, of 1838’s Missouri Executive Order 44.)

“If it has been demonstrated that I have been willing to die for a ‘Mormon’ I am bold to declare before Heaven that I am just as ready to die in defending the rights of a Presbyterian, a Baptist, or a good man of any denomination.” (Joseph Smith, 1843)
“It is a love of liberty which inspires my soul — civil and religious liberty to the whole of the human race.” (Joseph Smith, 1843).
“Meddle not with any man for his religion. All governments ought to permit every man to enjoy his religion unmolested. No man is authorized to take away life in consequence of difference of religion, which all laws and governments ought to tolerate and protect, right or wrong. Every man has a natural, and, in our country, a constitutional right to be a false prophet, as well as a true prophet.” (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 6:304)

Joseph Smith was indignant at the unjust persecutions to which his followers were subjected in their various settlements and which he viewed as motivated solely by religious prejudice:

And now, sir, this is the sole cause of the persecution against the Mormon people, and now, if they had been Mohammedans, Hottentots, or Pagans, or in fine sir, if their religion was as false as hell, what right would men have to drive them from their homes, and their country, or to exterminate them, so long as their religion did not interfere with the civil rights of men, according to the laws of our country? None at all. . . .

I have the most liberal sentiments and feelings of charity towards all sects, parties, and denominations; and the rights and liberties of conscience I hold most sacred and dear, and despise no man for differing with me in matters of opinion. (Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, 419, 423-424.)

In the 1840s, as mayor of Nauvoo, Illinois, Joseph signed ordinances providing free toleration and equal privileges to all religious denominations, specifically naming Catholics, Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, Latter-day Saints, Quakers, Episcopals, Universalists, Unitarians, and, yes, “Mohammedans.”

Moreover, his commitment to religious liberty is solidly enshrined in the canonized scriptures of the Latter-day Saints:

“We claim the privilege of worshipping Almighty God according to the dictates of our conscience, and allow all men the same privilege; let them worship how, where, or what they may.” (Joseph Smith, 11th Article of Faith, 1842)
“We believe that no government can exist in peace, except such laws are framed and held inviolate as will secure to each individual the free exercise of conscience, the right and control of property, and the protection of life. . . . We believe that religion is instituted of God; and that men are amenable to him, and to him only, for the exercise of it, unless their religious opinions prompt them to infringe upon the rights and liberties of others; but we do not believe that human law has a right to interfere in prescribing rules of worship to bind the consciences of men, nor dictate forms for public or private devotion; that the civil magistrate should restrain crime, but never control conscience; should punish guilt, but never suppress the freedom of the soul.” (Doctrine and Covenants 134:2, 4)

In this general context, you might, if you can access it, find this article in The Atlantic as horrifying as I do: “‘We Need to Do McCarthyism to the Tenth Power’: Conservative influencers are pushing for a return to the dark days of 1950s inquisitions.” I just wish that such people, and the journalists who write about them, would stop using the term conservatism, as if Steve Bannon or Andy Ogles has any real connection with Barry Goldwater, Milton Friedman, or Ronald Reagan.

This is thought to be the very copy of the Book of Mormon that was given by Samuel H. Smith to Phineas Young, the brother of Brigham Young, in April 1830 (Wikimedia Commons public domain image). It certainly must be one of the most important copies of the Book of Mormon ever printed.

I’m excited to announce that the latest installment of our series of mini-documentaries appeared earlier today and is easily accessible for online viewing at no charge: Becoming Brigham, Episode 7—”Young Brigham Young,” Part Two:

Camrey continues her conversation with Susan Easton Black about the youthful Brigham Young. Our hosts also explore how Brigham came to encounter the Book of Mormon, and how he reacted to this new book of scripture.

Episode 7 is available online with all six of its predecessors at Becoming Brigham, All Episodes.

The title page of the libretto (Milan, 1832), in a public domain image from Wikimedia Commons

On Saturday night, my wife and I attended a performance at the Utah Opera of Gaetano Donizetti’s 1832 work The Elixir of Love (L’elisir d’amore). It’s a bit of rom-com fluff, but the cast and orchestra performed it very well and we enjoyed it. I got a kick out of the fact that the staging and costuming set the story not in Italy but on an orange-growing farm in 1916 Southern California — which, if you know the plot, isn’t quite as crazy or arbitrary as it might initially seem. The most famous aria from the. opera is “Una furtiva lagrima,” which also happens to be its most melancholy piece of music.

For the record: No donors to the Interpreter Foundation were defrauded to pay for my gas to and from the theater in Salt Lake City, and no Interpreter funds were used to buy my opera tickets.

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