Is Ammon Bundy a radical Mormon?

What started as an anti-government demonstration in Oregon on Jan. 4 sprouted to be an armed militia takeover of a federal wildlife refuge building. The movement was led by Ammon Bundy. Bundy is a rancher, a business owner, a father, an activist, the leader of the Oregon militia standoff and a Mormon.

Members of the Bundy family are not strangers to the activist cause. Ammon Bundy is the son of Cliven Bundy, who led an anti-government protest in 2014. Cliven’s actions were spurred by the federal government attempting to prevent his cattle from grazing on public land. Between Ammon and Cliven, they have been challenging government authority for the last two decades. Ammon said he and his family, who have been involved in anti-government activism, have been acting in the name of God. But not just any god — Bundy’s family was acting in the name of Mormonism when he led an armed seizure of federal land.

In response, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints released a statement on Monday, saying, “While the disagreement occurring in Oregon about the use of federal lands is not a Church matter, Church leaders strongly condemn the armed seizure of the facility and are deeply troubled by the reports that those who have seized the facility suggest that they are doing so based on scriptural principle.”

There are also students and faculty at Utah State University who have been a part of the conversation on Bundy and the situation.

Phillip Barlow is a religious studies professor at USU and a contributor to the New Historical Atlas of Religion in American. Barlow said Mormons are taught to value liberty and free agency.

“Freedom is at the epicenter of Mormon theology,” he said. “It is also at the epicenter of American consciousness.”

But he said there is an even more potent train of thought that goes deeper than being a traditional, patriotic Mormon who values liberty. The Bundys seem to be drawing from western Americanness.

“If Mormonism didn’t exist, they still might be taking the actions they are taking,” he said. “But there is a Mormon inflection.”

Barlow said the militia is radical in two ways. On one hand, they are on the fringe of mainstream, modern-day Mormonism to the point where they were publicly reprimanded by the Church. On the other hand, he said to be radical in that sense is to go back to the beginnings and the roots of events. The Bundys clearly think they are going back to the founding principles of the founding of the United States and the founding of Mormonism, Barlow said.

Richard Harvey is a senior studying physics and a member of the LDS church. He said Bundy’s militia members have, in fact, become radical. While Bundy claims the militia takeover was religiously motivated, it wasn’t inspired by Harvey’s interpretation of God. Rather, Harvey said if the militia takeover was religiously motivated, it wasn’t inspired by the church; it was motivated by Bundy’s personal religious views.

Harvey said the occupiers don’t seem to be quite as extreme as ISIS, but there are some really fascinating parallels between the groups. These people, regardless of what the Mormon officials think they should be doing, are convinced that they should be doing some radical criminal things because of their religion.

“Ammon claims he has received explicit guidance from God that he needs to do this, which are sentiments that you find in other religious extremist groups like ISIS,” Harvey said. “I don’t think my God is telling them to do that.”

Harvey said it is amazing what people are able to rationalize with their faith.

“When someone is really passionate about their political views, it is very tempting to tie that to supernatural cosmic forces,” he said.

Tyler Thomas, a senior studying history, said he believes Bundy’s actions to be a form of radicalism. But going as far to compare ISIS to the Oregon militia by calling the group Y’all Qaeda and Vanilla ISIS is blowing Bundy’s actions out of proportion.

“I believe in liberty but I am not going around with a gun demanding that,” he said.

Ayman Alafifi is a member of the Logan Islamic Center, and he is a PhD candidate in engineering. He said anyone can become radicalized, regardless of if they are Muslim or Mormon and everything in between.

“It happens in every religion and in every community,” he said. “We can’t paint people with the same brush.”

People have motives beyond their religion and they can take their religion to justify their actions, he said.

“Sometimes there are radicals even in ourselves. We have an extreme side that we try to oppress and hide away,” Alafifi said.

The Statesman tried to reach out to find USU students who supported Bundy’s actions, but ended up being unsuccessful. If you support Bundy or feel like your opinion wasn’t covered in the story, feel free to write a letter to the editor.

— morgan.pratt.robinson@gmail.com