I’m a little stunned right now but I think is important: there was a shooting at a church in Salt Lake City yesterday. I bring this up because one of the victims was a man whose children went to the same elementary school I did. Someone who my mom knew. I honestly don’t know what to say. This article goes in depth about the situation and one of the victims, Vaea Tulikihihifo (warning for those who need it: the article obviously contains mentions of gun violence, and it’s a pretty heartbreaking read - also as this did happen in Utah at a church there is a lot of mentions of the LDS church so if you’re bothered by that be aware that it’s there).
Vaea Tulikihihifo, 46, was one of two people killed outside the Rose Park 5th Ward meetinghouse late Wednesday. He loved his family, his fai
Now, before anyone starts, this was not a religion based attack. Pretty much every source I’ve seen has stated this. Afaik it was an interpersonal dispute. If anyone has any resources on this please share them with me.
Slight aside but Utah has a fairly large Tongan population. If you weren’t aware, this has a lot to do with the fact that Mormons pretty much colonized Tonga, and so there are Tongans in a LOT of church wards. I think it’s extremely important to talk about Tongan Mormons and ex-Mormons because the church actively spreads misinformation about how many Tongans are actually Mormon and attempts to repress Tongan culture, as they do with cultures around the world, including with Indigenous people (especially in Utah). * All this to say, it’s important that you talk about Tongans, and that you don’t let Tongan stories go unheard. And if you can, show support for Vaea Tulikihihifo’s family. I’m not sure if there’s anywhere you can donate yet but if they set something up, I suggest you donate to it (if able). * Alyssa Grenfell talks more about this in this video. There’s a fuller version on her YouTube channel. She uses the 60% statistic in this but I’m fairly sure she corrects this in her YouTube video.
This is a link to an article about the same topic
you can also find evidence of anti-Indigenous rhetoric in the Book of Mormon itself (pretty much the whole way through).
Also if any Tongan, other Polynesian, or indigenous Americans want to share their experiences, especially if you’re Mormon or Ex Mormon, I welcome and encourage you to do that in the reblogs or comments of this post or on this blog in general. As a white person, I obviously don’t have first hand experience of these issues, so I want anyone who does have that experience to interact.
