Apr 14, 2019 5 min read

Over the past several weeks my commentaries have addressed the history of American ethnic immigration and the politics of “no.” I will now turn to a religious discrimination story and the mid-19th century politics of “no” Catholics and “no” Mormons.

This topic could not be more timely. On March 25, a Christian Pennsylvania lawmaker, Republican Stephanie Borowicz from Clinton County, conducted the opening prayer in the Pennsylvania House. The prayer immediately preceded an induction ceremony involving the first Muslim woman, Movita Johnson-Harrell, to be sworn into the Legislature. The prayer made no attempt to be ecumenical and was rife with religious references that were decidedly anti-Muslim. Many of those in attendance believed the prayer was a political statement against the Muslim faith.

In considering religious discrimination it is instructive to consider how Protestant Americans received Catholics and Mormons as their numbers grew throughout the 19th century. For American nativists and populists in the pre-Civil War period, the surge of Catholic European immigrants and the new Mormon religion created deep anxiety. This anti-Catholic/Mormon movement coalesced into a major political entity, The American Party, commonly known as the Know-Nothing movement.

The Know Nothings believed a “Romanist” conspiracy was afoot to subvert civil and religious liberty in the United States. They sought to politically organize native-born Protestants (many of whom were second-generation immigrants themselves) in what they described as a defense of Protestant religious and political values. There were expressed fears by Know-Nothing leaders that Catholic priests and bishops would control a large bloc of voters and pass laws against the interests of Protestant America.

These claims should sound familiar to those who follow Donald Trump’s tweets and the policies of his administration. “Make America Great Again” is supported by a strong anti-Muslim component. It views Muslim immigration with the same contempt as Catholic immigrants and the new Mormon religion faced 150 years ago.

Rather than encourage Muslim assimilation into American culture Trump and many of his followers seek to simply keep them out of the country. With no evidence to support the claim, they believe that the tenets of Islam and Shira law are designed to defeat democracy and the rule of law. (Ironically, Trump’s words and actions often appear to do the same.) The major distinction between “then” and “now” is that while Catholicism went on to become the nation’s single largest religious group and there are now seven million Mormons, the number of American citizens who are devout Muslims is relatively small.

A recent article in the New York Review of Books (The Popery Panic, David S. Reynolds, April 18) reviews the historical literature concerning the backlash against Catholic immigration. By 1854, the American Party had over one million followers. Similar to today’s Tea Party, the No Nothings at their pinnacle elected several governors, hundreds of state legislators, and the mayors of Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia. Political riots and deaths were common.

Fake News to attack the surge in Catholicism and Mormonism was prevalent. Nativist newspapers included the following: The American Protestant Vindicator, Priestcraft Unmasked, The Anti-Romanist, and The Downfall of Babylon; or The Triumph of Truth Over Popery. Best selling books of the day were: The Escaped Nun, The Female Jesuit, Priests’ Prisons for Women, The Captive Nun, The Haunted Convent, The Convent’s Doom, and The White Nun of the Wilderness.

Anti-Mormon literature included: The Mormoness; or, The Trials of Mary Maverick, The Prophets; or, Mormonism Unveiled, Wife No. 19; or, The Story of a Life in Bondage, Being a Complete Exposé of Mormonism, and the inevitable Awful Disclosures of Mormonism. Sexual bondage, infanticide, and the miseries of plural marriage were common topics in them. One novel, Mormon Wives, sold more than 40,000 copies in the 1850s. By 1900, over 50 anti-Mormon books were in print.

The question posed by history is always: Do we learn from the past, or are we destined to repeat the past? Both Catholics and Mormons are today mainstream accepted contributors to the health and vitality of our nation. Both religious groups are prominent participants in industry, education and politics. It is impossible to discuss our heritage without including them.

Learning from the past would lead us to a rational and moderate national policy regarding Muslim immigration and the welcoming of those of the Islamic faith into American culture. Unfortunately, we seem ready to take the other, darker road by repeating past discrimination.

As I finish this commentary, POLITICO reports that Trump is considering the nomination of Julie Kirchner, the former head of an anti- immigration group, to head U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Her prior organization, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), has ties to white supremacist groups and has made many racist statements. Its advertisements have often been rejected because of racist content. Its expressed policy is that America remain a majority white population by limiting the number of non-whites who enter the country.

Because the White House is encouraging modern nativism, it is more dangerous than the Know Nothing movement. Religious and racial discrimination is becoming institutionalized at the highest level of government. It is time for all concerned citizens to speak up and support religious equality for Muslim immigrants and Muslim citizens alike.

Gary Stout is a Washington attorney.