however the hostilityzone being what it is, I'm going to post something which will probably open me up for personal attack and regret. I retain the right not to answer personal attacks, and it does not imply anything other than my choosing not to reply. Also I don't watch the news and tend to stay within my own spheres when I get news online, so RL's post was my first exposure to this story when I read it this morning.

I had an inkling based on the name Ammon Bundy, but didn't want to say more until I confirmed it. Ammon is a name commonly given to men in the LDS church which derives from the book of Mormon.

There is a long tradition within mormon conservatism that the US Constitution will hang by a thread and that the mormon elders (2 possible meanings here: Elders can mean the general governing body within the church or it could also mean nearly every adult male) will be the ones to save it. This is a tradition within mormonism sometimes called the White Horse prophecy which the church has publicly disavowed and stated that its roots cannot be substantiated and is not doctrine.

(The last time they put out a statement of this type was when a mormon was running for governor in Idaho and trying to build a mormon base. The guy was a total nutjob and even showed up in one of my meetings and had a lot of idiot followers who I know personally. Luckily the guy only carried Boundary County which doesn't even have that many mormons, but has a lot of militia types. Also this stuff was running rampant in mormon circles as Mitt Romney was running for President as you can imagine.)

As a devout mormon, I can tell you that this sort of talk is very prevalent in the western states. You hear it in church and more-so among members of the church in other settings. You should see my Facebook feed sometime.

Rants against government and the right to bear arms rage on in mormon circles despite the fact you never hear these messages from church headquarters. Every election cycle the church even sends out a letter to be read in every congregation that the church does not endorse candidates and that there are usually candidates from both sides of the aisle that members can in good conscience vote for.

Often this gets ignored as do other letters and statements, in fact I often point out to my mormon friends that their anti-immigrant talk runs counter to what church leaders are actually saying. This tends to get me a deer in the headlights look.

Anyway, all that to say that mormons have their own brand of crazy of which I am an expert, and I think these guys are it.