Editing Gentile (section)

==The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints==
{{main article|Mormonism and Judaism}}
In the terminology of [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] (LDS Church), the word "gentile" can be used to refer to people who are not members of the LDS Church, since members regard themselves as regathered Israelites. The LDS Church's website states this about the meaning of gentile in Scripture (including the Book of Mormon), "As used in the scriptures, gentiles has several meanings. Sometimes it designates people of non-Israelite lineage, sometimes people of non-Jewish lineage, and sometimes nations that are without the gospel, even though there may be some Israelite blood among the people. This latter usage is especially characteristic of the word as used in the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants."<ref name=LDSWebsite>{{cite web|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/gs/gentiles?lang=eng|title=Gentiles|website=ChurchofJesusChrist.org}}</ref>

Thus, in such usage, Jewish people may be gentiles because they are not members of the LDS Church.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Utah.html | title=Utah Jewish History | publisher=Jewish Virtual Library | access-date=24 November 2013}}</ref>

Beyond this Scriptural usage, ''gentile'' was widely used by Mormons in day-to-day life in the nineteenth century, with such usage declining through the twentieth century. As with the binary Jew/gentile distinction, the Mormon/gentile distinction arose as Mormons were socially excluded and ostracised: according to John L. Needham of [[Utah State University]]: {{blockquote |text="Nineteenth century Mormons in the American West applied 'gentile', as an adjective as much as a slur, to nearly everyone and everything that did not adhere to their faith or desert kingdom. Their xenophobia stood to reason: they were victims of religious discrimination, from ridicule in the press to acts of mob violence. They had been driven from a half dozen eastern states and were denied asylum in all others. Gentile thus served as a call to circle the wagons socially and politically around the fold - a means of naming the other".|source=letter, ''PMLA Journal'' (1999)<ref name="jon"/>}} Needham goes on to say that today Mormons have "outgrown the term".<ref name="jon"/>