Mormons tend to view Christianity in three groups: 1) Founded (for lack of a better word at the moment), 2) Reformed and 3) Restored. The first group, Founded, includes the Coptics, Catholics, and Eastern Orthodox as well as any other Christian group to claim as their origin a direct tie-in to the founding of the Christian movement. The second group, Reformed, is generally what we refer to as the Protestant churches of today; these are churches whose origins tie into the Reformation. The third group, Restored, includes churches who claim their origin through some divine intervention. This includes the LDS (Mormon), Community of Christ (formerly Reformed LDS), and Fundamentalist LDS (in the news recently for their views on polygamy). I would also argue, given what I have learned, that the Jehovah’s Witnesses would also fit into this group, though their divine intervention origins are not emphasized within their teaching as much as the founding story of the LDS church is in their respective teachings.

Those who belong to the first group, generally see no need for the second two. Those who belong to the second group understand the first group, but see no need for the third group. Those in the third group understand where they fit in the spectrum, and typically bear the brunt of the exclusionary claims coming from the first two groups. Sadly, I don’t think this will change any time soon.