UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES DILIMAN

A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE:THE EARLY MORMON CHURCH THEOCRACY

SUBMITTED AS A REQUIREMENT FOR THE COURSE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES I

BY RUFUS REY C. MONTECALVO

DEPARTMENT OF HISTORYPROF. DIGNA APILADO

U.P. DILIMAN, QUEZON CITYOCTOBER 2010

Introduction

Mormonism emerged in the atmosphere of 1820s American religious revivalism. This was a time when people in the United States became severely concerned over the eternal destiny of their souls in the afterlife, leading to the creation of numerous sectarian groups. The founder of Mormonism, Joseph Smith, remains a most controversial figure, regarded as a Prophet by his followers and widely seen as some sort of huckster by Americans at that time, and even today.1 Whether Smith was sincere or not is largely irrelevant to what has occurred following him being killed by an angry mob in 1844 while being held in jail in Carthage, Illinois. Ever since its inception, the Mormons have suffered persecutions ranging from vilifications to actual attempts at eradication by angry outsiders. It is the aim of this paper to present several reasons why the Saints were met with such intense hatred by those groups they came into contact with, starting from New York, to Ohio, to Missouri, and lastly at Utah where they finally held their own against these groups. The time line therefore will be from 1830 to the time of the leadership of Brigham Young.

I. The Prophet

When he was a teenager, Joseph Smith was confused with regards to the true belief that would save his soul. He repeated this concern often enough during his sermons to his early converts later that there seems to be no doubt about it. The part of New York where Joseph Smith grew up was known as the 'burnt-out district.' The image this phrase is trying to convey would be that the people there were so caught up in the religious excitement of the time that there were no longer any person left for the numerous preachers to inspire into fervor, for them to 'burn.' Smith grew up in poverty, and in our discussion of Mormonism, the fact of poverty must be consistently borne in mind in order to understand its further development. It was common therefore for young Smith to see groups of people gathered around in a hastily built stage where a fiery sermon is being orated by a preacher. Households in Smith's neighborhood were duly concerned for the welfare of their souls. Fathers and brothers, and other family members as well joined in various churches. And then if they later find out that this particular flavor of Christianity was not what they really wanted, they simply joined another. Joseph Smith wanted to know which one among these competing sects was really true. This confusion was finally banished by the appearance of an angelic being who told him that every single one of these religions and sects were false.

The appearances from this divine being did not stop after that. This divine apparition would regularly visit Joseph Smith and comfort him whenever he had doubts. The name of this divine being was Moroni who was the last of the Nephites, a tribe from Israel who lived around 400 A.D. in the North American Continent. They were annihilated by their wicked brother tribe the Lamanites. He was appointed by God to take care of the golden plates which came from his ancestors. These were the plates that were revealed to Joseph Smith to have been deposited at the Hill of Cumorah, Palmyra New York which incidentally was near the place where the Smith family lived at that time. Though he wanted to take the plates in order to show them as proof to all the doubters who listened to him, the angel told him to wait four more years before they were to be brought out, and even then only he could

1 In 2003, the American satirical cartoon show South Park by Trey Parker and Matt Stone aired an episode which discussed the origins of the Mormon Church. In it are presented humorously the various episodes of Mormon history such as the discovery of the Golden Plates, the use of 'seer-stones,' and the gullibility of the people in Joseph Smith Jr's time. Even during the time of Smith and later, Brigham Young, the Mormons were subject to numerous jokes. Mark Twain even made some jabs at the Mormons. This is almost an unacknowledged American tradition.

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be allowed to read them. The plates were written in what Joseph Smith would call 'reformed Egyptian' and he was able to translate the golden plates by looking at them through 'seer stones' called Urim and Thummim, fastened on to a frame similar to a large spectacles. The process of this translation would be that Joseph would read through the seer-stones the words of the Golden Plates while he dictated this to a follower of his who is separated from him by a curtain.

That many people believed the words of Joseph Smith to be true speaks to the character of the people at that time. There was belief in magic and superstition among the populace. Joseph Smith was particularly well-known where they lived as gifted in activities such as 'dowsing' which is the use of a stick or other implements to find valuable objects or to find sources of water for wells. One of Joseph Smith 's early ventures was to find through the use of seer-stones, which are basically magical stones that are put inside a dark container for them to function, to find a silver mine for a client of his. Belief in superstitions was prevalent mostly among the lower classes. Though medical science have advanced to a degree, there was still a belief in the power of prayer to cure ailments or that of the laying of hands in order to heal the sick. The various miraculous events in the Bible were taken by many not to be allegorical or metaphorical images, but actual literal events that have useful and practical applications for daily life, such as for example, finding money. It is understandable for the lower-classes to believe these things as access to doctors and medicine cost money, something which many of them had difficulties with.

During the first years, the number of converts grew from a few families to mostly two thousand people. Smith encouraged these converts to pool their resources together, work hard and proselytize. Their rise in political and economic power led them to conflicts with other groups of Americans. It is very easy to see why many people hated 'ol' Joe Smith.' First of all, his idea of himself as the Prophet, as the sole channel through which the truth of the Lord shall pass through, aroused not only the fiery indignation of the various preachers during that time, but also the ire of the followers of these preachers as well. There are many descriptions of the character of Joseph Smith ranging from the hysterical vilifications of the Eastern newspapers at that time to the glowing descriptions by his followers. Brigham Young for example said that once he beheld Joseph Smith he immediately knew that he has found the Prophet he has been seeking for a long time. On the other hand, we have the words of Governor Ford of Illinois who was close to Smith at that time, saying that Joseph Smith 'dressed like a dandy, and at times drank like a sailor and swore like a pirate.'2 To say that Joseph Smith was bold would be an understatement for in his own words, he basically described himself as a new kind of prophet, not the old sack cloth and ashes biblical kind of prophet but a day to day, more mundane sort:

Many persons think that a prophet must be a great deal better than anybody else. Suppose I would condescend - yes, I will call it condescend - to be a great deal better than any of you, I would be raised up to the highest heavens, and who should I have to accompany me? I love that man better who swears a stream as long as my arm, yet deals justice to his neighbors and mercifully deals with substance to the poor, than the long, smooth-faced hypocrite. I do not want you to think I am very righteous, for I am not. God judges men according to the use they make of the light which He gives them.3

So this is basically a prophet that is not what a prophet is, an anti-prophet if you will, engaging in drinking and fighting if only to remain on earth as flesh, not as spirit. This is a prophet that does not

2 M.R. Werner, Brigham Young (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1925), 153.3 ibid.

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engage much in theology for clearly theology is not his strong point. He would rather wrestle with you than engage in some theological debate. This prophet is not afraid to ask for money from his followers, showing that religion is not necessarily separate from things of a more temporal nature. But how then can he claim to himself moral ascendancy if he believes as such? While it is true that what really matters is the intention of the man, his heart as they say, the outward appearance as well as the accompanying piety, carries as much weight as the inner intention. The problem with this is that this intention is difficult to communicate to others who have a different idea of what a prophet should look like. Indeed, the lack of one central church in the United States to give rulings on theological issues such as this, made the air rife with debates.

Besides this more mundane conception of what a prophet is, another point of criticism of the Mormons during this time was the seeming lack of intellectual rigor in their theological belief. On the origin of the word 'Mormon' for example, Smith replied to questioners that it derived from the English 'more' and the Egyptian word 'mon', which means good, therefore Mormon means 'more good.' Smith said "We say from the Saxon good; the Dane god; the Goth goda; the German gut; the Dutch goed; the Latin bonus; the Greek kalos; the Hebrew tob; and the Egyptian mon. Hence with the addition of more, or the contraction mor, we have the word Mormon, which means, literally, more good." Werner states that this pretension to philological erudition was one of Smith's weaknesses.4

Whatever intellectual foundation the Mormons may have had in this early period, the use of reason itself to answer questions of faith is subservient to the more direct method of simply asking for revelations from God. When some debate within the Mormon Church would arise, Smith would settle matters if all other methods have failed, by calling on the intervention of the most high. God would reply through Joseph Smith and the matter is settled. It often becomes a problem that within the Church some person would say God is talking to him as well. How can they be sure that it is indeed God that is revealing things to them? Joseph Smith replied that certain revelations could come from the devil and that it is difficult to be certain, but if their heart is to guide them, they will find that the words of Joseph Smith is true and of God himself.

The suppression by Joseph Smith of a newspaper by Mormon apostates which revealed to the world their disagreement with the then rumored polygamy within the Mormon Church was taken up by the anti-Mormon mob as showing that Smith was a tyrant who did not tolerate freedom of speech. However this seems to be just a pretext, for the mob really was not concerned that much about the dissenting Mormons. Already in their minds they have a conception of the evils within the Mormon Church and they sought the head of its leader. When Joseph Smith was killed, along with his brother in 1844 while being held in jail in Carthage, Illinois by a Missouri mob, what was created was a martyr. The image of the murdered Smiths became a rallying image to the Mormons, serving to solidify themselves even more through this shared calamity.

II. Mormon Theocracy

What was created in 1830s United States by Joseph Smith was basically a theocracy, where the boundary separating the Church and the State, a boundary which most Americans at that time wanted to remain as clear as possible, have become blurred, even disappeared. This is one of America's chief sources of identity, the idea that church and state must be separate because if this is not so, only one

4 M.R. Werner, Brigham Young (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1925), 48.

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religion would be tolerated by the state. We must remember that one of the reasons for the colonization of the United States was due to the entrance of religious groups that have been discriminated by the state-sponsored Anglican Church in Britain. A highly contentious part of Mormon theological doctrine is the belief that theirs is the only true divine Church in existence. Everyone outside the Mormon church basically will be subjected to the 'buffetings of Satan.' It is then very easy for us to understand the persecutions that the Saints, as they liked to call themselves, experienced since their inception in the 1830s and for the duration of its early history. Indeed, these enemies, these Gentiles as the saints labeled them, as can be seen in the Eastern newspapers of the United States at that time, portrayed Joseph Smith as a tyrant, a dictator. Joseph Smith wrote to his followers on the East about the names hurled upon him, that he was a "Tyrant! Pope! Usurper!!! King!!! Abuser of men!!!!! Angel!!!!! [?] False Prophet!!!!!!! Prophesying lies in the name of the Lord!!!!!!!! Taking consecrated money!!!!!!!!!"5 There was then a clear awareness by Americans of the implication of this Mormon belief.

The structure of this theocracy has Joseph Smith at its head, being the Prophet whom angels have revealed the Golden Plates of the Book of Mormon. In its early years we have Smith organizing High Councils to manage the bureaucratic issues. These are basically church elders who oversee the life of the community. Following this are various officials such as the bishop who has the role of economic administrator. He manages the distribution of the lands that are brought for Mormons from their common treasury. There are other officials as well at the lower level of the bureaucracy who have more intimate contact with the families and individuals. It is a testament to the allure of its beliefs and the zealous efforts of Mormons and its missionaries that the Mormon Church was able to increase both demographically and financially in the states they settled in. This however led to conflicts since the non-Mormons saw the increasing prosperity of the Mormons a threat. Besides this is the character of the non-Mormon Americans themselves. Missouri for example at that time was still a frontier state and the character of the people was that they are prone to settling matters through the use of force. Mobs usually formed out of the populace to kick out those whom they considered outsiders.

In Mormon theocracy, all authority emanates from God, and the Mormon leaders, particularly the Prophet who is also President merely channel this authority and use it to further the aims of the one and true chosen people of the Earth. The political effect of this is the toeing of one line of thought - that of its leaders, and the leaders of course, are merely following the orders of the Lord, whom they claim speaks to them through his divine intermediaries. It is well to remember for example that the night before the Mountain Meadows Creek Massacre of 1857, during the leadership of Brigham Young, armed Mormons huddled together and prayed for direct confirmation to carry out orders to exterminate the Arkansas migrants passing through Utah on their way to California. The leader of this Mormon band however, in a statement recalling the events that transpired later, claimed not to have been given a true and sure sign from God to carry out the killings of the migrants. Nevertheless they were carried out, and the reason was that he did not dare to question the order from his superior for they were true and came from God himself. A more reasonable explanation for the carrying out of the massacre was the rumor which circulated among the Mormons at that time that among the migrants are members of the mob who murdered Joseph Smith several years back in Carthage, Illinois. It appeared then that what happened was a case of 'vox populi, vox dei,' albeit the channel is through the people rather than through the proper established theocracy. It must be mentioned that Brigham Young, upon hearing the truth of the matter was said to have been greatly angered, for he was against it. This would be more

5 Ray B. West Jr. , Kingdom of the Saints (New York: The Viking Press, 1957), 57.

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fodder for the anti-Mormon press at that time, giving more reason for reprisals against the Mormons.

Perhaps God would have saved the Mormons a lot of trouble if he simply appeared one day and announced to the world the truth of Joseph Smith's claims. Then the Mormons would not have been persecuted and killed, such as that happened in the Haun's Mill incident where Mormons, including women and children were mercilessly killed by a mob, supposedly Christians themselves, albeit of a different flavor. It would be easy to accuse the Judeo-Christians, with their monotheism particularly, of being prone to use their idea of God's Word to kill each other and others, but we must also consider the peaceful sorts such as the Quakers and the Amish who took Christ's message of loving one another seriously. The Mormons, though considered to be at the very margins of the mainstream, is included in this Judeo-Christian tradition. In the writings about Joseph for example he is often compared to Muhammad. The numerous wives, the claim of divine revelation, his military leadership, popularity among the lower-classes, all these make the comparison rather acceptable.

In the anarchist interpretation of politics, theocracy is the highest, purest form of oppression of the human spirit. In the writings of the Russian anarchist Mikhail Bakunin for example, we have this radical re-interpretation of the biblical story of the Fall of Man. God basically is an oppressive tyrant, a totalitarian dictator, and the bliss experienced by the First Parents in the Garden of Eden was not really an ideal condition. This was an age of blindness, for man was created and the totality of his being was under the absolute control of God. The act of eating of the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, became in effect a transcending, an act of revolt, a rebellion from this enslavement. Satan thus was re-interpreted as a giver of the light of knowledge, not the demon that he is so often pictured to be. However, this is at the political extreme and will not yet arrive at the political consciousness of most Americans until the few remaining decades of the nineteenth century when immigrants from Germany, Italy and other European states brought these thoughts to the United States.

The Americans in the East and at the frontier in the early to mid 19th century, functioned within the spectrum of Christian belief, from the most pacific to the most intolerant. The Quakers for example, are traditionally pacific and their consistent view on slavery and the Indians, of the absolute kindness of God, have led to their persecution, and the sad thing is that they can't counter-attack because they take their views on pacifism seriously. On the other hand, we have the relatively intolerant Puritans who favored more the interpretation that God is vengeful and will not tolerate deviations from his iron law. Examples of their not so tolerant activities were their attitudes of extermination regarding the Native Americans and of course the infamous Salem Witch Trials during the 1690s. The position of the Mormons within this spectrum of tolerance somewhat falls in the middle, though going a little towards the direction of the Puritans. Since during Joseph Smith 's time, the Mormons were not averse to the use of arms to protect themselves. We see this during their time in Illinois for example, when there was a Mormon militia headed by Joseph Smith. This militia came into conflict with the non-Mormon population surrounding them because of the spread of the rumor that Joseph Smith will, using this military power, establish a kingdom in their territory with him at its head.

What was clear about this theocracy however, was that it was sensationalized by newspapers in the East. There was a feeling of moral and intellectual superiority over the poor and supposedly gullible Mormons. Added to this was an anti-immigrant feeling. Since the beginning of the Mormon Church, Joseph Smith made an effort to send his apostles to Europe and spread the truth of Mormonism there. There were numerous converts from England and Scandinavia. The efforts of these Mormon proselytizers were so good that by the 1860s there was a wave of migration sponsored by the Mormon

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Church of new converts to Utah. A book by a French author described the composition of the population of Salt lake city during his visit there in the 1860s. He set down in order of size the nationalities: "English, Scotch, Canadians ... Danes, Swedes, Norwegians, Germans, Swiss, Poles, Russians, Italians, French, Negroes, Hindoos, and Australians; we even saw a Chinese there."6 The figure of the new convert crossing the oceans from their homes, and once arriving in the United States, trekking to the Mormon colony at Utah through harsh terrain and weather, speaks to the great desire of these new immigrants for a new life that they cannot seem to find in their places of origin. There was a clear economic reason for this migration, as most of these people are from the lower economic segment of their population. However, economic reasons alone are not enough motivation for them to do what they did, there is a desire within them of a more fundamental turn of political life, a revival of the way that the old Biblical personages lived, and this they found in Utah in the 1850s. This theocracy therefore, was desired.

III. From Joseph Smith to Brigham Young

Following the death of Joseph Smith, there occurred a crisis of succession within the Mormon Church, however the one who emerged victorious among the contending groups was Brigham Young. There is a shift that occurred within the Mormon church more towards issues of self preservation through self reliance during Brigham Young's leadership. This shift can be understood as issuing from the personalities of the two leaders, the more charismatic among the two is obviously Smith, as he is the founder of the religion, while Brigham Young is the one who managed the tasks of economic management and had the leadership skills necessary for the Saints to survive in Salt Lake Valley. To say it bluntly, Smith was not good at managing the economic affairs of the Church - proof of which is the failed bank which he established. He was also engaged in a lot of shady and sleazy ventures during his time in New York such as speculating for gold and silver through the use of seer stones. Though we must also see this as the manifestation of the magical mentality prevalent during that time. There was widespread belief in these things and more often these were believed due to the prospects of quick money. Joseph Smith arose out of that environment and we often see this ironic juxtaposition of the sleazy with the religious. Though we would not go so far as to say that Joseph Smith established the Church in order to gain money, he was in no way against the idea of bettering his economic condition through the funds given by his followers for the support of the Church.

Brigham Young much preferred that spiritual issues be looked at by those whom he felt are more capable, that is, the church elders. Compared to Joseph Smith, Brigham Young was lesser into revelations and more into actions. He believed that what matters first is the survival of the church and that what theological and spiritual part there is can be found by the Mormons in their memory of Joseph Smith. He delegated some of the spiritual management to the church elders, and in accounts of his presidency, what was emphasized more was his effectiveness as a statesman and as a planner.

A 'great dream' by Brigham Young delivered at the semi-annual conference of the Mormon Church in October 1872 shows to us a very interesting idea at that time since we associate totalitarianism only in the first decades of the twentieth century. Yet in the United States in the 1870s we have this - basically a totalitarian - society envisioned by Brigham Young in Utah. To describe it using more apt political terms, this is a totalitarian theocratic state where power is in the control of a Prophet who is also the President assisted by a Council of Elders who manage a bureaucracy of

6 M.R. Werner, Brigham Young (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1925), 272.

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officials that oversee the organizations, families and individuals in various levels of territorial and social divisions. The Church has control over the social, political and economic lives of its citizens. This economic control is already manifest with Brigham Young's grudging approval for the creation of the Zion Cooperative Mercantile Institution. This would make business difficult for non-Gentile merchants in Utah. Though Mormon businessmen were not required to join the cooperative, they really did not have much of a choice since the resources of a lone businessmen is nothing compared to the resources of this cooperative. Thus most joined the cooperative. In the realm of culture, Brigham Young did not want the minds of the people, especially the young corrupted by ideas from Gentile novels. He envisioned in this dream that each night children would be taught besides reading and writing, the Scriptures and Mormon history written by Mormon historians.

Every aspect of life is monitored by Brigham Young. The symbolism of the all-seeing eye is prevalent since in order to differentiate themselves from Gentile businesses, Mormons would place in the doors of their establishments the symbol of the all-seeing eye, which in our times has become the symbol of state intervention, the symbol of 'big brother.' Marriage to a particular woman would first be consulted by the groom-to-be to Brigham Young and it is related that before they are even to consummate the marriage, they would ask the permission of Brigham Young first. Thus, we see here the power of Brigham Young to oversee the lives of the Mormon followers.

Another interesting aspect is that in discussions of totalitarianism, the crucial component of technology, especially that of mass production, is always brought up. In the context of the 1870s Utah there was already an awareness of how technology can improve the lives of the people through the use of telegraphs and the railway system. This was more on the logistics and communications aspects of technology therefore, aspects which Brigham Young applied in his communal banquet hall plan: "...suppose we had a hall a hundred feet long with our cooking room attached to this hall; and there is a person at the further end of the table and he should telegraph that he wanted a warm beefsteak; and this is conveyed to him by a little railway, perhaps under the table, and he or she may take her beefsteak ... and we can seat five hundred at once and serve them all in a very few minutes."7 After eating, the dishes are then slipped under the table and brought by the system to the ones who will wash them. This plan even detailed that they could hire a few Chinaman to do the dishes if the Mormons do not want to do it themselves. He even delivered to the congregation a plan for the structure of the homes of the Mormons themselves, that it would be best that they should simply eat in the communal hall and in the homes they should simply rest and do work. The manner of dress was regulated as well, so that visitors to the Mormon community at that time, following the entrance of the railway lines, frequently noted the drabness and sameness of everyone and everything.

IV. Mormonism and Violence

The Mormon phenomenon of the 1840s is an example of a theocracy functioning at the margin of mainstream society and tolerated only in as much as they pose little or no threat at all to this mainstream society. Theocracy at the surface seems to be a direct assault on the American ideal of democracy, but if we look at the historical origins - the Puritan governments of the early colonies for example, we see that theocracy is actually a major foundation of American thought on government, at least at that time. The fact that the Mormons since their inception have been subjected to various challenges sometimes verging on outright attempts at physical destruction, merely served to solidify

7 ibid. p. 438.

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their sense of being outside the mainstream and buttressed their belief of being the chosen people. In order to survive, the Saints rendered obedience to their leaders, to Joseph Smith, and then later to Brigham Young.

The setting plays a crucial role in understanding the history of the Mormons during their move towards the west. Years before the arrival of the Mormons in Missouri for example, a huge problem in that area was the presence of brigands and criminal groups. The presence of less than satisfactory persons in this area were not limited to those operating outside the law either, for there were government officials who engaged in various questionable activities. It seems that the farther one is from the capital, there is a tendency for men of baser instincts to show their true colors. There was a lot of mob violence involved in the early history of the early Mormons. People often took justice into their own hands. Werner even suggested that one of the reasons that people were prone to joining mobs was sheer boredom at the frontier areas during that time. He quotes a passage from Mark Twain describing the stark contrast before and after the arrival in the port of a frontier town of a steamship. Whereas people are idle while waiting for it, they suddenly as if by a miracle, burst out of their reverie and into various activities associated with the steamship once it arrives. However, once the steamship departs, the town sinks once more into a lull. Some young men would take their fun by tying a pan to a tail of a hapless dog and then watching it run itself to death.

These were the kind of people that found it easy to prosecute outsiders, the Mormons for example. And they were regarded by the Mormons as Gentiles. The self-righteousness of the Mormons, especially their leader Joseph Smith, grated onto the skin of those people around them. And adding fuel to the fire is the various theological doctrines of Mormonism itself. The more infamous of these, and probably much more important than the issue regarding polygamy, is their concept of 'blood atonement.' Joseph Smith, taking ideas from the Bible, was in favor of capital punishment for grave crimes. This was the Old Testament sort of justice where blood must be repaid for in blood, 'an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.' Though this doctrine did not manifest until the time of Brigham Young, there was not a large departure really from this concept of capital punishment. As developed during 1856, at the height of the period in their history known as the 'reformation,' blood atonement is the idea that some sins can only be extirpated through the shedding of blood. This would mean therefore that it is sometimes necessary for the sinning person to be killed in order for his soul to be saved.

The reformation of the Mormon Church during the mid-1850s onwards was spearheaded by the fiery Mormon preacher Jedediah M. Grant who was at the top level of Mormon leadership at that time. He urged Mormons to call for the President (Brigham Young) to form a committee to attend to the case of certain members who have committed grave crimes and "let that that committee shed their blood."8 On the part of Brigham Young, he was not as fiery as Jedediah but his view regarding this concept is clear:

There are sins that men commit ... for which they cannot receive forgiveness in this world, or in that which is to come, and if they had their eyes open to see their true condition, they would be perfectly willing to have their blood spilt upon the ground, that the smoke thereof might ascend to heaven as an offering for their sins; and the smoking incense would atone for their sins, whereas, if such is not the case, they will stick to them and remain upon them in the spirit world.9

8 Ray B. West Jr. , Kingdom of the Saints (New York: The Viking Press, 1957), 221.9 ibid.

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Blood atonement therefore is ideally something that the erring Mormon should seek for him or herself, not something that is imposed upon him or her. It emanates from the concept of achieving purity and to be still capable of achieving the divine condition that is the lot of those Mormons who have kept the faith while in this world. However, there was no rash of killings in Utah at that time. It is safe to say that this injunction remained on the ideal realm, vaguely manifesting itself every now and then in rulings in Utah courts regarding Mormons that are given capital punishment. This was something that would have a more metaphorical and symbolic value rather than something that is actually practiced. In the pulpit, this would be in the context of calling for further vigilance with regards to the temptations of this world. This is relevant given that a few years earlier, many Gentiles passed through Utah in order to participate in the Gold Rush. There were some Mormons who participated as well. It was to this and the perceived worldliness of the entire endeavor that calls for fundamentalism occurred, and the concept of blood atonement arose out of this.

Conclusion

Studying the history of Mormonism, one is struck by the prevalence of violence in it. Instances of bloody affairs are numerous even during its early years - the Haun's Mill Masssacre of Mormons for example, and the later Mountain Meadows Creek Massacre by Mormons on Arkansas migrants. There were violence by Mormons on non-Mormons and vice versa. In examining the reasons for this, we see that this stemmed from the seeming incompatibility with Mormonism's beliefs to the prevailing beliefs of American society at that time. The Mormons managed to incur the anger of those people around them because they considered themselves as the chosen people, and that they have the exclusive access to the truth of the Lord. This truth was given to Joseph Smith through the Book of Mormon. But besides this, there were political and economic reasons for the unpopularity of the Mormons. Through helping each other, they became more economically well-off than their neighbors, earning their jealousy. Politically, the centralization of authority towards a single leader meant that they are able to hold sway over the outcome of state elections. Lastly, the role of the media and other apostates of the Mormon Church at that time who propagated various lurid stories, contributed to this hostility as well.

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Bibliography

A. Books

Allen, James B. and Marvin S. Hill, eds., Mormonism and American Culture. New York: Harper and Row, 1972.

Bushman, Richard L. Joseph Smith and the Beginnings of Mormonism. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1984.

Furniss, Norman F. The Mormon Conflict. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1960.

Werner, M.R. Brigham Young. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1925.

West, Ray B. Jr. Kingdom of the Saints. New York: The Viking Press, 1957.

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