Listen to a new MWEG broadcast by independent historian Ardis Parshall on refugees in LDS church history, from Missouri to Turkey to Lithuania.  This is an important part of LDS history and provides some context for our efforts today.

This is also the first public broadcast of an MWEG event.  Check it out!

Ardis Parshall has written for Mormon Women for Ethical Government and currently works as a historian, blogger, and freelance researcher.

Ashley Morales

Frequently whimsical and overly optimistic about how much time it will take to do things, Ashley Morales is deeply passionate about the gospel and all kinds of creativity. Her hobbies include philosophically analyzing nearly every book, play, video game, and movie that she consumes, writing music and short stories, promising herself that she will finish writing her novels, going to sleep too late, eating foods she’s never tried, putting off cleaning her house, browsing Zillow, spending as much quality time as possible with her wonderful husband, trying to be a good mother to her fantastic children, and never finding the balance between saying too much and too little. One day, she hopes to leave a positive mark on the world and visit every continent (except Antarctica) with her family.

On the 170th anniversary of the Saints entering the Salt Lake Valley, a longtime question has now been answered. How long after Mormon pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley was land surveyed and designated as the official location of Temple Square? A week? A month? According to a recently discovered journal belonging to pioneer surveyor Jesse Carter Little, the location of Temple Square was known the day pioneers entered the valley, July 24, 1847.

The Church Office Building in Temple Square. Courtesy of the LDS Media Library.

In April, Rob Thurston of Provo, Utah, age 60, made an amazing discovery about his great-great-grandfather, Jesse Carter Little. He found his ancestor’s journal containing entries made along the journey west to the Salt Lake Valley. But the journey to acquiring the journal was an adventure in and of itself.

“When I was a young boy about age 7, I used to go down to Manti, Utah, to where my grandmother lived,” Thurston said. “In her old house I used to like to play hide-and-seek and hide under the stairs.”

In the small confines of the room under the stairs, Thurston remembers seeing an old cream-colored box filled with aged letters and photographs. At the time, the letters were of particular interest because of the stamps that could be cut out and added to his stamp collection.

It wasn’t until this past April that memories of the cream-colored box came flooding back in Thurston’s mind. “I asked my mother whatever happened to the box,” he said. “She wasn’t exactly sure but recalled that it was given to a BYU professor to take a look at. The professor was contemplating writing an article about the items in it and also indicated he would see if they held any worth.”

The only problem with the box was it was given to the BYU professor, who Thurston declined to name, in 1977, 40 years ago. “I thought, ‘That’s it, they’re gone,’” Thurston said. “And to top it all off, my mother could not remember the name of the BYU professor.”

After a lot of hard work, Thurston found out the name of the professor, who, fortunately, was still working at Brigham Young University. He called the professor and mentioned the cream-colored box. Sure enough, the professor still had the box and remembered his mother. Thurston made an appointment to see him.

At the office of the BYU professor, Thurston recovered the box. It had been on a shelf for many years. “I remember what the professor told me,” said Thurston. “’There really isn’t anything in there. I didn’t see anything of value. Go ahead and take it.’”

Thurston took the box home and opened it. It held more than 180 items.

“Not knowing exactly what I had, I took the box to a document expert to help me understand. I was told that there were a number of significant things.”

The box contained a treasure trove of journals, letters and photographs from Thurston’s ancestors. “It gave depth to my ancestors I knew nothing about,” he said.

“There was a letter from Brigham Young I was excited about and a bunch of letters from an ancestor named Jesse Carter Little. He was the one ancestor I knew. He helped found the Mormon Battalion, and he met with President James K. Polk to get funds to help the Saints come west.”

The pinnacle of the discovery was an 1846 journal kept by Jesse Carter Little from the first pioneer company coming across the plains with Brigham Young. It contained tons of detailed information about the company’s trek west. “He recorded how many miles they went, where they reached, location names and coordinates for longitude and latitude with a sextant and compass,” Thurston said.

The most interesting entry was the one dated July 24, 1847. Little was in the advance party that entered the valley, and he recorded the following on two lines in his journal. Line one reads: “Salt Lake Valley 114 miles from Fort Bridger.” The second line reads: “Northern boundary of the Temple Square 40 degrees latitude and 111 degrees longitude.”

To check the accuracy of Little’s journal, the distance from the address of Fort Bridger to the address of Temple Square was calculated using Google Maps. It yielded 118 miles versus the journal’s 114. Plugging the longitude and latitude coordinates from Little’s journal into the U.S. government’s NASA website latitude/longitude finder yields the location of Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah.

“For the last 85 years these treasured items were either under the stairwell of an old house or in the office of a BYU professor. Finding these items was important. In my family, we are calling this the miracle of the cream-colored shirt box.”

Walking to General Conference in Temple Square. Courtesy of the LDS Media Library.

Ryan Morgenegg is a writer for Deseret News.

Ashley Morales

Frequently whimsical and overly optimistic about how much time it will take to do things, Ashley Morales is deeply passionate about the gospel and all kinds of creativity. Her hobbies include philosophically analyzing nearly every book, play, video game, and movie that she consumes, writing music and short stories, promising herself that she will finish writing her novels, going to sleep too late, eating foods she’s never tried, putting off cleaning her house, browsing Zillow, spending as much quality time as possible with her wonderful husband, trying to be a good mother to her fantastic children, and never finding the balance between saying too much and too little. One day, she hopes to leave a positive mark on the world and visit every continent (except Antarctica) with her family.

The Erie Canal, which celebrates its 200^th birthday this year, provided many miracles—not the least of which included a means of travel and communication that allowed The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to spread and thrive better than it would have otherwise.

How so, you ask?

For one thing, the rise of wealth in the area may have contributed to the Second Great Awakening, when interest in religion throughout the existing United States was revived with notable ardency, resulting in many denominations frequently butting heads over doctrine and wrestling to retain and increase their memberships. After all, as Nephi so eloquently related, opposition is necessary for progress, and in this case, finding earthly satisfaction in material goods urged the desire to find spiritual satisfaction in one’s relationship with God as well. Although it was not the only factor that ignited the religious fire of this time period, the Erie Canal was certainly an important spark.

The Erie Canal. Courtesy of Pexels.

Furthermore, the canal’s sheer reach across the continental United States let all kinds of people carry their ideas and causes to faraway places in record time. In fact, one of its many nicknames was the “psychic highway.” Of course, among the groups that took advantage of the canal’s accessibility were the Mormons, who were able to use it to travel around the country to build cities for themselves, transport the materials necessary for such cities, and even serve missions. On its waters were brought all the paper and equipment needed to publish the Book of Mormon as well. Even the likes of Charles Dickens himself was floating on it when he was first impressed by the Mormons he met there. Never before had the Lord’s commandment to baptize the world seemed more realistic.

Before the Erie Canal was built, getting around the country was difficult and exhausting. While it was undergoing construction, however, it brought many jobs; its completion ensured more wealth in nearby areas, promoted other sectors of economic growth by providing transportation for all kinds of goods, greatly helped U.S. citizens get wherever they needed to go, and served as a symbol of America’s engineering innovations. However, equally important is its role in the rise of the kingdom of God in the latter days, for God does work through the hands of man to accomplish His ends.

Ashley Morales

Frequently whimsical and overly optimistic about how much time it will take to do things, Ashley Morales is deeply passionate about the gospel and all kinds of creativity. Her hobbies include philosophically analyzing nearly every book, play, video game, and movie that she consumes, writing music and short stories, promising herself that she will finish writing her novels, going to sleep too late, eating foods she’s never tried, putting off cleaning her house, browsing Zillow, spending as much quality time as possible with her wonderful husband, trying to be a good mother to her fantastic children, and never finding the balance between saying too much and too little. One day, she hopes to leave a positive mark on the world and visit every continent (except Antarctica) with her family.

On June 27, 1844, not longer after singing “A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief” to his cellmates, John Taylor lay suffering on the floor of Carthage Jail. He had endured terrible injury at the hands of an angry mob that had just killed the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum. This tragic event became a defining moment in the history of the Church and in the life of John Taylor.

John Taylor, by John Willard Clawson. Courtesy of the LDS Media Library.

In Witness to the Martyrdom, Mark H. Taylor, a great-great-grandson of John Taylor, revives the only eyewitness account of these events. Below is John Taylor’s eyewitness account:

—–

Soon afterwards I was sitting at one of the front windows of the jail, when I saw a number of men, with painted faces, coming round the corner of the jail, and aiming towards the stairs. The other brethren had seen the same, for, as I went to the door, I found Brother Hyrum Smith and Dr. Richards already leaning against it. They both pressed against the door with their shoulders to prevent its being opened, as the lock and latch were comparatively useless. While in this position, the mob, who had come upstairs, and tried to open the door, probably thought it was locked, and fired a ball through the keyhole; at this Dr. Richards and Brother Hyrum leaped back from the door, with their faces towards it; almost instantly another ball passed through the panel of the door, and struck Brother Hyrum on the left side of the nose, entering his face and head. At the same instant, another ball from the outside entered his back, passing through his body and striking his watch. The ball came from the back, through the jail window, opposite the door, and must, from its range, have been fired from the Carthage Greys, who were placed there ostensibly for our protection, as the balls from the firearms, shot close by the jail, would have entered the ceiling, we being in the second story, and there never was a time after that when Hyrum could have received the latter wound. Immediately, when the ball struck him, he fell flat on his back, crying as he fell, “I am a dead man!” He never moved afterwards.

I shall never forget the feeling of deep sympathy and regard manifested in the countenance of Brother Joseph as he drew nigh to Hyrum, and, leaning over him exclaimed, “Oh! my poor, dear brother Hyrum!” He, however, instantly arose, and with a firm, quick step, and a determined expression of countenance, approached the door, and pulling the six-shooter left by Brother Wheelock from his pocket, opened the door slightly and snapped the pistol six successive times; only three of the barrels, however, were discharged. I afterwards understood that two or three were wounded by these discharges, two of whom, I am informed, died.

I had in my hands a large, strong hickory stick brought there by Brother Markham, and left by him, which I had seized as soon as I saw the mob approach; and while Brother Joseph was firing the pistol, I stood close behind him. As soon as he had discharged it he stepped back, and I immediately took his place next to the door, while he occupied the one I had done while he was shooting. Brother Richards, at this time, had a knotty walking-stick in his hand belonging to me, and stood next to Brother Joseph, a little farther from the door, in an oblique direction, apparently to avoid the rake of the fire from the door. The firing of Brother Joseph made our assailants pause for a moment; very soon after, however, they pushed the door some distance open, and protruded and discharged their guns into the room, when I parried them off with my stick, giving another direction to the balls.

It certainly was a terrible scene: streams of fire as thick as my arm passed by me as these men fired, and, unarmed as we were, it looked like certain death. I remember feeling as though my time had come, but I do not know when, in any critical position, I was more calm, unruffled, and energetic, and acted with more promptness and decision. It certainly was far from pleasant to be so near the muzzles of those firearms as they belched forth their liquid flame and deadly balls. While I was engaged in parrying the guns, Brother Joseph said, “That’s right, Brother Taylor, parry them off as well as you can.” These were the last words I ever heard him speak on earth.

Every moment the crowd at the door became more dense, as they were unquestionably pressed on by those in the rear ascending the stairs, until the whole entrance at the door was literally crowded with muskets and rifles, which, with the swearing, shouting, and demoniacal expressions of those outside the door and on the stairs, and the firing of guns, mingled with their horrid oaths and execrations, made it look like pandemonium let loose, and was, indeed, a fit representation of the horrid deed in which they were engaged.

After parrying the guns for some time, which now protruded thicker and farther into the room, and seeing no hope of escape or protection there, as we were now unarmed, it occurred to me that we might have some friends outside, and that there might be some chance of escape in that direction, but here there seemed to be none.

As I expected them every moment to rush into the room – nothing but extreme cowardice having kept them out – as the tumult and pressure increased, without any other hope, I made a spring for the window which was right in front of the jail door, where the mob was standing, and also exposed to the fire of the Carthage Greys, who were stationed some ten or twelve rods off. The weather was hot, we all of us had our coats off, and the window was raised to admit air. As I reached the window, and was on the point of leaping out, I was struck by a ball from the door about mid-way of my thigh, which was struck the bone, and flattened out almost to the size of a quarter of a dollar, and then passed on through the fleshy part to within about half an inch of the outside. I think some prominent nerve must have been severed or injured for, as soon as the ball struck me, I fell like a bird when shot, or an ox when struck by a butcher, and lost entirely and instantaneously all power of action or locomotion. I fell upon the windowsill and cried out, “I am shot!”

Not possessing any power to move, I felt myself falling outside the window, but immediately I fell inside, from some time, at that time, unknown cause. When I struck the floor my animation seemed restored, as I have seen it sometimes in squirrels and birds after being shot. As soon as I felt the power of motion I crawled under the bed, which was in a corner of the room, not far from the window where I received my wound. While on teh way and under the bed I was wounded in three other places; one ball entered a little below the left knee, and never was extracted; another entered the forepart of my left arm, a little above the wrist, and passing down by the joint, lodged in the fleshy part of my hand, about midway, a little above the upper joint of my little finger; another struck me on the fleshy part of my left hip, and tore away the flesh as large as my hand, dashing the mangled fragments of flesh and blood against the wall.

My wounds were painful, and the sensation produced was as though a ball had passed through and down the whole length of my leg. I very well remember my reflections at the time. I had a very painful idea of becoming lame and decrepid, and being an object of pity, and I felt as though I would rather die than be placed in such circumstances.

It would seem that immediately after my attempt to leap out of the window, Joseph also did the same thing, of which circumstance I have no knowledge, only from information. The first thing that I noticed was a cry that he had leaped out of the window. A cessation of firing followed, the mob rushed downstairs, and Dr. Richards went to the window. Immediately afterward I saw the doctor going toward the jail door, and as there was an iron door at the head of the stairs, adjoining our door which led into the cells for criminals, it struck me that the doctor was going there, and I said to him, “Stop, Doctor, and take me along.” He proceeded to the door and opened it, and then returned and dragged me along to a small cell prepared for criminals.

Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum, by Gary E. Smith. Courtesy of the LDS Media Library.

Brother Richards was very much troubled, and exclaimed, “Oh! Brother Taylor, is it possible that they have killed both Brother Hyrum and Joseph? it cannot surely be, and yet I saw them shoot them;” and elevating his hands two or three times, he exclaimed, “Oh Lord, my God, spare Thy servants!” He then said, “Brother Taylor, this is a terrible event;” and he dragged me farther into the cell, saying, “I am sorry I can not do better for you;” and, then, taking an old, filthy mattress, he covered me with it, and said, “That may hide you, and you may yet live to tell the tale, but I expect they will kill me in a few moments.” While lying in this position I suffered the most excruciating pain.

Soon afterwards Dr. Richards came to me, informed me that the mob had precipitately fled, and at the same time confirmed my worst fears that Joseph was assuredly dead. I felt a dull, lonely, sickening sensation at the news. When I reflected that our noble chieftain, the Prophet of the living God, had fallen, and that I had seen his brother in the cold embrace of death, it seemed as though there was a void or vacuum in the great field of human existence to me, and a dark gloomy chasm in the kingdom, and that we were left alone. Oh, how lonely was the feeling! How cold, barren and desolate! In the midst of difficulties he was always the first in motion; in critical positions his counsel was always sought. As our Prophet he approached our God, and obtained for us his will; but now our Prophet, our counselor, our general, our leader, was gone, and amid the fiery ordeal that we then had to pass through, we were left alone without his aid, and as our future guide for things spiritual or temporal, and for all things pertaining to this world, or the next, he had spoken for the last time on earth.

These reflections and a thousand others flashed upon my mind. I thought, why must the good perish, and the virtuous be destroyed? Why must God’s nobility, the salt of the earth, the most exalted of the human family, and the most perfect types of all excellence, fall victims to the cruel, fiendish hate of incarnate devils?

The poignancy of my grief, I presume, however, was somewhat allayed by the extreme suffering that I endured from my wounds.

Aleah Ingram is a full-time writer, social media manager, and editor who graduated from Southern Virginia University.

Ashley Morales

Frequently whimsical and overly optimistic about how much time it will take to do things, Ashley Morales is deeply passionate about the gospel and all kinds of creativity. Her hobbies include philosophically analyzing nearly every book, play, video game, and movie that she consumes, writing music and short stories, promising herself that she will finish writing her novels, going to sleep too late, eating foods she’s never tried, putting off cleaning her house, browsing Zillow, spending as much quality time as possible with her wonderful husband, trying to be a good mother to her fantastic children, and never finding the balance between saying too much and too little. One day, she hopes to leave a positive mark on the world and visit every continent (except Antarctica) with her family.

He Doth Grant His Word Unto All Nations

In the Book of Mormon, Alma joyfully exclaimed that he wanted to spread the gospel around the world, noting that “the Lord doth grant unto all nations, of their own nation and tongue, to teach his word, yea, in wisdom, all that he seeth fit that they should have.” With the spirit of discernment, any disciple of Christ may see the light of truth in every culture and nation.

Middle Eastern regions have served as the homes of many of the earliest known scripture stories, and, of course, Jewish culture was the first context for both Mosaic and Christian law. The current dispensation of the gospel was established in the United States, in which European culture has been dominant, although it has been strongly influenced by African, Latin American, and Asian cultures as well. Since then, the gospel has spread throughout the world and found a place within many nations that abide by a wide variety of customs. The Book of Mormon says that the full gospel has thrived in its fullness among Latin American and Native American people, and the book’s very existence suggests that the gospel may have been present in other ancient civilizations, too. In every religion and culture—many of which have influenced and been influenced by other religions and cultures—something of God’s truth may be found in a unique and instructive form.

The diverse family of God. Courtesy of the LDS Media Library.

Within such an intricate tapestry of races, ethnicities, and ways of life woven together, it’s remarkable and a testament to the veracity of the gospel that its simple, beautiful truths have resonated everywhere around the globe. It also points to the fact that, truly, no culture is superior to another, and all have equal value in the eyes of God. Consequently, the Church has urged its members to defy racism of all kinds and celebrate diversity. It has also denounced the racist actions of its past and recently encouraged members to welcome political refugees into their midst.

Continued Issues

Despite this, minority Church members throughout predominantly white regions—especially the United States—have expressed frustration over feeling marginalized or even degraded within congregations where their perspectives are not understood or respected or where issues pertaining to their well-being are not addressed. These matters need not be political. Our baptismal covenants include comforting and supporting those who are in pain or enduring misfortunes, so when any members of our worldwide Church community are suffering physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually, it is our duty and privilege to offer them refuge in a Church whose doctrine teaches that they are loved as deeply as any other subgroup. When our fellow Church members are concerned—especially in large numbers—we are obliged to listen and heed, then make improvements where necessary.

Alma Baptizes in the Waters of Mormon, by Arnold Friberg. Courtesy of the LDS Media Library. This illustration of the prophet Alma baptizing people in the waters of Mormon should serve as a reminder to all Latter-day Saints that we must keep the baptismal covenants that we made, which include supporting our minority brothers and sisters.

Avoid False Doctrine

Anyone who promotes the idea that one culture should be dominant over others and/or fails to value all races and ethnicities equally spreads several ideas that are contrary to Church doctrine, including, but not limited to:

• God is a respecter of persons: Despite expecting Church members to be united in seeking to keep a certain moral standard consistent with Church doctrine, to believe that God values one culture over another is to perceive Him as a respecter of persons, which several prophets have insisted He is not. We are encouraged to follow our countries’ laws, love our ancestors, and have pride in our cultures, but we should do these things without trying to assert dominance or a sense of superiority over others. It is impossible to love the children of God as He has commanded if we seek to place them in a social caste, and it insults our Heavenly Father to demean anyone who was created in His own image. If God is not a respecter of persons, we should not be, either.
• Pride is morally permissible: Again, we can and should have pride in our cultures, but this is different from the sort of pride that destroys humility. Blindly seeing only the good aspects of your own culture, race, or ethnicity while degrading other cultures, races, and ethnicities indicates the type of pride that causes spiritual death, for it requires becoming “puffed up” and convinced of your own superior righteousness. It’s a condition that is not conducive to the Spirit, which Church doctrine dictates all members should possess in order to live according to God’s will.
• Stagnancy is consistent with life’s purpose: In a religion that teaches the virtues of continuously progressing and improving our surroundings—indeed, that our destiny is to become gods ourselves, inheriting the privilege of creating life, intelligence, and beauty throughout the universe—stagnancy has no place. Trying to force the Church to become homogeneous stunts the spiritual and intellectual growth of Church members, thus impeding our journeys toward godhood by dismissing other perspectives, customs, and experiences that could hold truth, beauty, and value that we would otherwise miss.
• Denial of prophetic counsel: Prophets are fallible, and all Church members are encouraged to seek personal confirmation of their teachings before following them. However, Church leadership—which is itself composed of diverse peoples around the world—have consistently held that all children of God are equal in His eyes. Priesthood and temple blessings are available to all worthy men and women, a clear denial of the notion that any group of humans is “less” than another. To ignore the teachings of prophets in this matter is to engage in “cafeteria-style obedience” and/or disrespect their authority. It requires assuming that you know better than those called to be God’s spokespeople, which can only lead to egregious distortion of doctrine and loss of the Spirit. It’s the very attitude that initiated the Great Apostasy following the ascension of Christ.

Scriptures, by Grant Heaton. Courtesy of the LDS Media Library.

All Church members are imperfect, but teaching these false doctrines could bring serious physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual harm upon minority members, not to mention they are extremely detrimental to the spiritual growth of their adherents, and they should thus be addressed with special urgency. Those who engage in spreading such false doctrines should repent immediately, for their own sakes and for the sakes of those who are affected by their words and actions. While they may not believe they are being hateful or acting contrary to the Spirit, all doctrinal evidence indicates otherwise. To continue in their ways is to risk destruction upon themselves and others.

Here are some ideas for how to improve race relations with black members within the Church. Feel free to offer other suggestions for helping all minority races feel welcome in our congregations.

Ashley Morales

Frequently whimsical and overly optimistic about how much time it will take to do things, Ashley Morales is deeply passionate about the gospel and all kinds of creativity. Her hobbies include philosophically analyzing nearly every book, play, video game, and movie that she consumes, writing music and short stories, promising herself that she will finish writing her novels, going to sleep too late, eating foods she’s never tried, putting off cleaning her house, browsing Zillow, spending as much quality time as possible with her wonderful husband, trying to be a good mother to her fantastic children, and never finding the balance between saying too much and too little. One day, she hopes to leave a positive mark on the world and visit every continent (except Antarctica) with her family.

It should have been a simple question: Last week, Trump counterterrorism adviser Sebastian Gorka was asked by a radio host whether the president believed that Islam was a religion. Instead of coming back with a quick yes—of course it’s a religion—he demurred. “This is not a theological seminary,” he said. “This is the White House, and we’re not going to get into theological debates.”

It wasn’t that he’d been caught off guard. It was the second time he’d been asked by the same NPR host, Steve Inskeep. The first time, Gorka had evaded the question in a different way: “I think you should ask him that question. I’m not a spokesperson for the president,” he said.

The question has been dogging Trump advisers for months. At a conference in Dallas last August for the anti-Muslim group ACT for America, Michael Flynn, who was recently forced to step down from his post as President Trump’s national security adviser, said Islam was not a religion but a “political ideology” that “hides behind the notion of it being a religion.”

What is going on here? There’s no serious debate, theological or otherwise, about whether Islam is a religion. Any basic primer on world religions will teach you that there are 1.7 billion Muslims in the world; that observant Muslims practice the “Five Pillars of Islam,” by praying five times a day, fasting during Ramadan, going on pilgrimage to Mecca, giving alms to the poor, and testifying that there is only one God and Muhammad is his prophet. I have been a religious studies professor for over a quarter century and I have never heard anyone in my field question whether the world’s second-largest religion is really a religion.

But if there’s no theological precedent for this, there’s definitely a political one. American politics has a long history of questioning the “real” status of religions—generally with an eye to stripping their members of constitutional rights. In the past it wasn’t Muslims who were under fire, however. It was Roman Catholics and Mormons.

The colonies that later became the United States were largely settled by Protestants, and they brought the anti-Catholic biases of the Protestant Reformation with them. There weren’t many Catholics to hate, however, until Ireland’s potato famine of the 1840s sent many in search of a better life across the Atlantic. Germans came too, and French Canadians, turning Roman Catholicism into America’s largest Christian denomination by 1850. Many Protestants responded with hostility to what they saw as a threat to their dominance. And they responded much the same to the invention and spread of Mormonism also in the middle of the 19th century.

In attacking Catholics and Mormons, the ancestors of Gorka and Flynn and other anti-Muslim culture warriors claimed that these growing religious groups were un-Christian, immoral, and un-American. In short, they were theological imposters, amoral villains and traitors to the nation—labels hate groups now widely apply to Muslims. But some went further in their efforts to safeguard Protestant America, arguing that Catholicism and Mormonism weren’t really religions at all. To wage cultural war on these fake religions, they argued, was not to violate our constitutional right to religious liberty. It was to safeguard it.

This wasn’t just a fringe position. Samuel Morse is remembered today as the inventor of the Morse code. He was also one of the leading members of the alt-right of his time. A nativist and Protestant nationalist radicalized by a visit to Rome in 1830, Morse repeatedly sounded the alarm against the dangers posed by Catholics and other immigrants to the lives and liberties of “native Americans.” Like white nationalists today who view Islam as a Trojan horse secreting terrorists into the heartland under the cloak of religious liberty, Morse wrote of American Protestants as the “dupes” of their own hospitality in his 1835 book Foreign Conspiracy Against the Liberties of the United States. The “infallibly intolerant” faith of Rome, he wrote, was leaching “into every nook and corner of the land.” American Protestants must not allow the “political designs” of the Vatican to be “shielded from attack” by the “sacred cloak” of so-called religion.

Morse portrayed ordinary Catholics more as victims than perpetrators—cogs in the machinery of “Popery.” But he was apoplectic over the machinations of the Roman Catholic order of the Jesuits, which he described as “a secret society, a sort of Masonic order, with superadded features of revolting odiousness, and a thousand times more dangerous.” Regarding “the impression that the order of Jesuits is a purely religious Society … and therefore comes with the protection of our laws, and must be tolerated,” Morse wrote, “there cannot be a greater mistake. It was from the beginning a political organization, an absolute Monarchy masked by religion.”

Morse recognized the irony of refusing to tolerate the intolerant, and of denying freedom of religion in the name of freedom of religion, but he refused and denied nonetheless. “Americans will not be cowed into silence by the cries of persecution, intolerance, bigotry, fanaticism,” he promised, adding that when it came to Roman Catholicism, he would proudly “glory in intolerance.”

The anti-Mormon culture wars were the most wide-ranging assault on any religion in American history. The state of Missouri and the U.S Army waged war against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Mobs killed its missionaries and burned down its places of worship. President Chester Arthur decried Mormons in four straight State of the Union addresses. Congress took away their suffrage and seized church property. The House of Representatives and the Senate both refused to seat duly elected Mormons. And the Supreme Court, in its first decision on the free exercise clause of the First Amendment, ruled that religious liberty extended only to belief, not to the controversial Mormon practice of “plural marriage.”

And Mormons, too, were told that their religion was not really a religion. Many anti-Mormons argued that they were opposed not to the LDS Church but to its practice of polygamy. “It is not a matter of religion,” said Rep. John Letcher of Virginia. “It is a matter of vice.” But other anti-Mormon culture warriors went further, insisting that Mormonism wasn’t just a false religion or an immoral one: It wasn’t really a religion at all. It was a front for sexual license or political or economic gain (or all three). Some put the term religion in scare quotes, as in “the vileness and villainies of [their] ‘religion.’” The Rev. A. J. Bailey, a Congregationalist minister from Odgen, Utah, was more explicit, insisting that Mormonism “is not a religion according to the American idea and the United States Constitution.”

But that’s not precisely the argument Sebastian Gorka is making. In an emerging field known as “agnotology,” scholars describe how politicians, lobbyists, and corporations sow the seeds of doubt to advance their own purposes. Sometimes our ignorance is as simple as not yet knowing how to count to 10. But at other times ignorance is deliberately engineered. In their book Merchants of Doubt, Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway describe how corporations cultivate doubt on questions from acid rain to tobacco smoking to climate change in order to profit economically and to overturn government regulations.

That is what Gorka is doing in his rope-a-dope interviews with NPR. He isn’t asserting, as televangelist Pat Robertson did in 2007, that “Islam is not a religion—it is a worldwide political movement bent on domination of the world.” He is doing something more subtle and more dangerous, something akin to what Trump and his supporters did with President Barack Obama’s birth certificate and his Christian faith. Trump and other “birthers” did not typically say outright that Obama was born in Kenya: They just suggested that he might have been. And while some did assert that Obama is a Muslim, most just called the question. This strategy has been extraordinarily successful. Obama is a churchgoing Christian born in Hawaii, and yet in surveys conducted during the past year, 41 percent of Republicans said they did not believe he was born in the United States, and two-thirds of Trump supporters said they believe Obama is a Muslim.

In a 2011 interview with Fox News, Trump played the agnotologist to perfection, calling into question both Obama’s faith and his birth: “He doesn’t have a birth certificate. He may have one, but there’s something on that, maybe religion, maybe it says he is a Muslim. I don’t know. Maybe he doesn’t want that.”

This is the playbook out of which Gorka is operating. Don’t baldly assert what we know to be false. Just call what we know to be true into question—turn it into a matter of “debate.” When Gorka says he does not want to engage in a “theological debate” over whether Islam is a religion, he is not just begging off a question the way politicians so often do. He is engaging in the far more toxic flimflam of other “merchants of doubt,” by suggesting that there’s a debate here to be had.

In another arena of agnotology—Holocaust denial—Emory professor Deborah Lipstadt has famously refused to debate Holocaust deniers. The Holocaust happened. That fact is not a matter of debate. So why debate it? To do so is like engaging in a debate about whether the Earth is flat.

A “debate” about whether Islam is a religion is similarly pointless. Islam is a religion. Why debate it? To engage “merchants of doubt” on this “question” is to engage in a sleight of hand that seeks to legitimize the un-American and unconstitutional treatment of Muslims as second-class citizens—by denying them the First Amendment rights that all of us enjoy. And yfou don’t have to be a theologian, or a religious studies professor, to know that.

Stephen Prothero is a professor of religion at Boston University and the author of  Why Liberals Win the Culture Wars (Even When They Lose Elections): The Battles That Define America from Jefferson’s Heresies to Gay Marriage (HarperOne).

You can find the original content link here.

Megan Finley

In between writing short stories she’ll never finish and marathoning Marvel movies, Megan Finley is often found missing the loves of her life, her two cats Leia and Loki. Her passion for “geek culture” extends into her passion for academics, as she is an optimistic MA student with plans to be the next Professor X (with hair). Her life’s dream is a simple one—to drink a hot chocolate in every Disney park in the world.

Many people have called Joseph Smith a gold digger, but who knew that Mormon gold would one day be so valuable? The early history of Latter-day Saints (“Mormons”) in the Utah Territory certainly wouldn’t have led anyone to believe it.

When members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (which church is often inadvertently referred to as the “Mormon Church”) first entered the Salt Lake Valley in Utah in 1847, they had little or no money. They had all had to leave behind homes and many of their most prized possessions, including property. The church leader at the time himself, Brigham Young, only carried $50 with him. When you think about it, what was the use of money? There was no one there, nothing to buy.

However, as time went on, the lack of a standard currency (Utah was not an official part of the United States at the time), presented unique challenges for the Mormon population. They came up with some inventive ways to meet that challenge.

Myriad Currencies Used in Mormon History

Early on, Mormon settlers interacted with many different people. On the frontier, Spanish dollars, French francs, and other foreign coins were used right alongside U.S. coins. However, it was difficult for everyone to keep any kind of exchange rates straight.

Douglas Nyholm, a currency expert, has written a book on how Mormons have created the most diverse array of currency outside of the U.S. government. The first paper money printed in the valley was called white notes or valley notes. Other notes included those from the Salt Lake City Corporation, scrip from different cooperatives, and reissued currency from a failed bank in Kirtland, Ohio, where many of the Saints had lived previous to migrating to Utah. There was even a type of note, issued by Deseret Currency Association, which was backed by livestock—the only currency in U.S. history of which that can be said.

Due to the myriad of currencies, it was difficult for these people to do business outside of Utah, where none of these currencies were recognized. The Utah Mormons needed gold, but there was an obvious lack of it. That is, until members of the Mormon Battalion, which had marched West to serve in the war with Mexico, arrived in the Utah Valley from the end of their march in California with thousands of dollars worth of gold dust.

Mormon Gold Coins

Mormon Gold Piece

Finally, the Mormons had a source to mint their own gold coins, which they did—the first coins to be minted from California gold. However, few of these coins survive. Many were melted down outside of Utah and made into other things. This rarity makes them exceedingly valuable today. Bob Campbell, a coin dealer, stated that there are rarely more than a dozen Mormon gold coins on the market at any given time. They can be worth from $10,000 to perhaps $1,000,000. Campbell owns one of two-dozen-existing $20 Mormon gold pieces, which is worth about $350,000. The most coveted Mormon gold piece is the $10, which can be worth up to $1,000,000.

Eventually, the Utah Territory was admitted to the Union and standard U.S. currency has been standard for quite some time. Learn more about Mormon history and early pioneer settlers by exploring the rest of our website.

dwhite

Doris White is a native of Oregon and graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in English and a minor in Editing. She loves to talk with others about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often inadvertently called the Mormon Church, recently packed its Church History website, www.history.lds.org, with even more features and information.

Matthew McBride, the Church History Department’s web content manager, told LDS Church News

In the age of the Internet, e from a variety of sources, some of which are very trustworthy and some of which are not. We’d like to be very proactive about being a consistent, faithful voice in the conversation about Church history on the web.

Latter-day Saint, (or “Mormon”) history is fascinating! Mormonism’s history is the story of the Lord restoring His Church again upon the earth and is intertwined with amazing stories of ordinary individuals who experienced angelic visitations, miracles, revelations, and persecutions.

Eager to explore the new content, I visited history.lds.org for the very first time.

Explore: Women of Conviction

Inez Knight

Immediately drawn to Women of Conviction, I read the story of Inez Knight who was the first female missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Day Saints. She was called to Great Britain in 1898. She labored in Bristol in 1899, where, laboring against strong anti-Mormon sentiment, Inez found herself mobbed, spat upon, and stoned, even under police protection. I served a mission in Scotland, and while I did have a woman spit in my face, I endured nothing like what Inez encountered.

Her story captivated me, and her faith and courage inspired me! Following is a small portion of Inez Knight’s missionary experience found on www.history.lds.org. Inez wrote of the persecution she encountered in Bristol but assured her friends in Utah that:

Many have been led to investigate the truth, through the opposition we received. … We meet all kinds of answers, but each day’s round finds sunshine and shower, and without one we might not appreciate the other.

She continued:

The Lord is abundantly blessing us in our labors, and although we do not always have clear sailing and have even been forced to seek protection from mob violence in a police station, receiving the slurs of the mob and even spat upon by the enemy, together with rocks and sticks from their hands, yet we rejoice in the work. We do not find it hard to say, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do,” for truly it is the ignorant who persecute us most. The Lord has said we must love Him with all our might, mind, and strength and to do this, means to be willing to sacrifice all things, and work faithfully for the upbuilding of His kingdom (from a letter to the Young Woman’s Journal printed in April 1899).

Explore: Revelations in Context -Historical Background for Sections of the Doctrine and Covenants

Revelations in Context drew my attention next. I clicked on the link referencing the section containing, what is to me, two of the most joyful, jubilant, beautiful, motivating verses in scripture, Doctrine and Covenants 128:22–23:

[S]hall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad. Let the earth break forth into singing. Let the dead speak forth anthems of eternal praise to the King Immanuel, who hath ordained, before the world was, that which would enable us to redeem them out of their prison; for the prisoners shall go free.

Let the mountains shout for joy, and all ye valleys cry aloud; and all ye seas and dry lands tell the wonders of your Eternal King! And ye rivers, and brooks, and rills, flow down with gladness. Let the woods and all the trees of the field praise the Lord; and ye solid rocks weep for joy! And let the sun, moon, and the morning stars sing together, and let all the sons of God shout for joy! And let the eternal creations declare his name forever and ever! And again I say, how glorious is the voice we hear from heaven, proclaiming in our ears, glory, and salvation, and honor, and immortality, and eternal life; kingdoms, principalities, and powers!

The Doctrine and Covenants is a collection of revelations to the Prophet Joseph Smith and other leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ. Mormons consider it to be scripture. Revelations in the book are called Sections. As I read the words of the Doctrine and Covenants, I hear the word of the Lord to me in my particular circumstances. I know it is the word of God.

Section 128 of the Doctrine and Covenants discusses the importance and orderly manner of performing baptisms for the dead. (See 1 Corinthians 15:29.) Mormons believe that to enter the kingdom of God all people must be baptized. However, many people who lived on the earth never even heard of Jesus Christ, let alone were able to be baptized by property authority in His name! God’s merciful plan of salvation enables people to be baptized on behalf of their ancestors who have died. Those ancestors, whose spirits live in the Spirit World, have the opportunity to choose to accept that baptism or not. God’s gift of moral agency to each of His children enable them to choose to accept the Gospel, whether in this life or the next.

From this section of the website, I learned that after Joseph Smith received the glorious revelation on God’s kingdoms of glory in 1836, (Doctrine and Covenants 76), many Latter-day Saints realized that they did not have all of the answers on how God’s plan applied to those who died without hearing the Gospel. This blurb from the historical background on this section described the understanding leading up to this revelation.

Joseph’s vision affirmed God’s mercy, but it was not entirely clear whether the scriptural requirement of baptism would be waived for Alvin [Joseph’s brother, who died before saving ordinances were restored] and others like him, or whether it would be fulfilled in some other way. Some Latter-day Saints recognized this gap in their knowledge. Joseph Fielding, for example, “thought much on the subject of the redemption of those who died under the broken covenant” and speculated that “perhaps those who receive the priesthood in these last days would baptize them at the coming of the Savior.”

But at the funeral of Seymour Brunson on August 15, 1840, Joseph Smith taught the principle that men and women on earth could act for their deceased kin and fulfill the requirement of baptism on their behalf. The Saints joyfully embraced this opportunity and began almost immediately to be baptized for departed loved ones in rivers and streams near Nauvoo.

Doctrine and Covenants 127 and 128 helped to clarify how ordinances of the dead should be performed.

Aside from knowing the historical background, the message for me as I read this was that each of us gains knowledge about the truths of God line upon line and precept upon precept, “[b]y kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile” (Doctrine and Covenants 121:42). Our Father in Heaven is so merciful to each of us and wants for us to learn of Him and ultimately KNOW Him!! “And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come” (Doctrine and Covenants 130:19).

I invite all who are interested in the Latter-day Saints’ history, whether Mormon or a friend of another faith, to peruse www.history.lds.org if even for a few moments! “Shall we not go on in so great a cause? … On, on to the victory!”

dwhite

Doris White is a native of Oregon and graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in English and a minor in Editing. She loves to talk with others about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Recently a sale described as the best selection of Mormon bank notes to come on the market “in the last decade or so” went to auction. Some of the pieces had never been seen or offered before. [1] Douglas Nyholm, a professional Numismatist who specializes in Mormon currency, brought the compilation to the Northern Utah Coin Show before it headed for auction. The collection of Mormon currency—valued at $500,000—was “an impressive display of Mormon history” and came from four collectors from across the western United States. [2]

A rare Mormon Territorial gold $5 coin in AU-58 (Very Choice About Uncirculated condition) sold for $58,285 at the auction. Also, 27 pieces from the Kirtland Safety Society Bank (the Mormons’ first banking endeavor) in Kirtland, Ohio, sold for between $1,880 and $3,642 apiece. A bank note cataloged as “the Holy Grail” for Kirtland collectors—an “Anti-Banking and Countersigned” $1 note that is “one of only 5 reported”—sold for $41,125. “The cataloger explained that there are 19 different specimens in a complete set of Kirtland notes, with the rarest not only having the Anti-Banking modification but also being countersigned.” The note was signed by Joseph Smith, the prophet and president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the time; Brigham Young, a Church leader and the prophet who succeeded Joseph Smith; and other Church members. [1]

In Kirtland, Ohio, the prophet Joseph Smith and other Church leaders pursued the idea of establishing a bank. They secured plates for printing currency but their petition for a bank charter was denied by the state. So they created a private-joint-stock company called the Kirtland Safety Society Anti-Banking Company. [3]

In the collection are still-spendable United States $50 bills signed by President Heber J. Grant, who served as prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ from 1918-1945. Nyholm said, “You could walk into 7-Eleven right now and spend this. Obviously, you wouldn’t want to do that because it’s worth a lot more than $50, but you can still spend this bill today.” [2]

“The collection also featured paper money forged by Mark Hofmann in the 1980s. Hofmann, one of history’s most accomplished forgers, created many documents purportedly related to the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ movement and sold several of them to the Church.”  [2]

Ben

Governor Nixon said when presenting the proclamation, “On behalf of the six million people of the state of Missouri, I’d like to express our appreciation at your church’s commitment to building a place of such physical and inspirational significance. We are pleased and honored that you have done so. It’s a truly historic moment.”

Governor Brownback stated in a proclamation: “I … warmly commend the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for the construction of this magnificent temple, for their dedication to religious liberty, for their deep spiritual conviction, all of which provide a valuable contribution to the people and families of the great state of Kansas.”

The sentiments from both governors were especially meaningful for Latter-day Saints (Mormons) who have had a tumultuous history in both states. The first six Mormon missionaries arrived in Missouri in 1830, and Latter-day Saints almost immediately began gathering in Independence and Jackson County, eventually spreading to Caldwell and Daviess Counties. However, by 1838, tensions had run so high that it was no longer prudent for the Saints to stay, and the majority of members left during that year, crossing the Mississippi River into Illinois, where they eventually settled in Nauvoo before ultimately leaving for the Utah Territory. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints did not again officially establish a presence in Kansas and Missouri until about 1900. Today, however, membership in the area has grown to about 25,000 members.

In Kansas’s proclamation, the governor specifically recognized the magnanimity of the early Saints who, “despite religious intolerance of the day,” provided “over 500 men, and a select group of women, from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints known as the Mormon Battalion . . . [in responce to] the request to help defend the United States of America in the Mexican-American War; , the Mormon Battalion met in Leavenworth, Kansas, and were outfitted for their over 2000 mile march through Kansas and ultimately to San Diego, California.” After being driven out of their homes and from the state, the Saints were then told they must provide 500 men to defend “their” country, which had treated them so harshly. They responded immediately, and were blessed for their obedience.

Recognition of such behavior, apologies for past injustices, and the determination to have peaceful, mutually beneficial relationships in the present and future has gone a long way to healing from history.

Elder Walker expressed gratitude on behalf of the Church for Governor Nixon’s recognition, “We are deeply grateful that the governor of Missouri came to visit our beautiful new temple. Governor Nixon was very warm and gracious, and his expressions of good will and commendation were certainly appreciated. In this place where there is so much history for Latter-day Saints, it was a truly historic occasion—for the governor of Missouri to come visit our temple and extend the hand of fellowship was very meaningful to us.”

Additional Resources:

Read the full article at LDS Newsroom

Mormon History in Missouri

dwhite

Doris White is a native of Oregon and graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in English and a minor in Editing. She loves to talk with others about the gospel of Jesus Christ.