EARLY "PERSECUTION"

On April 6, 1830, at Fayette, New York, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was officially founded with a membership of thirty souls.

 As the year 1831 drew to a close, the new church numbered several hundred members, and shortly thereafter relocated in Kirtland, Ohio, sending missionaries soon to Jackson County, Missouri, the supposed location of the marvellous city of Zion to be built in the future according to Mormon interpretations of "prophecy" of that time.

However, all did not go well with the saints in Missouri and, in 1833, the Mormons were routed from Jackson County, having stirred up the populace against them through some acts as despicable as those perpetrated against them. For a short period of time Mormon refugees sustained themselves in Clay County, Missouri, but increasing opposition to their presence resulted in their expulsion in 1839.

Returning to Illinois in 1839, the Mormons built the city of Nauvoo in Hancock County, and with the help of a charter granted to them by the State Legislature they erected well over 2,000 homes, a temple and many other edifices.

During this period of Mormon history things generally seemed to go well for the "saints" until 1844 when a number of apostate Mormons founded a newspaper called "The Nauvoo Expositor" in which they vigorously attacked the "Prophet" or "General" Smith, as he was fond of being called during this period.

On the instructions of Smith an attack on the newspaper offices resulted in the destruction of the presses and copy and brought about Smith's subsequent imprisonment in June of 1844, at Carthage, Illinois. On June 27, 1844, an attack on the jail resulted in an armed shoot-out with Joseph Smith and he and his brother, Hyrum, were shot to death by an irate mob who also lost two men due to Smith's gunfire. Typically the Mormon account records this as unarmed martyrdom in which he went like a "lamb to the slaughter" and compares his death to that of Christ at Calvary!
As can well be imagined tremendous friction was generated between the Mormons at Nauvoo and the general populace of Illinois; so much so that in 1846 the Mormons abandoned Nauvoo and pushed on to Iowa under the leadership of Brigham Young, Smith's successor, and at length arrived on July 24, 1847, to form Salt Lake City, in Utah.
Under the iron leadership and creative energy of Brigham Young, the Mormons eked out of the desert a fruitful existence, and Mormonism flourished in the Salt Lake Valley, as did Polygamy which was instituted by Smith in Nauvoo and practiced by the hierarchy of the Mormon Church, which gradually passed it down through the ranks, so to speak, until it became a common practice.
 

THE LIES OF POLYGAMY
 In 1877 Brigham Young died and the presidency of the church was assumed by John Taylor, a close associate of Joseph Smith who himself had been wounded during the Carthage, Illinois, assassination of the prophet.
President Taylor himself died in 1887 and Wilford Woodruff succeeded to the presidency. It was under the leadership of Woodruff in 1890 that the famous "manifesto" against the practice of polygamy was issued.
When read carefully it is clear that this was never claimed to be a command from God but was necessitated mainly by the fact that Utah was forbidden entrance into the Union unless this immoral practice was abolished. Polygamy was openly practiced as early as 1852 and despite Congress enacting a law (in 1862) against the practice little was done about it until 1890.
In 1884 the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the law against plural marriage, a decision which brought about the imprisonment of over a thousand Mormons and the disincorporation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a confiscation of its property and other penalties imposed by the Federal Government.
 It was in the light of this drastic occurrence that President Woodruff in 1890 issued his famous manifesto - for it was directly contradictory to the express words of "Prophet" Smith (Doctrine and Covenants, 132:3-62) claiming polygamy to be: "a new and everlasting covenant and if ye abide not in that covenant then ye are damned, for no one can reject this covenant and be permitted to enter into my glory".
How long does an "everlasting covenant" last? In Mormon-speak about 50 years! And what is the result of ceasing to be polygamous - "ye are damned" and will NOT enter the Mormon "god's" glory! So WHY would ANYONE want to join the Mormons?
This inconsistency can never be explained away by Mormons and, equally embarrassing, when you read their Book of Mormon you find that polygamy in the sight of the Mormon god "was abominable" (Jacob 2v23-24; 3v5).
Which "revelation" should they believe? An "inspired" message in their 1835 Doctrine and Covenants stated: "Insomuch as this church of Christ has been reproached with the crime of fornication, and polygamy: we declare that we believe, that one man should have one wife; and one woman but one husband, except in case of death, when either is at liberty to marry again" (D&C, 101)
It is noticeable that the Mormon attempt to cover up the adulterous behaviour of their leaders can be summed up by a statement from their own works: "Although the revelation was recorded by the Church on July 12, 1843, publication of the revelation was not made until August 29, 1852, at a church conference by Orson Pratt" (Journal of Discourses 1:53ff.).
However, twenty-three years after the "revelation" and fourteen after the publication of the "revelation," during which time polygamy was practiced (despite the lies to the USA authorities), the 1866 edition of their own Doctrine and Covenants stated that "polygamy was a crime" (Doctrine and Covenants, Sec. 109).

MORMON VIOLENCE
Throughout the history of Mormonism violence has played a great part - although they tell it as "persecution of the Latter-Day Saints." The truth is that at one time or another the Mormons were in rebellion against the United States of America and guilty of the 1857 massacre of 150 non-Mormon immigrants (men, women and children!) at Mountain Meadows by a band of Mormons and Indians led by Mormon Bishop John D. Lee (Schaff-Herzog,
 Encyclopaedia of Religious Knowledge, Vol. VIII, p. 17). Twenty years after commiting this heinous crime, John D. Lee confessed to his crimes (admitting being under direct orders from "Prophet" Brigham Young) and was imprisoned, tried, convicted and eventually executed by the Government of the United States
. For more information go to:
 
https://www.mazeministry.com/mormonism/mmmassacre/newmm/mm1.htm

MORMONISM TODAY?

This brief survey of Mormon history must emphasise that the Mormon cult of today is a far cry from its early progenitors. Mormonism in our age is a well-organized, smoothly run, religio-economic empire featuring in the top fifty USA companies (e.g. controlling the sugar beet industry of the United States) and owning vast areas in the State of Utah and elsewhere. The Utah church continues to grow at a phenomenal rate and has boasted of such political and economic luminaries as Ezra Taft Benson (Secretary of Agriculture), and George Romney (President of American Motors).
 
Should you wish to contest these statements or have further questions , you can do so by contacting the author at:
 
christian.expositor@ntlworld.com