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You are here: Experts > Religion/Spirituality > Christianity - Restorationism > Latter-day Saints > Need of understanding
Expert: Michael Kelley
Date: 3/9/2008
Subject: Need of understanding
Question
I am among a long line Mormon generations descending from the very beginning of the church. I am actually a descendant of John Doyle Lee, you may have heard of him. No mormon outside of my family speaks of him in a mere glimpse of positive nature. I do not agree with what he did, and i never will. But....in my family's ties to Brigham Young and leaders of the church and their heavy study of the topic of the mountain meadows massacre, we have found much evidence supporting the involvement of President Young in the order of the massacre. Of course my grandfather was sacrificed for the religion in order to make amends with the country. He was excommunicated, and later reinstated at a later time. I have debated with my father on many occasions about this and he accepts this horrible part of history as a martyrdom for the well-being of the church. I feel like my grandfather was used as a tool and was sold out in every meaning of the phrase. ALL christianity teaches..."do as Jesus Christ would do." Jesus christ would never accept murder as a solution, and it is prominent in mormon history. Yes it is true mormons were persecuted on murderous scales, but vengeance is not what Jesus would accept. The Danites existed, they carried names such as "avenging angels" and they were instituted by mormon leaders. How can this be justified?
Answer
Hi Devin,
I will be happy to answer your questions. Please note that I am ex-LDS and belong to the Church of Christ that believes in the BoM (Book of Mormon) and Bible.
I recently saw a documentary about the Mountain Meadows Massacre and was amazed. I dug into it somewhat and you may very well be right... Young probably did sanction the murders and Lee was the scapegoat. There is a saying that goes "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely". Young (and Smith to a degree) were looked up to as some sort of great prophet and became idols of the people... and this got to their heads to where they became as "King men" and introduced abominable practices such as polygamy (that the BoM harshly condemns) and ruled with an iron fist... and even used goon squads to enforce their wills such as the Danites and the "Whittlers and whistlers" who like Hitler's brown shirters would be used as tools of intimidation. Your situation is much like how the Catholics accepted blame for the Catholic's collusion with the Nazis during the holocost, yet they claimed the Pope was blameless... even though he was the MOST to blame.
Yes, much of the early persecution of the early church was unjustified yet some of it may have been self inflicted. Smith had been warned in a direct revelation how oft he had yielded to the persuasions of men and sin, and if he was not careful he would be delivered up to be sifted by Satan as chaff before the wind. Smith failed to heed this warning and returned to his erring ways... elevating himself up to unscriptural positions such as the 1st President, bringing in false doctrines such as Celestial Marriage and Baptism for the Dead, and bringing the entire church into disfavor with God. In the BoM Helaman was given the same warning and he obeyed... and was delivered time and time again from his enemies whereas Smith was delivered to his enemies time and time again up unto his death. This is a stark difference between Helaman and Smith who had the same charge and warnings. Much of the persecution the early saints endured was self inflicted and could have been avoided.
Have goon squads and secret combinations is harshly condemned by the BoM. What you brought up is only the tip of the iceburg. The LDS faction is riddled with false doctrines and practiced opposite of both the Bible and BoM. I left the LDS faction for that reason and joined the original Church of Christ that follows the BoM teachings much better. Feel free to ask other questions if you like.
God Bless,
Mike
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