Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Chapter 14

Claims made in "Chapter 13: Unholy Matrimony"

A FAIR Analysis of: Criticism of Mormonism/Books A work by author: Richard Abanes

Claims made in "Chapter 15: Making the Transition"

Claims made in "Chapter 14: The Politics of Compromise"

Page	Claim	Response	Author's sources
313	“The [John D.] Miles case showed U.S. authorities that prosecuting polygamy would be virtually impossible given Mormon leadership’s willingness to lie under oath.	Loaded and prejudicial language	Supreme Court Case Miles v. the United States
313, 585n8 (PB)	George Q. Cannon’s election as territorial delegate to Congress prompted a “flood of petitions from across the nation demanding his removal and action by Congress to stamp out, once and for all, the practice of polygamy.” (quote is from the source)	Bigler, the author's source distorts and misrepresents LDS history on numerous counts.	Bigler, 316.
313, 585n10 (PB)	George Q. Cannon said “I have taken plural wives, who now live with me, and have so lived with me for a number of years and borne me children…as a teacher of my religion in Utah territory, I have defended said tenent [check spelling] of said church as being in my belief a revelation of God.” The author says “Such admissions, rather than coming from any sincere desire on Cannon’s part to be forthright, likely resulted from the excessive publicity engendered by the controversy. Back in 1873 he had retained his representative seat in Congress by boldly lying to the House Committee on Elections” by saying that he was not cohabitating with any wives.	Loaded and prejudicial language	House Misc. Doc. 49 (43-1), 1873, Serial 1617, 5.
315, 585n12 (PB)	“[R]ather than obey the laws of the land as commanded in Doctrine and Covenants 58:21, the church’s First Presidency released an “epistle,” promising: “They who fight against Zion shall be destroyed; and the pit which has been digged shall be filled by those who digged it.”		First Presidency (John Taylor, George Q. Cannon, and Joseph F. Smith). Quoted in James R. Clark, Messages of the First Presidency, 5 volumes, cited in Samuel W. Taylor, Rocky Mountain Empire, 13.
315	“[D]ozens of Mormon leaders were in hiding throughout Utah, Europe, Canada and Mexico….Polygamy was just as illegal in these other locales, but authorities there were less likely to interfere with the settlements.”		No source provided
316, 585n15 (PB)	John Taylor received a revelation on September 27, 1886 that promised that “polygamy would never be abandoned.”		Fred C. Collier, Unpublished Revelations, vol. 1, 145-146, 180-183.
317, 586n20 (PB)	Wilford Woodruff received a revelation that indicated that polygamy was “absolutely essential to godhood” and that anyone who hindered Mormons from practicing it would be damned.	Polygamy a requirement for exaltation	Wilford Woodruff, in Scott G. Kenney, ed., Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 1833-1898, under January 26, 1880, vol. 7, pages 546, 615-617, 621.
317, 587n25 (PB)	Brigham said that “[t]he only men who become Gods, even the Sons of God, are those who enter into polygamy…”	The only men who become gods are those that practice polygamy?	Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 11:269.
319, 588n35-36(PB)	Joseph Smith said that “most of the Saints then living [1835] would see Jesus’ return by 1890/91.	Joseph Smith prophecies/Joseph Smith prophesied the Second Coming to be in 1890	History of the Church, vol. 2, 182. History of the Church, vol. 5, 324, 336.
320, 588n40 (PB)	Wilford Woodruff demolished the Church’s Endowment House in response to agreement with the U.S. to “cease practicing plural marriage.”		Samuel Taylor, 19.
323, n48	"Ever the optimist, Woodruff had another revelation on November 24, 1889....Despite Christ's assurances that the ruling would favor the Saints, May 19, 1890, saw a five to four decision by the Supreme Court to uphold the government's right to close the LDS church, seize its property, and redistribute it."	Sarcasm	Samuel Taylor, 19.
323, 589n51-52	"Historical evidence suggest that the Manifesto was adopted only to save the church and that divine "revelation" had very little to do with the proclamation. Moreover, the LDS authorities who approved it knew that it would hardly affect them since they already had their plural wives....Before being issued, this so-called "revelation" was written, re-written, edited, and re-edited many times behind closed doors by various persons ranging from Mormon politicians, to LDS apostles, to non-Mormon legal advisors."	That's why its call "The Manifesto" and not included in the D&C as a revelation. Any revelation that was received was not quoted word-for-word: the Manifesto is simply the result.	Joseph F. Smith, letter to Sarah E. Smith, September 24, 1890, Joseph F. Smith Papers (Letterbook). Quoted in Edward Leo Lyman, Political Deliverance, 138.
324-325, 589n53	"The Manifesto also included blatantly false statements" since plural marriage continued to be practiced after 1890. "More than two hundred plural marriages" were performed after the Manifesto was issued.		Doctrine and Covenants-Manifesto B. Carmon Hardy, Solemn Covenant: The Mormon Polygamous Passage, 394ff.
325, 589n54	Brigham said: "I live above the law, and so do this people."	Brigham's statement in context with the author's extraction highlighted in bold: I am at the defiance of the rulers of the greatest nation on the earth, with the United States all put together, to produce a more loyal people than the Latter-day Saints. Have they, as a people, broken any law? No, they have not. Have the United States? Yes! they have trampled the Constitution under their feet with impunity, and ridden recklessly over all law, to persecute and drive this people. Admit, for argument's sake, that the "Mormon" Elders have more wives than one, yet our enemies never have proved it. If I had forty wives in the United States, they did not know it, and could not substantiate it, neither did I ask any lawyer, judge, or magistrate for them. I live above the law, and so do this people. Do the laws of the United States require us to crouch and bow down to the miserable wretches who violate them? No. The broad law of the whole earth is that every person has the right to enjoy every mortal blessing, so far as he does not infringe upon the rights and privileges of others. It is also according to the acts of every legislative body throughout the Union, to enjoy all that you are capable of enjoying; but you are forbidden to infringe upon the rights, property, wife, or anything in the possession of your neighbor. I defy all the world to prove that we have infringed upon that law. You may circumscribe the whole earth, and pass through every Christian nation, so called, and what do you find? If you tell them a "Mormon" has two wives, they are shocked, and call it dreadful blasphemy; if you whisper such a thing into the ears of a Gentile who takes a fresh woman every night, he is thunderstruck with the enormity of the crime. The vile practice of violating female virtue with impunity is customary among the professed Christian nations of the world; this is therefore no marvel to them, but they are struck with amazement when they are told a man may have more lawful wives than one! What do you think of a woman having more husbands than one? This is not; known to the law, yet it is done in the night, and considered by the majority of mankind to be all right. There are certain governments in the world, that give women license to open their doors and windows to carry on this abominable practice, under the cover of night. Five years ago the census of New York gave 15,000 prostitutes in that city. Is that law? Is that good order? Look at your Constitution, look at the Federal law, look at every wholesome principle, and they tell you that death is at your doors, corruption in your streets, and hell is all open, and gaping wide to inclose you in its fiery vortex. To talk about law and good order while such things exist, makes me righteously angry, Talk not to me about law. (emphasis added)	Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 1:361.
325, 589n55	"Countless plural marriages continued to take place throughout Utah, Canada, and Mexico. All of these illegal unions, of course, were veiled in secrecy."	The first of two letters referenced by the author mention Canada and Mexico, with the second letter stating that "Smith's inclusion of Canada in the telegram was a mistake." The author further states regarding the second letter that removes Canada that "the certainty of this claim is questionable since no record exists of Smith correcting himself." How does the author convert this to "countless" plural marriages in "Utah, Canada and Mexico?"	Joseph F. Smith, letter to Reed Smoot, April 1, 1911, Reed Smoot Correspondence. (The first letter mentions Canada and Mexico) George Gibbs, letter to Reed Smoot, April 12, 1911, Reed Smoot Correspondence. (The second letter states that inclusion of Canada was a mistake)
32, 590n56-57	Wilford Woodruff's testimony before the Federal Master-in-Chancery, Charles Loofbourow "remains a stunning example of perjury under oath by a high-profile witness."		J. Reuben Clark, Messages of the First Presidency, vol. 3, 230-231. Wilford Woodruff testimony. Quoted in Richard S. Van Wagoner, Mormon Polygamy: A History (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1989), 149-150.
326, 590n58-59	"Lying, either to bring about a 'greater good' or to protect the church, has always been an acceptable practice within Mormonism, and continues to be an unspoken tenent of the faith."	Loaded and prejudicial language	Matthias F. Cowley, minutes of Council of the Council of the Twelve, May 10, 1911. Quoted in Richard S. Van Wagoner, Mormon Polygamy: A History (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1989), 151. Abraham H. Cannon. Quoted in Richard S. Van Wagoner, Mormon Polygamy: A History (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1989), 150. D. Michael Quinn, "LDS Church Authority and New Plural Marriages, 1890-1904," Dialgue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, vol. 18, no. 1, 61.
326, 590n60	Josph F. Smith "boldly defied the Manifesto" by saying: "Take care of your polygamous wives; we don't care for Uncle Sam now."		Joseph F. Smith. Quoted in William Edward Biederwolf, Mormonism Under the Searchlight, 65.
327, 590n62	In 1898 Lorenzo Snow "became the fifth president of the Mormon church....Under his leadership polygamy continued to thrive. After all, he himself had served six months in jail for it back in 1885." The endnote states the Snow said during his trial: "Though I go to prison, God will not change his law of celestial marriage. But the man, the people, the nation that oppose and fight against this doctrine and the Church of God, will be overthrown."	How does Lorenzo Snow serving jail time and making a statement 13 years before he became President of the Church prove that "polygamy continued to thrive?"	Andrew Jenson, "Lorenzo Snow," HR, February 1887, vol. 6, no. 2, 144.
328, 591n66	Joseph F. Smith "had not only taken more polygamous wives after the Manifesto, but encouraged others to do so. He tacitly approved at least sixty-three plural marriages between 1902-1904."		Richard S. Van Wagoner, Mormon Polygamy: A History (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1989), 159.
328, 591n67	"These were but a small portion of the documented 262 post-Manifesto marriages between October 1890 and December 1910 involving 22 different Mormon men."		Hardy, 389-425. D. Michael Quinn, "Plural Marriages After The 1890 Manifesto," lecture delivered August 1991 at Bluffdale, Utah. (The author includes a lengthy excerpt from this speech in the endnote.)
328	"[Joseph F.] Smith, of course, like every other LDS president before him, would continue utilizing cunning prevarications to conceal his personal activities and anything else that might embarrass the church."	Loaded and prejudicial language	No source provided.

Further reading

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