jdj55611@ihuxk.UUCP (08/23/83)
A recent series of articles has dealt with the three witnesses of the Book of Mormon. This statement by Jon White was made in response to my description of the persecution endured by the `Mormons' in the 1830's and 40's: >>Let us also remember that the Mormons had their own violent mobs (from which >>the original three witnesses had to flee for their lives) and their own bands >>of hired assassins. If memory serves me correctly, it was just such assassins >>who seriously wounded Gov. Boggs in an attempted murder committed in his own >>home. Apparently, it was not all that safe to oppose the Mormon Church. These outlandish claims have no historical support. If the three witnesses did have to `flee for their lives,' why is there no statement from any of the three supporting this? If Oliver Cowdery was a marked man, why did he return after ten years and present himself to the Church with this statement: "Brethren, for a number of years I have been separated from you. I now desire to come back, I wish to come humbly and to be one your midst. I seek no station, I only wish to be identified with you." In October of 1848, Oliver Cowdery rejoined the Church and the fellowship of the Saints. While I am on the subject of Oliver Cowdery, I will touch on another comment from White: >>... Oliver Cowdery did deny his testimony, though not publicly. A letter >>from Judge W. Lang (Cowdery's closest friend and business partner of 40 years) >>to Thomas Gregg, dated Nov. 5, 1881, contains the following: It is truly remarkable that Cowdery could maintain a business partner for 40 years considering that he passed away in 1850 at the age of 43! White then goes on to quote the letter in which Lang debunks the claims of the Book of Mormon. The only direct reference to Cowdery is as follows: >>I often expressed my objection to the frequent repetition of >>'And it came to pass' to Mr. Cowdery and said that a true scholar ought >>to have avoided that, which only provoked a gentle smile from C." Since the bulk of the quote expresses the opinion of Judge Lang, I assume that I am to derive Cowderys denial from his `gentle smile.' Martin Harris, another of the three witnesses, returned to the Church in 1870, nearly 40 years after his disaffection. A few hours before his death, Harris reiterated the events surrounding the Book of Mormon and bore testimony of its divine origin. White claims that the `Mormons' had their own mobs and hired assasins. This claim was used several times in the early days of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to legitimize the acts of violence by the mobs opposed to the Church. Vengence is not part of the Churchs standard, it never was and never will be. I assume that White derives this argument from an earlier reference to the Mountain Meadow Massacre. This concerns a group of emigrants from the East who were murdered as they passed through the territory of Utah in 1857. This was a crime for which there is no excuse. I do, however, object to the claim by White that the leaders of the Church were at fault. This saga began with the group of one hundred thirty-seven emigrants fron Arkansas and Missouri making their way to California. the Arkansas emigrants appeared well-to-do and respectable, but with them traveled a company calling themselves the "Missouri Wild Cats;" an adequate description. As they passed through Fillmore, they threatened to destroy the town and boasted of their part in the persecution of the Church in Missouri. Later, it is reported that they poisoned some livestock which resulted in the deaths of ten Piute Indians. When news of the events surrounding this company reached Brigham Young, he issued an order that the emigrants were not to be meddled with and that their passage through the area was not to be restricted. In the mean time, the Indians had attacked the company and were repelled. A number of people were killed on both sides. The Indians then enlisted the help of John D. Lee who recruited several other whites to the cause. The emigrants were convinced to surrender their arms to guarantee safe passage, and after doing so the members of the company were ambushed and killed. Only seventeen children were spared from the slaughter. As the facts surrounding the case came to light, John D. Lee was excommunicated from the Church for his part in the massacre and was later convicted of murder and executed. Concerning this event, Bancroft writes in his "History of Utah:" "It may as well be understood at the outset that this horrible crime so often and so persistently charged upon the `Mormon' Church and its leaders, was the crime of an individual, the crime of a fanatic on the worst stamp, one who was a member of the `Mormon' Church, but of whose intentions the Church knew nothing, and whose bloody acts, the members of the Church, high and low, regard with as much abhorrence as any out of the Church. Indeed, the blow fell upon the brotherhood with threefold force and damage. There was the cruelty of it, which wrung their hearts; and there was the strength it lent their enemies further to malign and molest them. The `Mormons' denounce the Mountain Meadow Massacre, and every act connected therewith, as earnestly and honestly as any in the outside world. This is abundantly proved and may be accepted as a historical fact." Now a few words on Gov. Boggs. In October 1838, this man issued what came to be known as the `Mormon Extermination Order' which in part stated that `... The Mormons must be treated as enemies and must be exterminated or driven from the state, if necessary for the public good...' It seems incredulous that, in this age, an elected official could make such a statement. This document remained the law until 1976 when Governer Christopher Bond rescinded it saying, `This was a dark chapter in Missouri's history. In this, our country's 200th birthday, it is fitting to reaffirm our belief in the principles which our founding forefathers recognized in our state and nations Constitution... on behalf of all Missourians our deep regret for the injustice and undue suffering which was caused by this 1838 order.' In 1842, this same Gov. Boggs was shot while sitting alone in his home. Several weeks later, he filed an affidavit claiming that Orrin Porter Rockwell had attempted to kill him and that Joseph Smith was an accessory before the fact. After spending eight months chained and in jail, Rockwell stood trial on the charge. After two days, the trial was suspended for lack of evidence. When the trail was resumed, Rockwell found that he was not being tried for the shooting of Boggs but for breaking jail and was sentenced to five minutes imprisonment in the county jail. Latter-Day Saints hold life as sacred and the shedding of innocent blood as abominable. The claims that the Church resorted to violence and rapine are without substance. It is unfortunate that, as human beings, we see what we want to see and hear what we want to hear. As we view the actions of others, our vision is colored by our perspective. No mortal is capable of determining the true intent of another mortal. Jon looks at Joseph Smith and sees a charlatan and a thief; I look and see man who, from the age of 13 was set apart from his peers to do a difficult task, one that ultimately required his life. Jon looks at the history of the Church and see scoundrels and vagabonds; I see a people striving to live as best they know how. Who is closer to the real intent? That is left as an exercize to the reader. J. D. Jensen ihuxk!jdj55611 BTL Naperville IL