Mormonism and violence

Smith and Rigdon tarred and feathered in Ohio

On the night of March 24, 1832, Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon were attacked by a mob at the Johnson home in Hiram, Ohio. They were dragged from their bed, beaten, tarred and feathered, and reportedly threatened with castration.^[1] The mob also attempted to force poison into Smith's mouth, resulting in the loss of a tooth and chemical burns to his skin.^[2] Despite his injuries, Smith preached a sermon the following morning and baptized three individuals.^[2]

Clark Braden, an anti-Mormon polemicist later cited by Fawn Brodie, alleged the attack was motivated by rumors of sexual impropriety involving Nancy Marinda Johnson.^[3] Braden’s account included factual errors, such as misidentifying Eli Johnson as Marinda’s brother rather than her uncle. Most contemporary sources point to Smith and Rigdon's doctrines, particularly consecration, as the motive of the attack.^[4][5][6][7] Historian Richard Bushman disputes Braden's and Brodie's theory for "lack of credible evidence".^[8]

Violent expulsion from Jackson County

Shortly after the formal organization of the Church of Christ in upstate New York in 1830, Mormon missionaries conducted expeditions and began establishing permanent settlements in western Missouri, particularly in Jackson County, starting in 1831. On July 20, 1831, Joseph Smith announced a revelation designating Independence, the county seat of Jackson, as the site of the City of Zion -- the New Jerusalem, a physical, Millennial city to be populated by later-day saints. Smith dedicated the Temple Lot in Independence as the site of the Zion Temple on August 3, 1831.^[9] A comprehensive plat was devised by Smith in 1833, describing the planned city as an organized grid system of blocks and streets, with blocks house lots that alternated in direction by columns of blocks between north-south streets.

The rapid growth of the Mormon population and their distinct religious beliefs created tension with existing non-Mormon residents. The Mormons' economic cohesion, marked by their collective land purchases and successful agricultural endeavors, and their proselytizing among Native Americans and African-Americans, heightened the fears and anxieties of the non-Mormon community.^{[10][11][page needed]}

In July 1833, tensions boiled over when the Mormon newspaper in Independence published an issue that was controversial with the non-Mormon residents of the county. At a meeting, non-Mormons adopted a statement accusing the Mormons of planning to take over the county,^[12] inviting free black settlers, and having a corrupting influence" on their slaves. Locals attacked the Mormon press, razed the building, and scattered the type on the street.^{[13][14]: 143–144} They then targeted the homes of the Mormon leaders, dragged, tarred and feathered them, and issued an ultimatum demanding that all Mormons leave the county.^[15]

On November 4, some 50 Missourians gathered near the Big Blue River and captured the Mormon ferry. A gunfire exchange ensued which resulted in the death of one Mormon and two non-Mormons.^[16] After the local militia intervened, the Mormons surrendered their arms and agreed to leave the county within ten days.^[17] The Mormons were given a short amount of time to comply; when they refused to leave, a violent expulsion occurred. The Mormons were forced to flee their homes and seek refuge in neighboring counties. The Missouri state government, rather than protecting the Mormons, largely turned a blind eye to the violence and displacement.^[18]

Danites and expulsion of dissenters

In 1836, the state congress established Caldwell County as a place for the Mormons to settle.^[19] The church relocated its main headquarters in January 1838 from Kirtland, Ohio to Far West in Caldwell County. Settlement in the area increased as thousands of Mormons poured into the new headquarters in Missouri from Kirtland and other areas. Mormons established new colonies outside of Caldwell County, including Adam-ondi-Ahman in Daviess County and De Witt in Carroll County. The Missourians saw expansion of Mormon communities outside of Caldwell County as a political and economic threat.^{[20]: 50–52}

English Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Danite Manifesto

In June 1838, a letter, first drafted by Sidney Rigdon and signed by 83 Danites,^[21] was sent to the principal dissenters: Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, John Whitmer, William Wines Phelps, and Lyman E. Johnson. The letter demanded the dissenters depart the county within three days, writing:

for out of the county you shall go, and no power shall save you. And you shall have three days after you receive this communication to you, including twenty-four hours in each day, for you to depart with your families peaceably; which you may do undisturbed by any person; but in that time, if you do not depart, we will use the means in our power to cause you to depart; for go you shall.

It warned:

We have solemnly warned you, and that in the most determined manner, that if you do not cease that course of wanton abuse of the citizens of this county, that vengeance would overtake you sooner or later, and that when it did come it would be as furious as the mountain torrent, and as terrible as the beating tempest; but you have affected to despise our warnings, and pass them off with a sneer, or a grin, or a threat, and pursued your former course; and vengeance sleepeth not, neither does it slumber; and unless you heed us this time, and attend to our request, it will overtake you at an hour when you do not expect, and at a day when you do not look for it; and for you there shall be no escape; for there is but one decree for you, which is depart, depart, or a more fatal calamity shall befall you.^[22]

The letter — later known as the "Danite Manifesto" — displayed the signatures of eighty-three Mormons, including that of Joseph Smith's brother, and fellow member of the First Presidency, Hyrum, but not Joseph or Rigdon. Robinson later said that all of the signers were Danites.^[23]

The letter had the desired effect, and the few named dissenters quickly fled the county. Reed Peck asserted that "the claims by which this property was taken from these men were unjust and perhaps without foundation cannot be doubted by any unprejudiced person acquainted with all parties and circumstances."^[24]

Missouri war and violent expulsion

On August 6, 1838, in Daviess County, a brawl erupted between a group of Mormons and non-Mormon residents during election day. The perception that Mormons intended to vote as a bloc clashed with the opposition of non-Mormons who sought to prevent them from casting their ballots.^[25] Meanwhile, the siege of DeWitt unfolded in Carroll County, where a large mob of vigilantes encircled the settlement, cutting off its supplies and demanding the Mormons' departure. Outnumbered and fearing violence, the Mormons sent appeals for assistance to other Mormon communities in nearby counties. The siege ultimately ended when a state militia unit arrived, and the Mormons agreed to evacuate the town.^[26]

Hostilities culminated in 1838 when Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs issued an executive order, commonly known as the Mormon Extermination Order. This order declared that "the Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the State." Just three days later, a militia unit attacked a Mormon settlement at Haun's Mill, resulting in the death of 18 Mormons.

Smith killed by mob in Illinois

The conflict in Illinois was often rooted in the growing political and economic power of the Mormon community, concentrated in the city of Nauvoo. As the Mormon population expanded, non-Mormons in Hancock County, especially in the neighboring towns of Warsaw and Carthage, grew increasingly threatened by the Mormons' dominant position.^[26] Other sources of tension included Joseph Smith's practice of polygamy, Smith's opposition to slavery during his presidential campaign, and the doctrine of human deification.

Tensions boiled in 1844 following the destruction of the anti-Mormon Nauvoo Expositor newspaper press, which was condemned as a "public nuisance" by Smith and the city council. In response, the Warsaw newspaper called for a "war of extermination" against the Mormons, to be made with "powder and ball".^[27][11] Amid the uproar, Smith was arrested and jailed in Carthage, where he and his brother Hyrum Smith were ultimately killed by a vigilante mob. After Smith's assassination, tensions between the Mormons and their opponents in Illinois escalated, culminating in a mob of about 1000 armed vigilantes sieging Nauvoo in 1846.^[28] The Mormons eventually surrendered and were expelled from the city, crossing the Mississippi into Iowa.

In 2004, the Illinois House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution of regret for the forced expulsion of the Mormons from Nauvoo.^[29]

Utah Territory and the Utah War

After Mormons established a community hundreds of miles away in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, anti-Mormon activists in the Utah Territory persuaded President Buchanan that the Mormons in the territory were rebelling against the United States under the direction of Brigham Young.^[30] In response, in 1857 Buchanan sent one-third of United States's standing army to Utah in what is known as the Utah War. During the Utah War, the Mountain Meadows massacre occurred.

Historian Wallace Stegner wrote “It would be bad history to pretend that there were no holy murders in Utah and ... no mysterious disappearances of apostates".^[31] One example cited by historians occurred in March 1857, when an elderly church member of high standing, William R. Parrish, decided to leave Utah with his family when he "grew cold in the faith", but had his throat slit near his Springville, Utah home.^[32][33]

Mountain Meadows massacre

Main article: Mountain Meadows massacre

On September 11, 1857 LDS settlers with the Utah Territorial Militia (officially called the Nauvoo Legion) murdered at least 120 children, women, and men, in the end sparing only seventeen young children under the age of seven.^[34] The massacre in the southern Utah Territory at Mountain Meadows was considered the largest act of domestic terrorism in United States history prior to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.^[35] It was perpetrated during a period of escalating tensions between Mormons and the United States which Mormons viewed from an apocalyptic lens. The victims were mostly from Arkansas, and were passing through the Utah territory on their way to California.

The massacre was influenced, in part, by unfounded rumors that some of the emigrants had previously persecuted Mormons. Leading the massacre were William H. Dame, regional church president and colonel of the Mormon militia, and his battalion leaders Isaac C. Haight (also a regional church president), John D. Lee, and John H. Higbee. The militia surrounded the emigrants and laid siege, and after forcing them to surrender, the militia systematically executed all of them except the youngest children, who were taken and adopted by nearby residents. The militia covered up the massacre by blaming it on largely uninvolved Native American tribes. Though Dame, Haight, and other leaders were indicted in the 1870s for their roles in the massacre, John D. Lee was the only participant who stood trial, where he was ultimately convicted and executed.

Brigham Young was accused of either directing the massacre or with complicity after the fact. When Young was interviewed on the matter and asked if it was related to his beliefs regarding blood atonement, he replied, "I do, and I believe that Lee has not half atoned for his great crime." He said "we believe that execution should be done by the shedding of blood instead of by hanging," but only "according to the laws of the land".^[36] American troops who visited the site later constructed a cairn at the site, topped with a sign saying "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." According to a Mormon present at the event, when Young visited the site sometime afterward, he remarked "Vengeance is mine, and I have taken a little"; his party proceeded to destroy the cairn and memorial.^[37]

Wars and massacres in the 1800s

This list of acts of violence includes some wars and massacres in the 1800s in which Mormons played a significant role on either side of the conflicts.

Acts of violence involving Mormon fundamentalists in the 1900s and 2000s

This list includes modern instances of violence in which Mormons have played a significant role on either side of the conflicts.

Mormon views on capital punishment

Religious justification for capital punishment is not unique to Mormons.^[75]: 10 Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, was a strong proponent of capital punishment, and he favored execution methods that involved the shedding of blood as retribution for crimes of bloodshed. In 1843, he or his scribe commented that the common execution method in Christian nations was hanging, "instead of blood for blood according to the law of heaven."^[76][77] In 1838 Smith stated Judas Iscariot was executed or "hung by Peter" rather than died by suicide.^[81] In a March 4, 1843, debate with church leader George A. Smith, who argued against capital punishment,^[a] Smith said that day if he ever had the opportunity to enact a death penalty law, he "was opposed to hanging" the convict; rather, he would "shoot him, or cut off his head, spill his blood on the ground, and let the smoke thereof ascend up to God."^{[74][73]: 296} In the church's April 6, 1843, general conference, Smith said he would "wring a thief's neck off if I can find him. if I cannot bring him to justice any other way."^{[82]: 531, n.140}

Sidney Rigdon, Smith's counselor in the First Presidency, also supported capital punishment involving the spilling of blood, stating, "There are men standing in your midst that you can't do anything with them but cut their throat & bury them."^{[74][82]: 531, n.140} Smith was willing to tolerate the presence of men "as corrupt as the devil himself" in Nauvoo, Illinois, who "had been guilty of murder and robbery," in the chance that they might "come to the waters of baptism through repentance, and redeem a part of their allotted time".^{[83][page needed]} Despite Smith's endorsements of capital punishment in March 1843, there is no evidence he ever authorized such punishment in Nauvoo, though his follower Robert D. Foster beheaded a man in near there in November 1843.^[74] In 1844 Smith was killed by a mob in a shootout, during which Smith wounded three with a six-shooter.^[74]

Brigham Young, Smith's successor in the LDS Church, initially held views on capital punishment that were similar to those of Smith. On January 27, 1845, he spoke approvingly of Smith's toleration of "corrupt men" in Nauvoo who were guilty of murder and robbery on the chance that they might repent and be baptized.^{[83][page needed]} On the other hand, on February 25, 1846, after the Saints had left Nauvoo, Young threatened adherents who had stolen wagon cover strings and rail timber with having their throats cut "when they get out of the settlements where his orders could be executed".^[83]: 597 Later that year, Young gave orders that "when a man is found to be a thief, ... cut his throat & throw him in the River."^{[83]: 597 [84]} Young also stated that the decapitation of repeated sinners "is the law of God & it shall be executed."^[85][86][87]

In the Salt Lake Valley, Young acted as the executive authority while the Council of Fifty acted as a legislature. One of his main concerns in the early Mormon settlement was theft, and he swore that "a thief should not live in the Valley, for he would cut off their heads or be the means of haveing [sic] it done as the Lord lived."^[88] A Mormon listening to one of Young's sermons in 1849 recorded that he said that "if any one was catched [sic] stealing[,] to shoot them dead on the spot and [the shooter] should not be hurt for it."^{[82]: 247 [89]}

In the Utah Territory, there was a law from 1851 to 1888 that allowed persons who were convicted of murder to be executed by decapitation; during that time, no person was executed by that method.^[75]: 13

Discussions involving violence in temple ceremonies

The Mormon temple endowment ceremony used to contain discussions of violence. Author and former Brigham Young University (BYU) professor^[96] Brian Evenson stated "any book that spoke in any detail about the relationship of Mormon culture to violence needed to acknowledge the connection of the temple ceremony to violence."^[97]: 99

Temple penalties

Main article: Penalty (Mormonism)

See also: Endowment (Mormonism)

In Mormonism, a penalty is a specified punishment for breaking an oath of secrecy after receiving the Nauvoo endowment ceremony. Adherents promised they would submit to execution in specific ways should they reveal certain contents of the ceremony. In the ceremony participants each symbolically enacted three of the methods of their execution: throat slitting, heart removal, and disembowelment. These penalties were first instituted by Joseph Smith in 1842, and further developed by Brigham Young after Smith's death.^[98]: 141 They were changed to a reference to "different ways in which life may be taken".^[98]: 141 The entire "penalty" portion of the ceremony was removed by the LDS Church in 1990.

Writer J. Aaron Sanders stated that the temple penalties were a form of blood atonement.^{[97]: 94, 99} Author Peter Levenda linked Smith's introduction of the Masonic blood oaths into the temple endowment as a step towards later threats of blood atonement for other perceived crimes in Utah territory.^[102] Historian Juanita Brooks stated that violent enforcement of religious oaths was a "literal and terrible reality" advocated by Brigham Young "without compromise".^[103]

Violence in Mormon scripture

War is a central, cyclical theme in the Book of Mormon. There are many wars mentioned in the Book of Mormon, depicted as the consequence of prideful or sinful behavior. Battles often occur between two peoples called the Nephites and Lamanites, but other groups attacked or drawn into battle include "secret combinations" (i.e., organized criminals), factions among the Jaredites.

The Book of Mormon concludes with a cataclysmic war between the Nephites and Lamanites. The final prophet of the Book of Mormon, a Nephite named Moroni, laments that his people have participated in sexual violence, torture, and cannibalism:

And notwithstanding this great abomination of the Lamanites, it doth not exceed that of our people in Moriantum. For behold, many of the daughters of the Lamanites have they taken prisoners; and after depriving them of that which was most dear and precious above all things, which is chastity and virtue—And after they had done this thing, they did murder them in a most cruel manner, torturing their bodies even unto death; and after they have done this, they devour their flesh like unto wild beasts, because of the hardness of their hearts; and they do it for a token of bravery.^[106]

Several decapitations and dismemberments are also described in the Book of Mormon. In chapter 4 of the First Book of Nephi, the prophet Nephi is commanded by the Spirit to kill a man named Laban, whom he decapitates.^[107] In Ether chapter 15, the warrior Coriantumr, who is the last survivor of the Jaredites, decapitates Shiz.^[108] In Alma chapter 17, Ammon (a Nephite missionary) defends a Lamanite king's livestock by cutting off the arms of several thieves and killing several others with a sling.^[109]

In chapter 9 of the Third Book of Nephi, Christ announces to ancient Americans that he has destroyed more than a dozen cities and their inhabitants due to their corruption. He announces that he destroyed some cities by causing them "to be burned with fire because of their sins and their wickedness", while others were "sunk in the depths of the sea" or "covered with earth".^[110] The text reports that some of the victims mourned, "O that we had repented before this great and terrible day, and had not killed and stoned the prophets, and cast them out; then would our mothers and our fair daughters, and our children have been spared".^[111]