Mormon Experience Scholarship Issues & Art

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MORMON EXPERIENCE SCHOLARSHIP ISSUES & ART

D. Michael Quinn SUNSTONE on Early MOrMOnisM’s culturE Of ViOlEncE (p.16)

Gary James Bergera documents thE MOnitOrinG Of Byu faculty tithinG PayMEnts (p.42) rEturn Of thE natiVE Fiction by levi s. Peterson (p.54) yOur OlD wOMEn shall DrEaM DrEaMs Essay by sara Burlingame (p.66)

MOrMOns talk aBOut sEx (p.70) triButEs tO chiEkO OkaZaki anD MariOn D. hanks (p.82) uPDatE The Mormon Moment; The Book of Mormon Musical; Moroni is an alien? Mormons in the news; more . . .

October 2011—$7.50 00b_inside cover:Cover.qxd 10/6/2011 9:03 PM Page 1 What’s your taste?

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Attention SunSTone Print Subscribers You will soon have online access to ALL issues of Sunstone To get early access to this feature, send your full name as printed on the mailing label of SunSTone and your current email address to [email protected]. Put “online Access” in the subject line. Thanks! 01_TOC:01_toc.qxd 10/10/2011 5:15 PM Page 1 SUNSTONE MORMON EXPERIENCE, SCHOLARSHIP, ISSUES, & ART OCTOBER 2011 Issue 164

FEATURES 16 D. Michael Quinn ...... THE CULTURE OF VIOLENCE IN JOSEPH SMITH’S MORMONISM 39 Noah Van Sciver ...... VAN SCIVER’S BOOK OF MORMON 42 Gary James Bergera ...... THE MONITORING OF BYU FACULTY TITHING PAYMENTS: 1957–1963 54 Levi S. Peterson ...... RETURN OF THE NATIVE: Fiction 66 Sara Burlingame...... YOUR OLD WOMEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS

POETRY 2 Paul Swenson...... GRAPHIC NOVEL 65 David Lawrence...... BIRTHDAY PARTY SUNSTONE (ISSN 0363-1370) is published by The Sunstone 78 Anita Tanner ...... PAINTING Education Foundation, Inc., a non-profit corporation with no official ties to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 81 Lyn Lifshin ...... MY SISTER WANTS ME TO COME AND READ Articles represent the opinions of the writers only. THROUGH THIRTY YEARS OF DIARIES

SUNSTONE is indexed in the Index to Book Reviews in Religion and Religion Indexes: RIO/RIT/IBBR 1975–on CD-ROM. COLUMNS

Submissions may be by email attachment or on IBM-PC 4 ...... 2011 UTAH SYMPOSIUM REPORT compatible computer discs (MS Word or WordPerfect format). 6 Stephen Carter ...... FROM THE EDITOR: I Will Go; I Will Play Submissions should not exceed 8,000 words and must be accompanied by a signed letter giving permission for the CORNUCOPIA manuscript to be filed in the Sunstone Collection at the University of Utah Marriott Library (all literary rights are 9 Alisa...... BLOGWATCH: The Garment and the Veil retained by authors). Manuscripts will not be returned; authors 10 Michael Vinson ...... SCRIPTURE NOTES: How Much Does Jesus will be notified concerning acceptance within ninety days. Care about Doctrinal Purity? SUNSTONE is interested in feature- and column-length articles 12 Curt Bench ...... ADVENTURES OF A MORMON relevant to Mormonism from a variety of perspectives, news stories about Mormons and the LDS Church, and short reflections BOOKSELLER: “Unscrupulous or Misguided and commentary. Poetry submissions should have one poem per Adventurers” page, with the poet’s name and address on each page; a self- 13 James P. Harris ...... A PLACE FOR EVERY TRUTH: Understanding addressed, stamped envelope should accompany each submission. Short poems—haiku, limericks, couplets, and one- Talmage liners—are very welcome. Short stories are selected only through 14 Aaron C. Brown ...... FROM THE PEWS: Leaderlore the annual Brookie and D. K. Brown Memorial Fiction Contest (next submission deadline: 30 September 2011). 15 Mark Jensen ...... FROM THE PEWS: My Top Eight Questions Letters for publication should be identified. SUNSTONE does 70 Stephanie Buehler, Natasha Parker, not acknowledge receipt of letters to the editor. Letters addressed to specific authors will be forwarded, unopened, to them. and John Dehlin ...... ROUNDTABLE: Pornography, Masturbation, Sex, and Marriage in Mormonism SUNSTONE will not provide subscriber addresses to mail list solicitors without permission. 76 D. Jeff Burton ...... BRAVING THE BORDERLANDS . . . : Unusual Send all correspondence and manuscripts to: Tales from the Borderlands SUNSTONE 79 Michael Farnworth ...... THE FAMILY FORUM: Discipline 343 N. Third West Salt Lake City, UT 84103-1215 82 Various Authors ...... IN MEMORIAM: Marion D. Hanks and (801) 355-5926 Chieko N. Okazaki email: [email protected] website: www.sunstonemagazine.com 90 Chieko N. Okazaki ...... AN OLIVE LEAF: “May We Shoulder It Together . . . ” United States subscriptions to SUNSTONE are $45 for 6 issues, $76 for 12 issues, and $106 for 18 issues. International subscriptions are $58 for 6 issues; $100 for 12 issues; $138 for 18 issues. All payments must be in U.S. funds drawn on a U.S. bank. UPDATE All international subscriptions will be sent via surface mail. 85 ...... News media can’t get enough of the Mormons; Responses to The Book of Mormon musical, Mountain Bona fide student and missionary subscriptions are $10 less than the above rates. A $10 service charge will be deducted from Meadows becomes national park, Mormons are as refund amount on cancelations. All subscription prices subject strange as Muslims; People section . . . to change without notice.

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YEA, YEA NAY, NAY

N RESPONSE TO Noah Van Sciver’s I comic, “Book of Mormon Origins,” (June Founded in 1974 2011) SUNSTONE received the following: Editors Emeritus SCOTT KENNEY 1974–1978 ALLEN D. ROBERTS 1978–1980 PEGGY FLETCHER 1978–1986 ELBERT EUGENE PECK 1986–2001 DAN WOTHERSPOON 2001-2008 Publishers Emeritus GRAPHIC NOVEL DANIEL H. RECTOR 1986–1991 WILLIAM STANFORD 2000–2008 Editor The Sacred Grove is strangely young—devoid of foliage, STEPHEN CARTER Director of Outreach and Symposia with spindly, half-grown trees. And awkward, teen-age MARY ELLEN ROBERTSON Associate Editor CAROL B. QUIST Joseph, on his knees—trapped inside the walls Section Editors PHYLLIS BAKER, Fiction Contest Coordinator of his own comic strip—has coal-black hair, DAN WOTHERSPOON, Touchstones, Cornucopia, An Olive Leaf LISA TORCASSO DOWNING, Fiction ALAN AND VICKIE EASTMAN, “Righteous Dominion” JAMES P. HARRIS, “A Place for Every Truth” and fuller lips than we recall. Is all of this HUGO OLAIZ, News/Update DIXIE PARTRIDGE, Poetry a horror tale? His pale countenance DALLAS ROBBINS, “In the World” ALISON TAKENAKA, “Margin Notes” MICHAEL VINSON, “Scripture Notes” is dipped in wash of pen-and-ink, encroaching Editorial Assistants JOHN-CHARLES DUFFY, HUGO OLAIZ menace of the adversary’s darkness Contributing Columnists D. JEFF BURTON, MICHAEL FARNWORTH Cartoonists JEANETTE ATWOOD, CAMI THORNOCK. that surrounds him. The vision’s blackest blacks JONATHAN DAVID CLARK, JONNY HAWKINS Much-Appreciated Volunteers and whitest whites reveal his face as stark ADRIANE ANDERSEN, SUSAN ANDERSEN, PHYLLIS BAKER, LES AND SHANON GRIPKEY DON AND LUCINDA GUSTAVSON, BRUCE JENSEN ANN M. JOHNSON, LLOYD PENDLETON, and vulnerable—he swims in waves MARY BETH PENDLETON, SHERRI PENDLETON CAMI THORNOCK, SHARI THORNOCK of perspiration. Perhaps we, too, should

be afraid, since comic art defies an orthodox interpretation. Blinding light that's soon to vanquish THE SUNSTONE EDUCATION FOUNDATION fleeing vestiges of Satan’s power, and then to manifest The mission of The Sunstone Education Foundation is to sponsor open forums of Mormon thought and experience. Under the motto, “Faith Seeking Understanding,” we ex- a Father God presumed ‘til now as dead, will also testify amine and express the rich spiritual, intellectual, social, and artistic qualities of Mormon history and contemporary life. We encourage humanitarian service, honest inquiry, and responsible interchange of ideas that is the boy and Deity converse in charming lunacy respectful of all people and what they hold sacred.

Board of Directors of ordinary speech—preserved and read MICHAEL J. STEVENS co-chair, LAURA R. COMPTON co-chair JOANNA BROOKS , DOE DAUGHTREY, JOHN P. DEHLIN, BILL HANSEN, DAVID KING LANDRITH, KIM MCCALL in dialogue balloons. Trite—the superhero J. FREDERICK (TOBY) PINGREE, MARK D. THOMAS, MATT THURSTON, cartoon-god is old, and whiter still than any ghost. KAIMIPONO WENGER, CLAY WHIPKEY, DAN WOTHERSPOON

Office Manager But almost lost in shadow, the story’s one CAROL B. QUIST Regional Symposium Partners (2010 symposiums) authentic flesh-and-bone anomaly, the Son— MOLLY BENNION, Northwest JOHN HAMER, MIKE KARPOWICZ, JEANNE MURPHY, DON COMPIER, Independence Audio Assistants swarthy, plain, Semitic, real—no form WADE GREENWOOD, STEVE MAYFIELD, MATT WRIGHT or comeliness we should desire. Photographer STEVE MAYFIELD www.signaturebookslibrary.org How is it, cartoon-Joseph seems to know him?

PAUL SWENSON

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The Signature Books Library

Several years back, we thought it would be a grand idea to post some of our books (in their entirety) on a website. We assummed this would be useful for history researchers and readers of poetry and ﬁ ction. Now that we have, we want to advertise to Sunstoners, the only question being how to do so effectively. We met and talked about it and had pizza (which was really tasty), then met a few more times before we realized we had spent our budget on delicious cheese and pepperoni. So we decided we would just show you one of our pizzas and hope you understand. Ugh! ò www.signaturebookslibrary.org 04-05_symp_report2:Column TEMPLATE 10/6/2011 8:09 PM Page 4

2011 Utah Sunstone Symposium

New Place New Feel Same Magic 04-05_symp_report2:Column TEMPLATE 10/6/2011 8:09 PM Page 5

2011 Utah Sunstone Symposium 06-08_editorial:Column temPlAte 10/6/2011 8:11 Pm Page 6

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veloped for laughs, and so I suppose we FROM THE EDITOR shouldn’t expect much depth from them. But as I found out, even when dealing with Christian development companies, it is still almost impossible to find a game that uses I WILL GO; I WILL PLAY biblical characters, stories, and themes as anything more than pawns in the service of By Stephen Carter a trivial scenario. For example, the Wisdom Tree company has been making Bible-based video games “ HAT WOULD A GOOD for a good Mormon video game, shouldn’t for more than 20 years. One of their most Mormon video game play we be hoping for something a little deeper; popular titles is Bible Adventure—three W like?” It’s a question that has something with more substance; something games stuffed into one NES-compatible doubtless crossed the mind of many a that could possibly tap the core of Mormon cartridge. In the first game, “Noah’s Ark,” Mormon gamer as he fires missiles at a experience, theology, and worldview? the player controls Noah as he picks up an- giant mutant brain, or slices her way A similar question is contemplated at imals and carries them overhead to the ark. through a horde of zombies, or fattens up a length in a book edited by Craig Detweiler, In “Baby Moses,” you play Moses’s mother princess. Halos and Avatars: Playing Video Games as she tries to carry her diaper-clad infant The first game ideas that come to mind with God (Westminster John Knox Press). (over her head) past enemies—many of might be something like Street Fighter But in this case, the question is: What whom, if they get their hands on the baby, Nauvoo, where characters from early makes a game Christian? will throw him in the water. And don’t miss Mormon history do battle for supremacy. In her chapter, Rachel Wagner provides out on Noah’s Ark 3-D, a first-person Of course, being a Mormon video game, it a quick tour of video games that feature shooter (or, rather, slingshotter) where the would have to teach something, so we’d biblical themes or characters: games like goal is to shoot tranquilizers at an on- give each character special fighting moves Bible Fight where you can break face with slaught of homicidal goats before they that would sneak a few facts into the play- Jesus, Moses, Eve, Satan, and even Mary. batter Noah to a pulp. Please also give Jesus er’s brain. Joseph Smith could have a back- The fig leaf-clad Eve can use her serpent at- in Space a try; currently on sale for only breaking stick-pull move; Brigham Young tack or call Adam in to kick some trash for $22.95! could mash his opponents with a covered her, though Noah’s ability to call in a wild These are the faithful games. The ones wagon, and Eliza Snow could call on the animal stampede is more impressive. Or a from people who purportedly take their re- help of a few heroic couplets. player can use Mary’s heavenly teleporta- ligion seriously. Or maybe we could develop a game tion ability to get her out of the tight spots The Christian video game that got the called Brigham Kong, where a pixelly pio- her flying feet can’t. Moses can rain frogs on most attention in Halos and Avatars was the neer guy climbs up logs and jumps over an opponent or hurl a couple of hefty com- Left Behind series, based on the popular re- barrels to rescue his wife from Brigham’s mandments. Or if you want to let your fists ligious apocalypse books by Tim LaHaye harem. fly outside the Judeo-Christian tradition, and Jerry Jenkins. The game takes place in The possibilities are endless—but also, you can play Faith Fighter and rumble as ruined city streets where neutral characters admittedly, not all that Mormon. We may Mohammed (with or without a face), wander among evil soldiers, military vehi- be using Mormon characters and bor- Buddha, Budai, or Ganesha. cles, and rumbling tanks. The player’s job is rowing from stereotypes, but when looking These games, of course, were mainly de- to convert as many neutral people as possible to God’s side and then mount an attack on evil forces. How do you go about converting a neutral character to the Lord’s side? Well, first you build a relationship of trust, and then . . . just kidding. If your spirit meter is high enough, all you have to do is click on the desired characters and, in a shower of light, they’re born again and equipped to kick some Satanic tushie! And how do you fill your spirit meter high enough to perform such a miracle? Click on it with your mouse. Lots. If you happen to shoot an innocent bystander—or worse, stand near a rock concert—your spirit meter will plunge. But it’s nothing a few dozen repen- tant clicks can’t fix. The world of Left Behind, though dangerous, is a predictable and controllable world where all one has to do to succeed is follow the rules. Street Fighter Nauvoo: Not a real video game—but should be.

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O WHAT ABOUT N HER HALOS and Avatars Mormon video games? chapter, “The Play is the S How do they stack up I Thing: Interactivity from against mainstream Christian Bible Fight to the Passions of games? Christ,” Rachel Wagner probes My Google search revealed the same question, pointing out exactly two Mormon video that though the story of Jesus games. The first, Outpost Christ has been told in many a Zarahemla, is a goofy, space- film, it has remained all but un- based SimCity-type game. You touched in video games. She play a humanoid missionary cites a few games where one who is under the command of can play characters who in- a fish-headed senior com- teract in peripheral ways with panion. He puts you in charge the Passion but none that actu- of a space station where your ally give the player significant job is to keep the drivers of in- interactivity with the event it- coming spaceships happy by self. building power sources, She argues that, in contrast lemonade stands, and rec cen- to film, where the narrative is ters that provide “good clean laid out and permanent, video fun.” Oh, and you have to games liquefy the stories they earn money. In fact, profit is so touch because a player, not a important that you can’t com- writer or director, is in charge plete a level until you’ve of the protagonist’s movements. earned a specified sum. Making the Passion the subject As the game continues, you of a video game would throw are required to build family Why does a Mormon male need to be married before age the event and its interpretation history centers (where some into question. If the player isn’t visitors learn that an ancestor 25? Any older, and he wouldn’t be able to jump the barrels. skilled enough, Jesus might fail was a fish), and other vaguely and the redemption of the Mormon structures. Umm, yeah. The causal chain doesn’t world might not come to pass. Such a pos- Some spaceships that come in are make a lot of sense there, but it does in the sibility strikes at Christianity’s foundations. marked by an exclamation point. If you game . . . kind of. But that’s part of the And when you jiggle the pillars of people’s click them, they will ask you a churchy game’s charm: its dry, free-associative sense worldview, they tend to freak out. question such as “Are Mormons of humor. Likely I was feeling something similar Christian?” (Answer: Yes); “How many However, the game suddenly grows very while I helped hack Laban’s head off: I was books of Alma are there in the Book of strange when Nephi finds Laban. Until messing with a core story. Being one of the Mormon? (Answer: One); and “What is a now, the tone of the game has been breezy founders of Mormonism’s first satire maga- deacon’s duty?” (Answer: To help the and witty (though the amateurish voice zine, The Sugar Beet, I’m not squeamish bishop). Considering the game was re- acting destroys the ethos of the script). But about tipping a sacred cow or two. But the leased in 2004, it’s not too bad, and it has suddenly, angelic music swells, and, as murder of Laban is one of those stories that some humorous moments. But its religious Nephi is bathed in an ethereal light, a deep, bears the markings of archetype. elements are only tacked on—unless the God-like voice quotes scripture about how Archetypes are stories that get told again core of Mormonism is making a profit. one person may perish if it will save the and again because they have deep roots in The second game I found is called souls of many. essential aspects of human experience. The Brother Nephi’s Ultra-funtastic Point-and- Then the mood alters drastically again roots are so deep that even when thousands click Adventure. It has been released in two as the player is launched into a mini-game of years’ worth of people and institutions parts thus far: the first getting Nephi into where Nephi is standing, sword drawn, try to interpret the stories to favor their par- Jerusalem to acquire the plates of brass, and over Laban’s body. The object is to land a ticular worldview, the stories still manage the second helping him find and kill Laban. swiftly moving line inside a small demar- to retain their ability to lead thoughtful lis- A King’s Quest-style game, the player walks cated area—and it’s not easy. Each time you teners into mystery. Nephi through various environments to lo- miss, Nephi’s sword comes down and eye- Abraham’s attempted sacrifice of Isaac is cate and combine items that will help him balls, fingers, and other body parts fly up. one such story. Søren Kierkegaard, a Danish complete his mission. For example, giving It’s funny. Really. But as I giggled and Christian philosopher, wrote an entire a cat to the camel causes the camel to run hacked, I was almost afraid I was going to book, Fear and Trembling, exploring the into a cafe and expose an illegal animal be struck by lightning. The mini-game mystery Abraham’s narrative points us to- smuggler, thus allowing you to go up on a bumped me up against a question I had ward: what is the nature of faith? balcony to grab a blanket that helps you never thought about before: what are the As Kierkegaard points out, if one of us cross a mud barrier on the way to Laban’s tensions that make integrating video games found out that a man was taking his son to

Al limAg esJeAn : house. et t eAt w o o d But you have to get the poem first. and scripture so difficult? a mountain in order to sacrifice him,

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wouldn’t we try to stop him? Indeed, would have to grapple with the tensions history reveals the fact that our world and wouldn’t we have tried to stop Abraham? that make the stories powerful. its inhabitants are complex and ever- And what about Nephi? If Jerusalem’s finest changing. It might be comforting to think had caught him chopping Laban’s head off, UT HOW MIGHT such a game un- that one need only “choose the right” in wouldn’t they have been justified in carting fold? Mark Hayse presents an inter- order to increase one’s spiritual stature and Nephi off to jail? If we had been nearby, B esting template in his Halos and avoid the evils of the world, but it’s a false wouldn’t we have tried to stop Nephi from Avatars chapter “Ultima IV: Simulating the comfort. Zion’s Camp was a grab-bag of committing his act? Taking a life is irrevo- Religious Quest.” death, failure, and miracles. Many of Alma cable no matter how good the intentions. At the beginning of this fantasy role- and Amulek’s converts were burned to Kierkegaard’s explanation of Abraham’s playing game released in 1985, the player is death by their own neighbors. Ammon’s story is that it is a metaphor for the radical presented with a series of ethical dilemmas; converts had even less luck, being con- subjectivity of faith, for the absolute exclu- for example: “Thou art sworn to uphold a stantly dogged by murderous armies. Sure, sivity of one’s relationship with the divine. Lord who participates in the forbidden tor- we can offer mollifying explanations for In other words, no one can in any way be a ture of prisoners. Each night their cries of these difficult situations, but they serve part of or understand your relationship pain reach thee. Dost thou, A) show only to neuter the exploratory potential with the divine; the relationship is exclu- Compassion by reporting the deeds, or B) these stories offer. sively between you and God. No outside Honor thy oath and ignore the deeds?” The Book of Mormon seems very clear in observer can judge it. The story presents Notice how the choices pit two virtues its conviction that good intentions don’t al- such a repulsive scenario to point to the im- against each other? There doesn’t seem to ways produce good results. What if we built possibility of understanding Abraham’s re- be a correct answer—only a revealing one. a game around that idea? Could we make lationship with the divine. The only way The answers the player provides shape the Alma into a video game character, eject him you could hope to understand another per- character he or she will play. In a way, the from King Noah’s palace and watch as the son’s faith is to live his or her life. character is an embodiment of the player’s player attempts to bring people together Nephi’s motivations for killing are a worldview. around a common, but revolutionary, faith? little more understandable than The player wanders through Brittania, How would he spread his gospel? What Abraham’s. After all, Laban had threatened encountering other characters—friendly parts of the gospel would he emphasize? the lives of Nephi and his brothers, Laban and otherwise—monsters, animals, and How would the people react to those partic- had also stolen their wealth, and Nephi be- difficult situations. The goal is to perfect ular principles? Whom would Alma trust lieved that the plates of brass were essen- the character in each of the eight virtues, with power in his fledgling church? How tial to the success of his family’s divinely but no guidance is offered. As players in- would he deal with the attacks of King mandated journey. But this setup puts a teract with the game, their decisions affect Noah’s army? What decisions would he new twist on the Abraham story. their character’s virtues. In all cases, make in order to keep his people alive in the Abraham’s act seems next to insane and is players have to sacrifice one thing to gain wilderness? How would he secretly boost rife with personal sacrifice, but Nephi’s act another. If they flee from an unwinnable his people’s morale while they are enslaved deprives him of no one he loves, gets an battle, they lose valor points, but they also by the Lamanites? What sacrifices will he enemy out of his way, and secures him ac- live. If they cheat the herbs woman so that need to make to achieve his goals? How will cess to the plates of brass. He has every- they can have enough money to buy an es- the consequences of his decisions affect him thing to gain and nothing to lose by killing sential item, they gain the item, but lose and the people who follow him? Laban. It seems unlikely that such a conve- honesty points. At first, it might seem that developing nient and lucrative murder could be di- But here’s the twist. The game never such a game would be prohibitively expen- vinely mandated, especially since—unlike shows players how many points they have sive, especially for such a small audience. in Abraham’s story—Nephi actually does in each virtue, or the consequences their But making a game as an app or as a Flash end a human life. actions have on their virtues. As Hayse game to be distributed on the internet can I can’t recall having ever been in a writes: “Gradually, players come to realize be relatively inexpensive. The graphics Sunday School class where someone ques- that the quest for virtue demands ongoing don’t have to be the greatest, as Ultima IV tioned Nephi’s decision. The popular vote ethical self-assessment. Every interaction proves, and neither does the music. What seems to be that Nephi did the right with the subjects and objects of Britannia really matters is how skillfully room is thing—the voters happily embracing the requires critical reflection.” Some of the made for value-laden, consequence-ridden idea that God and Nephi were utilitarians questions the player is forced to contem- choices, where something like a virtual soul (considering the life of one man to be of plate include: “What is the right thing to do can be forged. less moral weight than the religious cohe- when I am attacked by others? . . . If I find Video games could prove themselves to sion of Lehi’s descendants, and therefore something of value on my journey, under be a great medium in which to create a expendable). But archetypal stories are what conditions may I claim it as my own? post-modern midrash, where we could not structured to ignite exploration, not instill . . . When asked to share financial or phys- only re-envision our stories, but relive certitude. Nephi’s story is meant to fracture ical resources with others, how much them; drawing out the archetypal power our worldview, not stabilize it. should I share? . . . Are there certain tools many of them possess, making them more Which brings me back to my original that I should not employ in the service of personally relevant. question: what element could imbue a virtue? Or does the virtue sanctify every Besides, think of how the seminary pro- game with a resonantly Mormon core? It tool in order that the end justifies the gram would boom if the kids knew that would be our unique archetypal stories, means?” Now there’s a question for Nephi! they were required to play awesome video presented in such a way that the player A careful study of scripture and Church games for half an hour a day.

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CORNUCOPIA

SUNSTONE invites short musings: chatty reports, cultural trend I also view the garment as a type of veil. It shields us from sightings, theological meditations. All lovely things of good re- the outside world. I’m not comparing it to a burqa, but to the port, please share them. Send to: veil that hangs inside the temple. The garment is similar to the temple veil in distinct ways, and we can learn about the B l o g w a t c h meaning of one by learning about the meaning of the other.

An earlier version of this reflection was published 13 January HIS LAST YEAR, however, I made a conscious deci- 2011 on the Exponent blog, www.the-exponent.com, and is sion to not wear the garment, or rather, to not wear it reprinted here with permission. T in an orthodox sense. When I was planning for the birth of my baby, I purchased some nursing tops for the garment. But when I was hit with mastitis the day I came home THE GARMENT AND THE VEIL from the hospital, my plans changed. I wasn’t able to wear a nursing bra, much less the garment. As I healed, and I began With snow-white veil and garments as of flame, to get the hang of nursing twenty times a day (and I have the She stands before thee, who so long ago recorded times to prove it!), I began to feel it wasn’t right for Filled thy young heart with passion and the woe me to wear the garment as I’d been instructed. This doesn’t From which thy song and all its splendors came . . . mean I’ve given up on the symbolism I enjoy with the gar- –HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW ment, but that I found it was necessary to make a temporary modification. HAVE ALWAYS BEEN PRETTY ORTHODOX IN MY What I felt is that I needed to be close to my new tender garment wearing. I’ve worn them under the bra as I baby. I wanted to feel him close to me, skin on skin, wrapped I was instructed. I also wore both tops and bottoms to- in only a diaper and under a blanket big enough for the both gether, feeling that the garment wasn’t complete unless I of us. I wanted him to know my touch, to smell my skin, to wore the set. I found that I get the most out of my gar- lay his head on my chest and hear my heartbeat. I couldn’t ments when I think about the symbolism of the imagine anything holier than my touch on his skin, and the Atonement. They play an important part of an archetypal gentle dependence he had on my body. Although he was story that goes like this: born full term, I wanted the benefits of Kangaroo Care, the ability to incubate my baby outside of the womb by holding Eve found herself vulnerable outside the Garden of him close to my skin during feedings. Eden. Her world was now open to strife, sickness, I found the garment nursing tops to be a hindrance to this and death. Then Jesus, the creator of earth, told her closeness. To lay my baby on my constantly milk-soaked top that he’d make a way for her to overcome these ills and only give him access to the bare minimum part of myself of the new world. He would descend to Earth and didn’t seem to bring us the bonding I wanted. When I wasn’t lay down his life for her and her posterity. And as a wearing the garment top, and I could lay him right on my promise that he would do this, he gave Eve a coat of skin, I could quickly wipe any excess milk off of his skin and animal skin, a sacrifice in similitude of his own fu- mine. This was the practical consideration, but there was a ture sacrifice: A sacrifice that would serve to cover spiritual consideration, too. up Eve’s vulnerability to this new world and the As I thought about the symbolism of my wearing the gar- death that exists there. ment or not, I remembered the garment as a veil. In my understanding, the garment sets endowed people apart from Because this is the narrative I use to understand the gar- the rest of the world and often serves as a physical barrier ment, I have appreciated wearing it. I tend to look better between the self and others—between Eve and the lone and with more clothes on, so making sure I’m covered hasn’t dreary world. I thought about this veil separating me from been an issue. In many ways I liked the sense of equality— my newborn infant son, who relied on me for all his nur- both men and women get to wear it, and ordaining women turing. And I remembered Heavenly Mother. I thought to wear the Garment of the Holy Priesthood has got to mean about the veil that separates us from her, the veil that some something about an endowed woman’s priesthood power, say the Father put between her and us so that we cannot even if we don’t fully understand it yet. touch her and defile her with our coarseness. “A veil to pro-

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tect her from her children,” some Church leaders have told meaning and doctrine, including those going on within the me. I thought about the times I have ached for Heavenly Church today. I am thinking especially here of members Mother, those desperate times in my life when I wished for who have been punished by or threatened with excommu- the veil to part so that I could be held against her and sob nication over theological or doctrinal issues. Instead of into her chest and have her nourish me. I looked at my own bashing over points of scripture—though that can certainly newborn son, and I decided I could not bear any longer to happen in Sunday School—these confrontations take place have a veil placed between us. in the privacy of a stake high council room and are known ALISA today as “Church Disciplinary Councils” (though in classic Midvale, Utah Orwellian double-speak, they were once called “courts of love”). In the Church’s purge of intellectuals in the early Scripture notes 1990s—one that to some extent still continues—one of the main justifications for the excommunications was that In this regular column, Michael Vinson, a master’s graduate of the these persons’ writings and lectures could contaminate the Divinity School of the University of Cambridge and a frequent “pure” doctrine of the Church as taught in classes and devotional speaker at Sunstone symposiums, delves into personal and meetings. Clearly some Church leaders have felt that doc- scholarly aspects of scripture. trinal purity is an issue that should be pressed. Indeed, a recent edition of the Church Handbook of Instructions lists HOW MUCH DOES JESUS CARE keeping the Church “pure” as adequate reason for excommunication. Teaching “false doctrine” is also mentioned as ABOUT DOCTRINAL PURITY? an excommunicable offense. But I believe there is something inherently dangerous for . . . And I shall bring to light the true points of my doc- the long-term health of religious institutions that perpetrate trine, yea, and the only doctrine which is in me. And this point of view. First, because all leaders are human, there this I do that I may establish my gospel, that there may is not any earthly institution—”true church” or otherwise— not be so much contention; yea, Satan doth stir up the that does not occasionally make mistakes that might be con- hearts of the people to contention concerning the points sidered doctrinal. For instance, there are few Church leaders of my doctrine; and in these things they do err, for they today who are willing to still stand up and say that the denial do wrest the scriptures and do not understand them. of priesthood blessings to blacks was truly the word and will —D&C 10:62–63 of the Lord. Nevertheless, before the 1978 priesthood revelation in 1978, some Latter-day Saints were threatened with or NE OF MY EARLIEST EXPERIENCES IN “BIBLE received Church discipline for advocating the eradication of bashing” came while I was serving as a O stake missionary in California and waiting for my own mission call. I had gone out with the elders to visit an investigator, who had invited a surprise visitor—the leading anti- Mormon minister in our little community. Almost immediately, the Reverend and the missionaries began arguing about points of doctrine while I sat there with just a year of Rick’s College religion classes behind me and nothing to add to any arguments. The voices became louder, and I could feel temperatures rising in the room. I am sure the investigator was sorry to be there as well. After nearly an hour of arguing, there was a pause and I finally spoke up. I’ll get to what I said in a moment. I wish I could say I learned from that experience, but a little scriptural knowledge and a lot of missionary zeal is a dangerous combination, and a year later, while on my mission in Bolivia, I had my own run-in with a minister who had been invited over by our investigator. As I reflect back on these Bible-bashing experiences, they now seem to me not so different from all other arguments about scriptural

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racial boundaries. Admittedly, at first glance, this passage lends itself to two I am not denying the reality of priesthood revelation but different readings. One reading could see Christ’s injunction only pointing out that sometimes our surety about Church as a form of “Thou shalt not dispute anymore because this is doctrine and practice is not as sure as we might like. Even if the official doctrine”—Jesus channeling Elder McConkie’s we are confident that this ship belongs to the Lord, men are Mormon Doctrine, as it were. at the helm and do the steering. Because of the principle of But in the next verse we read, “For verily, verily I say unto agency, I have to believe that the Lord will pretty much let you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is them steer or take the Church any direction in which they of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth are inclined. up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another.” The Nephites had apparently had some extensive O, HOW MUCH does Jesus actually care about the doctrinal disagreements, but the Savior was more concerned purity of the doctrine taught in the Church? On the with how they treated each other than he was with what S surface the answer seems straightforward. Of course anyone was teaching. the Lord cares about the doctrines being taught; why else Jesus seems to be advocating orthopraxy over ortho- would the world have needed a restoration of priesthood au- doxy—preaching against the temptation to impose a par- thority after a long apostasy? But perhaps this answer is not ticular system in order to regulate spiritual conformity as intuitive as it might first appear. within the church. In other words, Jesus is saying (and I believe that part of our obsession with punishing dissi- this point is repeated in other verses as well) there is no dent teachings in the modern Church stems from the ancient Christian church practice of emphasizing orthodoxy over orthopraxy. In other words, it was not what you did that made you a Christian in the ancient church (think of Paul eradicating the Jewish dietary laws) as much as what you believed. Leaders of the ancient church fought constantly over doctrine and interpretation, and they often resorted to ostracizing fringe doctrines or teachers. But one can find an alternative in the Jewish tradition, which emphasizes practice (orthopraxy) over beliefs (orthodoxy). In Judaism, there is a fairly long tradition of disagreement over doctrines (according to the Mishnah, this was true even dating back to the time of Jesus), so that almost every variety of belief or non-belief is tolerated. There is no litmus test, per se, that is administered to Jews every year or two to be sure that they believe the same as everyone else in the congregation. Instead, for most congregations, as long as you observe the practices, regardless of what you actually believe, you are considered a Jew. This was the religious tradition Jesus was raised in. You could be excommunicated for becoming a tax farmer (part of the Roman tax-collecting bureaucracy) but not for voicing alternative views of scriptural interpretation. Some of Jesus’s views on how we should treat differing interpretations of doctrine can be seen in the account of Christ’s visit to Book of Mormon peoples: “And there shall be no disputations among you, as there have hitherto been; Viavi Company advertisement on the Table of Contents page of the January 1901 neither shall there be disputations among you Young Women’s Journal. According to the ad, why is it popular? “Because it does concerning the points of my doctrine, as there not unsex women; . . . because it makes women strong and well; . . . because a happy have hitherto been” (3 Nephi 11:28). home is where mother and wife is healthy.”

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For the kickoff of the second season of Ancient Aliens, which aired on 27 July (coinciding with the release of the movie Cowboys and Aliens), the producers decided to explore the topic “Ancient Aliens and the Old West.” The show explains that “according to Ancient Astronaut theorists, Moroni may in fact have been a star being, an extraterrestrial whose mission was to pass down to Smith and his followers the advanced knowledge of the Mound Builders.” The show includes clips from an interview with Logan Hawkes, author of Close Encounters of the Old West, who states that “Moronee [sic] claimed to be from the Pleiades MORONI THE MARTIAN star cluster.” “So a church today 9-million strong believe that their HE COMICALLY NAMED History Channel, which church may have originated not of this world, but of an- T specializes in sensationalistic programs on historical other world,” Hawkes concludes. mysteries and conspiracy theories, recently offered a fresh This is, of course, an outrageous falsehood: The LDS take on the Angel Moroni: He may have been a space alien. Church is 14-million strong.

point of doctrine or church teaching that is worth con- took me aside and said that he had felt something in his tending, disputing, or arguing about with fellow church heart that he had not experienced before, and he asked if he members if it interferes with our loving each other. The could visit with me later that week. I wish I could tell you I inverse is true as well. If we truly respect and love each was brave enough to follow through with that visit, but I other, we can have those vigorous doctrinal discussions was too young and scared. with this caveat: don’t get too carried away with the cor- The lesson for me, though, still remains a force whenever rectness of your point of view. I am tempted to dogmatically argue with someone about a So did Jesus correct the doctrine of the Nephites when he Church teaching or interpretation of doctrine. Nothing, it appeared to them? Yes, but only after warning them about seems, is as important to the Lord as loving our fel- the dangers of contending over the meaning of scripture. In lowman—even, or especially, Church members whom we D&C 10:62-63, the verses I quoted at the beginning of this may fervently feel to be in doctrinal error. column, the Lord identifies Satan as the force behind con- MICHAEL VINSON tention over doctrine and the temptation to “wrest the scrip- Star Valley, Wyoming tures” and turn them into tools for battle. As much as we might enjoy intellectual dialogue, there is some point at which differences can begin to degenerate into angry dispu- Adventures of a Mormon Bookseller tations. I think the Savior knew that, in the midst of disagreements, we often lose our tempers and are tempted to In this regular Cornucopia column, Curt Bench, owner and op- call each other names. In fact, in the online chat and blog erator of Benchmark Books (www.benchmarkbooks.com), a environment this tendency even has a name: “Godwin’s Law specialty bookstore in Salt Lake City that focuses primarily on of Nazi Analogues, “which predicts that the longer an online used and rare Mormon books, tells stories—both humorous and disagreement continues, the more likely one party will resort appalling—from his 35-plus years in the LDS book business. to comparing the other to Nazis. If we reach the point of pointing fingers and calling names, whether we are a Church leader judging from one side of the high council “UNSCRUPULOUS OR table or a member sitting on the other, we have transgressed MISGUIDED ADVENTURERS” the Lord’s law of love.

O WHAT DID I say to the anti-Mormon minister that HE BANNER HEADLINE IN THE JANUARY 1894 evening so long ago when I was an ignorant stake mis- Salt Lake Herald advertisement reads, “ARE YOU A S sionary? I told him that even though we disagreed T WELL WOMAN?” The lengthy ad then touts “Viavi” strongly over the meaning of Jesus’ words, I knew the Lord as a remedy for various female disorders. The product (of- loved him just as much as he loved us, and that I loved him, fered in various forms—some to be used internally and too. A strong spirit of the Lord’s love came into that room, some externally) was promised to be a “boon” to “Eve’s and just before leaving with the missionaries, the minister daughters.” But husbands were also promised benefits:

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A poor man’s sole cause of happiness is often a cheerful scheme. Certainly not in the Mormon book and document healthy wife and their babies. She may not be accom- business anyway. plished in social arts, but she has warm arms to enfold him. Men are governed by the same human longing, NOTE whatever their various ranks may be, and the hearth- stone of a millionaire is made brighter if a wife be there 1. Benchmark Books sold this letter to Utah State University’s Merrill-Cazier who is NATURALLY prompted to the display of sweet Library Special Collections. It is quoted here with the library’s permission emotion. A place for every truth After selling book subscriptions for several years, brothers Hartland and Herbert Law formed the Viavi This regular Cornucopia column features incidents from and Company in 1886. Although their main product was de- glimpses into the life and ministry of Elder James E. Talmage as signed to treat uterine and other female disorders, Viavi also compiled by James P. Harris, who is currently working on a full- manufactured and sold eye and ear treatments, tonics, and length biography of this fascinating Mormon apostle. The laxatives. Company literature further promised treatments column title is adopted from the statement inscribed on Elder for obesity, headaches, and even bad breath. Supposedly, the Talmage’s tombstone: “Within the Gospel of Jesus Christ there is firm’s miracle products could help women regulate how room and place for every truth thus far learned by man or yet to many children they bore, improve the sexual health of both be made known.” men and women, and cure just about any other illness, including cancer. The American Medical Association took a rather dim UNDERSTANDING TALMAGE view of Viavi, stating that if the Law brothers were correct in their claims, “then the whole medical world is all wrong,” NE OF THE CHALLENGES IN READING ANY and asking, “What reputable physician, not employed by book written by James E. Talmage is grappling with them, could be found to agree with them?” The AMA review O the difficult vocabulary. He uses big words. Really also noted that the Laws, who had started with almost big words. Words like “tesseradecads,” which refers to the nothing, were now affluent, their patrons consisting of “con- arrangement into “groups of fourteen individuals each.” The fiding sick and suffering women, to whom, not skilled in word occurs in Talmage’s Jesus the Christ in the discussion of medicine, their literature appeals.” the genealogies of Jesus (see Matthew 1:17; Jesus the Christ, Viavi products sold nationwide and were popular with 89). Some of my favorites include: casuist—someone skilled Mormons in Utah for some time. Viavi ads ran in the in judging right from wrong; palliate—to cover with ex- Church’s Young Woman’s Journal for at least three straight cuses; stultify—to cause another to look foolish. years (1900–1903; the image on page 11 is one example). Words such as these flowed naturally from Talmage, as That the ads would run in an LDS publication is puzzling he was schooled in Latin and German while a student at since several years before this, the Church’s First Brigham Young Academy. Most likely he also learned Presidency discussed the company and concluded that it German from his mentor Karl G. Maeser. A great many of was no more than a “fraudulent money scheme.” In a 30 the difficult words Talmage uses, especially in The January 1894 letter written by Joseph F. Smith (then Articles of Faith and Jesus the Christ, have a Latin or counselor to President Wilford Woodruff) to a Logan, German root base. Utah, stake president,1 Smith refers to the “pretencious In 1996, I had the opportunity to interview John R. [sic] and flaming advertisement” that Viavi had run in the Talmage, who was then, at age 85, the last living child of Salt Lake Herald earlier that month. Smith’s letter says James and May Talmage. I asked John if his father brought a that Church leaders determined the scheme was designed dictionary to the Salt Lake Temple when he was writing Jesus to “prey upon the weak and unsuspecting.” However, he the Christ. He replied, “Father didn’t use a dictionary. If he cautions the stake president against “openly opposing this didn’t know the meaning of a word, he didn’t use it.” scheme, for in so doing you might give to it undue impor- Not everyone who wanted to benefit from the books tance, but we think you can quietly put a stopper upon it, Talmage wrote was blessed with his huge vocabulary, how- and thereby save our people from being duped and ever. Recognizing this, and in response to Jesus the Christ’s robbed of their means by either unscrupulous or mis- having been chosen as the course of study for Melchizedek guided adventurers.” Priesthood quorums for 1963 and 1964, several missionaries serving under President J. Leonard Love in the Northern SN’T IT COMFORTING to realize that such chicanery California Mission in 1963 undertook a project to make and scheming is a thing of Utah’s past? I’m sure readers things easier for readers who tripped on those strange words I will all agree that it’s hard to imagine that any company conjured from memory or concocted fresh by Elder or person would try to deceive or sell a questionable product Talmage. It was a booklet they titled Understanding Talmage, to anyone, let alone a fellow Saint, as part of a get-rich-quick subtitled “A Conceptual Dictionary to Supplement the

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Study of Jesus the Christ and Articles of Faith by Elder James We really need a term that reflects this reality. We need a E. Talmage.” Readers today sometimes have trouble locating word that helps us confront the necessary task of reflecting Understanding Talmage because it’s commonly referred to as on the origin of our teachings. “The Talmage Dictionary.” Also, Understanding Talmage has I understand the perceived need to employ a term that been long out of print, but copies can occasionally be found can safely disown outdated Mormon teachings and practices at used and rare bookstores or for sale on the Internet. without gratuitously embarrassing the LDS leadership. But Another difficulty in using Jesus the Christ as a reference our collective failure to properly identify the origins of false guide is that Talmage provided no scripture index. Thus, if Mormon teachings has costs. It prevents many of us from you wanted to find out what Talmage had to say about Amos recognizing where destructive religious notions often come 8:11–12, you would have to do some research. In 1963, a from. It dissuades many of us from learning from these his- couple by the name of J. Marlan and Christina Vella sought torical episodes, and from raising constructive questions to remedy this lack by compiling the “Scripture Index to about how we should approach the teachings of authorities Jesus the Christ.” Their index may have been meant for pub- we want to view as inspired. lication, but it never got that far. For those interested in ob- So here’s my suggestion: Let’s jettison “folklore,” at least taining one, Special Collections at BYU’s Harold B. Lee when we discuss Mormonism’s past racial teachings or any Library has been willing to make reprints available for pur- other outmoded teachings the LDS leadership once pro- chase on demand. moted. Let’s save it for instances where we’re supremely confident that the Mormon “folk” really are the authors of the From the pews “lore.” If we want to employ the term in reference to a sighting of the Three Nephites, a UFO story, or some other A two-sentence version of this piece appeared as Aaron C. tale of dubious provenance, fine. But teachings once viewed Brown’s 9 February 2011 Facebook status update. as authoritative by Mormon leaders deserve a different term—one that doesn’t mask important questions about the origin and authoritativeness of our “lore.” LEADERLORE Let’s stop talking about “folklore” and start talking about “leaderlore.” OTHING DRIVES ME CRAZIER THAN HEARING AARON C. BROWN a well-meaning Latter-day Saint earnestly explain Seattle, Washington N how some popular Mormon teaching doesn’t count as official—or as a “doctrine”—because it belongs to some other—supposedly inferior—category of teaching: “Culture.” “Policy.” “Speculation.” “Folklore.” It’s not that I object to drawing distinctions between central gospel teachings and their lower-class cousins. It’s not that our terms can’t have concrete, useful meanings. It’s that more often than not, they don’t. They’re just empty words. And this is a problem. For if we Mormons are going to draw distinctions between “doctrine” and “non-doctrine,” we need to make sure we’ve thought hard about the contours of these categories. We need to carefully define our terms, and then use them in concrete, principled ways. Otherwise, we’re just em- ploying clever rhetorical tricks to downgrade LDS teachings we don’t like, without doing the work of showing why these teachings should be viewed as less authoritative than teachings we do like. Perhaps no term for “non-doctrine” irks me so much as “folklore,” because, to my ears, it implies that the “lore” being disparaged originated with the common Mormon “folk”—in other words, that some idea is the weird invention of rank-and-file Mormons from yesteryear who had too much time on their hands and too much zeal in their heads. But many of the embarrassing, awkward, even shameful, ideas that have circulated among the Mormon populace have no such lowly origins. Many were either promulgated by the senior leadership of the LDS Church (often in official

fora), or were at least promoted and popularized by them. Nex tPag e:Wr it t eNby Mar kJeNs eN,il l u s t r at edby JeaNet t eat Wo o d

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Early Mormon history

THE CULTURE OF VIOLENCE IN JOSEPH SMITH’S MORMONISM

By D. Michael Quinn

T IS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT FOR MOST OF US theme of no duty to retreat: that one was legally justified in today to comprehend the violence that was pervasive, standing one’s ground to kill in self-defense.” This shift re- I often normative,1 in early American culture.2 Much of sulted in America’s “proud new tolerance for killing in situa- this normative violence had its roots in the national culture tions where it might have been avoided by obeying a legal while regions (such as the South and West) had their own duty to retreat.”6 traditions of sanctioned violence in daily life.3 In other in- During this same period, American norms were changing stances, the rowdyism and violence were normative only for concerning violence by boys and teenagers. E. Anthony a subculture that was defined primarily by social class or Rotundo observes: “Early in the 1800s, men and women had ethnicity.4 Early Americans had perspectives about violence seen youthful brawls as a badge of evil and a sign that manly that were very different even from those of modern self-control was not yet developed.” However, during a Americans who have served in the military or lived in war- decades-long transition, “bourgeois Northerners did more torn societies, because it is normal for modern Americans to than endorse interpersonal violence: they now believed that grow up in a peaceful environment where violence is con- fighting helped to build youthful character.”7 sidered a violation of social norms. A few examples may be helpful in recognizing this early Some of America’s culture of violence is rooted in American culture of violence, which extended from the elite England. Robert Shoemaker has observed of England’s tradi- to the lower classes, from the cities to the villages, from tions of male honor before 1800 that “violence for men was North to South, from the Eastern Establishment to the part of accepted codes of masculine behavior, and offered western frontier. Although dueling (usually with pistols) them a means of affirming their gender identity, and gen- was permitted by the laws of various states and was re- tlemen a means of confirming their superior social posi- garded as honorable by most Americans of the time,8 tion.” Nevertheless, Shoemaker’s statistical analysis shows Thomas Jefferson in 1798 persuaded ambassador (and fu- that urban Englishmen of all classes were becoming less vio- ture president) James Monroe against trying to kill U.S. lent during the decades before 1800.5 Part of the reason for president John Adams in a duel.9 Alexander Hamilton, a this decline of violence was the growing success of English founding father of the Republic and secretary of the U.S. common law’s “duty to retreat.” As Richard Maxwell Brown Treasury, died in an 1804 duel.10 The history of dueling in explains, a centuries-old “society of civility” in Britain that the nation’s capital also included “an affair of honor” be- called for “obedience to the duty to retreat—really a duty to tween Secretary of State Henry Clay and Senator John flee from the scene altogether or, failing that, to retreat to the Randolph.11 Known for dueling while he was justice of the wall at one’s back—meant that in the vast majority of dis- Tennessee Supreme Court in the early 1800s, Andrew putes no fatal outcome could occur.” Jackson killed one opponent in 1806, engaged in a hotel Beginning with an 1806 decision by a Massachusetts brawl as army general with Thomas Hart Benton in 1813, court, gradually the United States “as a whole repudiated the massacred countless Creek Indian women and children (in- English common-law tradition in favor of the American cluding hundreds on a single day), executed six Tennessee militiamen in 1814 for leaving camp when they thought D. MICHAEL QUINN is an independent scholar in their enlistments had expired, illegally invaded the Spanish Rancho Cucamonga, Southern California. His first territory of Florida in 1818, and hanged two British men ancestral Mormon mother, Lydia Bilyeu Workman, there for befriending the Seminole Indians—yet Jackson died in Nauvoo on 30 September 1845, just days was elected U.S. president in 1828.12 As governor of Illinois after she was burned out of her farmhouse by mobs. Territory, William Henry Harrison declared “a war of extir- Her five youngest children were aged six to eighteen." pation” against the Kickapoo Indians who opposed white

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settlement on their ancestral lands, and he successfully used lence in their daily lives. this violent campaign to get elected as U.S. president in Because many American males (and nearly all females) 1840.13 In 1842, Abraham Lincoln nearly engaged in a avoided violence, we might question whether there really sword duel with the Illinois state auditor.14 was a “culture of violence” in early America. To answer that Violence in the classroom was also common in early question, we need more than arrest records, or anecdotal ref- America. In 1802, students at Princeton University burned erences to violent incidents, or even estimates of those who down the library; before 1830 had arrived, they had engaged did not engage in violent acts. Rather, we need to ask a more in five other “major campus rebellions.” Student rioting and fundamental question: What were the norms of the society violence also plagued the University of Virginia during the regarding violence? 1830s and 1840s. The problem was even worse at public In terms of the previously cited examples of legally and schools where the children of farmers, shopkeepers, and socially sanctioned violence in daily life and of the election common laborers were educated. In 1837 alone, 400 schools of national leaders with violent reputations, it should be ob- had to be closed in Massachusetts because of violence and vious why historians regard early America as a violent cul- disciplinary problems.15 From colonial times to the mid- ture. Though the incidents of violence are certainly impor- 1840s, it was a tradition in Philadelphia on Sundays for tant, both individually and statistically, the crucial question young men to commit both “organized and spontaneous is whether the violent incidents occurred in concert with the mayhem.”16 society’s norms or in opposition to them.

The pervasiveness of violence in early American culture, T MAY BE difficult for the majority of those who follow particularly by men, leads to an obvious question. Did every the Restoration message that began with the 1830 Book early American man, or even the vast majority, commit as- of Mormon to conceive of early Mormon culture as I 17 sault and battery? Existing evidence indicates that the an- being violent. After all, the Book of Mormon’s narratives swer is “no” for a large portion of American males during endorsed self-defensive wars (Alma 43: 26, 47) but also ex- that era. pressed discomfort or condemnation of violence in daily life Why did many early American males avoid violence, even (1 Nephi 4:7–18; Mosiah 29:14; Alma 35:15; 48:11). though it was socially sanctioned? Opinion polls did not Members of the Community of Christ, headquartered in exist, relatively few American males wrote diaries or letters Independence, Missouri, can point to a tradition of gentle about their personal feelings, and even fewer commented co-existence with their neighbors which extends to that about their responses to violence (aside from service in the movement’s founding in the 1850s.18 Members of the LDS military). Therefore, the answer can be only tentative, but Church, headquartered in Salt Lake City, can point to a sim- many early American males apparently declined to partici- ilar tradition throughout their own lifetime and that of their pate in their country’s culture of violence because of some parents, grandparents, sometimes great-grandparents and combination of the following factors: non-aggressiveness in great-great-grandparents.19 their personalities, their adherence to the Christian com- However, the Utah church’s peaceful norms extend back mandment to “turn the other cheek” (Matthew 5:39), family only to the 1890s,20 and the Community of Christ’s norms indoctrination against violence, or their perception that do not define the Mormonism which existed before the

C. C. A. Ch A. C. C. r is t en s enDet : there Ailf r o“h m Au n ’smil l ” was never sufficient cause for them to resort to vio- Reorganization of the 1850s. To avoid the “presentist bias”

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of trying to make the past conform to our (one expressing his code of male honor and own experience and world views,21 we need one representing self-defense), the first few to explore the personalities, norms, and be- years of Joseph’s leadership of the Church haviors of early Mormonism concerning vio- were remarkably non-violent. His pacifism lence. was most extraordinary when, in March In the above sentence, I mentioned “per- 1832, a mob broke into the homes of Smith, sonalities” first because prior to the exis- then church president and his counselor tence of Mormonism’s norms, its founder Sidney Rigdon in Hiram, Ohio. The mob Joseph Smith Jr. had developed personality dragged the two from their beds, attempted to traits which interacted with the norms of the poison Smith, nearly castrated him, beat both Church he led from 1830 to his death in men unconscious, then tarred-and-feathered 1844. As biographer Richard Lyman them. Worse, the Prophet’s adopted child died Bushman has recently observed, “Joseph’s re- from exposure to the cold as the mob ran- action to insults was learned behavior, sacked his house. Nevertheless, Joseph shared with his society. His anger was both preached the next day to a congregation his own and an expression of a cultural prac- which included several of his attackers, and tice—what honorable men were taught to he sought no retribution. Among this mob do. . . . The culture of honor moved him to was a former friend, apostate Symonds contend with the offending parties to protect Rider.29 his easily bruised pride, even though all the I find it difficult to explain in satisfactorily while he wanted peace.”22 human terms how Joseph Smith could manifest such On the one hand, for example, in 1836 a Kirtland resident Quaker-like pacifism30 in his personal responses to this called Joseph Smith “a pugnacious Prophet.”23 This de- physical attack on himself and family in 1832, yet could lash scribed a repeatedly manifested aspect of Smith’s person- out with vehemence at far lesser provocations during the ality—he physically assaulted those who offended him, and last ten years of his life. This contrast seems beyond Richard he spoke with pride about these violent incidents. His fol- Bushman’s biographical assessments. lowers might justify such personal behaviors with religious To explain the Prophet’s pacifist behavior in 1832, I think prooftexts about Jesus using a whip on money-changers in Joseph believed that Mormonism required him to live a the temple at Jerusalem (John 2:15),24 but the Mormon higher standard. However, that changed—and Joseph be- Prophet’s resorting to assault and battery also reflected early came “pugnacious” for reasons that are neither explained America’s culture of violence and its code of male honor.25 nor self-evident. On the other hand, as God’s living Prophet and mouth- Perhaps hackneyed phrases such as “straw that broke the piece on earth, Smith also claimed that Mormons had the re- camel’s back” or “dam bursting” apply to the cumulative ef- ligious right to take vengeance on their enemies and had the fect of the years of religious ridicule and personal insults theocratic right to form private armies. Joseph Smith’s per- that he experienced. Both certainly provoked the Prophet’s sonality and his theocratic teachings were the joint basis for conventionally American code of honor. At any rate, it is early Mormonism’s norms for violent behavior. This resulted easier to explain the theocratic basis for violent aspects in in a violent religious subculture within a violent national his religious leadership after 1832. culture. Because Joseph Smith’s 1832 response to the 1832 mob “When I was a boy” in Palmyra, New York—probably in attack was the most important guide his followers had con- the 1820s—Smith confronted a wife-beater: “I whipped him cerning how they should respond to violent attacks, till he said he had enough.”26 He also told Mormon friends Mormons behaved as pacifists when Missourians attacked another “anecdote. While [Joseph was] young, his father them in Jackson County during July 1833. Mobs destroyed had a fine large watch dog which bit off an ear from David the Mormon newspaper, the home of editor William W. Stafford’s hog, which Stafford had turned into Smith[‘s] corn Phelps, and burned nearly all copies of the newly printed field. Stafford shot the dog and with six other fellows Book of Commandments, the first collection of Smith’s reve- pitched upon him [Joseph] unawares. Joseph whipped the lations. Then the mob tarred-and-feathered Bishop Edward whole of them and escaped unhurt [—] which they swore to Partridge and other Mormon men for not agreeing to leave as recorded in Hurlburt’s or Howe’s Book.”27 Not surpris- the county immediately. The Missouri Mormons gave no re- ingly, the official History of the Church, published in Salt sistance to these attacks, brandished no weapons, and did Lake City, deleted this latter passage from the Prophet’s per- not speak of revenge.31 sonal journal, in part, perhaps, because it actually endorsed As resident John Corrill wrote, “up to this time the the accuracy of affidavits collected from Smith’s Palmyra Mormons had not so much as lifted a finger, even in their neighbors and published in the first anti-Mormon book, own defense, so tenacious were they for the precepts of the Mormonism Unvailed.28 gospel—’turn the other cheek.’”32 That changed after Smith However, despite these violent incidents in his early life made the first revelatory pronouncement that Mormon

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theocracy was a here-and-now reality, not some distant enemies.” To accomplish these ends, the revelation com- event connected with the millennial return of Jesus.33 manded Smith to organize at least “a hundred of the strength In August 1833, Smith announced the words of God: of my house, to go up with you unto the land of Zion,” “And now verily I say unto you, concerning the laws of the adding the instruction, “And whoso is not willing to lay land, it is my will that my people should observe to do all down his life for my sake, is not my disciple” (D&C 103:1, things whatsoever I command them . . . “ The document re- 26, 28, 34). This was the beginning of the Mormon military quired Mormons to obey divine rule, not secular authority, expedition called “Zion’s Camp.”37 concerning war and militarism: “And again, this is the law I Perhaps the most significant dimension of this “com- gave unto mine ancients, that they should not go out unto mandment” (v. 1) was its provision that “ye shall avenge me battle against any nation, kindred, tongue, or people, save I, of mine enemies . . . unto the third and fourth generation of the Lord, commanded them” (D&C 98:4–11, 33).34 The them that hate me” (vv. 25–26). This new statement verified revelation implied that God would reveal such commands that the conditions laid down in the 1833 revelation had through the LDS Prophet. That became explicit within been fulfilled and that the Latter-day Saints were now free to months, when Joseph Smith became the theocratic com- take “vengeance” at will against any perceived enemy. This mander-in-chief of the “armies of Israel.” February 1834 revelation was the equivalent of a standing Having previously endured an anti-Mormon attack order from God—you may fire when ready. without retribution, the Mormon community in Missouri Zion’s Camp did not succeed in redeeming Zion, but it responded to this document’s instructions to endure a total transformed Mormon leadership and culture. In February of three attacks and “bear it patiently.” However, upon the 1834, the high council in Kirtland, Ohio, elected Joseph fourth attack, “thine enemy is in thine hands and thou art Smith as “commander-in-chief of the armies of Israel.”38 justified.” This theocratic justification extended to This was one of the first acts of the newly organized high vengeance against “all their enemies, to the third and fourth council, which thereby acknowledged Smith’s religious right generation” (D&C 98:23, 25–26, 31, 37). to give God’s command to “go out unto battle against any In October 1833, Missourians raided isolated Mormon nation, kindred, tongue, or people” (D&C 98:4–11, 33). homes, which was the second major attack of “your enemy,” Zion’s Camp was the first organization established for the after the attack in July. On 1 November, mobs destroyed the external security of Mormonism. In June 1834, Joseph Church’s gristmill in Independence and attacked Mormon Smith created the second by reorganizing his private body- homes there. This was the third attack, and, in compliance guards into an organization led by a captain, his brother with the August revelation, the Mormon community in Hyrum, who presided over twenty of “my life guards.”39 Missouri again chose to “bear it patiently.” Six months later, the military experi- The next night, the Missourians raided ence of Zion’s Camp (rather than any ec- Mormon settlements in the Blue River clesiastical service) was the basis upon Valley. This time—the fourth attack—the which Joseph Smith said he was selecting Mormons surprised their enemy by men for the newly organized Quorum of fighting back. Skirmishes increased until the Twelve Apostles and the Seventy.40 the “Battle of Blue River” on 4 November, Unlike other American religious denomi- when Book of Mormon witness David nations, “the church militant” was a literal Whitmer led the Mormons in killing two fact in Mormonism, not just a symbolic Missourians and severely wounding slogan.41 others. In response, Jackson County’s leaders called out the militia, who com- URING THIS SAME period, pelled the Mormons to surrender their Joseph Smith was involved in two weapons and begin leaving their homes.35 D outbursts of personal violence in It is possible that the 1833 Missouri Kirtland. Sometime between April 1834 mobbings caused the Prophet to enlist and April 1835, the following incident oc- some of his followers as bodyguards, but curred, as described by Smith himself. the practice would have been understand- After a Baptist minister threatened him able after his being tarred-and-feathered in with a cane, the Prophet said, “I whipped 1832. In any event, a non-Mormon in Ohio him till he begged. He threatened to prose- wrote in January 1834 that “Smith has four cute me. I sent Luke Johnson[,] the con- or five armed men to gard [sic] him every stable[,] after him and he run him out of night.”36 the County into Mentor,” Ohio.42 Johnson A month later, Joseph dictated a revela- explained that this act of violence oc- tion concerning “the redemption of your curred because the minister, after receiving brethren who have been scattered on the the hospitality of the Prophet’s home, then “sAint sDr ivenf r omJACkson Count ymissour i” imAg esCh A. C. C. : r is t en s enDet : Ailland sf r o m of Zion” and “in avenging me of mine “called Joseph a hypocrite, a liar, an im-

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poster and a false prophet, and called upon him to repent.” in his own handwriting: “I ask God in the name of Jesus that Therefore, “Joseph boxed his ears with both hands, and, we may obtain Eight hundred men (or one thousand) well turning his face towards the door, kicked him into the armed and that they may ac[c]omplish this great work.”51 A street.”43 The American code of honor triumphed. thousand-man army was a remarkable goal for an organiza- In April 1835, Joseph’s brother-in-law Calvin W. Stoddard tion with fewer than nine thousand men, women, and chil- accused him of assault and battery. At a preliminary hearing, dren, which may be why the official LDS history changed the judge ruled that “it is considered that the charge is sus- the phrase to “one thousand emigrants.”52 John Whitmer, tained,” and the Prophet was bound over for trial at the who was official Church Historian at this time, added some- Court of Common Pleas. However, because Stoddard failed thing that Smith’s diary left unstated: on this day, the high to appear at the May trial, Smith was acquitted, and the council “by revelation” appointed the LDS president as head plaintiff had to pay court costs.44 of the “war department” of the “Lord’s Host.”53 Despite this charge of battering his brother-in-law in a This was a significant expansion of Joseph’s previous role dispute during the spring, the Prophet showed remarkable as commander-in-chief of the armies of Israel because “war restraint in the fall with his brother William, who had an department” assumed crucial circumstances. First, he used equally pugnacious reputation.45 Because Joseph would not the phrase which defined the jurisdiction of the U.S. allow their mother to testify at a high council trial, William Secretary of War, and this implied a nationalist dimension in Smith “became enraged. I finally ordered him to set [sic] Mormonism. Second, given that the U.S. War Department down. He said he would not unless I knocked him down.” was a permanent function, in war or peace,54 the Prophet’s Although furious at his brother, Joseph did not respond to military oversight was also permanent. Third, as head of this challenge with violence. Concerning a subsequent argu- Mormonism’s “war department,” Smith did not need to be a ment, Joseph wrote that William “used violence upon my line officer in the field during hostilities. Like the U.S. person.”46 Secretary of War, Joseph now had oversight of all Mormon However, this fraternal conflict of 1835 had a final out- military operations. Fourth, he had no mortal superior and come which the Prophet’s diary and official LDS history did thus combined in himself roles that the U.S. government not mention. Joseph Smith’s devoted friend Benjamin F. found it wise to separate in time of war—military command Johnson, a Kirtland resident, reported that “for insolence to and civilian oversight. The fact that his diary stated his mili- him, he (Joseph) soundly thrashed his brother William who tary goals for Missouri but did not reveal his actual organi- boasted himself as invincible.”47 zational responsibility may indicate that the Prophet wanted Less than four years later, Smith’s former secretary to be an unseen hand to outside observers of Mormon mili- Warren Parrish referred in print to these incidents. He con- tary ventures.55 If so, the Prophet failed in his intention: in demned “the Prophet[‘]s fighting four pitched battles at May 1836, a hostile resident referred to Kirtland’s Mormons fisticuff, without [sic within] four years, one with his own as “a military array of ragamuffins, headed by the modern natural brother, one with his brotherinlaw [sic], one with Mohammed.”56 Ezra Thair [Thayer], and one with a Baptist priest.” Parrish’s Furthermore, tensions with non-Mormons at Kirtland led statement was endorsed by two disaffected apostles (in- Joseph Smith to take an extraordinary step in November cluding Constable Luke Johnson) and two disaffected 1836. He and eleven other general authorities (including Presidents of the Seventy.48 four of his counselors in the First Presidency) joined with By contrast, rather than becoming disaffected because of fifty-nine other Mormons in signing a warning to the non- the Prophet’s personal violence, some faithful Mormons LDS justice of the peace to “depart forthwith out of cited these incidents as justification for their own aggressive Kirtland.” Of those who signed this warning against behavior. Following his ordination in Kirtland to the LDS of- Kirtland’s judicial officer, at least a dozen later joined the fices of elder and seventy,49 Elijah Abel served a prosely- “Danites” in Missouri; this 1836 document foreshadowed tizing mission. After this African-American elder threatened their activities less than two years later.57 John Whitmer was “to knock down elder Christopher Merkley on their passage probably referring to this November ultimatum when he up Lake Ontario, he publickly [sic] declared that the elders lamented the beginning of “secret combinations” in Kirtland in Kirtland make nothing of knocking down one another.” “in the fall of 1836.”58 Jedediah M. Grant and Zenas H. Gurley disapproved of In another incident about which Smith’s personal diary Abel’s preaching this, and they formally accused him of mis- and official history are completely silent, he was acquitted in conduct.50 June 1837 of conspiring to murder anti-Mormon Grandison Newell. The silence may be due to the fact that two of N 24 SEPTEMBER 1835, notwithstanding the ab- Joseph’s supporting witnesses in the case, both apostles, ac- sence of an external threat, Joseph Smith organized knowledged that the Prophet discussed with them the possi- O militarily in Kirtland. He proposed “by the voice of bility of killing Newell. Apostle Orson Hyde testified that the Spirit of the Lord” to raise another Mormon army “to “Smith seemed much excited and declared that Newell live or die on our own lands, which we have purchased in should be put out of the way, or where the crows could not Jackson County, Missouri.” His manuscript diary concluded find him; he said that destroying Newell would be justifiable

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in the sight of God, that it was the will of God, &c.” Hyde tried to be helpful by adding that he had “never heard Smith use similar language before,” insisting further: “I have known him for some time and think him to be possessed of much kindness and humanity towards his fellow beings.” Likewise, apostle Luke S. Johnson acknowledged to the court that Joseph had said “if Newell or any other man should head a mob against him, they ought to be put out of the way, and it would be our duty to do so.” However, Johnson also affirmed: “I believe Smith to be a tender- hearted, humane man.” Whether or not the court agreed with that assessment, the judge acquitted Joseph because there was insufficient evidence to support the charge of conspiracy to commit murder.59 In the fall of 1837, David W. Patten investigated the Prophet’s secret relationship with his servant girl Fanny Alger,60 and the hapless apostle collided with Smith’s code of male honor. Brigham Young described what happened: “David in[sult]ed Joseph & Joseph slap[p]ed him in the face & kicked him out of the yard.”61 However, the Mormon Prophet’s code of honor took offense at far lesser provocations. Benjamin F. Johnson remi- nisced that “criticism, even by his associates, was rarely acceptable, and contradiction would rouse in him the lion at once, for by no one of his fellows would he be superseded or disputed and in the early days at Kirtland, and elsewhere[,] one or more of his associates were more than once, for their impudence, helped from the congregation by his (Joseph’s) foot.”62 When armed dissenters joined anti-Mormons in forcing the Prophet and his loyal followers to flee Kirtland in January 1838,63 this event solidified a world view that was indelible throughout the rest of the nineteenth century: Mormonism was fighting for its life against conspiracies of anti-Mormons and Mormon traitors. Every generation of the Mormon hierarchy remembers this heritage of anti-Mormon persecutors and collaborating apostates. This is the context in which, as Marvin S. Hill observed, “the desire for refuge from pluralism and the uncertainty of choice in a free society encouraged a quest to eliminate opposition both within and without the [LDS] Church through intimidation and, when necessary, violence.”64 Some of Kirtland’s dissenters also resettled at the new Mormon headquarters of Far West, Missouri, where they associated with local dissenters. Joseph and his loyal followers were determined to prevent these formerly faithful leaders from causing mass disaffection a second time. They pursued this aim through an organization which functioned both militarily and theocratically.

N EARLY JUNE 1838, Sampson Avard—who considered himself an ultra-loyal Mormon—proposed orga- I nizing the “Danites” among other ultra-loyal Mormons. The Danites were the first civil appendage of Mormon power since 1834. Some historians have claimed that Joseph Smith

and the rest of the First Presidency were unaware of the Ch A. C. C. r is t en s enDet : Ailf r o“h m Au n ’smil l ”

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thority who signed both this 1838 warning and the earlier warning to Kirtland’s justice of the peace. This Danite threat instructed these excommunicated dissenters to “depart, or a more fatal calamity shall befall you.”73 Ebenezer Robinson, who also signed the Danite document, later wrote that all the signers were members of the recently organized Danite “military organization.” He added that he was told in June 1838 that the Danite organization,65 but documentary evidence shows document itself “was gotten up in the office of the First otherwise. Presidency.”74 Avard specified that Counselor Rigdon wrote Quoting from his daily journal, founding member the text of this Danite ultimatum.75 Although the Danites William Swartzell later wrote that the Danites organized for- had been organized primarily for external security against mally as the “Daughters of Zion” in June 1838 at Far West, the possibility of Missouri mobs,76 they now functioned as taking their nickname from the prophecy of Daniel about an organization for internal security—to intimidate and pos- the stone cut out of the mountain without hands (Daniel 2: sibly kill dissenting Mormons. 44–45).66 While the organization was still functioning, loyal Indeed, Joseph Smith’s “Scriptory Book” journal showed LDS member Albert P. Rockwood wrote in 1838: “the that the Prophet intended the Danites to use force against Companies are called Danites because the Prophet Daniel LDS dissidents: “we have a company of Danites in these has said [Daniel 7: 18] the Saints shall take the kingdom and times, to put to right physically that which is not right, and possess it for-ever.”67 to cleanse the Church of verry [sic] great evils . . .” (em- Two weeks after the formation of a second group at phasis added).77 The fact that the Danite death threat was Adam-ondi-Ahman, Missouri, John Smith (who was both written by Joseph’s first counselor Sidney Rigdon, signed by stake president and a special counselor in the First second counselor Hyrum Smith, and co-signed by assistant Presidency) called the organization “the Danites” in his counselor John Smith indicates that the First Presidency had diary. He also described Danite meetings as routine events.68 thorough knowledge of the Danite organization in mid-1838 Soon this militant group developed an infamous reputa- and crucial participation with its violent manifestations tion for its intimidation of Mormon dissenters and its war- from the outset. fare against anti-Mormon militia units. Joseph Smith cited Speaking of the prominent dissidents who received this those two purposes in his journal (called a “Scriptory death threat in June, Joseph Smith’s “Scriptory” journal Book”) to explain why “we have a company of Danites in noted: “These men took warning, and soon they were seen these times.”69 Sidney Rigdon, first counselor in the First bounding over the prairie like the scape Goat to carry of[f] Presidency, later made a similar statement in the official LDS their own sins.”78 Unable to see the situation in such light- newspaper.70 hearted terms, dissenter John Whitmer wrote: “While we Thus the Prophet’s own diary corroborates the later state- were gone[,] Jo. & Rigdon & their band of gadiantons kept ment by Ebenezer Robinson, who remained a believing up a guard and watched our houses and abused our families Mormon but regretted his Danite activities: “Both Joseph and threatened them if they were not gone by morning they Smith, jr. and Sidney Rigdon sanctioned and favored the would be drove out & threatened our lives if they [the only organization of ‘Danites’ of which the writer has any Danites] ever saw us in Far West.”79 “Gadianton” was a knowledge.”71 Book of Mormon term for thieves and murderers who were On 17 June 1838, Sidney Rigdon preached his “Salt bound by secret oaths (Helaman 6: 18, 24, 26). Sermon” as a warning that Mormon dissenters would “be The Danites’ 1838 ultimatum was not an irregularity in cast out and trodden under foot of men.”72 Rather than Mormonism but a direct fulfillment of a revelation four simply being an echo of Matthew 5: 13, Rigdon’s sermon was years earlier concerning unfaithful Latter-day Saints “who restating what an 1834 revelation had authorized the First call themselves after my name” (D&C 103: 4). Stephen C. Presidency to do to Mormons who “hearken not to observe LeSueur observed: “The Danite organization was the all my words” (D&C 103:8–10). product of, not an aberration from, Mormon attitudes and The next day, Second Counselor Hyrum Smith and his teachings. The Danites represented mainstream uncle John Smith (an Assistant Counselor in the First Mormonism.”80 Despite trying to put the best face possible Presidency) joined with Danite leader Sampson Avard (the on this event, Leland H. Gentry acknowledged: “The first signatory) and eighty other Danites in signing a method chosen by the Latter-day Saints to rid themselves of threatening letter to Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, John their dissenting Brethren was unfortunate since it furnished Whitmer, Lyman E. Johnson, and William W. Phelps. the dissenters with further proof that the Saints were inim- Presidency counselor John Smith was the only general au- ical to law and order.”81

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Regarding the Danite expulsion of prominent Mormon Utah Mormon historian about the Missouri Danites, he also dissenters, Sidney Rigdon told apostle Orson Hyde at Far acknowledged: “It is certain that some of the Missouri West that “it was the imperative duty of the Church to obey Danites played the thief, and it is possible, although un- the word of Joseph Smith, or the presidency, without ques- proven, that one or two were murderers.”88 tion or inquiry, and that if there were any that would not, However, Hartley’s comparison of the Danites with the they should have their throats cut from ear [to] ear.” National Guard was a flawed attempt at “balanced assess- Remarkably, an official LDS newspaper later published this ment,” since the Danites were religious vigilantes, not verification of the First Presidency’s 1838 authorization for legally commissioned soldiers. Likewise, Hartley’s com- theocratic killings.82 Rigdon was, after all, merely restating parison fails in defining Danite atrocities as “wartime . . . in 1838 what the Prophet had said a year earlier about military actions,” when in fact the Danite acts of “arson, Grandison Newell—”that Newell should be put out of the vandalism, and robbery” were what they appeared to be, way, or where the crows could not find him; he [Joseph “clearly crimes” (his quotes). These Mormon crimes may Smith] said that destroying Newell would be justifiable in have been understandable responses to even more savage the sight of God, that it was the will of God, &c.” attacks, but the retaliation was illegal by any definition. Benjamin Slade, a lifelong Mormon, soon testified that Worse, the Danites targeted a whole class of individuals— counselor Rigdon referred to carrying out that threat in mid- non-Mormons in general—rather than the specific perpe- 1838. “Yesterday a man had slipped his wind, and was trators of the attacks for which Mormons sought thrown into the bush,” Rigdon told a closed-door meeting of revenge.89 Mormon men (apparently Danites), adding: “the man that Describing Danite security arrangements for August lisps it shall die.”83 1838, the manuscript autobiography of loyal Mormon Luman A. Shurtliff revealed that Joseph Smith was also a N 4 July, a month before the county election, the Danite. Between two discussions of Danite “sighns [sic] and First Presidency virtually dared the Missourians to passwords” and the Danite “countersign,” Shurtliff noted O try to stop Mormons from exercising their civil lib- how the LDS President and his brother Hyrum Smith (a erties: “It shall be between us and them a war of extermina- Danite by mid-June 1838 as well as Joseph’s second coun- tion,” counselor Rigdon warned, “for we will follow them, selor in the First Presidency) gave the necessary “counter- till the last drop of their blood is spilled, or else they will sign” as the two approached Shurtliff, who was the night have to exterminate us.”84 Joseph Smith published this sentry. A little further in his narrative, Shurtliff added that Independence Day talk as a pamphlet, advertised it in the while he was on guard duty with newly appointed apostle LDS periodical, and explained that Rigdon’s sermon ex- John Taylor, “I did not feel at liberty to use any sighn [sic] or pressed “the fixed determinations of the saints, in relation to password” because “Br Taylor was not a Danite.”90 However, the persecutors . . . for to be mob[b]ed any more without like Hyrum, Joseph Smith was a Danite, and they both used taking vengeance we will not.”85 the Danite countersign.91 Non-Mormons were determined to prevent Mormons Justus Morse, a Danite, listened to Joseph Smith autho- from voting in Daviess County, which resulted in violence at rize a Danite meeting (apparently after the Gallatin fight) to the county seat of Gallatin in August 1838. “The first thing “suck the milk of the gentiles.” Morse, who remained loyal that came to my mind was the covenants entered into by the to the Prophet throughout his life, added that Smith ex- Danites,” wrote lifelong Mormon John L. Butler of this inci- plained “that we had been injured by the mob in Missouri, dent. He rallied the dozen other Mormons at the voting and to take from the gentiles was no sin,” merely retribu- place by shouting: “O yes, you Danites, here is a job for us.” tion.92 Among the Danites he rallied to fight the Missourians was Danites who maintained lifelong loyalty to the LDS Samuel H. Smith, Book of Mormon witness and brother of Church later wrote of what they did to defenseless “gentiles” the LDS president. This account was included in the LDS during this “Mormon War” in Missouri. For example, Church’s official “Journal History.”86 Although there were no twenty-year-old Benjamin F. Johnson participated in a raid fatalities, this election-day “battle” between self-professed that Danite captain Cornelius P. Lott led against an isolated Danites and anti-Mormons started a virtual civil war that en- settlement: gulfed four Missouri counties.87 In retaliation for raids against isolated Mormon farms, Mormon forces (primarily, if not exclusively, Danites) pillaged two non- Mormon towns. “There is no question,” wrote BYU professor William G. Hartley, “that Latter-day Saint rangers burned build- ings at Millport and Gallatin,” including the U.S. post office and county treasurer’s office. “sAint sDr ivenf r omJACkson Count ymissour i” imAg esCh A. C. C. : r is t en s enDet : Ail sf rIn o m the most candid account ever written by a

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My sympathies were drawn toward the women and October 1838. They shot at and wounded thirteen fleeing children, but I would in no degree let them deter me women and children, then methodically killed eighteen from duty. So while others were pillaging for some- males, including the point-blank execution of two boys thing to carry away, I was doing my best to protect, (aged nine and ten). Militiamen also used a “corncutter” to as far as possible, the lives and comfort of the [non- mutilate the still-living Thomas McBride. When survivors Mormon] families who were dependent on getting found the elderly man, his corpse was “literally mangled away on horseback. . . . While others were doing the from head to foot.”99 burning and plunder, my mission was of mercy so However, a generally unacknowledged dimension of the far as duty would permit. But of course I made ene- extermination order and the Haun’s Mill massacre is that mies at home [among fellow Mormons], and be- they both resulted from Mormon actions at the Battle of came more known by those who were our avowed Crooked River. Knowingly or not, Mormons had attacked enemies. Before noon we had set all [houses and state troops, and this had a cascade effect. Local non- barns] on fire and left upon a circuitous route to- Mormon residents feared annihilation: “We know not the wards home. hour or minute we will be laid in ashes,” a local minister and county clerk wrote the day after this battle. “For God’s sake The LDS publishing house of the Central States Mission give us assistance as quick as possible.” Correspondingly, printed that uncomfortable acknowledgement of Mormon the attack on state troops weakened the position of pro- depredations.93 Mormon Missourians in the state’s militias and government On the other hand, Oliver B. Huntington offered no offices. Finally, upon receiving news of the injuries and apology. This lifelong Mormon wrote decades later that he death of state troops at Crooked River, Governor Boggs im- and other Danites had “the privilege of retaking as much as mediately drafted his extermination order of 27 October they took from us.” However, contrary to Huntington’s ratio- 1838 on the grounds that the Mormons “have made war nalization of justified retribution, Danites sometimes plun- upon the people of this state.”100 Worse, the killing of one dered the property of gentiles who had previously been Missourian and mutilation of another while he was defense- friendly to their Mormon neighbors. The Danites involved less at Crooked River prompted the mad-dog revenge by did not know these friendly non-Mormons.94 Missourians in the slaughter at Haun’s Mill. Moreover, in the skirmishes that both sides called “bat- The day after that massacre, Joseph Smith and other LDS tles,” Mormons used deadly force without reluctance. leaders surrendered to the Missouri militia, which had encir- Benjamin F. Johnson wrote that Danite leader (and future cled Far West. After Sampson Avard—under arrest and vul- apostle) Lyman Wight told his men to pray concerning their nerable to the same criminal charges filed against Joseph Missouri enemies: “that God would damn them, and ‘give us Smith—testified against the Prophet (his Danite “Secretary power to kill them.’”95 According to lifelong Mormon and of War”) in open court, the Prophet publicly repudiated the Danite, Nathan Tanner, apostle David W. Patten (a Danite Danite general and his oath-bound organization. Charged captain with the code name “Fear Not”) told his men: “Go with the capital crime of treason, the Prophet and several ahead, boys; rake them down.” This was on 25 October colleagues remained in jail for six months before they es- 1838, at the beginning of the Battle of Crooked River.96 caped to Illinois.101 The highest-ranking Mormon charged with murder for It is anachronistic to apply Smith’s later rejection of Avard obeying this order was apostle Parley P. Pratt, who allegedly to the activities of the Danites months earlier.102 Avard was took the careful aim of a sniper in killing one Missourian the stalking-horse for the First Presidency from the summer and then severely wounding militiaman Samuel Tarwater. to fall of 1838. The Danite constitution specified: “All offi- This was after apostle Patten had received a fatal stomach cers shall be subject to the commands of the Captain wound.97 In their fury at the sight of their fallen leader, some General, given through the Secretary of War.” The Prophet of the Danites mutilated the unconscious Tarwater “with had held the latter position “by revelation” in the Church’s their swords, striking him lengthwise in the mouth, cutting “war department” for three years.103 He had been com- off his under teeth, and breaking his lower jaw; cutting off mander-in-chief of the Armies of Israel for four years. The his cheeks . . . and leaving him [for] dead.” Tarwater sur- Danites’ military actions of 1838 were carried out under the vived Crooked River to press charges against Pratt for at- general oversight and command of Joseph Smith, and their tempted murder.98 violent acts resulted in multiple disasters: the massacre of a Mormon settlement, the ransacking of LDS headquarters, EVERTHELESS, MORMON MARAUDING the near-execution of LDS leaders, and the expulsion of the against non-Mormon Missourians in 1838 was Mormon population from Missouri. N mild by comparison to the brutality of the anti- And that perspective is necessary to understand a curious Mormon militias. Three days after Governor Lilburn W. dimension in the next stage of early Mormonism’s culture of Boggs issued a military order that the Mormons “must be violence. During the balance of Smith’s leadership, strident exterminated, or driven from the State,” a Missouri militia Mormon militarism co-existed with military non-violence unit attacked the LDS settlement at Haun’s Mill on 30 among the Mormons.

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HROUGH NEGOTIATIONS WITH after Smith received a revelation that has never Illinois political leaders eager for the sup- been officially published. The full content of this T port of the bloc-voting Mormons,104 LDS document of 7 April 1842 is presently unknown, headquarters in February 1841 gained a state- but it provided the ponderous name for a future chartered private army, the Nauvoo Legion. The theocratic organization that was nicknamed the LDS president was its governor-appointed com- Council of Fifty: “Verily thus saith the Lord. This mander, holding the rank of lieutenant-general. is the name by which you shall be called—The Aside from Smith, only George Washington had Kingdom of God and His Laws, with Keys and ever held that rank. By 1842, this Mormon army power thereof, and judgment in the hands of his of 2,000 was the largest military organization in servants. Ahman Christ.”110 Killing Boggs a Illinois. Within two years, the Nauvoo Legion had month later was likely the first theocratic “judg- about 5,000 men under arms, compared with the ment in the hands of his servants.” One of the U.S. army’s total of fewer than 8,500 soldiers. LDS newspapers (edited by the Prophet’s brother Under Smith’s direction, the Nauvoo Legion William, an apostle) called the attempted assas- drilled and held mock battles.105 sination a “noble deed.”111 Nevertheless, the legion engaged in no violent Completely loyal at this time, the Prophet’s actions, even when its commander was kid- second counselor William Law understandably napped, arrested, and nearly dragged back to asked Smith in 1842 about this matter. Law later Missouri for certain death. Although most mem- claimed that Smith replied: “I sent Rockwell to bers of the Mormon “Relief Expedition” which kill Boggs, but he missed him, [and] it was a came to his aid were officers and soldiers in the failure; he wounded him instead of sending him Nauvoo Legion, they acted as a ragtag collection to Hell.”112 On 5 July 1842, witnesses overheard of friends, rather than as the Nauvoo Legion an argument between Rockwell and recently ex- under orders.106 communicated First Presidency counselor John Despite being the commander of a Mormon C. Bennett about the attempted assassination. militia which rivaled the size of the U.S. army, Four days later, two men signed affidavits that Smith did not lead it into violent conflicts; nor did during this argument, “Rockwell said he had his subordinates. Haunted by the 1838 conse- been up into Boggs’s neighborhood, in Missouri; quences of violent Mormon militarism, for which and said he, `If I shot Boggs, they have got to he had clearly been responsible, Joseph Smith prove it.’”113 Decades later, Rockwell also al- limited himself to saber-rattling in Illinois. legedly acknowledged: “I shot through the Although he avoided violent militarism, the window and thought I had killed him, but I had LDS Prophet expanded the Mormon culture of vi- only wounded him; I was damned sorry that I olence in personal, civil, and theocratic ways at had not killed the son of a bitch.”114 Boggs Nauvoo. He boasted of his past physical assaults, miraculously survived this attempt on his life in advocated theocratic blood atonement, and com- May 1842, despite two large balls of buckshot mitted acts of assault and battery—all in response lodged in his brain and two in his neck.115 to what he regarded as justifiable provocation. Already a fugitive from Missouri punishment for It will probably never be known if the Prophet capital crimes, Joseph Smith made several de- privately authorized his bodyguard and former nials that he was involved in the attempt to kill Danite Orrin Porter Rockwell to kill Missouri’s ex- Boggs.116 governor Boggs in May 1842, as an extension of In May 1842, Joseph Smith reassembled a Smith’s “spilling his blood on the ground” doc- cadre of bodyguards, selecting primarily those trine (which he did not announce publicly until with experience as Danites in Missouri. Former 1843).107 Smith held Boggs directly responsible Danites such as Dimick B. Huntington, Daniel for the expulsion of the Mormons from Jackson Carn, and Albert P. Rockwood began serving as County in 1833 and for the disasters of 1838.108 Nauvoo’s “Night Watch.”117 Previously a Danite Killing Boggs would have fit within the provisions captain, Rockwood had already been serving as of the 1833 revelation (D&C 98:31). It would “commander of my [Smith’s] life guards.”118 The have also been consistent with another Danite’s Prophet’s bodyguards included such well-known pledge to Joseph Smith in 1839: “I from this day Danites as John L. Butler, Reynolds Cahoon, declare myself the Avenger of the blood of those Elias Higbee, Vinson Knight, Orrin Porter innocent men, and the innocent cause of Zion.” Rockwell, and Samuel H. Smith. The other body- The Prophet had this pledge copied into his per- guards with Missouri experience were probably sonal letterbook.109 lesser-known Danites.119 In December 1842, a “sAint sDr ivenf r omJACkson Count ymissour i”

C. C. A. Ch A. C. C. r is t en s enDet : Ailf r o m The attempt to kill Boggs occurred one month bounty hunter wrote to Missouri’s governor: “All

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of our efforts to seize the renegade Smith, have proved fruit- less. He keeps constantly around him as body guard some 12 to 14 enthusiastic fanaticks which makes a secret approach impossible.”120 In January 1843, Smith told dinner guests about whipping the Protestant minister in Kirtland “till he begged.”121 A month later, he preached publicly about whipping the Palmyra wife-beater.122 On 28 March, the Prophet wrote that seventies president “Josiah Butterfield came to my house and insulted me so outrageously that I kicked him out of the house, across the yard, and into the street.”123 This was another instance of Smith upholding his sense of male honor. Also in March 1843, Joseph Smith told the Nauvoo city council that he was opposed to hanging: “If a man kill another[,] shoot him or cut his throat[,] spilling his blood on the ground and let the smoke thereof ascend up to God. If I ever have the privilege of making a law on this point, I will have it so.”124 This remark echoed statements that Sidney Rigdon had made five years earlier, while a counselor in the First Presidency, about cutting the throats of non-Mormons in Missouri. Although Smith’s instructions about capital punishment to the city council could be viewed as a secular commentary from the city’s mayor favoring a particular mode of capital punishment, theocracy was clearly the context of his comments as Church president to the LDS general conference on 6 April 1843: “I’ll wring a thief’s neck off if I can find him, if I cannot bring him to Justice any other way.”125 When former Danite John L. Butler heard his Prophet preach on this occasion, he understood Smith as saying “that the time would come that the sinners would have their heads cut off to save them.” Butler said the “spirit” of God filled him as he listened to those words. Butler’s account was likewise included in the official “Journal History.”126

N JUNE, SMITH instructed the Nauvoo Mormons about the next stage of violence against their enemies. I He warned what would happen “if Missouri continues her warfare, and to issue her writs against me and this people unlawfully and unjustly . . . if they don’t let me alone, I will turn up the world—I will make war.”127 In August, the Mormon Prophet showed that he did not hesitate to physically assault a civil officer: “[Walter] Bagby called me a liar, and picked up a stone to throw at me, which so enraged me that I followed him a few steps, and struck him two or three times.” Smith added in a sermon: “I seized him by the throat to choke him off.” He pleaded guilty to assault and battery of Bagby, who was the county tax collector, and the Nauvoo judge assessed a fine for this crime.128 Joseph Smith’s secretary William Clayton added that Daniel H. Wells had ended the brawl when he “stepped between them and succeeded in separating them.” The prophet had evidently wanted to do further damage to Bagby, judging from his later complaint in a sermon about “Esquire Wells interfering when he had no business.”129

Concerning Nauvoo’s Sunday meeting of 17 September Ch A. C. C. r is t en s enDet : Ailf r o“h m Au n ’smil l ”

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1843, Joseph’s official history stated: “I took my post as this reply, he began to trip me; he took some kind of Mayor outside the assembly to keep order and set an ex- a lock on my right leg, from which I was unable to ample to the other officers.”130 Some non-Mormon atten- extricate it. [A]nd throwing me around, broke it dees had a different perspective about the example Smith some 3 inch(es) above the ankle joint. was setting. These residents of Warsaw, Illinois, Breaking Coray’s leg was an accident which Joseph immedi- were at Nauvoo, in attendance upon public ately regretted.133 preaching, near the Temple. Bennett [not John C.] However, Baugh did not raise an obvious question: Why and his companion were engaged in some conversa- would a tall, husky man like Joseph Smith want to humiliate tion about the time of day, when the Prophet, who small, scrawny men either by easily defeating them in a happened to be near, came blustering up, and wrestling match or by giving them a challenge they would seizing him by the collar, led him out of the crowd. lose honor by declining? It does not matter that he often After letting go, Bennett turned to speak to him, wrestled larger men for sport or that he sometimes engaged when Smith commenced beating him with his cane, in serious fights with several opponents at once. declaring that, if he didn’t shut his mouth, he would Whenever the Prophet challenged a smaller, obviously cane him out of the corporation [i.e., the city- weaker male to a physical contest, he went beyond the male limits]. Bennett came home, and on Tuesday made code of honor and engaged in the kind of behavior that complaint before Justice [George] Rockwell for as- Americans described at the time as “bullying.”134 This also sault & battery. A writ was issued, and put into the puts another perspective on Joseph’s boasting about beating hands of Mr. [James] Charles, Constable, who on up enemies until they begged him to stop. appearing before the Prophet on Wednesday, was Despite his endorsements of decapitation in 1843, there coolly told that he was too late! He had procured an is no evidence that the Prophet ever actually authorized arrest, and had a trial before a Nauvoo court, and such punishment in Nauvoo. However, one of his housegirls was discharged. wrote, apparently late that November, that Dr. Robert D. Foster, surgeon-general and brevet-brigadier-general of the In other words, Smith had arranged to have himself ac- Nauvoo Legion, had used a sword to decapitate a man exe- quitted of the assault.131 cution-style “on the prairie 6 miles” from LDS headquarters. Although not dated in the autobiography which recorded Foster was not a dissenter then, but would become one it, the following incident may also have occurred in 1843. within four months.135 Ira N. Spaulding was riding in the Prophet’s carriage when In December 1843, Joseph Smith organized the “Police “there came a man who held a [promissory] note against Force of Nauvoo,” with Jonathan Dunham and Hosea Stout, Joseph. He talked kindly to the man and begged him to wait former Danites, as captain and vice-captain. Among the a short time for the money as he could not pay him then[,] forty police were such other Danites from Missouri as but good words would not satisfy him. He abused him [the Charles C. Rich, John D. Lee, Daniel Carn, James Emmett, Prophet] shamefully, calling him every mean name he could Stephen H. Goddard, Abraham C. Hodge, John L. Butler, think of.” The man should have known that this was not a Levi W. Hancock, Abraham O. Smoot, Dwight Harding, and wise thing for anyone to do. Smith “stepped outside the car- William H. Edwards. Several members of the police force riage and knocked him down flat as a beef, not speaking a continued to double as Smith’s personal bodyguards.136 word and come into the carriage and traveled on.”132 These Mormon policemen were proud of their Danite Even the Mormon Prophet’s well-known hobby of background. According to one complaining Mormon at wrestling manifested an unpleasant willingness to take Nauvoo, policeman Daniel Carn “told me several times physical advantage of smaller men. While celebrating [that] Daniteism was not down . . . said it was a good Joseph’s “athletic nature,” Alexander L. Baugh noted: “On system.” Carn laconically replied (in Joseph Smith’s pres- occasion, the Prophet even challenged much smaller indi- ence): “Daniteism is to stand by each other [—] that is all I viduals we might consider to be the more non-athletic type know about Daniteism.”137 to wrestle with him.” He quoted Howard Coray about one As mayor, Joseph authorized his police to kill “if need example that ended badly. The Prophet told his devout fol- be,” and then said his own life was endangered in December lower: 1843 by a “little dough-head” and “a right-hand Brutus.” The latter remarks put the police on notice to look for “Brother Coray, I wish you was a little larger, I Mormon dissenters as traitors. Within a week, Nauvoo’s po- would like to have some fun with you.” I replied, lice left Smith’s second counselor William Law and Nauvoo’s perhaps you can as it is, —not realizing what I was stake president William Marks under the terrifying impres- saying—Joseph a man of over 200 lbs. weight, sion that Smith had marked them for death.138 Both were while I [was] scarcely 130 lb., made it not a little foes of the Prophet’s secret practice of polygamy.139 ridiculous for me to think of engaging with him in On 11 March 1844, Joseph Smith secretly organized the any thing like a scuffle. However, as soon as I made theocratic Council of Fifty in fulfillment of the revelation

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nearly two years earlier.140 Several months later, disaffected in Carthage Jail. But he was neither a willing nor non-violent members claimed that he “swore them all to present secrecy, martyr. As the mob clamored up the stairs, he fired at them under penalty of death!”141 Although the 1844 minutes of with a six-shooter pistol, wounding three.150 the Council of Fifty are sequestered in the LDS First Presidency’s vault, the claim of a theocratic “penalty of ORMON CULTURE BECAME increasingly vio- death” in 1844 is verified by available minutes from a later lent following the murder of its founding Prophet. date which referred to a “Penalty.”142 M Claiming apostolic succession from his fallen BYU professor William G. Hartley has written that the leader, Brigham Young authorized assault and battery Missouri “Danite oaths [were] not to betray each other, the against Nauvoo dissidents and applauded Porter Rockwell breaking of which could bring the death penalty.”143 At least for killing some of those identified as involved in murdering eighteen members of the Council of Fifty had already taken Smith and other Mormons.151 On the pioneer trail and in oaths as Danites before Smith required this new guarantee of the Utah society he created, Young increasingly preached deadly secrecy in the spring of 1844.144 about “blood atonement” against sinful Mormons and about Within two weeks, Smith took the first step toward aban- “avenging the blood of the prophets” against anti-Mormons. doning the non-violent militarism which had characterized These themes of violence and vengeance became both nor- his leadership of the Nauvoo Legion during the years since mative and pervasive in LDS sermons, hymns, newspaper he had escaped a death sentence for Danite militarism in editorials, and patriarchal blessings for decades.152 Missouri. On 26 March, the Council of Fifty authorized However, LDS apologists claim that faithful Mormons Smith to ask Congress to commission him to recruit “one were really non-violent pioneers who regarded as mere hundred thousand armed volunteers in the United States “rhetorical devices” or “hyperbolic rhetoric” all evidence of and Territories.” As secretly approved by this theocratic this wholesale endorsement of theocratic violence.153 To the council, Smith’s “memorial” to Congress promised that he contrary, there were many examples of religiously motivated would use this military force “to extend the arm of deliver- assaults and murders until the First Presidency in December ance to Texas [then an independent nation in conflict with 1889 publicly abandoned previous Mormon teachings about Mexico]; [to] protect the inhabitants of Oregon from foreign blood atonement for apostates and about the temporal aggressions and domestic broils; to prevent the crowned na- Church’s theocratic prerogatives.154 Moreover, Utah pioneer tions from encircling us as a nation on our western and diaries, correspondence, and Church minutes indicate that southern borders.” This petition also asked Congress to pro- ordinary Mormons believed that they had the religious vide for the arrest and two-year imprisonment of anyone obligation to “blood atone” apostates and to avenge the who “shall hinder or attempt to hinder or molest the said blood of the prophets on anti-Mormon gentiles.155 As Utah Joseph Smith from executing his designs.” In case Congress historian Melvin T. Smith has noted, “violence against `evil’ was unwilling to grant these powers, Smith prepared a sim- became a defensible rationale for both the Smith family and ilar petition to the U.S. president. Ostensibly representing for most early Church members.”156 Smith as mayor, Orson Hyde carried this memorial to the The fact that many Utah Mormon men did not act upon nation’s leaders after being secretly commissioned as an am- the norms for violence that Brigham Young and other gen- bassador of the theocratic Council of Fifty during its 4 April eral authorities promoted is beside the point. Those violent meeting.145 Two months before asking federal authority for norms were officially approved and published by the LDS him to lead military forces against “foreign aggressions and Church in pioneer Utah. Likewise, most Mormon men did domestic broils,” Joseph Smith had publicly announced not marry polygamously, even though this was an unre- himself as candidate for U.S. president.146 lenting norm of the LDS Church until 1890.157 In contrast to the previous five years, Smith was no Nevertheless, Brigham Young did not originate longer content with mere saber-rattling by the armed forces Mormonism’s culture of violence. It had been nurtured by he commanded. Uriah Brown was initiated into the secretive Joseph Smith’s revelations, theocracy, and personal behavior Council of Fifty because of the Prophet’s 1844 interest in before June 1844. Like all prophets before or since, Smith this non-Mormon’s invention of “liquid fire to destroy an was influenced by his environment, which included a na- army or navy.”147 Thirty years earlier, Brown had unsuccess- tional culture of violence and its code of male honor. This fully offered his idea “for destroying by fire the vessels of the was a volatile mix for those early Americans who became enemy” in a proposal to the U.S. Navy.148 Mormons within a hostile religious environment that was The last public endorsement of violence during Joseph increasingly dominated by crusading Evangelicals.158 Smith’s life occurred at the general conference on 6 April 1844. Sidney Rigdon undoubtedly startled many Mormons NOTES by announcing: “There are men standing in your midst that you cant [sic] do anything with them but cut their throat & 1. Shelly Kagan, Normative Ethics (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1998); bury them.” The Prophet said nothing to censure his first Michael Hechter and Karl-Dieter Opp, eds., Social Norms (New York: Russell 149 Sage Foundation, 2001). counselor’s remarks. 2. Richard Maxwell Brown, “Historical Patterns of Violence in America,” Ten weeks later, Joseph Smith died as a martyr to his faith in Hugh Davis Graham and Ted Robert Gurr, eds., The History of Violence in

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America: Historical and Comparative Perspectives (New York: Frederick A. Angeles, 1998; David Grimsted, American Mobbing, 1828–1861: Toward Civil Praeger, 1969), 45–89, provided a very useful summary of various kinds of vio- War (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), ix (his omitting most “inci- lence—criminal, feuds, lynch mobs, racial, ethnic, religious, urban rioting, se- dents of economic, racial, ethnic, religious, and youth” violence), 85–113 (the rial killing and mass murders, assassinations, police violence, labor violence, South’s culture of violence, including discussions of dueling on 88–89, 97–99); agrarian uprisings, vigilantes, and wars. This essay discusses only a few of these David Peterson del Mar, “Violence Against Wives By Prominent Men in Early types. Clatsop County,” Oregon Historical Quarterly 100 (Winter 1999): 434–450; 3. H.C. Brearley, “The Pattern of Violence,” in W.T. Couch, ed., Culture In Michael A. Bellesiles, ed., Lethal Imagination: Violence and Brutality in American the South (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1934), 678–92; John History (New York: New York University Press, 1999); Christine Daniels and Hope Franklin, The Militant South (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press/Harvard Michael Kennedy, ed., Over the Threshold: Intimate Violence in Early America University Press, 1956); Jack K. Williams, Vogues In Villainy: Crime and (New York: Routledge, 1999); Scott C. Martin, “Violence, Gender, and Retribution In Ante-Bellum South Carolina (Columbia: University of South Intemperance in Early National Connecticut,” Journal of Social History 34 Carolina Press, 1959), 31–38; Richard Maxwell Brown, American Violence (Winter 2000): 309–25; David Edwin Ballew, “The Popular Prejudices of Our (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1970); Leonard L. Richards, Gentlemen of People: Kinship, Community, and Male Honor, in the Alabama-Mississippi Hill Property and Standing: Anti-abolition Mobs in Jacksonian America (New York: Country, 1820–1890,” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Mississippi, 2000; Sean Oxford University Press, 1970); sections of relevant chronology in Richard T. Moore, “`Justifiable Provocation’: Violence Against Women in Essex County, Hofstadter and Michael Wallace, eds., American Violence: A Documentary New York, 1799–1860,” Journal of Social History 35 (Summer 2002): 889–918. History (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1970); Raymond D. Gastil, “Homicide and 4. For example, Rhys Isaac, “Evangelical Revolt: The Nature of the a Regional Culture of Violence,” American Sociological Review 36 (June 1971): Baptists’ Challenge to the Traditional Order in Virginia, 1765 to 1775,” William 416–27; Richard Slotkin, Regeneration Through Violence: The Mythology of the and Mary Quarterly 31 (July 1974): 345–68; Bertram Wyatt-Brown, American Frontier, 1600–1860 (Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, “Barnburning and Other Snopesian Crimes: Class and Justice in the Old 1973); W. Eugene Hollon, Frontier Violence: Another Look (New York: Oxford South,” in Orville Vernon Burton and Robert C. McMath Jr., eds., Class, University Press, 1974), esp. 216 (for his thesis that Americans have tended “to Conflict, and Consensus: Antebellum Southern Community Studies (Westport, CT: over-emphasize the violent side of the frontier, in comparison to that of the Greenwood Press, 1981), 173–206 (esp. 177, that according to the South’s cities, and to give short shrift to the peaceful and orderly side”); Richard norms, “class crimes were misdeeds of anonymity and insignificance,” with Maxwell Brown, Strain of Violence: Historical Studies of American Violence and title-word referring to Colonel Snopes in William Faulkner’s short story “Barn Vigilantism (New York: Oxford University Press, 1975); Michael Feldberg, The Burning”); Susan G. Davis, “`Making the Night Hideous’: Christmas Revelry Philadelphia Riots of 1844: A Study of Ethnic Conflict (Westport, CT: Greenwood and Public Disorder in Nineteenth-Century Philadelphia,” American Quarterly Press, 1975); David Grimsted, “Rioting in Its Jacksonian Setting,” American 34 (Summer 1982): 185–99; Gene Sessions, “`Years of Struggle’: The Irish in the Historical Review 77 (April 1977): 361–97; David J. Bodenhamer, “Law and Village of Northfield, 1845–1900,” Vermont History 55 (Spring 1987): 88; Peter Disorder on the Early Frontier: Marion County, Indiana, 1823–1850,” Western Way, “Shovel and Shamrock: Irish Violence in the Digging of the Chesapeake Historical Quarterly 10 (July 1979): 323–36 (by contrast, found “a remarkably and Ohio Canal,” Labor History 30 (Fall 1989): 489–517; Michael A. Gordon, peaceful frontier” in this case study); Dickson Bruce Jr., Violence and Culture in The Orange Riots: Irish Political Violence in New York City, 1870 and 1871 the Antebellum South (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1979); W. Stuart Harris, (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1993); Michael Kaplan, “New York City “Rowdyism, Public Drunkenness, and Bloody Encounters in Early Perry Tavern Violence and the Creation of a Working-Class Male Identity,” Journal of County,” Alabama Review 33 (January 1980): 15–24; Michael Feldberg, The the Early Republic 15 (Winter 1995): 591–617; Matthew E. Mason, “`The Hands Turbulent Era: Riot and Disorder in Jacksonian America (New York: Oxford Here Are Disposed To Be Turbulent’: Unrest Among the Irish Trackman of the University Press, 1980), esp. 77–80 (for “Recreational Rioting”); Bertram Baltimore and Ohio Railroad,” Labor History 39 (August 1998): 253–72. Wyatt-Brown, Southern Honor: Ethics and Behavior in the Old South (New York: 5. Robert Shoemaker, “Male Honour and the Decline of Public Violence in Oxford University Press, 1982); Edward L. Ayers, Vengeance and Justice: Crime Eighteenth-Century London,” Social History 26 (May 2001): 190–208, with and Punishment in the 19th-Century American South (New York: Oxford quote on 200. University Press, 1984), 98–117; Roger D. McGrath, Gunfighters, Highwaymen, 6. Richard Maxwell Brown, No Duty To Retreat: Violence and Values in & Vigilantes: Violence on the Frontier (Berkeley: University of California Press, American History and Society (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991), 4–5 1984), esp. 261–71 (for his summary of scholarly assessments that “The (for quotes), 7 (for 1806 decision and subsequent rejection by American ju- Frontier Was Violent” versus scholarly assessments that “The Frontier Was Not risprudence of the English common-law “duty to retreat”). Shoemaker did not Especially Violent”); Elliott J. Gorn, “`Gouge and Bite, Pull Hair and Scratch’: emphasize this as a factor in the statistical declines of violence he identified for The Social Significance of Fighting in the Southern Backcountry,” American London in the 1700s, so my concluding comment in the previous paragraph is Historical Review 90 (February 1985): 18–43; Carl E. Prince, “The Great `Riot my application of Brown’s thesis to Shoemaker’s study. Year’: Jacksonian Democracy and Patterns of Violence in 1834,” Journal of the 7. E. Anthony Rotundo, American Manhood: Transformations in Masculinity Early Republic 5 (Spring 1985): 1–19; David Brion Davis, From Homicide To from the Revolution to the Modern Era (New York: Basic Books, 1993), 225–26 Slavery: Studies in American Culture (New York: Oxford University Press, 1986); (for first quote), 225 (for second quote, which came first in his narrative). Paul A. Gilje, The Road to Mobocracy: Popular Disorder in New York City, 8. Don C. Seitz, Famous American Duels, With Some Account of the Causes 1763–1834 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1987); Linda That Led Up To Them and the Men Engaged (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, Gordon, Heroes of Their Own Lives: The Politics and History of Family Violence, 1929); William O. Stevens, Pistols At Ten Paces: The Story of the Code of Honor in Boston, 1880–1960 (New York: Viking, 1988); Robert M. Ireland, “The Libertine America (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1940); Harnett T. Kane, Gentlemen, Must Die: Sexual Dishonor and the Unwritten Law in the Nineteenth-Century Swords, and Pistols (New York: Morrow, 1951); J. Winston Coleman, Famous United States,” Journal of Social History 23 (Fall 1989): 29–44; Charles Van Kentucky Duels: The Story of the Code of Honor in the Bluegrass State (Frankfort, Ravenswaay, “Bloody Island: Honor and Violence in Early Nineteenth-Century KY: Roberts Printing Company, 1953); Wilmuth S. Rutledge, “Dueling In St. Louis,” Gateway Heritage 10 (Spring 1990): 4–21; Morgan Peoples, Antebellum Mississippi,” Journal of Mississippi History 26 (August 1964): “Brawling and Dueling On the North Louisiana Frontier, 1803–1861: A 181–91; Guy A. Cardwell, “The Duel In the Old South: Crux of a Concept,” Sketch,” North Louisiana Historical Association Journal 21 (Fall 1990): 99–108; South Atlantic Quarterly 66 (Winter 1967): 50–69; Sheldon Hackney, “Southern David T. Courtwright, “Violence in America,” American Heritage 47 Violence,” American Historical Review 74 (February 1969): 906–25; James D. (September 1996): 36–46; David T. Courtwright, Violent Land: Single Men and Van Trump and James Brian Cannon, “An Affair of Honor: Pittsburgh’s Last Social Disorder From the Frontier to the Inner City (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Duel,” Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine 57 (July 1974): 307–15; University Press, 1996), 9–151; Richard E. Nisbett and Dov Cohen, Culture of Malcolm J. Rohrbough, The Trans-Appalachian Frontier: People, Societies, and Honor: The Psychology of Violence in the South (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, Institutions, 1775–1850 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1978), 17–118, 1996); Hendrik Hartog, “Lawyering, Husbands Rights, and the Unwritten Law 275–84; Nancy Torrance Matthews, “The Duel In Nineteenth-Century South in Nineteenth Century America,” Journal of American History 84 (June 1997): Carolina: Custom Over Written Law,” Proceedings of the South Carolina 67–96; Kenneth E. Foote, Shadowed Ground: America’s Landscape of Violence Historical Association (1979): 78–84; Stephen M. Stowe, “The `Touchiness’ of and Tragedy (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1997); Anne Spencer Lombard, the Gentleman Planter: The Sense of Esteem and Continuity in the Antebellum “Playing the Man: Conceptions of Masculinity in Anglo-American New South,” Psychohistory Review 8 (1979): 6–17; Nicholas B. Wainwright, “The England, 1675 to 1765,” Ph.D. dissertation, University of California at Los Life and Death of Major Thomas Biddle,” Pennsylvania Magazine of History and

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Biography 104 (July 1980): 326–44 (in which he and Congressman Spencer don’t recall ever seeing a gun during my years living in that state . . . The Pittis killed each other in an 1831 duel); Jack K. Williams, Dueling In the Old Church teaches its members across the world to find peaceful, legal, orderly so- South: Vignettes of Social History (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, lutions to problems, even when those problems might be bad laws or oppres- 1980); Michael Stephen Hindus, Prison and Plantation: Crime, Justice, and sive governments.” In the middle of discussing Mormon history from Joseph Authority in Massachusetts and South Carolina, 1767–1878 (Chapel Hill: Smith (including the Missouri “Danites”) to pioneer Utah, Lindsay exclaimed: University of North Carolina Press, 1980); Stephen W. Brown, “Satisfaction at “Violence is not part of Mormon culture!” Bladensburg: The Pearson-Jackson Duel of 1809,” North Carolina Historical 20. As examples of the official endorsement by LDS headquarters of vio- Review 58 (January 1981): 23–43 (involving Congressman Joseph Pearson); E. lence against newspaper reporters, LDS dissenters, unfriendly non-Mormons, Lee Shepard, “Honor Among Lawyers: The Case of Charles Marshall Jones and and federal officials until 1890, see the following articles in newspapers pub- Edward Sayre,” Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 90 (July 1982): lished by LDS headquarters, Deseret News (the LDS Church’s official newspaper 325–38; Kenneth S. Greenberg, “The Nose, the Lie, and the Duel in the since 1850) and Salt Lake Herald (the official newspaper of the LDS Church’s Antebellum South,” American Historical Review 95 (February 1990): 57–74; political party, The People’s Party, from 1872 to 1891): “The Killing of James M. Denham, “The Read-Alston Duel and Politics in Territorial Florida,” Brassfield,” Deseret News [weekly], 12 April 1866, 148 (reported that the Florida Historical Quarterly 68 (April 1990): 427–46; Dick Steward, Duels and murder of a non-Mormon was due to a “general feeling of just indignation” that the Roots of Violence in Missouri (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2000). he had legally married a Mormon’s polygamous wife and attempted to adopt 9. Arthur Scherr, “James Monroe, John Adams, and Southern Honor: her children legally); “What Is a Riot?” Deseret Evening News, 19 August 1874, Dueling With the Passions,” Southern Studies 7 (Summer/Fall 1996): 1–26. [3]; “`Take That You Handsome Son of a Bitch’: Jerome B. Stillson, the New York 10. Joanne B. Freeman, “Dueling As Politics: Reinterpreting the Burr- Herald `Commissioner’ Attacked—In a Horn,” Salt Lake Herald, 1 June 1877, Hamilton Duel,” William and Mary Quarterly 53 (April 1996): 289–318; Arnold [3]; “Investigation of the Assassination Fabrication, Deseret Evening News, 2 A. Rogow, A Fatal Friendship: Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr (New York: June 1877, [3]; “He Survives—The Improbable Story Going to Grass: Who Has Hill and Wang, 1998); Thomas Fleming, Duel: Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, Seen a Black Goatee With a Tall Gentleman Attached To It: Stillson the and the Future of America (New York: Basic Books, 1999). Laughing Stock of Salt Lakers,” Salt Lake Herald, 3 June 1877, [3]; “A Tribune 11. Myra L. Spaulding, Dueling In the District of Columbia (Washington, Editor Assaulted,” Salt Lake Daily Herald, 14 November 1878, [3]; “Assault and D.C.: Columbia Historical Society, 1928); Robert V. Remini, Henry Clay: Battery,” Deseret Evening News, 14 November 1878, [3]; “Retaliation” and Statesman for the Union (New York: W.W. Norton, 1991), 292–95. “Another Whipping Affair,” Deseret Evening News, 6 August 1879, [2, 3]; “The 12. Official Record From the War Department, of the Proceedings of the Court Whipping Case,” Deseret Evening News, 8 August 1879, [3]; “CHASTENED. Martial Which Tried, and the Orders of General Jackson For Shooting the Six The `Tribune’ Local Editor Soundly Thrashed. THE PENALTY OF LYING,” Salt Militia Men, Together With Official Letters from the War Department, (Ordered To Lake Daily Herald, 1 November 1884, 9; “A REPORTER RAWHIDED. EN- Be Printed By Congress) Showing That These Americans Were Inhumanely & COUNTER BETWEEN A RESPECTABLE CITIZEN AND A `TRIBUNE’ RE- Illegally Massacred (Washington, D.C.: J. Elliot, 1828); Robert V. Remini, PORTER,” Deseret Evening News, 10 November 1884, [3]; “A Andrew Jackson (New York: Twayne, 1966), 41–43, 55–56, 57–58, 59, 60–61, HAMMERED`HERO.’ A `TRIBUNE’ REPORTER COMES TO GRIEF,” Deseret 78–82; Lowell H. Harrison, “An Affair of Honor: The Jackson-Dickinson Duel,” Evening News, 8 December 1884, [3]; “A BLISSFUL LOT. Another of the American History Illustrated 8 (April 1973): 38–43; D. Michael Quinn, “Benton, `Tribune’ Crew Rewarded. A TROUNCING WELL MERITED,” Salt Lake Daily Thomas Hart (1782–1858),” and Thomas D. Clark, “Jackson, Andrew Herald, 9 December 1884, [2]; “Punishment for Scandal-Mongers,” Deseret (1767–1845),” in Howard R. Lamar, ed., The New Encyclopedia of the American Evening News, 12 December 1884, [2]; “MALICIOUS ACCUSATIONS,” Salt West (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1998), 92, 559–61. Lake Daily Herald, 16 September 1885, 4; “VARIAN TAKES A HAND: After 13. John Mack Faragher, Sugar Creek: Life on the Illinois Prairie (New Deputy [Andrew J.] Burt for Mauling [non-LDS] Deputy Collin . . . Burt is Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1986), 31–32; Thomas D. Clark, “Harrison, Fined $25 in the Police Court but Varian Wants Him Given an Extra Dose,” Salt William Henry (1773–1841),” in Lamar, New Encyclopedia of the American Lake Daily Herald, 12 November 1885, 8; “The Collin Examination: M’Murrin West, 471. Illinois was originally part of Indiana Territory, over which Harrison Not the Only Witness Missing . . . M’Niece Says There Was a Plot to was governor. For brief narratives, historians often simplify references to the Assassinate,” Deseret Evening News, 23 January 1886, [5]; “The Collin Case: Is Illinois portion of Indiana Territory by describing them as occurring in Illinois Collin or McMurrin the Defendant?” Salt Lake Herald, 25 January 1886, 12; Territory. The same approach applies to early events in Arizona before it was of- “McMurrin,” Salt Lake Herald, 26 January 1886, 4; “AN UNFORTUNATE OC- ficially split from New Mexico Territory. CURRENCE: District Attorney Dickson Assaulted by a 16-year-old Boy in the 14. Thomas O. Jewett, “Lincoln’s Duel,” Lincoln Herald 89 (Winter 1987): Continental Hotel—a Reprehensible Action . . . THE FEAR THAT HAUNTS 142–43; Lowell H. Harrison, Lincoln of Kentucky (Lexington: University of AN F.O.H. [Federal Office Holder] WHEN HE THINKS A `MORMON’ IS Kentucky Press, 2000), 73. LOOKING AT HIM,” Deseret Evening News, 23 February 1886, [3]; “THE AS- 15. Joan Newman and Graeme Newman, “Crime and Punishment in the SAULT ON DICKSON: Hugh [J.] Cannon Pleads Guilty, and Is Fined,” Deseret Schooling Process: A Historical Analysis,” in Keith Baker and Robert J. Rubel, Evening News, 24 February 1886, [3]; “Blood Flows From a `Tribune’ Liar’s eds., Violence and Crime in the Schools (Lexington, MA: Lexington Books/D.C. [Reporter’s] Nose,” Deseret Evening News, 10 March 1886, [3]; “THRASHING A Heath and Company, 1980), 11 (for Massachusetts schools in 1837), 12 (for REPORTER. Don Carlos Young Remodels the Phiz [sic] of C.T. Harte to Suit Princeton and the University of Virginia). His Fancy,” Salt Lake Daily Herald, 11 March 1886, 8; “The Battery Case,” 16. Elizabeth M. Geffen, “Violence in Philadelphia in the 1840s and 1850s,” Deseret Evening News, 11 March 1886, [3]; “The Cannon Boys: Frank J. Cannon in Roger Lane and John J. Turner Jr., eds., Riot, Rout, and Tumult: Readings in Shoulders the Blame—The Others Discharged,” Salt Lake Herald, 2 May 1886, American Social and Political Violence (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1978), 1; “A Just Verdict,” Deseret Evening News, 11 May 1889, [2] (editorial ap- 113. plauding the acquittal of Howard O. Spencer for first degree murder of Sgt. Pike 17. I first described early Mormonism as “a Culture of Violence” in The who “richly deserved his fate”); “The Usual Dish of Sensations,” Deseret Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power (Salt Lake City: Signature Books/Smith Evening News, 22 November 1889, [2] (LDS headquarters’ last condemnation Research Associates, 1997), 241. of investigation by non-LDS officials of religiously motivated killings by 18. Alma R. Blair, “The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Mormons). Saints: Moderate Mormonism,” in F. Mark McKiernan, Blair, and Paul M. 21. Jacques Barzun and Henry F. Graff, The Modern Researcher, rev. ed. (New Edwards, eds., The Restoration Movement: Essays on the Mormon Past York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1970), 53; David Hackett Fischer, Historians’ (Lawrence, KS: Coronado Press, 1973), 207–30; Paul M. Edwards, Our Legacy Fallacies: Toward a Logic of Historical Thought (New York: Harper of Faith: A Brief History of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Torchbooks/Harper & Row, 1970), 135–40; Paul K. Conkin and Roland N. Saints (Independence, MO: Herald Publishing House, 1991); Richard P. Stromberg, Heritage and Challenge: The History and Theory of History Howard, The Church Through the Years, Volume 1 (Independence, MO: Herald (Wheeling, IL: Forum Press, 1989), 204. Publishing House, 1992). In 2001 the RLDS Church officially changed its name 22. Richard Lyman Bushman “with the assistance of Jed Woodworth,” to Community of Christ, which defines itself as one of the “Peace Churches.” Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005), 295. 19. For example, in his Internet article, “Militias and Mormon Culture??” Their source-notes for this discussion did not mention the 2002 version of my (at www.jefflindsay.com/militias.shtml, accessed on 3 March 2011), Jeff Lindsay essay on this topic, but their bibliography (page 704) cited it. wrote: “In Utah, I knew of very few Mormons who owned guns . . . I honestly 23. Truman Coe, “Mormonism,” The Ohio Observer, 11 August 1836, page

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82 (near end of long, first paragraph), original in Western Americana, Beinecke Warren A. Jennings, “The City in the Garden: Social Conflict in Jackson Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. County, Missouri,” in F. McKiernan, Blair, and Edwards, Restoration Movement, Recent transcriptions of the original sometimes inaccurately lowercase 99–119; Ronald E. Romig and John H. Siebert, “Jackson County, 1831–1833: A “Prophet,” as in Milton V. Backman Jr., “Truman Coe’s 1836 Description of Look at the Development of Zion,” Restoration Studies 3 (1986): 286–304; Mormonism,” BYU Studies 17 (Spring 1977): 352. Church History in the Fulness of Times (Salt Lake City: Church Educational 24. In fact, that is what Jeff Lindsay did in his Internet article, “Militias and System, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1989), 127–39; Ronald Mormon Culture??” E. Romig and John H. Siebert, “First Impressions: The Independence, Missouri, 25. Although there is a regional emphasis on the South in much of the liter- Printing Operation, 1832–1833,” John Whitmer Historical Association Journal 10 ature about the code of male honor in early America, it was a national phenom- (1990): 51–66; James B. Allen and Glen M. Leonard, The Story of the Latter-day enon, as indicated in the previously cited studies by Brown (R.M.), Saints, 2nd ed. rev. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1992), 94–95; Robert J. Courtwright, Hartog, Ireland, Kaplan, Lombard, Martin, Moore, Stevens, and Woodford, “Book of Commandments,” Clark V. Johnson, “LDS Communities Van Trump/Cannon. For cross-cultural studies of the usually violent dimen- in Jackson and Clay Counties,” Max H. Parkin, “Missouri Conflict,” in Ludlow, sions of male honor, see Donna T. Andrew, “The Code of Honour and Its Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 1: 138, 2: 922–25, 927–28. Critics: The Opposition to Duelling in England, 1700–1850,” Social History 5 32. John Corrill, A Brief History of the Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints, (October 1980): 409–34; Robert A. Nye, Masculinity and Male Codes of Honor in (Commonly Called Mormons;) . . . With the Reasons for the Author for Leaving the Modern France (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993); Kevin McAleer, Church (St. Louis: By the author, 1839), 19. Dueling: The Cult of Honor in Fin-de-Siecle Germany (Princeton, NJ: Princeton 33. The best work on this idea/theology during Joseph Smith’s lifetime is University Press, 1994); Robert A. Nye, “The Modern Duel and Masculinity in Grant Underwood, The Millenarian World of Early Mormonism (Urbana: Comparative Perspective,” Masculinities 3 (Fall 1995): 69–79; Elizabeth University of Illinois Press, 1993). For the continued legacy of Smith’s state- Foyster, “Male Honour, Social Control and Wife Beating in Late Stuart ments, the disappointed expectations of his followers, and the institutional re- England,” Transactions of the Royal Historical Society 6 (1996): 215–24; Petrus definitions by the LDS Church (headquartered in Salt Lake City), see Dan Cornelius Spierenburg, ed., Men and Violence: Gender, Honor, and Rituals in Erickson, As a Thief in the Night: The Mormon Quest For Millennial Deliverance Modern Europe and America (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1998); (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1998). Elizabeth Foyster, “Boys Will Be Boys?: Manhood and Aggression, 1600–1800,” 34. For the full text, context, and implications of this 1833 revelation, see in Tim Hitchcock and Michele Cohen, eds., English Masculinities, 1660–1800 my The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power (Salt Lake City: Signature (London: Longman, 1999), 151–66; Thomas W. Gallant, “Honor, Masculinity, Books/Smith Research Associates, 1994), 80–84. Nevertheless, as I discuss on and Ritual Knife Fighting in Nineteenth-Century Greece,” American Historical its page 111, early Mormon pamphleteering and editorials continued to de- Review 105 (April 2000): 359–82. scribe theocracy as a distant, millennial circumstance until Smith changed the 26. Joseph Smith diary, 21 February 1843, in Joseph Smith Jr., et al., History emphasis both publicly and privately in 1842. of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. (Salt Lake City: Church 35. Note 31; History of the Church, 1: 407, 410–15, 423–31; Howard H. of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1902–32; 2nd ed. rev. [Salt Lake City: Barron, Orson Hyde: Missionary, Apostle, Colonizer (Bountiful, UT: Horizon Deseret Book Co., 1978], hereafter History of the Church), 5: 285 (“till he said Publishers, 1977), 42–43; also B. Pixley’s different perspective about this he had enough”); Scott H. Faulring, ed., An American Prophet’s Record: The Mormon “ambuscade” in his letter to editors of New York Observer, 7 Diaries and Journals of Joseph Smith (Salt Lake City: Signature Books/Smith November 1833, in William Mulder and A. Russell Mortensen, eds., Among the Research Associates, 1987), 310 (“till he said enough”). This would have ap- Mormons: Historic Accounts by Contemporary Observers (New York: Alfred A. peared in the never-published third volume of Dean C. Jessee, ed., The Papers of Knopf, 1958), 81–83. Joseph Smith, 2 vols., with a different subtitle for each volume (Salt Lake City: William G. Hartley, My Best For the Kingdom: History and Autobiography of Deseret Book Co., 1989–92). John Lowe Butler, A Mormon Frontiersman (Salt Lake City: Aspen Books, 1994), 27. Joseph Smith diary, 1 January 1843, in Faulring, An American Prophet’s 44–45, also interpreted the military provisions of the 1833 revelation in a cu- Record, 267. mulative manner. However, he offered a lengthier time frame: “ . . . Saints prob- 28. History of the Church, 5: 216; also Rodger I. Anderson, Joseph Smith’s ably counted the expulsion from Jackson [in 1833] as one provocation and the New York Reputation Reexamined (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1990). forced departure from Clay County [in 1836] as a second. Persecutions in 29. History of the Church, 1: 261–65; Max H. Parkin, “A Study of the Nature Kirtland and its collapse [in late 1837] might have been seen as a third offense. and Cause of Internal and External Conflict of the Mormons In Ohio Between Expected abuses of Saints in northern Missouri [in mid-1838] could easily run 1830 and 1838,” M.A. thesis, Brigham Young University, 1966, 248–55; Donna the count up past four.” To the contrary, as indicated in my discussion to follow, Hill, Joseph Smith: The First Mormon (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1977), an 1834 revelation and commandment verified that the three-fold restraints of 144–47; Susan Easton Black, “Hiram, Ohio: Tribulation,” in Larry C. Porter and the 1833 revelation had been fulfilled and no longer applied. Black, eds., The Prophet Joseph: Essays On the Life and Mission of Joseph Smith 36. B.F. Norris to Mark Norris, 6 January 1834, Mark Norris papers, Burton (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1988), 161–74; Karl Ricks Anderson, Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library, Detroit, Michigan. “Hiram, Ohio,” in Daniel H. Ludlow, ed., Encyclopedia of Mormonism: The 37. History of the Church, 1: 493, 263; Warren A. Jennings, “The Army of History, Scripture, Doctrine, and Procedure of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- Israel Marches Into Missouri,” Missouri Historical Review 62 (January 1968): day Saints, 5 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1992), 2: 588; Blaine Yorgason and 107–35; Roger D. Launius, Zion’s Camp: Expedition to Missouri (Independence, Brent Yorgason, Joseph Smith: Tarred and Feathered (Orem, UT: Grandin Books, MO: Herald Publishing House, 1984); Lance D. Chase, “Zion’s Camp,” in 1994). History of the Church, 1: 261n, explained that Rider apostatized be- Ludlow, Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 4: 1627–29; Bruce A. Van Orden, “Zion’s cause a revelation misspelled his name, but this official LDS account ironically Camp: A Refiner’s Fire,” in Porter and Black, The Prophet Joseph, 192–207. misspelled both the first and last names of “SYMONDS RIDER,” as he signed 38. History of the Church, 2: 39. his name in bold-face in a letter to the editor condemning the Mormons, in 39. History of the Church, 2: 88 (referring to 12 June 1834). Ohio Star (Ravenna, OH), 29 December 1831. 40. History of the Church, 2: 39, 180–86, 201–04. 30. D. Elton Trueblood, Studies in Quaker Pacifism (Philadelphia: Friends 41. Nicholas Lockyer, Christ’s Communion With His Church Militant . . . Peace Committee, 1934); Peter Brock, The Quaker Peace Testimony, 1660 to (London: John Rothwell, 1644); William Tilson Marsh, The Tabernacle and the 1914 (York, Eng.: Sessions Book Trust; Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, Temple, or, The Church Militant, and the Church Triumphant . . . (London: 1990). Hatchard; Birmingham: J.M. Knott; Colchester, Eng.: Taylor, 1839); Hymns of 31. History of the Church, 1: 390–95; Richard L. Bushman, “Mormon the Church Militant (New York: R. Carter, 1858). Persecutions in Missouri, 1833,” BYU Studies 3 (Autumn 1960): 11–20; Warren 42. Joseph Smith diary, 1 January 1843, in Faulring, An American Prophet’s A. Jennings, “Zion is Fled: The Expulsion of the Mormons from Jackson Record, 267; History of the Church, 5: 216, deleted this entry; see Note 26, last County, Missouri,” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Florida, 1962; Warren A. sentence. Luke S. Johnson served as Kirtland’s constable from April 1834 to Jennings, “Factors in the Destruction of the Mormon Press in Missouri, 1833,” April 1835, and not again until the last week of December 1837. The latter pe- Utah Historical Quarterly 35 (Winter 1967): 57–76; Warren A. Jennings, “The riod would have been too late for this incident due to Smith’s own hasty retreat Expulsion of the Mormons from Jackson County, Missouri,” Missouri Historical from Ohio in January 1838. See Kirtland Township Trustees minutes Review 64 (October 1969): 41–63; T. Edgar Lyon, “Independence, Missouri, (1817–38), 123–24 (7 April 1834), 135 (6 April 1835), 161 (23 December and the Mormons, 1827–1833,” BYU Studies 13 (Autumn 1972): 10–19; 1837), Lake County Historical Society, Mentor, Ohio.

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43. “History of Luke Johnson,” Latter-Day Saints Millennial Star 27 (1865): 53. F. Mark McKiernan and Roger D. Launius, eds., An Early Latter Day 5, with transcription in Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, comps., They Saint History: The Book of John Whitmer (Independence, MO: Herald Publishing Knew the Prophet (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1974), 31. House, 1984), 151 (hereafter cited as The Book of John Whitmer); also Jessee, 44. Calvin W. Stoddard v. Joseph Smith Junior (based on an original com- Papers of Joseph Smith, 2: 42n2. plaint by Grandison Newell), court documents (21 April, 7 May 1835), Janes 54. For example, Letter From the Secretary of War, Transmitting a List of the Collection, Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, California; State of Ohio Names of the Clerks Employed in the War Department, During the Year 1820; and v. Joseph Smith Jr., Book Q, 497–98 (16 June 1835), Court of Common Pleas the Compensation Allowed To Each . . . (Washington, D.C.: War Department, records, Geauga County courthouse, Chardon, Ohio. From 1827 to his death in 1821), which was a peace-time publication. During the “Cold War” with the 1836, Stoddard was married to Joseph’s older sister Sophronia Smith (b. 1803). Soviet Union after 1945, the U.S. government officially changed these terms to According to Ohio law at this time, a criminal case (“State of Ohio versus”) “Secretary of Defense” and “Department of Defense.” could be instituted by a citizen’s complaint against the defendant for criminal 55. Marvin S. Hill, Quest for Refuge: The Mormon Flight from American behavior (“Calvin W. Stoddard versus”), which in turn could begin with an Pluralism (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1989), 53. original complaint by a third party (in this case, Grandison Newell) on behalf 56. “Another Mormon Invasion,” Daily Missouri Republican (St. Louis, of the battered plaintiff. It is unclear, at least to me, whether the court costs MO), 17 May 1836, referring to “letters from Kirtland, Ohio have been received were assessed against Stoddard (for allowing the criminal complaint to proceed here by the last mail from persons of undoubted veracity . . .” to trial concerning the charge of battery against himself, the plaintiff) or were 57. “Petition of Joseph Smith Jr. to Ariel Hanson,” 7 November 1836, Lake assessed against Newell (the original complainant who began the court pro- County Historical Society. The signers (showing those with verified member- ceedings). ship in the Mormon paramilitary Danites in 1838) were LDS First Presidency 45. Origins of Power, 594–95; Irene M. Bates and E. Gary Smith, Lost Legacy: members Joseph Smith (Danite), Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon (Danite), The Mormon Office of Presiding Patriarch (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, Frederick G. Williams, and John Smith (Danite), Apostles Brigham Young, 1996), 74. William Smith, and Parley P. Pratt (Danite), Seventy’s Presidents Joseph Young, 46. History of the Church, 2: 295, 335; Joseph Smith diary, 29 October and Zebedee Coltrin, Lyman R. Sherman, and Leonard Rich. Re-arranged in alpha- 16 December 1835, in Faulring, An American Prophet’s Record, 43, 79; Jessee, betical order with corrected spellings of names, the other signers were: Papers of Joseph Smith, 2: 59, 107; Dean C. Jessee, Mark Ashurst-McGee, and Solomon Angell, Loren W. Babbitt, Edson Barney, Royal Barney Jr., Isaac H. Richard L. Jensen, eds., The Joseph Smith Papers: Journals, Volume 1: 1832–1839 Bishop, Roswell Blood, Edmund Bosley, Norman Buell, Jacob Bump, Horace (Salt Lake City: The Church Historian’s Press/Church History Department of Burgess, Reynolds Cahoon (Danite), William F. Cahoon, James M. Carroll, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2008), 77, 124. Jared Carter (Danite), Hiram Clark (Danite), Marcellus F. Cowdery, Warren A. 47. “Benjamin F. Johnson to George S. Gibbs, April-October 1903,” in E. Cowdery, William Cowdery, John Davidson, Lysander M. Davis, Maleum C. Dale LeBaron, Benjamin Franklin Johnson: Friend to the Prophets (Provo, UT: Davis, David Dort, Bechias Dustin, Sterry Fisk, Solomon Freeman, George W. Grandin Book Company, 1997), 221. Gee (Danite), John P. Greene (Danite), John Gribble, S[elah] J. Gri[ffin], Isaiah 48. Warren Parrish letter, 5 February 1838, with signed endorsement by Harvey, Nathan Haskins, Jonathan H. Holmes, Vinson Knight (Danite), Apostles Luke S. Johnson and John F. Boynton, and by Seventy’s Presidents Lorenzo L. Lewis, Garland W. Meeks, Artemus Millet, Roger Orton, Ebenezer Sylvester Smith and Leonard Rich, published in Painesville Republican Page (Danite), John D. Parker, Burton H. Phelps, William D. Pratt, David H. (Painesville, OH), 15 February 1838. Redfield, John Reed, Ezekiel Rider, Ebenezer Robinson (Danite), Peter Shirts, 49. Andrew Jenson, Latter-day Saints Biographical Encyclopedia, 4 vols. (Salt Asael Smith, Don C. Smith, George A. Smith (Danite), Samuel H. Smith Lake City: Deseret News/Andrew Jenson Historical, 1901–36), 3: 577; Journal (Danite), Harvey Stanley, Christopher Stillwell, Hyrum Stratton, Ezra Strong, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (1830–1972), 31 May Benjamin Sweat, Chauncy G. Webb, Edwin Webb, Joseph Willard, and Willard 1879, 246 reels, microfilm, Special Collections, Marriott Library, with original Woodstock. in Church History Library of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 58. McKiernan and Launius, The Book of John Whitmer, 161. Salt Lake City, Utah; Lester E. Bush Jr., “Mormonism’s Negro Doctrine: An 59. Painesville Telegraph (Painesville, OH), 9 June 1837; also Grandison Historical Overview,” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 8 (Spring 1973): Newell v. Joseph Smith Junior, Court of Common Pleas records, Book T, 52–53 16–21; Newell G. Bringhurst, “Elijah Abel and the Changing Status of Blacks (5 June 1837), Geauga County; Edwin Brown Firmage and Richard Collin Within Mormonism,” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 12 (Summer Mangrum, Zion in the Courts: A Legal History of the Church of Jesus Christ of 1979): 23–36; Bringhurst, Saints, Slaves, and Blacks: The Changing Place of Latter-day Saints, 1830–1900 (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1988), Black People within Mormonism (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1981), 55–56, 384n17; and brief discussions of the case in B.H. Roberts, A 37–38; entry for Mormons,” in Jack Salzman, David Lionel Smith, and Cornel Comprehensive History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 6 vols. West, eds., Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History, 5 vols. (New (Salt Lake City: “By the Church,” 1930), 1: 405; in Max H. Parkin, “Mormon York: Macmillan Library Reference USA/Simon & Schuster, 1996), 4: 1854–55. Political Involvement in Ohio,” BYU Studies 9 (Summer 1969): 500; and in 50. Last accusation against Elijah Abel by Jedediah M. Grant, which “was Bushman “with” Woodworth, Rough Stone Rolling, 337. substantiated by the written testimony of elder Zenas H. Gurley,” in First 60. Donald Q. Cannon and Lyndon W. Cook, eds., Far West Record: Minutes Council of Seventy’s minute book (1835–43), 81–82 (1 June 1839), Archives, of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830–1844 (Salt Lake City: Church History Library (hereafter cited as LDS Archives), with complete tran- Deseret Book Co., 1983), 167 (for April 1838 testimony about the investiga- scription currently available to the public in D. Michael Quinn’s research files, tions “last fall”), 171n18 (for Fanny Alger); Todd Compton, In Sacred Beinecke Library. This meeting (in fact, the entire day) is absent from History of Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, the Church. 1997), 37–38 (which gives the incorrect date of “the summer of 1837” for For Grant, see Gene A. Sessions, Mormon Thunder: A Documentary History Patten’s inquiry). of Jedediah Morgan Grant (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1982). For 61. Brigham Young statement to apostles in Scott G. Kenney, ed., Wilford Gurley, see Clare D. Vlahos, “The Challenge to Centralized Power: Zenos H. Woodruff’s Journal: 1833–1898 Typescript, 9 vols. (Midvale, UT: Signature Books, Gurley, Jr. and the Prophetic Office,” Courage: A Journal of History, Thought and 1983–85), 5: 63 (25 June 1857). Young accurately dated this incident as occur- Action 1 (March 1971): 148–58. Gurley’s first name has been spelled both ring “in the fall of 1837.” See Note 60 for the date. “Zenas” and “Zenos,” but I used the spelling I found in most manuscripts and Young said that he was less severe with other Mormons than the founding original sources. prophet was. See Journal of Discourses, 26 vols. (London and Liverpool: Latter 51. Joseph Smith diary, 24 September 1835, in Faulring, An American Day Saints’ Book Depot, 1854–86), 8: 317–18. Prophet’s Record, 35; Jessee, Papers of Joseph Smith, 2: 41–42; Jessee, Ashurst- 62. LeBaron, Benjamin Franklin Johnson, 221. McGee, and Jensen, Joseph Smith Papers: Journals, Volume 1: 1832–1839, 64. 63. History of the Church, 2: 484–93, 508–12, 529; Mary Fielding Smith let- There are slight variations in these transcriptions. ters to Mercy R. Fielding Thompson, July–October 1837, in Kenneth W. 52. History of the Church, 2: 282. Deseret News 1993–1994 Church Almanac Godfrey, Audrey M. Godfrey, and Jill Mulvay Derr, eds., Women’s Voices: An (Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1992), 396, shows 8,835 total members in 1835, Untold History of the Latter-day Saints, 1830–1900 (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book with 7,500 located in the two stakes of the Church (one in Ohio and one in Co., 1982), 60–68; Robert Kent Fielding, “The Growth of the Mormon Church Missouri). More recent almanacs do not separate stake membership from the In Kirtland, Ohio,” Ph.D. dissertation, Indiana University, 1957, 245–64; total LDS membership of 8,835 in 1835. Parkin, “Study of the Nature and Causes of External and Internal Conflict of

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the Mormons in Ohio Between 1830 and 1838,” esp. 309–17; Davis Bitton, served: “Evidence indicates that President Rigdon knew about them and gave “The Waning of Mormon Kirtland,” BYU Studies 12 (Summer 1972): 455–64; them his blessing.” Marvin S. Hill, “Cultural Crisis in the Mormon Kingdom: A Reconsideration of 72. Anson Call statement to B.H. Roberts (an LDS general authority serving the Causes of Kirtland Dissent,” Church History 49 (September 1980): 286–97; in the First Council of the Seventy) and John M. Whitaker (the Council’s secre- Milton V. Backman Jr., The Heavens Resound: A History of the Latter-day Saints in tary), 30 December 1885, typescript, 1, Whitaker file, Utah State Historical Ohio, 1830–1838 (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1983), 310–41; Karl Ricks Society, Salt Lake City, Utah; Corrill, Brief History, 30; Hartley, My Best For the Anderson, Joseph Smith’s Kirtland: Eyewitness Accounts (Salt Lake City: Deseret Kingdom, 46; John E. Thompson, “The Far West Dissenters and the Gamblers Book Co., 1989), 193–223; Church History in the Fulness of Times, 169–80; at Vicksburg: An Examination of the Documentary Evidence and Historical Kenneth H. Winn, Exiles in a Land of Liberty: Mormons in America, 1830–1846 Context of Sidney Rigdon’s Salt Sermon,” Restoration 5 (January 1986): 21–27. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1989), 106–28; Hill, Quest For 73. Document Containing the Correspondence, Orders, &c In Relation to the Refuge, 55–80; Milton V. Backman Jr. and Ronald K. Esplin, “History of the Disturbances With the Mormons, 103–07. Church: 1831–1844,” and Backman, “Kirtland,” in Ludlow, Encyclopedia of 74. Ebenezer Robinson, “Items of Personal History of the Editor,” The Mormonism, 2: 609–10, 797; Allen and Leonard, Story of the Latter-day Saints, Return 1 (October 1889): 145–47, 2 (February 1890): 218–19. 117–25; Origins of Power, 61–62. 75. Avard testimony in Document Containing the Correspondence, Orders, &c 64. Hill, Quest for Refuge, 70. In view of that assessment by Marvin S. Hill in In Relation to the Disturbances With the Mormons, 102. Leland H. Gentry, “The 1989, I was mystified by his rejection in SUNSTONE (November 1997) of my Danite Band of 1838,” BYU Studies 14 (Summer 1974): 424n14, acknowledged analysis of early Mormonism’s culture of violence as presented in Extensions of Avard’s testimony, but noted that since Rigdon did not sign the ultimatum, “it is Power. possible, therefore, that Avard drew up the document himself.” Likewise, 65. Francis M. Gibbons, Joseph Smith: Martyr, Prophet of God (Salt Lake Church History in the Fulness of Times, 191, described this as “an unautho- City: Deseret Book Co., 1977), 228–29; Leonard J. Arrington, Brigham Young: rized document . . . signed by eighty-four Church members, and it pointedly American Moses (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1985), 65. Hill, Joseph Smith, gave ordered the apostates to leave the county or face serious consequences.” the traditional account (223–24) that Smith was unaware of the Danites and However, “unauthorized” hardly fits a document which was signed by an assis- quickly repudiated them, but she concluded (225) that he had at least periph- tant counselor in the First Presidency and by Second Counselor Hyrum Smith, eral involvement with the Danites and gave approval of their early activities. brother of the Church President. Gentry did not list any of the signers except 66. William Swartzell (a Danite) daily journal, 14 July 1838, in his Avard, but suggested (425): “It is possible that the document was . . . presented Mormonism Exposed, Being a Journal of a Residence in Missouri From the 28th of for signing at one or more Danite meetings.” May to the 20th of August, 1838 (Pekin, OH: A. Ingram Jr., Printer, 1840), 18. 76. Some have viewed the Danite organization as formed in June 1838 for 67. Dean C. Jessee and David J. Whittaker, “The Last Months of the sole purpose of opposing a handful of LDS dissenters, whose intimidation Mormonism in Missouri: The Albert Perry Rockwood Journal,” BYU Studies 28 was unquestionably its first action. Although its blood-oath enforced internal (Winter 1988): 23, as a slightly different version of Albert P. Rockwood to loyalty, its constitution provided for military titles, structure, and chain-of- Luther Rockwood, 29 October 1838 (rather than 22 October, as in Jesse and command. This indicates that large-scale military activities were paramount for Whittaker), Beinecke Library. its intended use from the very beginning of the Danite organization, not an af- Nevertheless, as I discuss in Origins of Power, 111, until 1842, early terthought following the expulsion of the dissenters. For the Danite constitu- Mormon pamphleteering and editorials did not discuss the Daniel prophecies tion, see Document Containing the Correspondence, Orders, &c In Relation to the as applying to the LDS Church at present, but instead discussed theocracy as a Disturbances With the Mormons, 102. distant, millennial circumstance. Joseph Smith changed the emphasis both 77. Joseph Smith diary, 27 July 1838, in Jessee, Papers of Joseph Smith, 2: publicly and privately in 1842, thus introducing the Missouri Danite interpre- 262; with differences in the printed transcriptions of Faulring, An American tation to the Church at large. Prophet’s Record, 187, and of Jessee, Ashurst-McGee, and Jensen, Joseph Smith 68. John Smith diary, 4 August, 1 September 1838, George A. Smith Family Papers: Journals, Volume 1: 1832–1839, 293. This entry did not make it into the papers, Manuscripts Division, Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, official History of the Church. University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah; John E. Thompson, “A Chronology of 78. Joseph Smith diary, 4 July 1838, in Jessee, Papers of Joseph Smith, 2: 249 Danite Meetings in Adam-ondi-Ahman, Missouri, July to September, 1838,” (for quote), 249n1 (noting that “`June’ [was] penciled sideways in the margin Restoration: News, Views, and History of the Latter Day Saint Movement 4 opposite these lines,” which were otherwise dated as 4 July 1838; also Faulring, (January 1985): 11–14; Stephen C. LeSueur, The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri An American Prophet’s Record, 187; Jessee, Ashurst-McGee, and Jensen, Joseph (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1987), 38, 44. Smith Papers: Journals, Volume 1: 1832–1839, 278; Hartley, My Best For the Richard Lloyd Anderson, “Clarifications of Bogg’s [sic] `Order’ and Joseph Kingdom, 46. This entry did not make it into the official History of the Church. Smith’s Constitutionalism,” in Arnold K. Garr and Clark V. Johnson, eds., 79. McKiernan and Launius, The Book of John Whitmer, 165. Regional Studies in Latter-day Saint Church History: Missouri (Provo, UT: 80. LeSueur, The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri, 46. In confirmation of just Department of Church History and Doctrine, Brigham Young University, 1994), how mainstream one LDS apologist regards this 1838 death threat against 64, claimed that the “only official and contemporary” reference by LDS leaders Mormon dissenters, Anderson, “Clarifications of Bogg’s [sic] `Order’ and Joseph to the Danites was a statement by George W. Robinson (“a Danite officer and Smith’s Constitutionalism,” 63, stated: “Like many responsible contemporaries, Church recorder”) in Joseph Smith’s “Scriptory Book” (Anderson, 71n19, Joseph Smith experimented with prior restraint of defamation in times of 80n147). danger. But the flight of the Cowdery-Whitmer group is an exception in Joseph However, Anderson nowhere acknowledges that John Smith, an assistant Smith’s policy of full rights for Mormons and neighbors.” counselor in the First Presidency and the prophet’s uncle, made repeated refer- 81. Leland H. Gentry, “A History of the Latter-day Saints In Northern ences of a positive or neutral nature to the Danites in his 1838 diary. This diary’s Missouri From 1836 to 1839,” Ph.D. dissertation, Brigham Young University, quotes about the Danites and “the Daughters of Zion” appeared on page 44 of 1965, 171. However, despite the Mormon paranoia of 1838, the following is an LeSueur, The 1838 Mormon War, which Anderson’s article was trying to refute. overstatement by Winn, Exiles in a Land of Liberty, 126: “The banishment of the By linking “official” and “contemporary,” Anderson was able to legalistically ex- dissenters initiated a veritable reign of terror against those who might doubt the clude most of the first-hand Danite evidence he didn’t like. However, since he wisdom of Church policy.” included the private diary of the LDS president, even Richard L. Anderson’s 82. Orson Hyde letter, 21 October 1844, in LDS newspaper Nauvoo own rules of evidence should have required him to include the Danite refer- Neighbor (edited by Apostle John Taylor in Nauvoo, IL), 4 December 1844. ences written in 1838 by the First Presidency’s assistant counselor, who was Although LDS headquarters intended Hyde’s letter to attack the character of also serving as a stake president in Missouri. Rigdon, who had been recently excommunicated for opposing the 1844 succes- 69. Joseph Smith diary, 27 July 1838, in Faulring, An American Prophet’s sion claims of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Hyde’s letter also verified the Record, 35; Jessee, Papers of Joseph Smith, 2: 262; Jessee, Ashurst-McGee, and First Presidency’s 1838 authorization of theocratic killings. Jensen, Joseph Smith Papers: Journals, Volume 1: 1832–1839, 293. This entry did 83. Benjamin Slade testimony (November 1838) about Rigdon’s statement not make it into the official History of the Church. the previous month, in Document Containing the Correspondence, Orders, &c In 70. Times and Seasons 4 (15 July 1843): 271. Relation to the Disturbances With the Mormons, 143. For Slade as a loyal 71. Ebenezer Robinson, “Items of Personal History of the Editor,” The Mormon in Nauvoo and Utah, see his entry in Susan Ward Easton Black, Return 2 (February 1890): 217. Hartley, My Best For the Kingdom, 47, also ob- Membership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830–1848, 50

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vols. (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, Family (Salt Lake City: John Tanner Family Association/Publishers Press, 1984–88), 40: 539–40. 1974), 386. 84. Oration Delivered by Mr. S. Rigdon on the 4th of July 1838 (Far West, MO: 97. Indictment of Parley P. Pratt for murder of Moses Rowland, filed 2 April Elder’s Journal Office, 1838), 12, as the only quote from this document in 1839, Boone County Circuit Court Records, Case 1379, folder 17, Western Church History in the Fulness of Times, 92. A photographic reprint of the oration Historical Manuscripts Collection, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri; is in Peter Crawley, “Two Rare Missouri Documents,” BYU Studies 14 (Summer John D. Lee autobiography in Mormonism Unveiled: or the Life and Confessions 1974): 517–27. of the Mormon Bishop, John D. Lee (St. Louis: Bryan, Brand & Co., 1877), 73; 85. Elder’s Journal 1 (August 1838): 54. also Reed Peck’s similar description of acts by the unnamed Parley P. Pratt, a 86. John L. Butler reminiscence, in Journal History, 6 August 1838, page 3; “cold hearted villain (I know him well),” in Reed Peck manuscript, 18 also John L. Butler, history and autobiography, typescript, 16–17, Lee Library. September 1839, pages 99–100, Huntington Library. 87. History of the Church, 3: 56–58; Church History in the Fulness of Times, 98. James H. Hunt, Mormonism . . . Their Troubles In Missouri and Final 193–210; Reed C. Durham, “The Election Day Battle At Gallatin,” BYU Studies Expulsion From the State (St. Louis: Ustick & Davies, 1844), 190–91. Although 13 (Autumn 1972): 36–61; LeSueur, The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri, he did not acknowledge that Tarwater sustained these injuries after he was shot 58–64. and lying unconscious on the ground, an assistant LDS Church historian gave a 88. Hartley, My Best For the Kingdom, 69, 42. He referred to the post office more gruesome description of his injuries, including “a terrible gash in the mentioned by Philip Covington, justice of the peace for Daviess County, affi- skull, through which his brain was plainly visible.” See Andrew Jenson, davit, 22 September 1838, and to the treasurer’s office in William P. Peniston’s “Caldwell County, Missouri,” The Historical Record 8 (January 1888): 702; also affidavit, 21 October 1838, both in Document Containing the Correspondence, Alexander L. Baugh, “The Battle Between Mormon and Missouri Militia at Orders, &c In Relation to the Disturbances With the Mormons, 43–44. Crooked River,” in Garr and Johnson, Regional Studies in Latter-day Saint 89. Hartley, My Best For the Kingdom, 42. Church History: Missouri, 93 (for discussion of Tarwater). 90. Luman A. Shurtliff manuscript autobiography (1807–51), 120, 122, 125 99. History of the Church, 3: 184–87, 326n, and 175 (for text of the gover- (for August 1838), LDS Archives, also typescript at Special Collections, Harold nor’s extermination order; “A Heroine of Haun’s Mill Massacre,” in Heroines of B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. A written revelation of 8 “Mormondom,” the Second Book of the Noble Women’s Lives Series (Salt Lake City: July 1838 had appointed John Taylor as an apostle. (Doctrine and Covenants Juvenile Instructor Office, 1884), 86–96; “Exterminate or Expel Them!” and 118: 1, 6) “Massacre at Haun’s Mill,” in Mulder and Mortensen, Among the Mormons, In Document Containing the Correspondence, Orders, &c In Relation to the 102–06; Gentry, “History of the Latter-day Saints In Northern Missouri,” Disturbances With the Mormons . . . (Fayette, MO: Boon’s Lick Democrat, 1841), 430–66; “Alma R. Blair,” “The Haun’s Mill Massacre,” BYU Studies 13 (Autumn 98, Sampson Avard, the Danite leader at Far West, testified: “As for Joseph 1972): 62–67; Clark V. Johnson, “Missouri Persecutions: The Petition of Isaac Smith, jr., and his two counsellors, the witness does not know that they ever Leany,” BYU Studies 23 (Winter 1983): 101–03; Clark V. Johnson, ed., Mormon took the Danite oath.” This indicates that Smith was not initiated at Far West, Redress Petitions: Documents of the 1833–1838 Missouri Conflict (Provo, UT: and instead the prophet undoubtedly received his Danite initiation from Lyman Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1992), 17–18, 28–31, Wight. Wight was the Danite leader at Adam-ondi-Ahman, the second largest 89–90, 274–76, 320–21, 408–09, 417–18, 440–41, 451–52, 477–78, 486–88, organization of Danites. There was a certain symmetry in this, since Smith had 490–91, 505–06, 637–39, 720–24; Alma R. Blair, “Haun’s Mill Massacre,” in ordained Wight as the Church’s first high priest in 1831, and Wight in turn had Ludlow, Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 2: 577. Traditional accounts misstate both ordained Smith as a high priest. Three years later, Smith secretly ordained the age and military experience of victim McBride. Born in 1776, he was too Wight “to the office of Benamey [“Baneemy”] in the presence of an angel.” See young to be a “veteran of the Revolution” (History of the Church, 3: 220n), History of the Church, 1: 176n; Cannon and Cook, Far West Record, 67; Lyman which war ended in 1783. The Journal History for 30 October 1838 acknowl- Wight to Cooper and Chidester, editors of the Strangite newspaper Northern edged that historical impossibility and suggested that McBride was a veteran of Islander, July 1855, in Wight letterbook, 23, Archives of The Community of the War of 1812. Christ (formerly The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints), 100. LeSueur, The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri, 138, 144–52. While Independence, Missouri. Anderson, “Clarifications of Bogg’s [sic] `Order’ and Joseph Smith’s 91. I acknowledge the possibility, as Todd Compton has argued, that sentry Constitutionalism” acknowledges that the Boggs extermination order re- Shurtliff might have given a temporary military password, military sign, and sponded to what Anderson calls “the hot skirmish at Crooked River” (45), he military countersign (which changed nightly by conventional practice) to emphasizes the “unfounded rumors” (45), “the upcoming fictitious attack on Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith on the night Shurtliff’s autobiography de- the county seat” (46), the “false rumors” (47), “this mythical Mormon offen- scribed, rather than the permanent codes given to initiated Danites. Compton sive” (48) described by Missourians, and then dismisses Crooked River as “the acknowledges it only as “a good chance that it may have been a Danite sign and attack of 70 Mormons on a state patrol of 50, which was intimidating Mormon password.” He elaborated this in “Joseph Smith and the Danites,” paper deliv- settlers instead of acting on defensive orders” (48). Anderson argues at length ered at Sunstone Symposium, Salt Lake City, 6 August 2010, to be published as (27–47) that the governor simply ratified long-standing calls for expulsion by an appendix in Leland H. Gentry and Todd M. Compton, Fire and Sword: A anti-Mormons. Thus (47), Boggs “served special interests in upper Missouri History of the Latter-day Saints in Northern Missouri, 1836–39 (Salt Lake City: when they demanded extermination orders. This executive was more conduit Greg Kofford Books, forthcoming). than commander” in issuing the October 1838 extermination order against the However, in my view, there is almost no probability that Shurtliff gave non- Mormons. Danite signals to the two Smiths in August 1838, in view of (1) the manifold ev- 101. History of the Church, 3: 58–322; Gentry, “History of the Latter-day idences of their close involvement with the Danite activities since June 1838, Saints in Northern Missouri,” 527–98; Leonard J. Arrington, “Church Leaders (2) Shurtliff’s expressed eagerness to give Danite signals to other Danites, and in Liberty Jail,” BYU Studies 12 (Autumn 1972): 20–26; Dean C. Jessee, “`Walls, (3) the fact that Shurtliff recognized the approaching men as Joseph and Hyrum Grates and Screeking Iron Doors’: The Prison Experience of Mormon Leaders before he gave the signals. in Missouri, 1838–1839,” in Davis Bitton and Maureen Ursenbach Beecher, 92. Justus Morse affidavit, 23 March 1887, LDS Archives, with complete eds., New Views of Mormon History: A Collection of Essays in Honor of Leonard J. transcription in folder 3, box 22, H. Michael Marquardt papers, Marriott Arrington (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1987), 19–42; LeSueur, The Library; History of the Church, 5: 302, 6: 337, for Morse’s continued association 1838 Mormon War in Missouri, 46–48, 63–263, 125n35; Hill, Quest for Refuge, with Smith. Closer to the events of 1838, dissident Mormons and former Danite 75, 76, 92, 225n65. officers Sampson Avard and Reed Peck described Smith’s similar encourage- 102. Which is exactly what Richard L. Anderson did in his “Clarifications ment to plunder Missourians in Document Containing the Correspondence, of Bogg’s [sic] `Order’ and Joseph Smith’s Constitutionalism,” 68. Orders, &c In Relation to the Disturbances With the Mormons, 98, 117. 103. Document Containing the Correspondence, Orders, &c In Relation to 93. Benjamin F. Johnson, My Life’s Review (Independence, MO: Zion’s the Disturbances With the Mormons, 102; Jessee, Papers of Joseph Smith, 2: Printing & Publishing Co., 1947), 39. 42n2. 94. Oliver B. Huntington manuscript autobiography, book 1, 37–38 (1838), 104. Robert Bruce Flanders, Nauvoo: Kingdom on the Mississippi (Urbana: Lee Library; LeSueur, The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri, 119, 136. University of Illinois Press, 1965), 19; Kenneth Gordon Crider, “Rhetorical 95. LeBaron, Benjamin Franklin Johnson, 222. Aspects of the Controversies Over Mormonism in Illinois, 1839–1847,” Ph.D. 96. Nathan Tanner reminiscence, in George S. Tanner, John Tanner and His dissertation, University of Illinois, 1956, 270–71; Kenneth W. Godfrey, “Causes

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of the Mormon Non-Mormon Conflict in Hancock County, Illinois, 116. Joseph Smith letter to Mr. Bartlett, 22 May 1842, in Quincy Whig 1839–1846,” Ph.D. dissertation, Brigham Young University, 1967, 43–47; (Quincy, IL), 4 June 1842; Joseph Smith letter to the editor, 27 May 1842, in Andrew F. Smith, Saintly Scoundrel: The Life and Times of Dr. John Cook Bennett Quincy Herald (Quincy, IL), 2 June 1842; History of the Church, 5: 9, 15, 6: 151. (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1997), 58–61. 117. History of the Church, 5: 4, 13; Book of the Law of the Lord, 19 May 105. History of the Church, 5: 3–4, 56, 369, 383–84, 6: 34; Hamilton 1842, in Jessee, Papers of Joseph Smith, 2: 384; The Wasp (Nauvoo, IL), 21 May Gardner, “The Nauvoo Legion, 1840–1845: A Unique Military Organization,” 1842, [3], 4 June 1842, [3]. The Night Watch in 1842 included Dimick B. in Roger D. Launius and John E. Hallwas, eds., Kingdom on the Mississippi Huntington, William D. Huntington, Lucius N. Scovil, Charles Allen, Albert P. Revisited: Nauvoo in Mormon History (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, Rockwood, Noah Rogers, Shadrach Roundy, Josiah Arnold, David H. Redfield, 1996), 53 (for lieutenant-general rank), 57 (for “an estimated five thousand Hiram Clark, S.B. Hicks, Erastus H. Derby, John A. Forgeus, Gilbert D. members”); with lower estimates in John Sweeney Jr., “A History of the Nauvoo Goldsmith, Daniel Carn, and John G. Luce. See appendix, “Danites in 1838: A Legion In Illinois,” M.A. thesis, Brigham Young University, 1974, 70, 73; com- Partial List,” in Origins of Power, [479]–490. pared with Thomas H.S. Hamersly, Regular Army Register of the United States, 118. History of the Church, 5: 4. 1779–1879 (Washington: By the author, 1880), 84–89. 119. James B. Allen, Trials of Discipleship: The Story of William Clayton, A 106. History of the Church, 5: 482. Mormon (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1987), 140. Based on the list of 107. See discussion in narrative-text for Note 124. Smith’s personal staff and “guards” in the Nauvoo Legion as of February 1841 108. History of the Church, 1: 434, 3: 81, 204, 328, 5: 15; “Mormons Held (History of the Church, 4: 296), Hartley, My Best For the Kingdom, 120, lists as Boggs Responsible For Their Hardships,” in L. Dean Marriott, “Lilburn W. Smith’s twelve bodyguards the following men: John L. Butler, Thomas Grover, Boggs: Interaction With Mormons Following Their Expulsion From Missouri,” Christian M. Kremeyer, John Snyder, Alpheus Cutler, Reynolds Cahoon, Henry Ed.D. dissertation, Brigham Young University, 1979, 27-30. G. Sherwood, Shadrach Roundy, Vinson Knight, James Allred, Elias Higbee, 109. Alanson Ripley to “Dear brethren in Christ Jesus,” with Joseph and Samuel H. Smith. A problem with this list is that it omits Orrin Porter Smith, Hyrum Smith, Caleb Baldwin, Alexander McRae, and Lyman Wight Rockwell, widely known as one of Smith’s bodyguards. Hartley also omits identified by initials at the end of letter, 10 April 1839, Joseph Smith letterbook Albert P. Rockwood, the actual commander of the “lifeguards,” with the expla- 2: 17, Smith papers, original in LDS Archives, with microfilm copies at nation that the 1841 entry in History of the Church listed Rockwood only as a Community of Christ Archives, at Lee Library, and at Marriott Library; quoted “drill master” with the Nauvoo Legion. Apparently, Smith’s “lifeguards” in the in Hill, Quest for Refuge, 100. Nauvoo Legion were for ceremonial purposes and overlapped with his actual 110. William Clayton diary, 1 January 1845, in George D. Smith, ed., An bodyguards who were “ordained” to protect his life. For sources about the Intimate Chronicle: The Journals of William Clayton (Salt Lake City: Signature Danite affiliation of the above men, see appendix, “Danites in 1838: A Partial Books/Smith Research Associates, 1991), 153, gives the earliest available state- List,” in Origins of Power, [479]–490. ment of the revelation’s text but does not date it. The earliest known statement 120. L.B. Fleak (at Keokuk, Iowa) to Governor Thomas Reynolds, 4 that this revelation occurred on 7 April 1842 is Council of Fifty minutes, 10 December 1842, folder 14346, box 319, Reynolds Correspondence, Missouri April 1880, typed copy, Lee Library, also in Joseph F. Smith diary, 10 April 1880, State Archives, Joseph City, Missouri, with transcription in Warren A. Jennings, LDS Archives (with complete transcription in Quinn’s research files, Beinecke “Two Iowa Postmasters View Nauvoo: Anti-Mormon Letters to the Governor of Library), and in Andrew F. Ehat, “`It Seems Like Heaven Began on Earth’: Missouri,” BYU Studies 11 (Spring 1971): 286. For the context of why Joseph Smith and the Constitution of the Kingdom of God,” BYU Studies 20 Missouri’s governor was receiving reports from attempted kidnappers, see (Spring 1980): 254n3. Restatements and slight variations of this council’s long George R. Gayler, “Attempts by the State of Missouri to Extradite Joseph Smith, name (given by the 1842 revelation) appear in Kenney, Wilford Woodruff’s 1841–1843,” Missouri Historical Review 58 (October 1963): 21–36. Journal: 1833–1898 Typescript, 3 (29 May 1847): 188; John D. Lee diary, 3 121. Joseph Smith diary, 1 January 1843, in Faulring, An American March 1849, in Robert Glass Cleland and Juanita Brooks, eds., A Mormon Prophet’s Record, 267; History of the Church, 5: 216, deleted this entry; see Note Chronicle: The Diaries of John D. Lee, 1848–1876, 2 vols. (San Marino, CA: The 26, last sentence. Henry E. Huntington Library, 1955), 1: 98; Joseph F. Smith diary, 16 March 122. History of the Church, 5: 285. 1880; Franklin D. Richards diary, 16 March 1880, LDS Archives, Council of 123. History of the Church, 5: 316. Fifty minutes, 10 April 1880, LDS Archives, Joseph F. Smith memorandum, 31 124. Joseph Smith diary, 5 March 1843, in Faulring, An American December 1880, LDS Archives (with complete transcriptions of the above in Prophet’s Record, 326; phrased differently in History of the Church, 5: 296 (“I will Quinn’s research files, Beinecke Library); Abraham H. Cannon diary, 9 October shoot him, or cut off his head, spill his blood on the ground,” also “on that sub- 1884, Lee Library, Marriott Library, and Utah State Historical Society; John ject”); see Note 26, last sentence. Taylor revelation of 27 June 1882, in Annie Taylor Hyde notebook, 67, LDS The LDS Church’s official history changed the phrase to “cut off his head” Archives, with complete transcription in Quinn’s research files, Beinecke as an apparent effort to make readers think the founding prophet was referring Library; and in Fred C. Collier, Unpublished Revelations of the Prophets and to the civil execution by decapitation as practiced in the decades-earlier French Presidents of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2nd ed. (Salt Lake Revolution. However, Smith’s actual phrase “cut his throat” replayed the throat- City: Collier’s Publishing Co., 1981), 134, verse 29. cutting threats by Missouri Danites (including Sidney Rigdon) in 1838 (see 111. The Wasp (Nauvoo, IL), 28 May 1842. quotes for previous notes 82 and 83). The LDS prophet’s 1843 statement was 112. William Law statement, 31 July 1887, in Lyndon W. Cook, ed., also an official precedent for Counselor Rigdon’s throat-slitting statement to William Law: Biographical Essay, Nauvoo Diary, Correspondence (Orem, UT: April 1844 general conference (see quote in narrative for Note 149). Grandin Book Co., 1994), 116–17. Smith’s 1843 statement was also an obvious precedent for Brigham Young’s 113. Jonas Hobart affidavit on 9 July 1842 (for quote); Samuel Marshall similar phrases in his published sermons about “blood atonement” during the affidavit on 9 July 1842 (for third person paraphrase of quote), both in John C. 1850s (see Note 152). Published in Salt Lake City, the LDS Church’s official Bennett, The History of the Saints . . . (Boston: Leland and Whiting, 1842), 285. History of the Church, 5: 296 even described Smith’s remarks as “The Questions Lacking the effusiveness and sensationalism that Bennett and his allies typically of `Currency’ and Blood Atonement, in the Nauvoo City Council.” Notice that used, these affidavits quoted/paraphrased Rockwell’s guarded and not-quite-in- its editors did not put quotation marks around Blood Atonement, but did for criminating statement. Under the circumstances, the affidavits sound like un- “Currency.” exaggerated statements of what Hobart and Marshall actually heard him say. 125. Joseph Smith statement, manuscript minutes of 6 April 1843 confer- 114. Quoted in Harold Schindler, Orrin Porter Rockwell: Man of God, Son ence, first version (page 10), and with quoted words lined out in second ver- of Thunder (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1966), 80. sion (page 4), both documents in LDS Archives, with complete transcriptions 115. William M. Boggs, “A Short Biographical Sketch of Lilburn W. in Quinn’s research files, Beinecke Library. This statement by Joseph Smith is Boggs, By His Son,” Missouri Historical Review 4 (January 1910): 107; also absent from the report of his remarks in Times and Seasons, History of the Nicholas Van Alfen, Orrin Porter Rockwell: The Frontier Mormon Marshal Church, and in Andrew F. Ehat and Lyndon W. Cook, eds., The Words of Joseph (Logan, UT: LDS Institute of Religion, 1964), 20–32; Monte B. McLaws, “The Smith: The Contemporary Accounts of the Nauvoo Discourses of the Prophet Joseph Attempted Assassination of Missouri’s Ex-Governor, Lilburn W. Boggs,” (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1980), Missouri Historical Review 60 (October 1965): 50–62; Flanders, Nauvoo, 173–81. 104–05; Schindler, Orrin Porter Rockwell, 74–109; Richard Lloyd Dewey, Porter 126. John L. Butler reminiscence, in Journal History, 6 August 1838, Rockwell: The Definitive Biography (New York: Paramount Books, 1986), 49–77. page 6.

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127. History of the Church, 5: 473. 137. Statements by Eli Norton and Daniel Carn in presence of Mayor 128. History of the Church, 5: 524, 531; Joseph Smith diary, 13 August Joseph Smith, Nauvoo City Council Minutes, 3 January 1844, LDS Archives, 1843, in Faulring, An American Prophet’s Record, 405; see Note 26, last sentence; with complete transcription in Cook, William Law, 40n–41n. also Allen, Trials of Discipleship, 114–15, 144n15. 138. History of the Church, 6: 151, 152, 166–70; William Law diary, 2–5 129. William Clayton diary, 1 August 1843, in Smith, An Intimate January 1844, in Cook, William Law, 38–45. Chronicle, 114; History of the Church, 5: 531. 139. Lawrence Foster, Religion and Sexuality: Three American Communal In Warsaw Message (Warsaw, IL) (11 October 1843), [1–2], Bagby wrote Experiments of the Nineteenth Century (New York: Oxford University Press, that Joseph Smith “insulted me in the grossest manner, without any provoca- 1981), 147, 177; John Frederick Glaser, “The Disaffection of William Law,” tion, (as I think will appear in the sequel) and at time too, when I was enfeebled Restoration Studies 3 (1986): 163–77; Cook, William Law, passim; Compton, In by long and severe illness, being then but just able to walk . . . and what, Mr. Sacred Loneliness, 3, 476–77, 549. Editor, may you suppose was the cause of this attack? Why simply because, as 140. Church History in the Fulness of Times, 270; Origins of Power, collector of the county, I advertised, according to law, a certain lot in Nauvoo, to 120–22, also appendix, “Members of the Council of Fifty, 1844–45, Ranking as which he afterwards set up a claim. Such was the ostensible cause that proof 27 June 1844 (at Joseph Smith’s death),” [521]–528; Ehat, “`It Seems Like duced the cause above alluded to. Heaven Began on Earth,’” passim. “ . . . And I would here remark, that, but for the timely interference of Dan’l 141. George T.M. Davis, An Authentic Account of the Massacre of Joseph H. Wells Esq., who happened to be near, and who nobly throwed himself into Smith, the Mormon Prophet, and Hyrum Smith, His Brother, Together with a Brief the breach, I would, doubtless, have suffered great personal injury, by the das- History of the Rise and Progress of Mormonism, And All the Circumstances Which tardly beast [Smith], whose fury increased in an inverse ratio to his discovery of Led to Their Deaths (St. Louis: Chambers and Knapp, 1844), 7, emphasis in my entire inability from the effect of disease, and the want of suitable weapons, original. Davis, a newspaper editor, was in Nauvoo gathering information just to resist his brutal violence.” before Joseph Smith’s death. See History of the Church, 6: 587. 130. History of the Church, 5: 34; Joseph Smith diary, 17 September 1843, 142. Council of Fifty minutes by Joseph F. Smith, 12 October 1880, em- in Faulring, An American Prophet’s Record, 414, specified “under officers”; see phasis in original, LDS Archives, with modified transcription in “jfs box 11 Note 26, last sentence. [page] 14-14-14-14,” in folder 6, box 6, Scott G. Kenney papers, Marriott 131. “The Last Case At Nauvoo,” Warsaw Message (Warsaw, IL), 27 Library, and complete transcription in Quinn’s research files, Beinecke Library; September 1843, [3]. Bennett’s first name was not given in this long article, nor also discussion in Origins of Power, 128–29. in the first reference to this altercation “on Sunday last” in Warsaw Message (20 143. Hartley, My Best For the Kingdom, 50. For the documentary evidence September 1843), [2]. However, Smith’s excommunicated counselor John C. on which his statement is based, see Document Containing the Correspondence, Bennett was not “one of our citizens” at Warsaw. Orders, &c In Relation to the Disturbances With the Mormons, 97 (which was 132. “Story as related to me by Ira N. Spaulding of East Weber,” in “THE quoted by Schindler, Orrin Porter Rockwell, 46–47, and by Roberts, AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DAVID OSBORN, SENIOR Started in February 1860,” Comprehensive History, 1: 501; also variant of the oath in William Swartzell Lee Library, with complete transcription in GospeLink 2001 CD-ROM (Salt daily journal, 21 July 1838, in his Mormonism Exposed, 22. In his manuscript Lake City: Deseret Book, 2001), and on the Internet at autobiography (1807–51), pages 120, 125 (for August 1838) at LDS Archives, www.boap.org/LDS/Early-Saints/DOsborn.html, accessed on 3 March 2011; also lifelong Mormon Luman A. Shurtliff verified that the Danites took a solemn quoted in Richard Lyman Bushman, “The Character of Joseph Smith,” BYU “oath,” without giving its details. His reference to “oath” was removed in the Studies 42, No. 2 (2003): 23–34. Spaulding died in 1882 at Uintah, Weber typescript, “Luman Andros Shurtliff: My Grandfather, 1807,” at Utah State County, Utah. One of his children was born in Nauvoo in 1844. See “Ancestral Historical Society. File” of the LDS Church, available on the Internet at familysearch.org. However, David J. Whittaker, “The Book of Daniel in Early Mormon 133. Alexander L. Baugh, “Joseph Smith’s Athletic Nature,” in Susan Thought,” in John M. Lundquist and Stephen D. Ricks, eds., By Study and Also Easton Black and Charles D. Tate Jr., eds., Joseph Smith: The Prophet, The Man By Faith, 2 vols. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., and Provo, UT: Foundation (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1993), 140. for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1990), 1: 171, observes that in the 134. For example, Isaac M. Dwight, To the public, Augusta, Dec’r 2d, 1823 letters of Albert P. Rockwood to his relatives about the Danites in 1838, (Augusta, GA: N.p., 1823). This broadside was a refutation of printed charges “nowhere is there the cutthroat secrecy that Avard later succeeded in con- posted by Thomas Broughton Jr., accusing the author of being “a bullying vincing Judge Austin King and the non-Mormon public that there was.” coward, a braggadocio in words and a poultroon in deeds.” However, since Rockwood as a Danite was already bound by a penal oath of se- 135. Phebe Wheeler Olney statement, written between November 1843 crecy (as friendly Mormon sources verify was the case), he understandably did and April 1844 on the back of Susan McKee Culbertson’s application for mem- not volunteer that information to his uninitiated relatives. Whittaker’s argu- bership in the Nauvoo Relief Society, 21 [July] 1843, uncatalogued manu- ment is the fallacy of irrelevant proof. scripts, Beinecke Library. Nauvoo’s 1842 census showed “Phoebe” Wheeler as 144. Compare appendix, “Danites in 1838: A Partial List,” in Origins of the first of the six girls residing as house servants with the Joseph Smith family. Power, [479]–490 with its appendix, “Members of the Council of Fifty, Despite her marriage to Oliver Olney on 19 October 1843, performed by 1844–45, Ranking as of 27 June 1844 (at Joseph Smith’s death),” [521]–528. Patriarch Hyrum Smith, Phebe apparently continued as a servant in the Smith 145. History of the Church, 6: 270, 274–77, 282–83, 286, 286n; Faulring, home until 1844. Its unrelated reference to “Mrs Sagers” indicates that this An American Prophet’s Record, 461, 463; William Clayton diary, 4 April 1844, in entry dates from November 1843 to April 1844, when the marital complaints of Smith, An Intimate Chronicle, 128; Ehat, “`It Seems Like Heaven Began on Mrs. Harrison Sagers involved the high council. The more likely time period for Earth,’” 275. discussion of the Harrison case in the Smith household was November 1843, 146. “WHO SHALL BE OUR NEXT PRESIDENT?” in Nauvoo Neighbor the only time Smith’s manuscript diary referred to the complaint against (Nauvoo, IL), 14 February 1844, [2], and in Times and Seasons 5 (15 February Harrison. See Joseph Smith diary, 25 November 1843, in Faulring, An American 1844): 441; also History of the Church, 6: 64–65, 144, 155–60, 376–77, 428–29, Prophet’s Record, 428; Nauvoo high council minutes, 25 November 1843, 14 439; Hill, Joseph Smith, 374–75. April 1844; History of the Church, 6: 118, 333 (which retroactively adds the 147. Uriah Brown to Brigham Young, 3 November 1845, LDS Archives; April 1844 reference to Sagers as if it were part of Smith’s diary); Nauvoo 1842 statements of Phineas Young and Almon W. Babbitt, in Council of Fifty min- census in Lyman De Platt, Nauvoo: Early Mormon Records Series (Highland, UT: utes, 25 August 1851, LDS Archives, with complete transcriptions of the above By the author, 1980), 86; Lyndon W. Cook, comp., Nauvoo Deaths and in Quinn’s research files, Beinecke Library; also Origins of Power, 127–28, for Marriages, 1839–1845 (Orem, UT: Grandin Book Co., 1994), 107; also Joseph discussions of the three non-Mormons in Smith’s theocratic Council of Fifty. Smith diary, 2 March 1843 to 21 January 1844, in Faulring, An American 148. U.S. Congress, House of Representatives, Report of the Committee on Prophet’s Record, 314, 323, 324, 334, 335, 336, 337, 373, 388, 403, 412, 424, Naval Affairs, On the Petition of Uriah Brown, January 27, 1815. Read and Ordered 433, 438, 442, for his positive or neutral references to Foster; see Note 26, last To Lie On the Table, document 53 in State Papers, 3rd Session, 13th Congress sentence. Smith’s next reference (460) described Foster as a dissenter trying to (Washington, D.C.: Roger C. Weightman, 1815), whose one-page text stated in destroy him. History of the Church, 5: 369, 6: 355, for Foster’s positions in the part: “The committee on naval affairs, to whom was referred the memorial of Nauvoo Legion. Uriah Brown, together with the report of the acting secretary of the navy, have, 136. History of the Church, 6: 149–50; compare appendix, “Danites in according to order, had the said memorial and report under consideration, and 1838: A Partial List,” in Origins of Power, [479]–490. thereupon submit the following report: . . . many difficulties would be pre-

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sented to the execution of such a plan, as it is represented by the memorialist, Oklahoma Press, 2002) with Ronald W. Walker, Richard E. Turley Jr., and Glen that to be able to effect it, the vessel carrying the materials must approach M. Leonard, Massacre at Mountain Meadows (New York: Oxford University within three or four hundred feet of the vessel to be attacked. The memorialist Press, 2008). supposes that fifty thousand dollars would be necessary to carry his plan into 156. Melvin T. Smith, “Response to Paper by D. Michael Quinn,” John execution; the committee taking into consideration the present situation of the Whitmer Historical Association 2002 Nauvoo Conference Special Edition, 187. finances ... think it would be inexpedient at this time to authorize an appropri- 157. For statistics of polygamy in Utah, see Dean L. May, “People on the ation for the purpose proposed by the memorialist.” Mormon Frontier: Kanab’s Families of 1874,” Journal of Family History 1 149. Sidney Rigdon sermon on 6 April 1844, compiled on 24 April 1844 (Winter 1976): 169–92; James E. Smith and Phillip R. Kunz, “Polygyny and by Thomas Bullock, LDS Archives, with complete transcription in Quinn’s re- Fertility in Nineteenth-Century America,” Population Studies 30 (September search files, Beinecke Library; deleted from the published report. 1976): 465–80; Phillip R. Kunz, “One Wife or Several?: A Comparative Study of 150. Church History in the Fulness of Times, 281, for photograph of the Late Nineteenth Century Marriage in Utah,” in Thomas G. Alexander, ed., The “six-shooter” Joseph Smith used and the single-shot handgun he gave his Mormon People: Their Character and Traditions (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young brother Hyrum who declined to fire it. John Hay, “The Mormon Prophet’s University Press, 1980), 53–73; Larry Logue, “A Time of Marriage: Monogamy Tragedy,” Atlantic Monthly 24 (December 1869): 675, identified three men who and Polygamy in a Utah Town,” and Lowell “Ben” Bennion, “The Incidence of were shot by Joseph Smith: John Wills in the arm, William Vorhees in the Mormon Polygamy in 1880: `Dixie’ versus Davis Stake,” Journal of Mormon shoulder, and William Gallagher in the face. Hay was a son of Charles Hay, a History 11 (1984): 3–26, 27–42; Marie Cornwall, Camela Courtright and Laga surgeon of the Carthage militia and apparently a member of the mob. Church Van Beek, “How Common the Principle?: Women as Plural Wives in 1860,” History in the Fulness of Times, 282, agrees that Smith wounded three men. Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26 (Summer 1993): 139–53; Kathryn 151. Origins of Power, 176–81; Marshall Hamilton, “From Assassination M. Daynes, More Wives Than One: Transformation of the Mormon Marriage to Expulsion: Two years of Distrust, Hostility, and Violence,” in Launius and System, 1840–1910 (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2001), 100–01 (for Hallwas, Kingdom on the Mississippi Revisited, 214–30; John E. Hallwas and percentages from her research about Manti). For the publicly stated emphasis Roger D. Launius, eds., Cultures in Conflict: A Documentary History of the of LDS leaders that plural marriage was the required norm, see Daynes (72–73) Mormon War in Illinois (Logan: Utah State University Press, 1995). and B. Carmon Hardy, Doing the Works of Abraham: Mormon Polygamy: Its 152. John Smith (former Danite) patriarchal blessing to John Smith (b. Origins, Practice, and Demise (Norman, OK: Arthur H. Clark, 2007). 1832), 22 January 1845, quoted in Irene M. Bates, “Patriarchal Blessings and 158. Ray Allen Billington, The Protestant Crusade, 1800–1860: A Study of the Routinization of Charisma,” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26 (Fall the Origins of American Nativism (New York: Rinehart, 1952); David Brion 1993): 12, 12n45, 21; Hosea Stout diary, 27 September 1845, in Juanita Brooks, Davis, “Some Themes in Counter Subversion: An Analysis of Anti-Masonic, ed., On the Mormon Frontier: The Diary of Hosea Stout, 1844–1861, 2 vols. (Salt Anti-Catholic and Anti-Mormon Literature,” Mississippi Valley Historical Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1964), 1: 76; Elden J. Watson, ed., MANU- Review 57 (September 1960): 205–24; Leonard J. Arrington and Jon Haupt, SCRIPT HISTORY of Brigham Young, 1846–1847 (Salt Lake City: By the au- “Intolerable Zion: The Image of Mormonism in Nineteenth-Century American thor, 1971), 480 (24 February 1847); Elisha H. Groves patriarchal blessing to Literature,” Western Humanities Review 22 (Summer 1968): 243–60; Gary L. William H. Dame, 20 February 1854, in Harold W. Pease, “The Life and Works Bunker and Davis Bitton, The Mormon Graphic Image, 1834–1914: Cartoons, of William Horne Dame,” M.A. thesis, Brigham Young University, 1971, 64–66; Caricatures, and Illustrations (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1983); Groves patriarchal blessing to William Leany, 23 February 1854, in Leany auto- Craig L. Foster, “Anti-Mormon Pamphleteering in Great Britain, 1837–1860,” biography, 8, typescript in Utah State Historical Society; “DISCOURSE By M.A. thesis, Brigham Young University, 1989; William O. Nelson, “Anti- Jedediah M. Grant, Tabernacle, G.S.L. City, March 12th 1851 [1854],” Deseret Mormon Publications,” in Ludlow, Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 1: 115–32; News [weekly], 27 July 1854, [2]; “REMARKS By President J. M. Grant, Craig L. Foster, “Victorian Pornographic Imagery in Anti-Mormon Literature,” Bowery, Sunday Morning, Sept. 21, 1856,” Deseret News [weekly], 1 October Journal of Mormon History 19 (Spring 1993): 115–32; Terryl L. Givens, The 1856, 235; Elisha H. Groves patriarchal blessing to Joseph Fish, 30 January Viper on the Hearth: Mormon Myths and the Construction of Heresy (New York: 1857, in Paul H. Peterson, “The Mormon Reformation,” Ph.D. dissertation, Oxford University Press, 1997); any sample one might choose on the Internet Brigham Young University, 1981, 192; Isaac Morley (former Danite) patriarchal of Evangelical diatribes against Mormonism. blessing to Philip Klingensmith, 28 May 1857, in Anna Jean Backus, Mountain Meadows Witness: The Life and Times of Bishop Philip Klingensmith (Spokane: Arthur H. Clark Co., 1995), 124; Journal of Discourses, 1: 73 (Hyde/1853), 1: 83 (B. Young/1853), 1: 97 (G.A. Smith/1851), 1: 108 (B. Young/1853), 3: 246–47 (B. Young/1856), 4: 49–51 (J.M. Grant/1856), 4: 53–54 (B. Young/1856), 4: 173–74 (Kimball/1857), 4: 219–20 (B. Young/1857), 4: 375 (Kimball/1857), 6: 38 (Kimball/1857), 7: 20 (Kimball/1854), 7: 146 (B. Young/1859), 10: 110 (B. Young/1857); Sacred Hymns and Spiritual Songs (Salt Lake City: Deseret News/George Q. Cannon, 1871), 73–74, 314, 332, 337, 385; Sessions, Mormon Thunder, 125–30, 211; John W. Welch and John William Maddox, “Reflections on the Teachings of Brigham Young,” in Susan Easton Black and Larry C. Porter, eds., Lion of the Lord: Essays on the Life & Service of Brigham Young (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1995), 393 (which listed two of these sermons on “Blood Atonement”); Extensions of Power, esp. 246–57. 153. Charles W. Penrose, Blood Atonement, As Taught By Leading Elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1884), 35; Roberts, Comprehensive History, 4: 126; Eugene England, Brother Brigham (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1980), 169, 182; Lowell M. Snow, “Blood Atonement,” in Ludlow, Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 1: 131; Ronald W. Walker review in Journal of Mormon History 20 (Spring 1994): 170, 173. 154. Extensions of Power, 242–61; “OFFICIAL DECLARATION,” Deseret Evening News, 14 December 1889, [2]; James R. Clark, ed., Messages of the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 6 vols. (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1965–71), 3: 185, 186. 155. Extensions of Power, 242, 245, 248–49, 257, 273. On these issues, also compare Will Bagley, Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows (Norman: University of

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2011 Brookie and D.k . Brown f iCt ion Cont est t he s unstone education f oundation invites writers to enter its annual fiction contest, which is made possible by a grant from the Brookie and D. k . Brown family. All entries must relate to adult l atter- day s aint experience, theology, or worldview. All varieties of form are welcome.

r u l es 3. in the body of the email, the author must manuscript to be filed in the s unstone state the story’s title and the author’s name, Collection at the marriott l ibrary of the 1. u p to three entries may be submitted by any address, telephone number, and email. t he u niversity of u tah in s alt l ake City. if the one author. s end manuscript in PDf or Word author must also include language attesting entry wins, s unstone magazine retains first- format to [email protected] by 31 that the entry is her or his own work, that it publication rights though publication is not October 2011. has not been previously published, that it is guaranteed. t he author retains all literary not being considered for publication else- rights. s unstone discourages the use of pseu- 2. each story must be double-spaced. t he au- where, and that it will not be submitted to donyms; if used, the author must identify the thor’s name must not appear on any page of other publishers until after the contest. t he real and pen names and the reasons for the manuscript. author must also grant permission for the writing under the pseudonym.

stories, without author identification, will be judged by noted mormon authors and professors of literature. Winners will be announced by 28 f ebruary 2012 on s unstone’s website, www.s unstonemagazine.com. Winners only will be notified by mail. After the announcement, all other entrants will be free to submit their stories elsewhere. Publication is not guaranteed, but winners agree to give s u n s t o n e first publication options.

Prizes will be awarded in two categories: short-short story—fewer than 1,500 words; and short story—fewer than 6,000 words. Prize money varies (up to $400 each) depending on the number of winners announced. 29-31_Van-Sciver:Feature TEMPLATE 10/6/2011 9:51 PM Page 39 29-31_Van-Sciver:Feature TEMPLATE 10/6/2011 9:51 PM Page 30 29-31_Van-Sciver:Feature TEMPLATE 10/6/2011 9:51 PM Page 31 32-43_Bergera_tithing:a_chandler_kafka 10/6/2011 8:29 Pm Page 42

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To be learned is good if you pay your tithing

THE MONITORING OF BYU FACULTY TITHING PAYMENTS 1957–1963

By Gary James Bergera

HORTLY AFTER HIS APPOINTMENT IN 1951 AS “YOU ARE NOT EXPECTED TO RETAIN president of the LDS Church’s educational flagship, PERMANENTLY ON YOUR STAFF NON-TITHEPAYERS” S Brigham Young University, Ernest L. Wilkinson (1899–1978) began scrutinizing his faculty’s compliance to WILKINSON WAS NOT the first BYU administrator to ad- LDS teachings.1 For a time, his attention focused especially dress the issue of faculty tithing. Early 1910s attempts to au- on tithing contributions. All practicing Church members are tomatically deduct tithing from BYU salaries were scuttled in expected to pay to their local congregations at least one- the face of a chorus of faculty complaints. Young physics in- tenth of their annual income, though how this is defined structor Harvey Fletcher (1884–1981) “exploded” at the and how faithfully members adhere to this expectation are news, telling administrators “in no uncertain terms” that considered personal matters between members and their “under these conditions the tithing was not a donation, it local religious leader(s).2 Members’ church status is deter- was a tax.”3 While the automatic salary deduction was aban- mined, in part, by their meeting their tithing obligations. doned, LDS officials remained concerned and by mid-1915 Wilkinson himself paid his own tithing, and he expected had compiled a list of sixty-seven faculty members and the nothing less from his faculty. tithing each had paid.4 Of the sixty-seven, thirty-one (46 Wilkinson also understood that if he hoped to secure percent) had not paid a full tithe.5 Church funding for BYU, the school’s board of trustees, all By 1929, the payment of a full tithe had become virtually members of the Church’s governing hierarchy, might re- de rigueur for all Church-employed school teachers. “Those spond less positively if faculty were found to be less than who cannot conscientiously do these things,” wrote LDS full tithepayers. In fact, following the precedent of past Commissioner of Education (and later apostle) Joseph F. practices at the LDS school, Wilkinson decided to use an Merrill (1868–1952), “should not, we believe, be encour- individual’s tithing history to help determine raises, pro- aged to remain in the employ of the Church school motions, and even continuing employment. However, system.”6 Two years later, at Merrill’s urging, BYU President some Church leaders and faculty members believed that Franklin S. Harris (1884–1960) convened a special faculty Wilkinson’s actions intruded into a very private matter, ef- meeting to discuss loyalty to the Church, including the fectively undermining a member’s relationship with his or payment of tithing. Enclosed with Merrill’s request was a her local Church leaders. Securing compliance proved to summary the Church’s Presiding Bishop’s office had pro- be challenging, as both Wilkinson and LDS authorities vided of the tithing records of all faculty for the previous struggled to strike a balance between privacy and year. Of the 102 faculty identified, slightly more than half Wilkinson’s desire to know. had paid a full tithing, 37 percent had paid a partial tithing, and 8 percent had paid no tithing. “You are not expected to GARY JAMES BERGERA is the managing director of the retain permanently on your staff non-tithepayers,” Merrill Smith-Pettit Foundation. From 1985 to 2000, he was Director subsequently reminded Harris.7 of Publishing at Signature Books; from 1992 to 1998, he was Despite repeated exhortations, 1934 figures reveal that, Managing Editor of Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon compared to 1931, the number of faculty paying a full Thought. tithing had actually decreased 19 percent, the number

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paying a partial tithing had increased 2 percent, and the telling him, sarcastically.13 Alarmed, Wilkinson met immedi- number paying no tithing had risen 17 percent.8 While this ately with LDS President David O. McKay (1873–1970) “on decline may have been due largely to the effects of the Great whether we should insist on payment of tithing by teachers Depression, LDS leaders were still “dumbfounded” at what at the BYU. President McKay shared my opinion,” they saw as blatant disobedience. “As far as I am concerned,” Wilkinson reported, “namely, that . . . it was unthinkable Church President Heber J. Grant (1856–1945) insisted, “the that we retain on our faculty people who do not pay tithing. Church is paying these people. If they haven’t enough loy- He authorized me not only to ask teachers what they do in alty to the Church to do their duty and pay their tithing, I this respect, but actually to find out what they do by want it recorded here and now that I want other teachers checking with the Presiding Bishop’s office and let the there.”9 teachers know that I know what their record is.”14 Six years later, the situation had not improved. When, in Wilkinson’s attempt to 1940, LDS officials decided that salary increases were to be gain access to faculty tithing granted only to full tithe- records proved premature, payers, BYU’s acting presi- however, as Church policy dent reported that “practi- stipulated that the “amount cally all members whom of tithing paid by an indi- we intended to give a small vidual or by the total ward increase cannot qualify membership is confidential under this new require- and should not be disclosed ment.”10 Dismayed, the by the bishopric to anyone First Presidency responded except to the stake presi- bluntly: “No person who dent as requested and in has not paid a full tenth of confidential reports to the his Church compensation General Authorities.”15 for the year 1939 will receive And when McKay’s coun- any advance in salary for the selors in his First next school year; that is to Presidency learned the say, the school year 1940–41. extent of the information At the end of the next school that Wilkinson sought, year the question of advances they decided to withhold in salaries can be given con- from Wilkinson the sideration to those who have exact amounts of tithing fully tithed their Church com- paid by faculty mem- pensation, and who are other- bers. Undeterred, Wil- wise entitled, under the princi- kinson arranged to have ples hereinafter set forth, to the Presiding Bishop’s such consideration. The First office identify for him Presidency feel that this rule any faculty who were must be mandatory.”11 Franklin partial- or non-tithep- Harris remained reluctant, how- ayers, though without ever, to second-guess a faculty disclosing the exact member’s ability to pay tithing, amounts of tithing paid.16 and at the time of his resignation This, Wilkinson believed, would allow him to double- in 1945 (to preside over Utah State University), he had check the data, if needed, with a faculty member’s local never disciplined a teacher for tithing-related concerns.12 Church leaders. But the arrangement was not without its shortcomings. As Wilkinson discovered by the end of “MATTERS OF PRIVATE CONSCIENCE” April 1957:

WITH HARRIS’S DEPARTURE, the emphasis on faculty [I] had a conference with a faculty member, ad- tithe-paying decreased somewhat as attention shifted to vising him that I could not promote him because other areas of campus administration, notably how best to the standards were that he should be faithful to manage the sudden growth of the student body following the standards of the Church, and my under- World War II. Thus Ernest Wilkinson was both surprised standing was that he was a non-tithe payer. and chagrined to learn in 1957 that more than a few faculty Apparently, in this case the report I received from members were not full tithepayers. BYU “must pay awfully the stake presidency was wrong. It disturbed the

Al limAg esJeAn : etlow t eAt w o o d salaries,” he recalled several local Church officials member no little, as it should. In the evening he

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brought to my home some cancelled checks for “THE POOR RECORD OF CERTAIN FACULTY” his tithing for last year. True, they were for only about 1/3 of what he should have paid, but at least IN MARCH 1958, when Wilkinson again requested a report he was a partial tithepayer and over the years was from the Presiding Bishop’s office on faculty members’ very faithful, apparently, and paid less last year tithing payments, McKay again ruled that Wilkinson “could than ever before.17 be furnished information about whether or not they pay part or full tithing.”21 Wilkinson, however, hoping for more, also Wilkinson also decided to announce publicly that pro- asked for the names of any errant faculty and the exact motions and salary increases would henceforth be based, in amounts of tithing paid so that he did not have to rely solely part, on the payment of a full tithing. “When I am called on the statements of local LDS officials. “If you should de- upon this year,” he promised his faculty five months later, cide that for proper administration I should have this infor- “to pass on proposed promotions in academic rank for mation,” the lawyer-turned-president pressed McKay, members of the faculty I hope I do not have to refuse any on the ground that the nominee does not adhere in practice you may be sure that I will keep it confidential. . . . I to . . . the payment of tithing.”18 do not intend to disclose its existence to the Wilkinson’s push for compliance did not sit well with teachers involved, but it will give me sufficient basic some faculty, who had initially been employed at the univer- information that with respect to teachers who are sity under a different set of assumptions. “These demands derelict in their duty, I may call them in and by were seen by some,” recalled R. Kent Fielding (b. 1920), careful questioning obtain from them direct the who taught history, facts. You will appreciate, of course, that I do not have time to interrogate all 500 members of the fac- as nothing more than Wilkinson’s personal opin- ulty on a matter of this kind, nor would there be any ions and served only to alienate the President from purpose in interrogating more than probably ten the independent minded members of the faculty. per cent of the faculty who, by their dereliction, are Many of us believed that our faculty status was giving the University in the eyes of their own stake protected by the practice of tenure so long as we presidents and bishops, a bad name. met the standards of our academic professions. The Presiding Bishop already has the list of our Most of us accepted our prior experience as reason faculty, and if you will just authorize him to fill it in to believe that our religious beliefs and practices with the amounts paid by each, I will then be in a were matters of private conscience, providing we better position to judge the faithfulness of the mem- made no attempt to convert others or to subvert es- bers of our staff.22 tablished orthodoxies. To others it seemed that further conditions of employment at BYU were being McKay was not persuaded, reiterating that Wilkinson added without consultation. The opinion was fre- would get the names of teachers judged not to be full tithe- quently expressed that other standards of religious payers but not the specific amounts of tithing paid.23 Two orthodoxy might be promulgated in the same weeks later, Wilkinson met with faculty members “who are manner and also required for faculty status unless not tithepayers (in all cases they claimed to be part-tithe- some stand were taken against arbitrary decisions. payers, but I insisted there was not such a thing as a part- The suggestion that any who disagreed should re- tithepayer; but that a tithepayer means one who pays one- sign “as a matter of conscience,” was taken as a tenth of his income). On the whole, the individuals to warning of the consequences of disagreement with whom I spoke had a very fine attitude and I think will make other teachings of the Church as interpreted by a greater effort to pay a full tithing another year.”24 “authority.”19 Wilkinson disliked having to work with incomplete information. “This was a day of almost complete frustration,” “This invasion of the sacred tithing records, using them he recorded early the next year. to put pressure on the faculty,” added J. Kenneth Davies (b. 1925), a member of the economics department, “was re- I stayed at my home all day in an attempt to deter- sented by a substantial portion of the faculty, including mine salaries for next year and evaluate the worth some of the most orthodox members of the church who of some 600 faculty members. One of the difficul- were never interviewed for non-compliance. A number of ties arises from one of the criteria adopted by the prominent members of the faculty resigned in protest. I teachers themselves for their appointment and pro- personally had no difficulty on the issue because my tithing motion–namely, that they shall be faithful members records showed me in conformity with the law of tithing, a of the Church, adhering to all its standards. The principle I firmly believed in and practiced. However, I was Presiding Bishop’s office has this year given me a list disturbed by what I perceived as a violation of Church proof teachers indicating within certain limits their cedures.”20 performance as far as tithing is concerned, and I

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was very much distressed to find the poor record of trustees regarding the religious orthodoxy of some of the certain faculty members. . . . it looks to me that no school’s faculty: more than one-half of the faculty are full tithe payers and many of them have different ways of A few weeks previous Kent Fielding of our campus computing their tithing. . . . had admitted . . . that he did not have a testimony of the Gospel. In answer to the question of why he had “I have three alternatives,” Wilkinson argued. become a member of our faculty when he had no testimony of the Gospel, he replied that while he One is to pay little attention to it, as has been too was interrogated by [LDS Apostle] Harold B. Lee at much of our practice in the past. If I do this, we be- the time of his appointment [to the history faculty come just another educational institution and this in 1952], he was never asked whether he had a tes- alternative must be rejected. The second is to let the timony of the Gospel. I had told Brother Lee about teachers know that their jobs depend on perfor- this at the time, and Brother Lee, whose main weak- mance in this respect. I have to reject this, because ness as far as I can see is that he cannot accept criti- to make the payment a condition of being employed cism, had interpreted it as serious criticism on my is to force the payment of tithing, in which event it part of him. So in this meeting, alluding to this situ- ceases to be a voluntary offering. The only logical ation, he said he had been disappointed that I had third alternative is to call the teachers in and say in not gotten rid of about a third of the faculty who did effect, “One of the prerequisites for appointment to not have a testimony of the Gospel. I told him that I our faculty is the voluntary payment of tithing. I am thought his estimate was altogether too high. His not going to require you to pay it, because it ceases response was that he thought I must be awfully to be voluntary, but since you have not voluntarily naive if I did not know the large number of our fac- paid, it would seem you ought to look elsewhere for ulty who did not have a testimony. He was smarting a position.” . . . I know that a chat with many faculty very much under what I thought was my criticism members will bring them to their senses and have of him for not having properly interrogated Brother them pay a full tithing. My difficulty will be that I Fielding. will never know whether they are paying it to keep Out of this whole discussion, however, came the their jobs or based on their own belief.25 suggestion that I should not increase the salaries or promote any of our faculty who do not pay an Wilkinson arranged to meet with McKay in his office a honest tithing. Just how I am going to do this is still few weeks later. During the hour-long early morning confer- a mystery unless the Brethren give me a list of the ence, Wilkinson amount paid by each faculty member.28

told President McKay of the faculty having adopted Years later, Fielding recalled being asked during a brief in- as a criteria for promotion the fact that members of terview with one of Wilkinson’s aides about some controver- the faculty must live in accordance with the stan- sies in Mormon history, including Fielding’s study of the LDS dards of the Church, and I could not administer this Church in Ohio during the 1830s. Fielding replied that his rule without knowing the tithing paid by the faculty “‘testimony’ of the ‘truthfulness’ of the gospel demanded a members. He told me that he agreed with me. He basic honesty about its origins and its early leaders and could thought I ought to know the details and he would not survive on the kinds of contrivances which appeared in take it up in a meeting of the First Presidency that the distorted histories and altered documentation.” Nothing morning. . . . more was said, Fielding wrote, and “I began to believe that my He told me that when I got permission he would arguments were acceptable and that the matter might end permit me to share information with the deans as to without further consequences.”29 Of his earlier 1952 meeting whether or not teachers were non-tithe payers or with Apostle Lee (1899–1973), Fielding added: “Apostle Lee part-tithe payers, but I should not inform the deans was concerned with only two issues: ‘Brother Fielding, are as to amounts. That I should hold confidential.26 you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?’ . . . ‘Have you ever been unfaithful to your wife?’ . . . Wilkinson also reported that of the $3.6 million paid in Lee was adamant and stern as he required a direct answer. faculty salaries, approximately $273,925 was returned to the Once that was given, there were no more questions and the Church as tithing (or about 75 percent of a full tithe); and interview concluded as pleasantly as it had begun.”30 that 73 percent of faculty paid a full tithing, 18 percent a par- Three days after his encounter with Lee, Wilkinson spent tial tithing, and 9 percent no tithing.27 an entire Sunday “wrestling with the question of what to do During an afternoon meeting with the executive com- with faculty members who were not faithful in the payment mittee of BYU’s board of trustees the following week, of their tithing. The best solution I came up with during the Wilkinson found himself facing one of his more outspoken day,” he wrote,

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paid none and was denied a proposed $600 increase, the law of retribution worked even mathematically correct. This still, however, did not seem to be the correct answer, but I went through and made out salaries for the entire faculty pretty largely on this basis.31

Wilkinson continued to grapple with the issue, and the following Tuesday, 28 April 1959, sought additional advice:

At 7 a.m. I called Brother Marion Romney followed by a call to Brother Hugh Brown on the question of what I should do with respect to faculty members who had failed to pay a full tithe. Brother Romney was the one who, in my Executive committee meeting last week, had proposed that there be no promotion or salary increase of any kind for those who did not pay a full tithe. I felt when I talked to him, however, that he had pretty much changed his mind on this, his feeling being that since tithing was supposed to be voluntary people would not get the benefits from it if they paid it under coercion. He proposed, therefore, that I go ahead and set salaries without much respect to tithing this year but that members of the Executive Committee come down and meet individually with members of the faculty who were defi- cient in this respect. Brother Brown echoed pretty much the same thoughts.32

Early the next morning, Wilkinson met with McKay again to discuss the situation. “I told President McKay also,” he recorded,

that since he had authorized me to have information concerning faculty salaries, I had ob- tained the same and was shocked at the fact that apparently 100 members either were non or token tithe payers. He said he was shocked also. I told him that it had been suggested to me by Executive Committee that no salary increases should be given to those who were in that situation, but that I had my doubts that that was the proper way to handle it because was that they probably should be treated the same that had the effect of requiring the payment of way as they treat the Lord—a new application of tithing when as a matter of fact it ought to be a the Golden Rule. Under this application, if they voluntary matter. He said he agreed with me and paid no tithing they would get no salary increase. If that salary should be predicated largely on profes- they paid half tithing they would get half the salary sional ability. increase contemplated. As I worked on this during I then told him that obviously we must do some- the entire day I finally realized that if, for instance, a thing about it, and I proposed that he appoint mem- faculty member should have paid $600 tithing but bers of the Quorum of the Twelve to come to the

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campus and have individual conferences with all “A number of faithful members of the faculty came to me members of the faculty, those who were faithful as afterward,” he recorded, “commending me for the state- well as those who were not. I suggested they ment. I know, of course, that there will be some members of should, of course, commend those who were the faculty who will disagree with it.”37 faithful and take up a labor with those who were The next morning, following a panel discussion on an not equally faithful, trying to persuade them to pay unrelated topic, BYU political scientist Robert E. Riggs (b. tithing as a voluntary matter. He wondered if the 1927) called attention to Wilkinson’s comments of the day Executive Committee could not do this and sug- before. According to Wilkinson, Riggs gested that I take it up with that committee. I agreed to do so.33 launched into a vigorous attack on the position I had taken to the effect that members of the faculty When Wilkinson met with his board of trustees later that must pay their tithing to continue on the faculty. same day, they agreed that all teachers were to pay their This was a real bitter attack in which he took me to tithing and to adhere to the Church’s other standards. But task also for having been so long last year in an- the question of how exactly Wilkinson was to determine the swering a certain request which he made. As he faculty’s obedience was, much to Wilkinson’s frustration, de- went along in his attack, Francis Pray, Vice liberately left unaddressed.34 President of the Council for Financial Aid to Reviewing the question of salary increases with one of his Education, sent me a note stating in effect: “Every aides the next afternoon, Wilkinson decided to give university faculty has some of that type on it.” Riggs announced that because of this policy he would not primary consideration (almost exclusive considera- be returning to the BYU next year. tion) to the professional competence and performance of the teachers rather than their adherence to As Riggs concluded, John T. Bernhard (1920–2004), re- the principle of tithing. We have firmly resolved, cently appointed as one of Wilkinson’s aides, countered that however, that beginning immediately every member of the faculty is to have a personal conference with a Riggs had “brilliance but not wisdom.” He member of the Executive Committee for the purpose [Bernhard] went on to point out that there would of commending those who are faithful and trying to be no purpose in the continued existence of the persuade those who are not faithful in the perfor- BYU unless the Gospel of Jesus Christ were placed mance of this duty, to become faithful. If by the end first in our minds; further, that Riggs’ outburst was of this calendar year, we still have members on the altogether improper and unwise because it did not faculty who are either non- or token tithepayers, my even pertain to the subject matter of the panel dis- present feeling is that we should take some action to cussion. He said that Riggs’ outburst was something have them replaced on the faculty.35 that should have been taken up with the administration. It could not possibly do any good in a “A MATTER OF FREE WILL GIVING” public meeting of that kind. John gave rather an eloquent defense and at one time referred to Riggs’ AS BYU OPENED that September 1959, Wilkinson deliv- speech as “intellectual poppy-cock.” ered his second “forthright statement” (his term) on tithing. “Promotions should not be granted those who did not be- “My judgment,” Wilkinson wrote, “is that from 20 to 25 lieve in and adhere to the principles and teachings of the per cent of the faculty applauded Riggs. John Bernhard, on Gospel,” especially tithing, he announced at a special faculty the other hand, got pretty much of an ovation from the bal- workshop. ance.”38 Later that afternoon, Wilkinson asked that the faculty The question was then raised as to whether belief in hold “no hard feelings against [Riggs] for his outburst. and adherence to the principles and teachings of the While I did not agree with him,” Wilkinson continued, Gospel, specifically the payment of tithing, should be taken into consideration in the determination of I defended his right to state what he wanted. I then salaries for the coming year. Because no such direct went on to point out that the statement I had made policy had been previously announced, it was de- with respect to the payment of tithing and other cided that the payment of tithing should not be adherence to Church standards had been approved taken into consideration for the fixation of salaries by the Board of Trustees. Riggs, in his speech, had for the school year [1959–60]. But I was instructed quoted the Doctrine and Covenants that members [by the board of trustees] that adherence to this of the Church should be long suffering and patient principle as well as others should be taken into con- in trying to persuade others to conform to the stan- sideration thereafter.36 dards. He had suggested this was the attitude we

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ought to take with respect to the faculty rather “THE INALIENABLE RIGHT than making compliance with Church standards a OF EVERY CHURCH MEMBER” requirement. I pointed out that the Board had considered fully that viewpoint, but that that was the WILKINSON CORRECTLY FEARED that Riggs was not standard held up for us as faculty members to per- his only faculty critic and quietly asked some of his sub- suade our students to adhere to the Church stan- ordinates to watch out for similar sentiments. Less than dards. The Board felt that faculty members them- two weeks after Wilkinson’s address, BYU’s public rela- selves must of necessity adhere to all standards in tions director, Lester B. Whetten (1904–88), informed order that they could properly teach the students Wilkinson: “While you were in Europe, at one of our both by precept and example. I pointed out further Deans[‘] Council meetings the matter of tithe paying was that while I had used tithing as an example in my discussed at some length. I recall that I was quite sur- talk, it was only used as an example and what I prised to hear some of the deans make statements of this said applied to all standards and principles of the nature, stating that some of their men felt this way. My Church. . . . memory could be in error, but as I recall Dean [Armin J.] I am sure that my comments in the afternoon Hill and possibly Dean [Leonard W.] Rice were the ones had a wholesome effect. In fact, after the meeting who advanced these ideas.”42 was over Bob Riggs came up, shook hands, and Following the Christmas break, Wilkinson met with commended me for my statement. He even went so Armin J. Hill (1912–1988), the fifty-seven-year-old dean of far as to admit that I might be right. He was some- the College of Physical and Engineering Sciences, who, as what chastened and had the best attitude I had ever Whetten had noted, shared some of Riggs’s concerns: known him to have.39 One special thing I did [today] was to have Dean For Riggs, the new policy was merely the tip of the ice- Hill in. I had received a rather impudent note from berg regarding what he perceived as Wilkinson’s authori- him stating that he had supported me in the past tarian administrative style. “That afternoon,” Riggs recalled but implying strongly that if I went ahead, as he felt more than thirty years later, I was going to do, and examined the tithing of members of the faculty, that he would not support they had one of their open forum discussions, a me. He wanted some assurance from me that I panel discussion on the topic “What is a univer- would not [examine the faculty’s tithing records]. I sity?” They opened it up for comments. . . . I told called him in with Brother [Earl C.] Crockett and how I had come to BYU fresh out of graduate school Brother Bernhard and told him that he had not such with high hopes for the kind of institution that it was assurance from me, that I would not give it, and that and could be, and how I’d enjoyed my association what I did in a situation would be between me and with the faculty here, and with the students, but then the Board of Trustees. I told him I wanted to know if one thing after another, I don’t recall all the things I did something he didn’t want me to do, if I would that I mentioned, but I know I mentioned . . . still have his support. He backed down and President Wilkinson’s unwillingness to consult the promised that I would.43 faculty, how we really weren’t part of the enterprise in the sense that faculty ought to be and gradually Evidently, Wilkinson’s comments had reached LDS I’d developed a great disappointment with what was headquarters in Salt Lake City, and early that same January going on here and now we had come to this tithing 1960, the Presiding Bishop’s office reminded the Church’s requirement and while I agreed that everybody here local leaders: “How much tithing a man pays is his own ought to pay their tithing, it ought to be voluntary business, his bishop’s and the Lord’s . . . Privacy is precious, for us, it ought to be a matter of free will giving just and the inalienable right of every member of this as it is for everybody else, and from now on my Church.”44 The First Presidency, too, explicitly informed tithing was going to be one dollar short. I also said Wilkinson that such confidential information was to be ob- that because of the things that had happened I was tained directly from them. Sensitive to any hint of impro- tend[er]ing my resignation from the university, that priety, Wilkinson sought to reassure McKay: “I asked if I would be here throughout the year but I would there had been complaints that I had been obtaining the in- not be here the following year.40 formation from local Bishops. He told me that they had received a letter of criticism to the effect that all secretaries in True to his word, Riggs moved to another university at my office and other places knew the amounts paid by fac- the end of the school year, teaching part-time at the ulty members. I assured him there was no truth of any kind University of Arizona, Tucson, while also attending law to that statement, that no one had the information except school.41 me. He said he had himself assumed that fact but that he was glad to have this assurance.”45

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Early the next week, meeting with McKay and his two “SELF-STYLED INTELLECTUALS” counselors, J. Reuben Clark (1871–1961) and Henry D. Moyle (1889–1963), Wilkinson stressed WILKINSON SPENT MUCH of the remainder of February 1960 going over the partial information he continued to re- that unless I knew what the faculty paid, I was in no ceive from the Presiding Bishop’s office. On the evening of position to know whether they were, in fact, full the 23rd, he met individually with five faculty members tithe payers. President McKay agreed with this and who, according to the Presiding Bishop’s office, “had not the First Presidency consented that I continue to paid tithing during the year.” He also talked with one of his obtain the information in that way. deans, who thought I assured them that contrary to reports they had received, that this information was not available to I ought to have one of the General Authorities come secretaries and was not being broadcast around the down and sit down with the non-tithepayers and try campus. to persuade them. I recalled that I had personally I reported that I had, pursuant to their instruc- once suggested this to my Executive Committee but tions of last fall [1959], informed Deans of partic- they had turned it down on the ground that they ular faculty members who were short in the pay- would be undermining my authority, that I ought to ment of tithing but that I had not disclosed the do it myself. This particular Dean was afraid that amount to the Deans. I was authorized to there was an organized clique intending to make a continue.46 cause celebre out of the present situation and force the Administration to give way on this tithing ques- In the meantime, Humanities and Social Sciences Dean tion or in the alternative to fire some of them, which Leonard W. Rice (1914–1986),47 the second of the two would be the occasion for a big outburst. deans about whom Whetten had expressed concern, de- From my conferences during the evening, I am cided that, like Riggs, he could no longer remain at BYU, convinced that if there is a clique of that kind it is and informed Wilkinson of his intent to “resign and accept a confined to very few teachers in political science job teaching in Rhode Island because he did not think he and history.51 could conform to the standards which I set forth in my speech to the faculty in September of 1959. I have known for Three days later, Wilkinson interviewed nineteen addi- some time that Leonard was not orthodox in all matters, but tional teachers. “Many of them,” he recorded, he has been an outstanding teacher and administrator and I hope we can persuade him to come back. I cannot for the admitted their carelessness or lack of faith, but life of me understand why Leonard cannot conform to the promised to do better. There were, however, as standards set down.”48 would be expected, a few dissidents who took bitter Wilkinson immediately arranged to meet privately with exception to the fact that the administration should Rice, and for more than two hours the two men debated a be concerned with what they considered an obliga- variety of topics: tion between themselves and their bishops. These were generally the self-styled intellectuals who He [Rice] had taken some exception to my letter thought they could pretty much solve the problems of last September in which I laid down the re- of the world by logic and the spirit of the intellect. quirement that all members of the faculty must be They were centered largely in three departments: loyal and faithful to the Church. I do not as yet English, political science, and history.52 know whether he will return. He particularly had grievances against Elder Mark Petersen and Elder The next day, Saturday, 27 February 1960, Wilkinson and Bruce McConkie. He just could not agree with aide Earl C. Crockett (1903–1975) reviewed the records of many of their statements. I took the position that approximately forty-five faculty members “who were defi- it may be that there are certain isolated statements cient in the payment of tithing and decided on their salaries made by different members of the General author- for next year. Generally, where they had made no payments ities with which some of us could not agree, but on tithing, they got no increases. . . . However, where mem- that it is incumbent upon all of us at the BYU to bers paid a partial tithing and exhibited certain evidence of a support these General Authorities in the perfor- desire to bear their share of Church responsibility, we tried mance of the functions of their various offices. He to be lenient in salary increases. None of the 45, however, re- agreed with that. 49 ceived the salary increase he would have received had he otherwise measured up fully in this particular.”53 Rice did not change his mind and left BYU for Rhode According to Kent Fielding, he was one of the nineteen Island by the end of that school year.50 faculty whom Wilkinson interviewed on the 26th. “I was determined to stand my ground . . . ,” Fielding recalled.

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“Despite Wilkinson’s forthright declaration and his position “WE DO NOT INTEND TO FORCE of authority, it was my Church also and the source of my FACULTY MEMBERS TO PAY TITHING” youthful values as well as the faith of my ancestors, my living relatives and most of my friends. I intended to retain AS 1961 BEGAN, Wilkinson again faced the task of re- my allegiance on my own terms, regardless of the outcome. viewing the tithing payments of his faculty in determining Without risks, no change was possible.” As a result, Fielding adjustments to salaries. “This is a most difficult assign- and his wife had “determined to withhold any further payment,” he reported on 26 February. ment of tithing and to refuse to reveal our offerings to any others.”54 When the acting dean of Fielding’s college, Reed Actually, what ought to be done with respect to H. Bradford (1912–1994), subsequently “asked me to con- those who do not pay tithing is to release them from firm the accuracy of my tithing record, which he held in his the faculty because no one should pay tithing in hand,” Fielding wrote, order to stay. I am happy to report that, whereas a few years ago there were quite a number of faculty I refused to look at the record. I declared that such members who paid only a token tithing, so far this matters were confidential to the parties directly in- year I have found only about three. Now the main volved and perhaps to God. He replied that difficulty is in the interpretation of what constitutes President Wilkinson had been given permission to tithing. I find that many fall in the upper brackets; access the tithing records and to utilize this infor- that is they will pay about 80% or 85% of what is re- mation in decisions affecting salary and promotion. ally a full tithing.59 I declared that such matters were now immaterial; it had become a question of conscience with me and I A month later, still reviewing faculty tithing information, must be retained or fired on my own terms. He he reported: urged me not to take such a position, for it could not be supported by the administration. I charged The day before yesterday one teacher reported to him with irresponsibility in being an agent of coer- me that while he knew the record showed he was a cion rather than in defending the academic freedom non-tithe payer he had paid his full tithing after the of his faculty. He said he could not fulfill his duties end of the year, but too late to get on the record for as a dean without carrying out the order of his ad- the year. Yesterday in checking with the bishop to ministrative leaders. I declared that he should re- confirm his story, about which we were rather sus- sign his administrative duties rather than to violate picious, we found that immediately after having had his allegiance to his academic profession.55 his interview with me, he went to the bishop and paid the tithing. The bishop commented, “He is a As Fielding recalled, Wilkinson began their 26 February peculiar duck. I could not understand why he was 1960 interview by explaining that “his concern was with my so insistent that I accept a check yesterday for last evident lack of religious orthodoxy which had the potential of year’s tithing.”60 disturbing the testimony of my students in the future.” Wilkinson then queried: “Do you believe Joseph Smith saw Following a meeting with his executive committee that God?” “I have to believe he thought he did,” Fielding an- May, Wilkinson complained to Henry Moyle about a lack of swered. “This interview continued for four hours,” Fielding timely cooperation from the Presiding Bishop’s office. He wrote, “under circumstances which were never threatening; also thought Church authorities need to issue indeed, they seemed most congenial and understanding. The subject of tithing was never mentioned.” Later, however, some authoritative definition of what constituted Fielding concluded that the decision to terminate his employ- full tithing, particularly that it should be paid before ment—reached on 27 February and delivered to Fielding the payment of taxes. He [Moyle] thoroughly during a meeting with Wilkinson on 3 March—had been agreed with my viewpoint, but said as long as made prior to his interview, that “I was the victim of an elabo- President McKay and President [J. Reuben] Clark rate charade, designed to give me a sense of fair treatment.”56 were in the First Presidency there was no chance to During a 2 March 1960 meeting with his board of get any authoritative interpretation. He informed trustees, Wilkinson was pleased to report that his efforts me also that President [Stephen L] Richards, and he were bearing fruit, and that, in fact, the amount of tithing thought Bishop [Thorpe B.] Isaacson, only paid paid by the school’s faculty in 1959 was considerably their tithing after the deduction of taxes and that more than what had been paid in 1958.57 Wilkinson con- there was not a chance at the present time to change tinued his interviews of faculty members, and in early that situation.61 May 1960 informed trustees that a total of thirty-nine teachers were being released, to be “replaced by faithful By the end of that month, Wilkinson, during a meeting and highly educated men.”58 with McKay, pointed out

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bers for reappointment, etc. I suggested that if there was some way of having the Presiding Bishop’s Office get these records in on time, that it would be helpful to us.62

Wilkinson continued to face similar difficulties each year for the next two years. In early 1962, he recorded being “a little discouraged to find that approximately 150 of our faculty were not paying full tithing. . . . this lack of loyalty and lack of assuming their share of financial responsibility for the financing of the Church disappointed me very much.”63 The next year, he was surprised to find that without his knowledge, two of his aides had assigned college deans to interview faculty members whose tithing contributions were reported to be less than 100 percent. “These deans merely called some in and told them they were short,” Wilkinson reported. “The deans do not know the full facts; and since I am the only one knowing the full facts, it would have been better had I done the interviewing. Some faculty members were furious, but as generally turns out to be the case in these situations, they had made bad mistakes in either computation or definition of what constitutes tithing.”64 Wilkinson believed that he had the appropriate “authority to check the tithing of all faculty members.”65 However, the Presiding Bishop disagreed, and raised the matter with McKay the next month. As described by McKay:

Bishop [John H.] Vandenberg of the Presiding Bishopric explained that the information about tithing paid by members of the faculty of the Brigham Young University has been requested, and asked whether or not it should be released. Limited authorization formerly given President Wilkinson was considered. I said that we do not intend to force faculty members to pay tithing, nor do we intend to release information about tithing they pay. Special permission was given on one occasion, but it has not been continued regularly. Bishop Vandenberg said that it is the Bishop’s prerogative to interview the person, and the responsibility rests with the person paying tithing. Bishop Victor L. Brown suggested that President Wilkinson might be informed as to whether or not faculty members are tithe payers, part tithe payers, or non that, although bishops in the Church were sup- tithe payers. I indicated approval. Bishop posed to have their reports in by the middle of Vandenberg said that accordingly they would disap- January, there were some reports from some bishops prove of giving information about the amount of this year which did not get in until well after the tithing paid.66 first of March. This had hindered us in getting the reports as quickly as we should have the facts in “We have reviewed your request for information re- order to determine the eligibility of faculty mem- garding the amount of tithing paid by the faculty members

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with The First Presidency,” the Presiding Bishopric subse- Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. 4. See “Tithing Record of the Faculty of the Brigham Young University for quently informed Wilkinson. “The occasion on which per- 1915, Exclusive of Those Who Discontinued Service June 30,” courtesy of the mission was given to provide you with this information as Smith-Pettit Foundation. indicated by President McKay was ‘for that time only.’ The 5. On the other hand, ten (15 percent) had paid more than 150 percent, and four (6 percent) had paid more than 300 percent. Ibid. First Presidency has ruled that this information is not to be 6. Merrill, Letter to Presidents of LDS Church Schools, 2 May 1929, in provided but rather we can give you the status of those em- Brigham Young University: The First One Hundred Years, 4 vols., edited by Ernest ployees as to whether they are full, part or non-tithep- L. Wilkinson (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 1975), 2:216. ayers.”67 7. Merrill, Letter to Harris, 1 March 1933, in Brigham Young University: The First One Hundred Years, 2:217. By the end of 1963, Wilkinson decided to pursue a long- 8. See Howard W. Pease, “A Chronological and Comparative Listing of time dream of running for public office and stepped down as Events of BYU, Church and State, and National History from 1847 to 1973,” 7 president of BYU.68 Following his defeat and return to the October 1974, in BYU Archives. BYU presidency in late 1964, his absence together with 9. In Brigham Young University: The First One Hundred Years, 2:218. 10. Ibid., 385. changes in the composition of the First Presidency and 11. In Franklin L. West, Letter to Christen Jensen, 9 May 1940, in Franklin McKay’s failing health combined to end his surveillance of L. West Papers, Perry Special Collections. faculty tithing payments. In fact, current BYU policy strictly 12. According to BYU’s official history, “Written records do not indicate pre- prohibits the release of faculty tithing information to univer- cisely what President Harris did to handle the tithing problem, but some living 69 faculty members remember that Harris interviewed faculty members who did sity administrators. not pay a full tithe, reporting special problems and extenuating circumstances During the eight years of increased surveillance of to the First Presidency. Where there was any doubt, President Harris usually the individual tithing records of BYU faculty members, supported the cause of the faculty member” (Brigham Young University: The some two dozen (probably more) teachers were dis- First One Hundred Years, 2:218, 414). See also Janet Jenson, The Many Lives of Franklin S. Harris (Provo, Utah: BYU Printing Services, 2002), 60–63. While missed or resigned specifically, according to Wilkinson, BYU’s official history addresses Harris’s response regarding faculty tithing, it is because of “religious problems,” “church problems,” or silent on Wilkinson’s efforts to enforce compliance, even though Wilkinson was “disagreement with administration,” including “dis- one of the authors of the official history. For a very brief treatment of 70 Wilkinson’s monitoring of faculty tithing, see Gary James Bergera and Ronald agreement with President’s administrative approach.” Priddis, Brigham Young University: A House of Faith (Salt Lake City: Signature While these numbers may not seem to represent much Books, 1985), 68–70. of an impact on BYU generally, the effect of Wilkinson’s 13. Wilkinson, “Notes for Presentation to First Presidency on ‘Tithing’ drive to enforce adherence to LDS teachings on the Problem,” 16 April 1959, Wilkinson Papers, Perry Special Collections. Unless otherwise noted, all such Wilkinson-related materials are in his papers at BYU. lives of the individuals who left, either voluntarily or 14. Ernest L. Wilkinson, “Memorandum of conference with President involuntarily, cannot easily be overstated. For some McKay Today Re: Payment of tithing by teachers,” 8 April 1957. teachers who believed the primary criteria regarding 15. The Messenger (distributed by the Presiding Bishopric of the Church of their employment centered on academic experience and Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), 16 (April 1957): 2. Using more or less the same wording, this was reiterated in subsequent editions of the Church’s expertise, Wilkinson’s emphasis on tithing was mis- General Handbook of Instructions. placed and irrelevant. Still others, appealing to Church 16. Wilkinson, “Notes for Presentation to First Presidency.” guidelines regarding the confidential nature of one’s 17. Wilkinson, Diary, 22 April 1957. tithing history, viewed Wilkinson’s interest as inappro- 18. Wilkinson, “The Principle and Practice of Paying Tithing,” 25 September 1957, 24, Perry Special Collections. priate. For Wilkinson, however, BYU was an extension 19. Robert Kent Fielding, “Growing Up Mormon: Autobiographical of the Church, and he was merely an agent of the Narratives and Related Papers,” August 1997, 20, in Robert Kent Fielding Church’s general authorities. Not only did he see Papers, Special Collections, Marriott Library. Fielding graduated from BYU nothing wrong with having access to such information, twice, in 1950 (B.A.) and again in 1952 (M.A.). Although Fielding may appear to figure more prominently than other faculty members in the following narra- he considered it essential if he were to successfully ad- tive, it would be a mistake to view him, or any other single faculty member, as minister the affairs of the “Lord’s University.” That such a primary instigator of tithing-related controversies. Fielding was one of a tensions endured for nearly a decade underscores the number of faculty who disagreed with Wilkinson’s policies. If Fielding’s name appears more frequently than others, it is simply because he left an account of challenges confronting a religion-sponsored university his involvement. and its advocates. 20. J. Kenneth Davies, “My Personal Odyssey,” 1998, 30, courtesy of the Smith-Pettit Foundation. NOTES 21. McKay, Diary, 3 March 1958, David O. McKay Papers, Special Collections, Marriott Library. 22. Wilkinson, Letter to McKay, 7 April 1958. 1. For Wilkinson as president, see Gary James Bergera, “Ernest L. 23. Wilkinson’s handwritten notation on ibid. Wilkinson’s Appointment as Seventh President of Brigham Young University,” 24. Wilkinson, Diary, 21 April 1958. Journal of Mormon History 23 (Fall 1997): 128–54. For Wilkinson’s personality 25. Ibid., 13 March 1959. and managerial style, see Gary James Bergera, “Wilkinson the Man,” SUNSTONE 26. Wilkinson, Memorandum of a Conference with David O. McKay, 16 20 (July 1997): 29–41. April 1959 (17 April 1959). 2. “The amount of tithing and other offerings paid by a member is confi- 27. Ibid. McKay’s diary reported only: “The question of whether President dential. Only the bishop and those who are authorized to handle such contri- Wilkinson should have access to the tithing records of the faculty of the butions should know the amount” (Handbook 1: Stake Presidents and Bishops, Brigham Young University. The faculty itself has already voted that compliance 2010 [Salt Lake City: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2010], 128). with Church standards is one of the criterions for promotion. This question 3. Harvey Fletcher, “Autobiography,” 41, in Harvey Fletcher file, was discussed at our meeting of the First Presidency today” (McKay, Diary, University Archives, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, April 16, 1959; emphasis in original).

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28. Wilkinson, Diary, 23 April 1959. Beginning in 1957, Fielding chaired an 45. Wilkinson, Memorandum of a Conference with David O. McKay, 3 “Intellectual Climate Committee” to “foster the rational and intellectual side of February 1960. Mormonism” (Fielding, “Growing Up Mormon,” 21). Two years later, he par- 46. Wilkinson, Memorandum of a Conference with the First Presidency, 9 ticipated in an on-campus debate with LDS educator E. E. Erickson regarding February 1960. the place of liberal Mormonism in the Church. When he learned of the 47. Rice graduated from BYU in 1941. He then enrolled at the University of meeting, Wilkinson recorded that it “apparently turned out to be the most vig- Washington. He served in World War II as a cryptographer. Following the war, orous criticism of Church tendencies and Church leaders that has been held on he returned to Washington to finish his Ph.D. studies. He subsequently joined the campus since I have been here” (Wilkinson, Diary, 17–19 January 1959). the BYU faculty, chaired the English department, and in 1957 was named Dean Evidently, word of Fielding’s comments also reached Harold B. Lee, which of Humanities and Social Sciences. prompted Lee’s exchange with Wilkinson. 48. Wilkinson, Diary, 12 February 1960. 29. In Fielding, “Growing Up Mormon,” 30. 49. Ibid., 16 February 1960. Petersen (1900–84) had been ordained an 30. Ibid., 17. During the 1950s, Fielding pursued, and was awarded, a Ph.D. apostle in 1944; McConkie (1915–85) had joined the First Council of the in history at Indiana University. His dissertation was on the LDS Church in Seventy in 1946 (and would be ordained an apostle in 1972). Both men were Ohio during the 1830s. literalistically oriented LDS theologians. 31. Wilkinson, Diary, 26 April 1959. 50. In 1962, Rice was appointed thirteenth president of the Oregon College 32. Ibid., 28 April 1959. Romney (1897–1988) had been ordained an of Education (in Monmouth), where he remained until his retirement in 1977. apostle in 1951; Brown (1883–1975) had been ordained an apostle in 1958 and 51. Wilkinson, Diary, 23 February 1960. would serve as a member of McKay’s First Presidency beginning in 1961. 52. Ibid., 26 February 1960. 33. Wilkinson, Memorandum of a Conference with David O. McKay, April 53. Ibid., 27 February 1960. 29, 1959 (30 April 1959). 54. Fielding, “Growing Up Mormon,” 35, 37. 34. BYU Board of Trustees Meeting, Minutes, 29 April 1959, courtesy of the 55. Ibid., 37–38. Smith-Pettit Foundation. 56. Ibid., 39–43. Fielding was told he would be given a sabbatical leave after 35. Wilkinson, Diary, 30 April 1959. Ray R. Canning (1920–94), who which he would be allowed to return only if he passed another interview with a taught sociology at BYU, fumed over what he believed was Wilkinson’s intru- member of BYU’s board of trustees. Following his leave, Fielding decided to sion into his private life. “That is the way Wilkinson operated,” Canning later hazard an interview with Harold B. Lee. But after Lee replied with “a cryptic wrote of Wilkinson’s inquiries into Canning’s tithing contributions; “he simply and wholly unsympathetic letter,” Fielding “made no further effort to secure sent out his agents, and they got the information. . . . The more he knew, the approval” (ibid., 44–45). Following a career at the Graduate School for more leverage and power he had over me, if he wanted to use it” (Canning, My Teachers at Wesleyan University (Connecticut), the Utah Center for the Continuing Quest: Sociological Perspectives on Mormonism, edited by Stan Larson Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency, and the Connecticut Commission on [Salt Lake City: Freethinker Press, 1996], 73). Canning left BYU in 1959 for a Higher Education, Fielding retired in 1978. career at the University of Utah. 57. BYU Board of Trustees, Minutes, 2 March 1960. 36. Wilkinson, “The Return of Full Value,” an address at the faculty wor- 58. Ibid., 4 May 1960. ship of Brigham Young University, 21 September 1959, Perry Special 59. Wilkinson, Diary, 26 February 1961. Collections; reprinted in Edwin J. Butterworth and David H. Yarn, eds., 60. Ibid., 2 March 1961. Earnestly Yours: Selected Addresses of Dr. Ernest L. Wilkinson (Salt Lake City: 61. Ibid., 11 May 1961. In 1960, Church members were told that tithing is Deseret Book Co., 1971), 268–82. “one-tenth of their interest (income)” (General Church Handbook, Number 18 37. Wilkinson, Diary, 21 September 1959. “In the emotional and some- [Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1960], p. 59). Three years later, times heated discussion which followed the address,” remembered Kent Church leaders were more explicit: “A tithe is one-tenth of a wage earner’s gross Fielding, “it was many times repeated by Wilkinson that Brigham Young income; a tithe is one-tenth of a professional man’s income after deducting stan- University had a Destiny which required faith and dedication. . . . In that con- dard business expenses; a tithe is one-tenth of a farmer’s income after deducting text, all arguments to the contrary seemed pitiful and self-serving” (“Growing standard business operating expenses” (General Handbook of Instructions, Up Mormon,” 34). Number 19 [Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 1963], p. 67, emphasis 38. Wilkinson, Diary, 22 September 1959. In 1968, following his own dis- in original). In 1968, however, Church officials referred members, without elu- agreements with Wilkinson, Bernhard resigned to accept the presidency of cidation, to the D&C 119 (General Handbook of Instructions, Number 20 Western Illinois University. From 1974 to 1985, he presided over Western [Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1968], p. 102). Today, members Michigan University. are instructed: “The simplest statement we know of is the statement of the Lord 39. Wilkinson, Diary, 22 September 1959. Bernhard tried to persuade Riggs himself, namely, that the members of the Church should pay ‘one-tenth of all to stay, assuring him that there would be no administrative retaliation. their interest annually,’ which is understood to mean income. No one is justi- However, Riggs was dismayed soon afterwards to learn that the administration fied in making any other statement than this” (Handbook 1: Stake Presidents and had decided not to grant him a promised promotion because “of my public crit- Bishops 2010, p. 125). icism of the University and President Wilkinson the previous fall” (Riggs, email 62. Wilkinson, Memorandum of a Conference with David O. McKay, 22 to Gary James Bergera, 4 February 2011). May 1961. 40. Robert E. Riggs, Oral History, 8 September 1992, 32, Perry Special 63. Wilkinson, Diary, 15 March 1962. Collections. Riggs later clarified: “I did, for instance, state that from then on my 64. Ibid., 29 March 1963. tithing would be ‘one dollar short.’ But in fact I immediately repented of that in- 65. Wilkinson, Memorandum to William E. Berrett, 13 April 1963. flammatory statement. My tithe payments, both before and after the speech, 66. McKay, Diary, 24 May 1963; emphasis in original. Vandenberg have always been in full” (Riggs, email to Bergera). (1904–92) had been named Presiding Bishop in September 1961. When Ken 41. Following a career teaching political science at the University of Davies asked him about Wilkinson’s access to tithing information, Vandenberg Minnesota, Riggs returned to BYU, now presided over by Wilkinson’s successor, “seemed shocked by the revelation of what was taking place on the campus and Dallin H. Oaks (b. 1932), to join the J. Reuben Clark Law School. said that he would certainly look into it” (“My Personal Odyssey,” 30). 42. Whetten, Memorandum to Wilkinson, 5 October 1959. Before coming 67. Presiding Bishopric, Letter to Wilkinson, 24 May 1963. to BYU in 1956, Whetten had served as executive dean of the Chicago College 68. See Gary James Bergera, “‘A Sad and Expensive Experience’: Ernest L. of Osteopathy, as superintendent of schools in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, as di- Wilkinson’s 1964 Bid for the U.S. Senate,” Utah Historical Quarterly 62 (Fall rector of agriculture at Mesa College (Colorado), and as president of Snow 1993): 304–24. College (Utah). In addition to directing BYU’s public relations, he was also dean 69. All BYU employees must undergo annual ecclesiastical endorsement in- of General College. From 1972 to 1973, he chaired the school’s Department of terviews conducted by local LDS officials. “If an ecclesiastical endorsement is Indian Education. not granted for an employee, BYU does not ask the reason why” (Carri Jenkins, 43. Wilkinson, Diary, 23 January 1960. Hill remained at BYU as dean, first email to Gary James Bergera, 8 February 2011). of Physical and Engineering Sciences, then in 1972 of Engineering Sciences and 70. These figures come from two documents, courtesy of the Smith-Pettit Technology, until his retirement in 1977. Foundation. The first is entitled “Faculty members dismissed since 1953”; the 44. The Messenger 45 (January 1960): 1. second is not titled.

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Fiction

RETURN OF THE NATIVE

By Levi S. Peterson

HE PHOENIX-BOUND PLANE WAS AIRBORNE Patricia, who ran out of patience long ago with ultra-right before I allowed myself to consider the negatives of wing folks and can be counted on to stop and quarrel if she T what I was doing. I told my stepdaughter who lives runs into any of them. At least that was the reason I gave in Seattle an outright lie about my destination, saying I was myself, though later, as I realized once the jetliner was air- flying to Corvallis to visit an old buddy from my Navy days. borne, the real reason was to test myself and see whether I I knew I would have to expand on that lie when my wife, on could keep my composure when the old anxiety—the old a cruise with her sisters, got around to calling me. Even self-incrimination—came back to me like delirium tremens worse, I would have to expand on the lie I had been telling to a half-cured drunk. myself for a long time, that there was no resemblance be- I lived in Phoenix during the last year and a half of high tween who I’d become and the fifteen-year-old kid who school, so I shouldn’t have been surprised at how hot it was forced himself on his first cousin in a barn back in 1951. when I left the air terminal and climbed on a shuttle bus out It was my sister Rosa who phoned me, saying that Uncle to the car rental lot. But I was surprised, and, after navi- Hammond was dead, also that Aunt Sophrina was holding gating onto the freeway heading east toward Mesa and up, but a daughter, who had been taking care of them, had Globe, I was equally surprised at how little I recognized of gone to pieces. Not that anybody expected me at the funeral, the city I’d once known so well. But all this wonderment Rosa said, but it wouldn’t be decent not to let me know. To proved a beneficial distraction, so for a while the fantods I which I replied that she was right, it was something I ought had been anticipating on the airplane didn’t kick in. When to know even if I hadn’t been home for over half a century. I they did kick in, I was eating a hamburger in a fast food appreciated Rosa greatly. She was the only one left who kept place on the east end of Globe. Out a window I could see the me posted on things in Linroth. junction where the Safford-bound highway split off toward Actually, Rosa’s call caught me at a lonesome moment, Show Low, and I was struck hard by the fact that the junc- Patricia having just left on her cruise. I went golfing that first tion looked exactly like it used to fifty years ago, also by the day, and the next day I helped a neighbor put up a cedar fact that on Thanksgiving Day of the year I turned 17, I fence, but I woke up both nights feeling abandoned, and on stood at that very junction trying to thumb a ride home to the second night the thought hit me like a bullet, Just go! Linroth because I had heard that Cassia, my cousin, would Patricia had been at me for a long time to take her to probably be there. I stood at the junction all day in a cold Linroth. Our friends couldn’t believe we had been married wind. What little traffic took the Show Low road didn’t stop for twenty years without a single visit to my home town. for me. I was broken-hearted to say the least. A little before That story had to be a fiction, they said; it just wouldn’t dark, I caught a ride back to Phoenix, and when the school happen in real life to a couple as normal as we were. But it year was out, I joined the Navy and never made another at- wasn’t fiction. So I woke up that morning and said to myself, tempt to go back to Linroth. this is it, my one and only chance to scout things out in ad- I threshed all this over while sitting in the fast food place, vance and see if Linroth has turned into a Levi’s-and-boots wondering how I ever figured that, even if I had made it kind of town full of firearm-packing Republicans like the home to Linroth and even if Cassia had actually been rest of Arizona, because if it has, it isn’t a place to take there—I later learned she wasn’t—I would have had the nerve to beg her forgiveness, which made me pause for a LEVI S. PETERSON is a former editor of Dialogue and moment to wonder how, having more or less ruined her life, author of novels The Backslider and Aspen Marooney, I could face her at the present if she happened to turn up at short-story collections Canyons of Grace and Night Soil, Uncle Hammond’s funeral, which—according to my current and autobiography A Rascal by Nature, A Christian by reasoning—she just might. I sat there after I had finished my

Yearning. He lives in Washington with his wife Althea. hamburger and cola mulling that possibility and, as I say, Al limAg esg : Al ens mit h

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having the fantods. Then it occurred to me to get Rosa on “When we were kids,” she said, “you asked me to marry my cell phone and find out if Cassia was in town, because if you, here, in this barn.” she was, I would turn around and go back to Phoenix and I couldn’t remember that. catch the first available plane back to Seattle. “You kissed me,” she said. “Don’t you remember that?” Unluckily, Rosa didn’t answer her mobile phone, and “I remember other places, but not here,” I said. when I dialed her house phone, a granddaughter—likely a She placed a stem of hay on my head. I removed it with an teenager, I thought—answered and said Rosa was out. irritable gesture. She replaced it, and I let it stay. When I asked the girl whether she had ever heard of her “Did you kiss Lori Ann when you took her home from uncle Rulon Braunhil, which is me, she said, “Sure, you’re the junior prom last spring?” she went on. grandma’s brother who lives in Seattle.” But when I asked if “That’s none of your business.” an elderly cousin named Cassia had come home for the fu- “You did, didn’t you?” neral, she said nobody had told her anything about that. “I “That just isn’t any of your business.” didn’t even know I had an elderly cousin Cassia,” she said. “Would you kiss me now?” she said. I stared at her. Y TROUBLE WITH Cassia—which I didn’t see as She puckered her lips and closed her eyes. trouble for a long time—came about because we Alarmed, I said, “The rain’s quitting. We better be going.” M were born within six days of each other and our She pushed me down and placed a long, lingering kiss on families regarded us as twins and encouraged us to do things my lips. together. As a result, we had feelings for each other from To that point I had struggled to maintain an illusion of early on that first cousins shouldn’t have. Around the time disinterest. But after that long, lingering kiss, a frantic, fur- we turned five or six we got into the habit of getting un- nace-fed flame drove through me and there was no stopping dressed and checking each other out behind a chicken coop. me even though when I tugged up her dress she pleaded for Luckily, we got past that phase without being caught. me not to do it and when the deed was done, she wept. I The summer we were ten, we wrestled each other on the waited til full dark before I went home, long after she had back lawn of the seminary building, and she pinned me and climbed from the barn and gathered her cows and returned kissed me long and hard. “That’s the way Betty Grable kisses along the lane. Lightening arced madly through a distant Victor Mature,” she said and kissed me again. cloudburst, a portent and testimony, I felt, of the hell I had The year we were twelve and in MIA, we rode in the back suddenly entered. seat of my parents’ car to a stake-wide New Year’s Eve party My nighttime terror was of God, who couldn’t overlook a in Holbrook. It was very cold, and Cassia and I huddled rape, particularly a rape of a first cousin. As weeks passed, I under a blanket and we kissed in a way that seemed sinful to realized God was toying with me, letting me simmer in anx- me. I put a hand on one of her breasts and she took it off. I iety, preparing a catastrophic demise for me in the ripeness felt humiliated. For several months after that I wanted to of his own due time. My daytime terror was that Cassia forego partaking of the sacrament, but doing so would have would tell her parents, who would tell my parents, and who made me intolerably conspicuous because I was a deacon knew what would happen then? Maybe they’d turn me over and had to help pass the bread and water to the Linroth con- to the law and I’d end up doing a life sentence down at gregation every Sunday. That doubled my worry because I Florence. In the meantime, Cassia avoided me. One day understood people who partook of the sacrament un- when I saw her in the store, she turned on her heel and dis- worthily were eating and drinking damnation unto them- appeared through the door at the rear that said “Employees selves. Only,” even though she wasn’t an employee. She didn’t come All of that trouble between Cassia and me was nothing down the lane anymore, either. compared to the trouble we got into during the summer we When fall approached, the two Braunhil homes were set were fifteen, and it happened because our fathers owned abuzz by the announcement that Cassia would spend the side-by-side farms on the creek. I had been hoeing corn on a school year with an aunt on her mother’s side in Salt Lake rainy afternoon in June. Near evening, Cassia came down City. The reason given was that her bright mind merited a the lane to fetch cows home for evening milking. She wore a challenging high school. Weeks after she left, I overheard a dress and scuffed brown and white oxfords with no socks. A mere fragment of conversation between my sisters Carol and squall of rain hit, and she climbed into a barn at the head of Rosa, who were washing dishes at the kitchen sink. A single the pasture. phrase—”put it up for adoption”—lingered in my mind as I “Hey, dummy,” she shouted from a window, “come in out left the house by the kitchen door, heading for a belated duty of the rain.” in the corral, where unmilked cows lowed impatiently. By I dropped my hoe, crawled through a fence, and climbed the time I returned with a pail brimming with foamy milk, I into the barn. Damp and shivering, we sat side by side in the had figured it out. Cassia had been banished to Utah to have hay. Our shoulders touched, and I gazed at her askance. She a baby. was beautiful—dark brows, an aquiline nose, slightly hol- Years later, I pressed my mother to open up about Cassia. lowed cheeks. She admitted the real reason that Cassia went to Utah was

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that Uncle Hammond, informed by Aunt Sophrina of his where a brother ought to stay. daughter’s pregnancy, had exiled her forever from his house. However, Rosa didn’t answer either her cell phone or her When the family gathered for prayer before supper on the house phone, so, craven or not, I went into the bed-and- day he found out, Hammond forbade Cassia to join. “You no breakfast place. The girl behind the counter, maybe 17, longer belong to this family,” he said. The next day she left pulled out a registry and asked my name. “Rulon Braunhil,” on the afternoon bus. Aunt Sophrina and Dory took her to I blurted, suddenly repulsed by the ploy of a pseudonym. meet the bus. My mother went too, and so did Carol and “Braunhil is a common name here,” she said. Rosa. I imagine those girls already knew the real reason. “I grew up here,” I said. “But I’ve been gone a long time.” The more I thought about the circumstances under which Maybe I struck her as incapacitated because she said, “I’m Cassia left Linroth, the more certain I felt that she wouldn’t sorry, we only have an upstairs room available.” show up at Uncle Hammond’s funeral. I figured that he’d be “That’s okay,” I said. “I do a lot of hiking on hilly trails.” the next to last man in the whole world—me being the very As she led me up the stairs, I asked her family name. last—she would want to show some respect for by attending “Burleson,” she said. his funeral. In any event, I had got myself as far as Globe, “That’s not a name I recognize.” and I wanted to keep on going. So I did, calming my nerves “No, my parents are newcomers. We aren’t Mormons, but by working out a little plan in case a tactical retreat proved we like it here. I have lots of Mormon friends.” necessary. With the exception of Rosa, nobody presently “I’m glad to hear that,” I said. alive in Linroth had seen me for fifty years, and if I took a In my room, I heaved my suitcase onto the dresser top little care not to confront persons near my own age face to and hung my shirts and pants on racks in a closet. I went to face, I could easily remain incognito. I would take a motel in a window and looked out. A small, sleek White Mountain Show Low for the night and turn up in Linroth just in time Lines bus had stopped at the supermarket across the street. for the funeral and take a seat at the back of the church. If I On a Monday evening fifty years ago, Cassia got on another saw Cassia filing in among the mourners after the closing of White Mountain Lines bus at that very spot though I wasn’t the casket, I’d slip away when the funeral adjourned to the there to see her do it. I went back to the bed, took off my cemetery, leaving town as unannounced as I had entered it. shoes, and lay down, somehow feeling truncated, cut in half, When I got to Show Low, there was still a lot of daylight dismembered. left and I kept driving, assuring myself that I would just take I graduated from high school in Phoenix because after a quick look around Linroth and then come back to Show Cassia left for Utah I acted out the complete outlaw at Low for the night. My eyes blurred with tears when I Linroth Union High. I sauntered down corridors slamming rounded the hill south of Linroth. From that perspective, the locker doors shut, popped bra straps on unwary girls, and little town nestling in a horseshoe-shaped valley looked as knocked a boy over a bench in the shower room after PE, in familiar as if I had left it the day before. Driving on in, I consequence of which my parents and I met with the prin- could see a lot of things had changed. There was a Chevrolet cipal one morning. dealership, a modern post office building, and, across the “I just hope you can influence your son to behave,” the street from the church house, a bank branch and a café. The principal said. “The next step is the state industrial school at church house itself, constructed of chiseled yellow stone Fort Grant. If we expel him, that’s where they’ll put him.” and topped by a steeple, was unchanged. The doors and “What’s got into you?” my mother said. “You come home window frames must have been painted recently because late. You don’t do your chores. You sass your dad. This isn’t they looked as fresh and well cared for as when I had last like you at all!” seen the building. Fortunately, my father had a plan. “Rulon says he can’t Driving on down the street, I saw a modern small-town take it here anymore. Boys get that way. So I phoned Uncle version of a supermarket occupying the spot where a mer- Trevor,” he said. “That’s my brother who lives in Phoenix,” cantile had once stood. Across the street from the super- he explained to the principal. “He says let Rulon come live market I saw an old red brick home fronted by a white with him and Sybil.” picket fence. Attached to the fence was an ornate sign de- Dad looked at me. “Do you want to do that, son? Do you claring “Pioneer Bed & Breakfast.” I pulled over and with think you could settle down and start getting decent grades motor idling sat thinking a while. If I registered with a pseu- again?” I said I would try, and I did, having made up my donym—the name of my Corvallis friend came to mind— mind that I really had gone kind of crazy, and Cassia there was no need to retreat to Show Low for the night. But notwithstanding, I had a life to live and needed to get on then it occurred to me that it was pretty craven of a man to with it. rent a room in a bed-and-breakfast place in a town loaded My dad was a good man. He wasn’t anywhere near as with relatives who would consider it a high privilege to fur- hidebound and punctilious as Uncle Hammond. Neither nish him with a bed. With that, I decided to call Rosa again, was Uncle Trevor, for that matter. He was laid back, too. and if Cassia was in town, I’d pretend I was calling from I went home to Linroth for brief visits, but as I said, after Seattle and beat a hasty retreat, and if she wasn’t, why, heck, that failed hitchhike on Thanksgiving Day I never went I’d abandon this incognito stuff and go stay at Rosa’s house back. I knew Linroth was like a malaria zone for me. It was

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as if I had been run through some kind of a magnetizing ma- the point of having to explain myself, I rarely dated a woman chine and there was a protective shield around the town that more than once, even if I was attracted to her. automatically deflected me. So how is it that after three decades of celibacy I married My parents came to my graduation from Camelback High Patricia? School, and when I told them I wanted to join the Navy, they I met her on a Sunday afternoon. It was nice weather, and agreed to sign for me. The Korean War was going full tilt, I had driven up from Seattle to see the fields of tulips in the and like a lot of the other fellows at Camelback, I could see Skagit Valley. I stopped at an ice cream shop on a rural road serving in the Navy was ten times smarter than getting and had a dish of almond fudge at an outdoor table. Patricia drafted into the infantry. I did my basic training at the Great and her teen-aged daughters—Koreen and Alisha—came Lakes training station on the shores of Lake Michigan, then out of the shop looking for a place to sit. My table was the was assigned to a logistics unit at the Alameda Naval Air least occupied, and Patricia asked if they could sit with me. Station across the bay from San Francisco. Although Things went from there. Patricia had a round, cheerful handing out underwear and socks to new arrivals wasn’t my face and abundant, shoulder-length hair, carefully parted in idea of excitement, the bustling activity of the base dis- the middle. She engaged me in conversation with the distracted me, and upon returning to my quarters in the arming forwardness of an established friend. She had a evening I often realized that I had gone for hours without home in the Cedar Park district of north Seattle. She was five thinking of my private hell. But with evening the fantods re- years past the accidental death of her husband and, as the turned, and I spent long, wakeful nights until I got some following months proved, was willing to have a gentleman sleeping pills from the base medical center and began to caller. Luckily for me, she more or less took me as is without knock myself out every night by taking a couple. asking to see under the hood; that is, she didn’t seem per- After nearly a year at the base, I started to take evening turbed by the blank spaces in my life’s story. I was pleased— courses in electronic engineering at the University of and a little astonished—that I could at last permit myself to California at Berkeley. During the first semester, I met and think of marriage owing to the fancy that with age I had began to date a young woman from Mexico, Emilia, who been transformed into a different human being, still named was finishing a master’s degree in philosophy. An atheist, she Rulon Braunhil, but otherwise an utter stranger to that fif- had a long list of proofs for the absence from the universe of teen-year-old youth who had raped his first cousin in a barn. a divine personality, and she was eager to convert me. As things stood, I was eager to be converted. I did some super- DOZED OFF for a while on the bed in the bed-and- ficial reading in Hume, Nietzsche, Russell, and Sartre, de- breakfast place and woke up wondering how I was clared myself free from Christianity, and threw away my I going to spend the evening. I went downstairs and sleeping pills. As for my social life, I went to movies, mu- asked the Burleson girl whether there was still a movie the- seums, and operas around the Bay Area with Emilia, usually ater in town. at her expense because her father owned a big ranch and “Yes, but it just runs on Saturday night.” sent her plenty of money. Eventually, she made it evident “What do people do for entertainment during the rest of that she would welcome something more than philosophical the week?” discussions between us. She wasn’t voluptuous, yet with “Friday nights there’s usually a dance somewhere—here dark braided hair, luminous eyes, and lightly bronzed lips or in Saller’s Cove or up at Show Low. Monday night is she was far from unattractive. However, my Mormon scru- family night for the Mormons. Everybody stays home. Other ples hadn’t vanished with my Mormon theology. Simply put, nights, a lot of people play softball. There’ll be a game I couldn’t make love to a woman without marrying her, and tonight with a team from Holbrook.” I couldn’t marry Emilia, not only because I couldn’t see “What about that café up the street?” I said. “Do local spending the rest of my life in Mexico, but even more im- people seem to like it?” portant, because I judged the rapist of a first cousin to be un- “A lot of them seem to. We could have fixed you dinner if worthy of any decent woman. The truth was, I realized, that I had let my dad know early enough that you wanted it.” I couldn’t marry at all. And with that realization, I broke off “That’s all right. I’ll check out the café.” with Emilia and settled into three decades of celibacy. As for I drove to the café and went in. I took a seat in a booth, Emilia, she graduated in the spring and went home to and a girl in a lacy apron came from behind a counter and Mexico to stay. handed me a menu. “We only offer the full menu on Friday I understand sublimation well. It’s what monks, nuns, and Saturday night,” she said. “Tonight, the entrée is and maverick laypersons like me practice in order to lead chicken fried steak.” sexless lives. I developed my skills in sublimation chiefly in “No lasagna?” I said. “Too bad.” and around Seattle, where I eventually migrated, having “You could have a hamburger or a sandwich.” found employment with the Boeing Company after I re- “I’ll have the chicken fried steak,” I said, handing back signed from active duty in the Navy. Sometimes I dated the menu. women I met at Boeing, and my various male friends occa- “Chicken fried,” she called to the fry cook. sionally recruited me for blind dates. Not wanting to get to She stood fingering the menu, apparently in no hurry to

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leave. I looked her over. I wouldn’t have called her pretty, yet closely. “Say, stick around a few minutes and you can go to I was attracted by her dark, curly hair and reassuring smile, the game with me. You ought to see that Holbrook feller.” which caused me to consider my own less-than-attractive “Thanks. I’ve got things to do,” I said. person—a thin fellow, somewhere between tall and short, I went to the counter. I glanced back at the man in the somewhat stooped, and possessed of a lined, emaciated face booth. “Do you worry about a fellow like that?” I asked and white, close-cropped hair. Ashley in a low voice. “I was wondering . . . ,” she started to say, then suddenly “Of course,” she said, rolling her eyes with something blurted, “Are you my uncle Rulon?” like vexation. “We don’t walk places after dark. Girls, I I was totally astonished. mean. Not alone, that is. When the café closes, Mom will “My friend Cindy Burleson phoned me a few minutes come get me in the car.” ago. I hope you won’t be mad at her for telling me you were “What time does it close?” in town.” “Ten-thirty on week nights. But I won’t wait to let “No, I won’t be angry.” Grandma know you’re here. I’ll phone her right now. I know “You phoned Grandma at noon, didn’t you?” she went on. she’ll want you to stay with her.” I nodded. “That’s okay,” I said. “There’s no need to let her know “I’m the one you talked to. I’m Ashley. I’m Lee Ann’s tonight.” daughter. We live next door to Grandma. Mom asked me to “No, really, she’ll want to know you’re in town. I’m sorry run over and borrow a lemon juicer. But Grandma wasn’t I didn’t phone her sooner.” there, and I couldn’t find it.” “Do you mind holding off and letting me surprise her?” A couple of boys of high school age came in and sat at the “Well, heck no, if that’s what you want.” counter. Ashley served them Cokes and stood behind the “I mean like tomorrow at the funeral.” counter talking to them. After a while she brought my order. She studied me for a long time. “You wanted to know about Cousin Cassia,” she said. “It’s important to me,” I said. “When Mom brought me to work a while ago, she told me “All right.” Cassia is arriving by Amtrak and Grandma will pick her up “Promise?” in Winslow early tomorrow morning.” “Yes, I promise.” “I’m glad to know that,” I said—truthfully enough It was getting toward twilight when I went outside. I saw though I realized Ashley would assume my reason to be lights in the church and heard an organ, so I crossed the quite different than it was. street and went in, taking a seat in the backmost pew. The At this point, a man entered the restaurant and looked church was empty except for me and a woman at the organ, around uncertainly. His face was broad and pasty, and a who smiled at me and went on playing. Likely she was prac- shock of graying hair hung almost to his eyes. His long- ticing for the funeral. The dark wood of the pews glistened, sleeved shirt was buttoned at the throat. He shuffled to my and the scent of furniture wax pervaded the atmosphere. booth and slid in opposite to me. The pasty-faced Haines fellow was on my mind. Men who “My name is Clemon Haines,” he said, offering me a limp violate women ought to be castrated. That goes for a man hand. who has his way with his first cousin in a barn. That’s how I Ashley set a knife and fork in front of the man and asked, felt. That’s how I had been feeling off and on for five “Is it milk or orange pop tonight?” decades. Also, sitting in the church, I could see the disad- “Pop,” he said. Then, as she retreated toward the counter, vantages of being a total disbeliever. If I believed in God, I he leaned confidentially toward me. “The church pays for could ask for forgiveness and maybe I could get a feeling my supper here every night. I’ve got a bad back. Can’t work.” that said, “Okay, you’ve done penance enough. Go your way My mind was getting error signals from four or five direc- and sin no more.” tions. I was dredging up memories from a series of letters However, I knew I had to get my mind off irremediable from my mother saying a retarded Haines’ boy had assaulted matters in a hurry. I needed to concentrate on how to leave a woman and had been castrated and sent home from the town without Rosa and Cassia finding out I had been there. state hospital as no longer being a public menace. Also, Figuratively speaking, I was kicking my own butt over and since there was no way I could face Cassia the next day, I was over for giving the Burleson girl my true name. The key now, trying to process how I was going to manage to leave town of course, was Ashley, who sooner or later would tell her without her and Rosa knowing I had been there. grandmother and Cassia that I had been in town. I had to Ashley brought the man a chicken-fried steak and glass of come up with a reason for her not to tell them—a reason orange soda, and he fell to eating with gusto. “Going to the that could at best be only half accurate—and I had to softball game,” he said with scarcely a pause in his avid somehow convey it to her before her mother came for her at chewing. “That Holbrook feller, he’s something else. Can he ten-thirty. ever hit!” When I went back, the café was empty except for Ashley I laid a couple of dollar bills on the table and stood up. and the fry cook. Ashley looked surprised when I walked in, “Boy, you’re a real tipper!” the man said, eying the bills of course. “I’d like a cola,” I said and went to the back booth.

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When she brought the drink, I said, “I need to talk to you After she divorced, she got an Ed.D. and served as the prin- for a minute.” cipal of an elementary school for fifteen more years. Judging “About what?” she said, throwing a quick glance toward by appearances, she was among those plucky teen girls who the pass-through window into the kitchen. pull out of the tailspin of getting pregnant and giving up a “I’ve changed my mind about going to the funeral. I want baby for adoption and go on to lead adult lives of consider- to leave town first thing in the morning. I don’t want Rosa able achievement. and Cassia to know I’ve been here. I wish I hadn’t come in However, she probably suffered a good deal from loneli- the first place. I need you to promise not to tell them I’ve ness and also from the injustice of her exile. I could well been here. Just that.” imagine how angry she felt whenever she allowed herself to Shifting uneasily, she glanced again toward the pass- think about either me or her father. Moreover, the longer I through window. Time passed. Obviously I had put her be- lived—and the more keenly I appreciated the fact that tween a rock and a hard place. having an unknown son somewhere out there in the big “There’s a reason I have stayed away from Linroth for fifty world had put me into a tailspin of sorts—the less certain I years,” I added. became that any woman could pull entirely out of the “And it involves Grandma?” trauma of giving up a baby. Even if Cassia had abhorred the “No. Cassia.” fetus growing within her at first, considering how it got I was in a pure panic, speechless, maybe shaking a bit and there, wouldn’t she have bonded with it when it began to stir certainly wondering how it was that a pleasant, innocent- and kick inside her womb? And even if the boy child it looking teenager of whose existence I had had no inkling turned out to be was carried away from her unseen at the in- until a few hours earlier should turn out to be the one soul stant of his birth, her instinct for mothering couldn’t have to whom I had confided even so much as a remote hint of been disposed of so succinctly. Didn’t an unfed hunger, a my reason for not returning to Linroth. thwarted desire, leave her perpetually susceptible to bouts of “All right,” she said at last. “I promise. I won’t say a grief—like my mother, who mourned a seven-month still- word.” born girl to the end of her days? A short, burly man came into the café and took a seat at That’s why I couldn’t imagine Cassia would want to see the counter. Ashley left me and took his order. Then a chat- me under any circumstance. The least I could do was tering couple came in and took a seat in a booth, and she honor her wish and leave town at dawn as I had originally took their order. planned. I got up and walked to the door. As I stepped onto the I went down to the lobby at daybreak and looked up sidewalk, I saw Ashley had followed me. “Couldn’t you Seattle-bound flights from Phoenix on the house computer. settle things with Cassia?” she asked. I decided on a late afternoon departure and secured an on- “I don’t think so,” I said. “I ruined her life.” line reservation. After a breakfast of sausage gravy and bis- She looked at me for a long time, then shrugged and went cuits, I loaded my travel bag into my car and, by way of a inside. final goodbye to Linroth, drove along the back streets. Driving by the cemetery, I saw a man loading a backhoe onto WOKE UP around three a.m. from a nightmare about a a trailer. I stopped, got out, and—back to playing incog- swarm of frenzied ants running over my feet and up my nito—said, “There must be a funeral coming up.” I legs. I turned on the light and got out of bed and sat in a “Yeah. Just dug a grave for a feller named Hammond chair. I felt hollow and heartsick, the way I felt when I first Braunhil. Old as Methuselah. Damn well time for him to understood that first cousins can marry in Europe and go.” The backhoe operator had red, scaly cheeks. He looked nearly half of the states in the Union. Unanswerable ques- like a man who didn’t worry about washing his face and tions came back to me. Did our parents know but choose combing his hair when he got out of bed in the morning. not to let us marry? Would Cassia have had me? Would I, He scrutinized me closely. “You from around here?” barely sixteen when her pregnancy showed, have manfully “I’m just passing through. I’ve lived in Seattle most of my shouldered the duties of a husband and father? life. I don’t know much about little towns. I get curious What was certain was that I presently lacked the courage sometimes to see what they look like from the back side.” I for a face-to-face encounter with Cassia. I couldn’t survive was surprised how slithery and loathsome I felt, though looking into her eyes. technically nothing I said was a lie. It might have been otherwise if I could have construed The backhoe man, who had been digging close to the her life as largely a success. I followed her life through my cemetery gate, got into his truck and left. I decided to take a mother, who followed it through Sophrina, who surrepti- look at the grave—that serving as a kind of vicarious atten- tiously defied her husband by staying in close touch with dance at the funeral I had chosen to miss. Both the open her banished daughter. After attending college in Utah, grave and the excavated soil were covered by a tarp— Cassia headed east, where she taught school for twenty nothing to see there. Looking around, I realized I was in years. She was married for four or five years during this pe- Braunhil territory. My Braunhil grandparents were here, as riod. As far as I knew, she and her husband had no children. were my own parents and the seven-month stillborn girl

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they insisted on naming. Suddenly, I was beset by the sense Brenda. Among a trailing crowd of teens and children, I rec- of an unfulfilled duty. It seemed a pity a man should pay his ognized Ashley, who seemed intent on marshaling her respects to the mortal dust of his parents for the first time at younger cousins into pairs. Finally, at a distance from all the my age. others—as if there had been some hesitation on their part I could vaguely recall the interment of my stillborn sister. about joining the mourners’ throng—came two women, But I attended the funeral of neither of my parents. I was whom—with a catch in my throat—I recognized as Rosa spared the guilt of intentionally missing my father’s funeral and Cassia. The twenty-five years since Rosa had brought because Boeing had sent me to Mulhouse, France, and Mother to Seattle for my commissioning as a lieutenant without informing anyone, I went to Haute Savoie in the commander in the Navy Reserve had been kinder to her Alps for a weekend of skiing, where I was put even more than to me. Of sturdy frame, she had a round face, promi- out-of-touch by a four-day blizzard. nent cheeks, and amber-grey hair swept upward to add to When my mother died, Rosa let me know by telephone. her already imposing height. As for Cassia, her slight, “I hope you’ll come for the funeral,” she said. slender body was clad in a black dress with a white collar I was silent. and cuffs. Her hair, once auburn, was silvered—something “It’s time,” she said. “I don’t know what it is with you, but like light on rippling water. Her forehead was lined, her it’s time to get over it. Come home, Rulon.” But I couldn’t. cheeks seamed, her mouth composed. As she and Rosa Like a felon, I was reluctant to revisit the scene of my crime, passed from my view, I felt apathetic and let down. What the ruin of Cassia. had I expected? Perhaps something transcendent, ethereal, Nor did I mention the funeral to Patricia, whom I was other-worldly. dating at the time. After that, I always spoke to Patricia of In any event, fragments from the past tumbled through my mother’s death—and my father’s too—as vaguely in the my mind—kaleidoscopic memories of fights, street games, past. My mother had faithfully written at least one letter a bonfires, and family gatherings. I recalled a day when Bryant week from the moment of my departure. Needless to say, intervened in a fight between me and Badge, saving me from my knowledge of matters in Linroth fell off drastically with a sure beating. I remembered that Rosa tackled me once her death. during a game of football, and I plowed into the gravel with When I left the cemetery, I decided to drive along the my elbows and knees. I remembered hiding in Uncle street I had grown up on, which I quickly decided was a Hammond’s granary while Dory and Brenda searched for me bad mistake because I went to pieces when I passed by the during hide-and-seek; I held my breath for fear they would two Braunhil houses, mine and Cassia’s, and all of a hear me. I loved those kids, all of them; siblings and cousins sudden I wanted to see Cassia—unbeknownst to her, of were one and the same to me. Here they were, most of them, course, because her gaze would have withered me like an at this funeral, the Braunhil family more or less in its en- earthworm in the summer sun. So I made up my mind to tirety, and I longed to claim a place among them. Sitting at attend the funeral after all, where I could sit at the back of the back of the church, a stranger among strangers, I recog- the church and probably catch a glimpse of Cassia when nized afresh what a fragile and pitiable creature a human she filed in with the mourners, and then, as I fervently being is without a family. I was lucky, of course, to have mar- promised myself, I’d for sure slip away while the first ried Patricia, but considered objectively, my marriage to her hymn was being sung and get on the road to Phoenix in was a grafting onto the trunk of a tree planted by her dead time to make my plane. husband, whose last name Patricia kept because Koreen and At the church, custodians had opened the sliding doors Alisha wanted her to. between the chapel and the recreation hall and filled the I knew it was time for me to leave, but I could no longer latter with folding chairs in anticipation of a crowd as large muster any sense of urgency. I hadn’t seen enough of my kin. as a stake conference—a well-founded anticipation, I saw as I knew I’d stay as long as there was a reasonable chance of I took a seat well to the rear of the nearly filled recreation concealing my presence in the crowd. hall. An organist—likely the woman I had seen the evening The funeral began with a hymn, which—though I hadn’t before, though I couldn’t be sure at that distance—played a so much as thought of it in fifty years—returned to me soft prelude. Shortly, there was a stir, and the organist shifted word for word. A son-in-law of Hammond’s, Jasper to a solemn hymn. The family procession, led by pallbearers Cleveland, gave a lengthy invocation, extolling Hammond and the coffin, came from a side hall and turned into the as a man mighty in the service of the Lord. A daughter, middle aisle of the chapel. Immediately behind the coffin Brenda, read his life story. As a young man, he had served came a tiny, shrunken woman on the arm of a robust, half- as a missionary in New England. Upon his return, he at- bald man of approximately my age. I recognized the woman tended Arizona State University, where he met and married as Aunt Sophrina. The robust man had to be Bryant, her el- Sophrina. They settled in Linroth, and he became one of dest son. As for the others—fifty or sixty of them—I could the foremost farmers in Navajo County, winning all sorts of make out only an occasional face with some cast of the fa- prizes for cattle and crops at fairs. He had been on the local miliar to it. I identified my brother Badge and my sisters school board four or five times. He had been counselor to Carol and Denise and also my cousins Jake, Dory, and one bishop and two stake presidents, but had never been a

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bishop or stake president himself, which, as I conjectured, “Don’t do that. Not without seeing Grandma.” likely said something about his lack of tact and under- “I’ve got to go.” standing of human nature. I wondered what Cassia was “It’ll break Grandma’s heart when I tell her it’s you I’ve making of all this. As for myself, I couldn’t quarrel with the been talking to over here.” facts of his life—the boards and church positions and “So you’ll tell?” prizes and all that—but I could quarrel with the lies about “They can see I’m talking to somebody. I can’t lie about it, what a kind father and devoted husband he had been. I can I?” knew from my mother’s letters that he put Sophrina “You promised not to tell,” I said. through the wringer on a steady basis, and from when I was “You said you were leaving town first thing this a kid I could remember him making Bryant lean over a morning,” she insisted. “You broke your word, so I can rabbit pen while he beat him with a belt for forgetting to break mine.” latch a corral gate. Lies are pretty much the stock in trade I was surprised by her tenacity. She looked altogether too of funeral speakers. Somehow it’s blasphemous to admit young, too kind and willing to please, to hold to such a hard the ugly side of the dead person’s life. line. Following the closing prayer, I stood with the general “It’s Cassia, isn’t it?” she said. “You are absolutely afraid of congregation while the family filed from the church. I went her.” to my car but made no move to leave until most of the other “Well, yes, I am afraid of her.” cars had left the church. Sitting there, I observed my divided “Why?” emotions with a detached curiosity, being fully aware that “Because I did something very bad to her.” further delay meant missing my Seattle flight yet knowing “What was it?” that sooner or later I would start the engine and drive to the “The worst thing a man can do to a woman, short of cemetery. killing her.” When I arrived at the cemetery, I parked at the far end of Her eyes narrowed with perplexity. How odd, I was a line of cars, a position from which I could watch the pro- thinking, that I should be confessing an offense of these di- ceedings at the grave without getting out of my car. Needless mensions to this epitome of decency, this unblemished soul to say, I despised myself for being a voyeur, a peeker through whose deepest instincts tended toward propriety and duty. a keyhole, as it were, into the doings of a family I no longer “In any event,” I said, “you can see why I need to leave belonged to. town unnoticed. I admit it was very foolish of me to come to A considerable crowd stood around the grave. Observing the cemetery. For that matter, it was very foolish of me to their bowed heads, I surmised that the dedicatory prayer come home to Linroth in the first place.” was in progress. Following that, the formalities of the service Ashley looked toward the group around the grave. “What were at an end, and the crowd began to disperse, filing could I tell them?” she said. “Cindy has probably already through the cemetery gate and getting into cars and driving told them it’s you I’m talking to.” away. Several persons entering cars near mine glanced my “Just tell them you don’t know why I insist on leaving in way. I sat tight, confident in my anonymity, a stranger such a hurry.” among strangers. My siblings Badge, Carol, and Rosa lin- Her perplexity increased. “Couldn’t you ask Cassia to for- gered by the grave, also my cousins Bryant, Dory, and give you?” Brenda—to say nothing of Cassia and the girl Ashley, who “Some things can’t be forgiven,” I insisted. stood beside a woman I couldn’t identify—her mother, Lee “It happened a long time ago, didn’t it? Ann, I supposed. “Fifty years ago.” A vague apprehension grew over me when another car “You weren’t very old.” parked near the gate and the Burleson girl from the bed-and- “Fifteen.” breakfast place got out. Before entering the gate, she paused “Well, then, I think she should forgive you. She’s awfully and looked my way. Jolted by a shot of adrenaline, I realized nice. She doesn’t seem like somebody who would hold a I had missed my chance to escape. Sure enough, an instant grudge for fifty years.” later she was conferring with Ashley, and both girls were I was beginning to wonder what Ashley knew about rape. looking my way. Hadn’t every girl in Linroth, long before she was ten, learned Ashley left the gravesite, came through the gate, and to fear the likes of Clemon Haines, the castrated imbecile turned in my direction. She wore half-high heels, a black who stalked the dark streets of her imagination at all hours skirt, and a white blouse, and, despite the frantic thoughts of the night? Wasn’t it the curse of Eve that her daughters ricocheting off the walls of my mind, I calmly reflected that should perpetually fear the rapist who lurked undiscerned a girl doesn’t have to be pretty to be attractive if she was as among the sons of Adam? Maybe not. Maybe with girls like decent and good natured as Ashley. Ashley, rape is simply a concept. Maybe it is an eventuality I lowered my window as she approached. “Cindy told me that happens to persons so unconnected to them that it has this was your car,” she said. “So you haven’t left yet.” no meaning. “No,” I said, “but I’m leaving now.” “Are you aware that at the age of sixteen Cassia was ex-

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iled to Utah to have a baby?” I asked in exasperation. “Do you realize that this is her first day in Linroth in fifty years? Do you realize that I am the cause of her exile?” “No, I didn’t know that,” she said. “Cassia doesn’t want to see me,” I repeated. “It would em- barrass her profoundly. It would make her angry.” “I could at least ask her if she would like to see you.” “Don’t even think about that!” I hadn’t budged her an inch. She looked steadily into my eyes. I began to feel disconcerted and finally looked away. She continued to stand there, her hands on the car door. It dawned on me that she was going to win by default. Just by standing there, just by not giving me permission to leave, she was making my worst nightmare come true. Pretty soon BIRTHDAY PARTY someone else—her mother, for example, or maybe Rosa— would join her. With that thought, I pushed open the door Tonight is five nights after my birthday and my son and got out. I felt like a prisoner ready for his execution. Is taking me out for dinner. “Let’s go,” I muttered. We’re going all the way. She turned and led me through the gate. The group Four star— around the grave watched us closely. “Adour.” “It’s Rulon!” Rosa cried, but it was Cassia who came for- He is bringing Jane, his Korean wife. ward. I glanced at her face. Her brow was even more fur- rowed, her cheeks more seamed, than I had realized from I’m bringing my petal—Lauren my brief glimpse of her at the church house. Her unadorned, Petal? half-pinched lips were ambiguous, perhaps angry, perhaps Well, I picked her out of the crowd and planted her grieved. The ambiguity depressed me. I lowered my eyes. In the stem of my heart. The hem of her dress came slightly above her knees and her Graham used to think that he was Buddhist, feet were clad in black flats trimmed with golden buckles. Now he is Christian. There was something measured, something poised, in her step. I felt a flicker of hope. As she neared, she held out her Jane is too. arms, and with a flood of relief I reached for her hands. I My wife is a Born Again Christian. fixed my eyes on the base of her throat. Her skin was She watches Joel Osteen. freckled as if she had been in the sun a good deal. Truly, her He looks a little like me. silvered hair caught sunlight like rippling water, and her Some people, God forbid, eyes—when at last I dared look into them—brimmed with Say that I look like Woody Allen. luminescent tears. “Forgive me,” I choked. I am not that ugly. “I forgave you long ago.” I am an atheist. “How could you?” What has happened to religion? “How could I not? Don’t we still love each other? Have I feel bad about its confusion. we ever stopped?” I am tempted to study the Torah She pulled me close and pressed her cheek against In defense of the death of Judaism. mine. I closed my eyes, refusing to countenance the curious stare of our waiting relatives. For those of my gener- If the skeletons in the concentration camps ation of the Braunhil family, the unknown father of Saw me now? Cassia’s child must have been a principal mystery, subject They would put on flesh and ask if it was worthwhile to countless quiet discussions in guarded moments. I had After all to have died for Moses? clarified the mystery for the girl Ashley. Wouldn’t the I am tempted to tell communism and fascism others clarify it for themselves now, confronted as they That religion will stand up against their wholesale killings. were by the prolonged embrace and the half-whispered words Cassia and I exchanged? I will become religious. I didn’t care. I was grief-stricken and exultant, benumbed I will convert to real faith. and euphoric, made so by the knowledge that Cassia had re- I will be your rabbi if you will teach me to believe lied on my love through the long, empty decades of our In stardust in a landscape without Jewish stars. exile. As Cassia had said, didn’t we still love each other? Had we ever stopped? DAVID LAWRENCE

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Testimony of an atheist

YOUR OLD WOMEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS

By Sara Burlingame

INTRODUCTION That “opening exercise” seemed a cheeky way for me, a non-Mormon, to show that my understanding of Mormon OLLOWING IS A VERSION OF A PRESENTATION culture went beyond denim skirts and green Jell-O. But how I gave at the 2010 Salt Lake Sunstone Symposium. then do I explain the sadness that washed over me when I F Before I started, I called two women—Kynthia and saw Kynthia and Beth cradling their goblets, solemnly Beth—to the podium and handed each a goblet filled with moving down the aisles with their offering? I wondered how small squares of chocolate. Then I enjoined them to pass long those two had been waiting for someone to call their this “sacrament.” names; to ask them to come to the front of a congregation; to As they made their way down the aisles, presenting the entrust the objects of ritual into their hands. goblet to each audience member, I intoned: “As the cup is With that sadness came a clear vision—one I am grateful passed, please take a piece of chocolate, but don’t eat it to own, even if doing so means I have to give up my atheist yet.” card. As those two women stood across from each other in When everyone held a piece of chocolate, I continued, the Sheraton Hotel conference room, reflected endlessly in the echoing mirrors, I also saw a host of faithful, stagnant Now that we have received this sacrament, I would women waiting patiently behind them, fanning out across like you all to lick or nibble a portion—not the en- time. I wanted to call to those women, bound in the wings, tirety—of your chocolate. Brothers and Sisters, this to take their rightful place—or at the very least, I wanted to chocolate is your intellectual integrity. Someday proclaim, “This sacrament is real, too. We are still a people you are going to meet someone of another faith gathered, and you have served us. That must be holy.” whom you will love very much. When that day But what those women really wanted—to stand in front comes, you’ll want to have a whole and of their people and be recognized as beloved daughters of unbesmirched chocolate to offer them. We can re- God, equal to their brothers, was clearly not in my power to frain from “tainting” our chocolate by refusing to give them. And that was heartbreaking. Ritual is important. I slander people who believe differently than we do. was foolish to forget that the act of ritual contains its own I hope this has been a meaningful and deeply im- rules and that no person can control the results. pressive lesson for you all even though it has almost A year later, I still don’t know how I feel about that vi- nothing to do with the talk I’ve prepared. I am sion. I am content to have witnessed and learned something counting on the old adage, “There’s nothing that from it, even if that something was only a deeper under- Latter-day Saints love more than an object lesson— standing of the particular pain that exclusion carries. relevant or not.” THE SPEECH

SARA BURLINGAME has been a Montessori WANT TO talk about faith and personal narrative today, teacher, Eurotrash, zine publisher, artisan bread and a good way to start is to tell my own story. I was baker, mother, partner, and blogger at fMh. She I raised Bahá’í by my parents, but as a teenager, I experi- makes her living as the Director of Religious mented with Christianity, Buddhism, New Age–ism and— Education at the Unitarian Universalist Church of perhaps most memorably for those around me—a very Cheyenne, but her passion is haunting the Wyoming legisla- vocal Goddess worship. By age 16, I’d found what felt like ture, whether Cheney is in town or not. my true calling and remained a staunch adherent to

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atheism until I read an article in Bust magazine exploring cracy behind sealings and the folklore of a middle manage- the curious phenomena of Mormon feminism. I became a ment style in the hereafter. But there is also the power of regular reader of the blog it cited and even began meeting women blessing their own children—an innate connection the women who wrote for it. My curiosity about this pecu- to the divine trumping a lifetime of social conditioning. liar people grew until I agreed to take the missionary dis- There is the LDS pioneer experience that resonates with cussions. Those naturally led to my conversion, a testi- many sagas of exile and redemption. Where in the atheist mony of the Book of Mormon, my baptism surrounded by story can I voice my attraction to the particular grace I have my once skeptical family found only in fleeting mo- who, inspired by my pow- ments of community? erful example, soon chose Where is the room for baptism themselves. . . . mystery? How good it feels Not really. The stuff to share my real and after the missionary discus- metaphorical scars with sions is imaginary. But I do another woman whose life recognize the resonance of is both nothing like my that story. When I relate own but also a mirror of my actual story, I can hear the suffering and redemp- the devout silently tion that I have felt. sketching in the right I have found myself ending—the only ending outside of the atheist- that seems to make sense turned-convert story pop- of my participation in their ularized by Lee Strobel, religion. Sometimes that C.S. Lewis, and every issue narrative is so powerful I of Ensign I’ve picked up. I feel the pull of it myself. likewise feel very little connection to the Ed Y ACTUAL Deckers of the world—the STORY is that I Dawkinses and Hitchenses M am an atheist with their dismissive and feminist who came to snideness toward faith. Mormonism because of my Thus, I was left to feminism—not in spite of cobble together my own it. I really did read an ar- story: the story of an ticle in Bust about Lisa atheist trying to fit in with Butterworth and her blog, the Mormons. How does Feminist Mormon House- that work? wives. And, being an en- The answer came as I lightened do-gooder, I de- was listening to National cided to help those Public Radio—the secular Mormon women out. So I version of general confer- barreled onto the blog, no ence. less ridiculous than the I had recently been Margaret Sanger Society At first those brushes with the female elected to the Democratic representative in Cheaper divine were subtle: the image of a National Convention as an by the Dozen who shows up Obama delegate for at the Gilbreth household: swollen womb, a motherly caress on Wyoming, and I was strug- “Here I am, ladies! Hold gling to decide whether to onto your hats, I’m going to your temple . . . publicly identify as a teach you about Real queer. I was in a hetero- Feminism!” I spared myself some humiliation only because I sexual marriage, so the question of being queer had never followed my mother’s sage advice, “Wait to make an ass of really come up. But the DNC form wanted to know. yourself until after you know these people better.” The re- How much diversity would they claim, I wondered? If I sult? I was not the atheist who brought enlightenment to did out myself, I would face an awkward reception at best those sad, oppressed Mormon women. and open hostility at worst. But would it kill me to get a little But I was still an atheist. I still find the concept of patri- gay schwag, rub elbows with Gavin Newsom, and receive

ster eohype—istockphoto.comarchy offensive. My skin crawls when I hear of the bureau- that bittersweet applause—the affection people give when

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they know someone is queer and from Wyoming—the valiant Mormon women decided to fight the home of that sweet-faced boy whose crucified body was Church, publishing polemics against it, and with- found propped against some of that ubiquitous Wyoming drawing their “favors,” a la Lysistrata, from their barbed wire? priesthood-holding husbands. The prophet fi- I finally decided to openly identify as a queer delegate and nally relented, recognizing the divine nature of immediately had to begin fielding questions from fellow del- the women’s protests. Men and women now egates, reporters, and friends. I spoke as honestly as I could. jointly hold the priesthood in the LDS faith. Yes, I was married to a man; yes, I’d had previous relationships with women; no, I didn’t plan to leave my husband I couldn’t imagine a less Mormon story if I tried. now that I had identified as a queer delegate. But I was still But I’ve felt the presence of another story inching its way conflicted about what that title meant and the extent to into my consciousness, asserting itself so persistently that I which I could claim it if I was not living it. have to remind myself that it isn’t real. Then on a mild spring day, I was parked in my car, baby sleeping in the back seat, my brain half-engaged with an NPR interview with a Palestinian woman who had written a book about her childhood. Soon the tone of her voice—her rich, deep tenor and thick rolling r’s—began to make an im- pression on me. And of all things, I found myself thinking, “Huh. That woman’s voice gives me a real testimony of my queerness.” In that moment, I realized two things: one, I was perfectly at peace with the fluidity of my sexuality. And two, I had used the word “testimony.” Apparently, I had spent so much time around Mormons that I’d incorporated not just their jargon, but the worldview that came with it. I, Sara Burlingame, had unconsciously claimed the Mormon right to ask for and receive revelation. And if that revelation happened to come from NPR—well, alleluia! More important, I realized that just as my sexuality is fluid, so is my spirituality. I’m an atheist immersed in, and in love with, Mormon people. If I can be a queer/hetero-married/Obama delegate from the great state of Wyoming, why not an atheist who loves Mormons? It was possibly the least bizarre part of my identity. (I’m kidding about that last part. If I sprouted horns, bowed three times a day to Hong Kong, and declared the divinity of Lady Gaga, my secular friends would find that far more palatable than my love for and contact with the Latter-day Saints.) Being an inhabitant of this fluid spiritual state, I find myself translating stories from the world into Mormonese and vice versa. For instance, I often hear secular feminists ask, “Why don’t Mormon feminists just withhold their membership—rob the Church of their participation, their money, and certainly and perhaps most critically, their children until the Church changes?” As a narrative, their demand could look like this:

Christ died. The Church he’d formed fell into apostasy. Joseph Smith received a vision and subsequently restored the gospel. But it was incomplete. Due to men’s fallen nature, they’d neglected to fully include women in this restoration. Whispering into the prophet’s ear, Satan had urged him to consider the needs of only half of God’s marvelous creation. The prophet complied.

Finally, through prayer and fasting, a band of kellybr ooks

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were subtle: the image of a swollen womb, a moth- Christ died. His church fell into apostasy. Joseph erly caress on your temple when you were alone in Smith received a vision and restored the gospel. But the car worrying about where this month’s mort- because the world wasn’t ready to hear of the divine gage payment would come from. But the whisper nature of women that mirrored their Heavenly crescendoed until God’s people could no longer Mother, the Church was incomplete. When the deny that, yes, they had a Heavenly Mother and she kingdom had been built on earth by a righteous was aching to connect with them. The prophet people, Heavenly Mother began to reveal herself to heard so unceasingly from members of the Church ordinary men and women. Her appearances came to who wanted to make sense of these dreams that he be expected in nightly dreams and even during te- began to pray daily, and finally hourly, for direction. dious sacrament meetings. Then the prophet received a revelation that Mother At first, those brushes with the female divine in Heaven had been trapped in a prison of her people’s making. Because she allowed for free agency, she would not be released until those same people grew and ached enough to know her in return. And so it came to pass that men and women jointly hold the priesthood in the LDS faith and pray openly to their Heavenly Parents.

Now that’s a Mormon Story. And it’s a story in which I want to play a minor role. If there is a place for someone like me, who loves your stories and your valiant hearts, I want to claim that role. Messy, dissonant, and hard to explain. Practically Mormon. I’ll close with a poem I wrote:

PRAYER TO A GOD IN WHOM I DO NOT BELIEVE I didn’t have my own words So I had to borrow yours My people never hied to Kolob We didn’t feel the need We knew what it was like to be Hungry But bread stayed bread And wine was more than enough Without becoming blood I never cared for your confining spaces Sterile baptism pools Or your creed that concludes “meetings without end” But I need your people, Lord More than desire them If this is a battle Must I acknowledge that you’ve won? This world may be a testing ground

And the men and women I want Beside me Belong to you I say this in my own name Amen.

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ROUNDTABLE say they need or enjoy having something to “get them going” sexually. Perhaps we’re trying to ask whether it’s okay for married couples, or for single people, or whomever, to have some light form of sexual arousal PORNOGRAPHY, MASTURBATION, through erotica that can help them achieve whatever their sexual goals are. And if we SEX, AND MARRIAGE IN MORMONISM allow for that, maybe it’s important to then have a more clearly drawn line between that and something that is socially taboo or with Dr. Stephanie Buehler, Natasha Helfer Parker, and John Dehlin forbidden.

PARKER: Using erotica as part of your The following is excerpted from the Mormon Stories podcast (episode 245), “Pornography, sexual repertoire is definitely an issue Masturbation, Sex and Marriage in Mormonism,” which was first released on 10 March worth exploring. I often get someone 2011. To hear the full discussion (about twice the length presented here), visit http://mor- coming in and saying things like, “I’m ad- monstories.org/?p=1506. This excerpt is printed with the permission of all participants. dicted to pornography,” or a wife who is angry that her husband is looking at pornography, but when I dig deeper the NATASHA PARKER: Pornography is be- therapist, one of the things I like to do pornography they are referring to is some- coming a regular subject in general confer- when I first talk with people about pornog- thing like looking through a Victoria’s ence addresses, and its use is currently raphy is to make a distinction between Secret catalog or watching Dancing with the affecting many Mormons and our culture at pornography and erotica, but I would love Stars or some other thing that can be erotic large. There are many who feel the Church to get your sense of that distinction, Dr. and sensual and maybe even inappropriate is making pornography such a prominent Buehler, so that we can know what you’re for some people but something I would topic that it is actually causing even more talking about when you refer to pornog- never label “pornography.” So I think that’s problems. Others express appreciation for raphy. why I want our audience to really under- the frank discussion and accountability stand what exactly it is we’re talking about. that is taking place within the Church. BUEHLER: I think pornography is the depic- Today we’re diverging from the usual tion of sexual acts—whether in photos, or DEHLIN: I think that within the Mormon Mormon Stories format in that I’m not in- print, or video—designed to titillate context, and probably just in most human terviewing a Mormon. I wanted to try to get people. Its purpose is to get people sexually experience, looking at pornography most a different perspective on the topic, so I aroused. Erotica does the same thing, but I often starts with somebody getting exposed have asked a prominent psychologist and think most people would think of erotica as to some pictures or some movies when they sex therapist, Dr. Stephanie Buehler, to join being something that piques your interest are in their adolescent years. In other us today. She is the director of the Buehler and is maybe not so frank, so “in your words, their first sexual experiences are not Institute, which has offices in Newport face.” It is more sensual and, I think, invites in the context of having a partner at all, so Beach and Riverside, California, and she’s the viewer to think about their own sensu- there is probably a strong drive to engage in the author of a recent book, Sex, Love, and ality whereas pornography is really more of some type of self-stimulation. Let’s start Mental Illness: A Couple’s Guide to Staying an exchange between exhibitionists and with the adolescent experience and then Connected. Dr. Buehler treats people of all voyeurs—people who simply like to watch move into marital relations, because many different races, cultures, and religions, and other people engage in sex acts. I think LDS leaders see this as an epidemic—that is very familiar with problematic behaviors people will have different definitions of our teens are looking at porn too much and that can be associated with pornography. what’s erotic, and some people are going to masturbating too much, and, as a result, Hello, Dr. Buehler! want to stretch the boundaries a little bit, there’s a lot of shame, a lot of charged lan- but I think if you were to look at a painting guage around this subject. DR. STEPHANIE BUEHLER: Hello, Natasha. of a nude couple in an embrace, you’d call that erotic, whereas if you had movies of BUEHLER: In the “old days,” exposure to PARKER: Thank you so much for joining the same couple having sex for the sake of pornography was pretty minimal. You had a this discussion today. I have also invited having sex, you might call that porno- “girlie” magazine, and it was probably very John Dehlin, the founder of Mormon graphic. well worn. But these days, it’s not just Stories and himself a graduate student in looking at a couple of pictures, you’re usu- psychology, to join us and help me make PARKER: It seems to me that in the more tra- ally on the Internet where there’s just so sure we cover all the angles on this topic. ditional strains of Mormonism, we tend to much material—an endless supply. And I So, hello, John! define a lot of things as pornography that I think that part of the problem is this end- wouldn’t necessarily define that way, so I less supply. JOHN DEHLIN: Hello, guys! Happy to be think what you’ve shared here is an impor- In adolescence, there is a natural cu- here! Thanks for joining us, Dr. Buehler. tant start. riosity about the human body and about sex. From my non-Mormon perspective, a PARKER: I thought the first place we’d start DEHLIN: I’m wondering if we’re exploring teen’s interest in sexuality is quite healthy; is a definition of the topic at large. As a this distinction because sometimes people the desire to see the human body in all its

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glory doesn’t concern me. It’s when the ado- make you feel relaxed and vital. bation leads to promiscuity? The argument lescent’s social skills start to decline, when But when you bring shame into the from some within conservative religious they get involved in a sordid world that has process, you can cause some unhealthy cy- traditions would be that masturbation gets become their central world—that’s when cles. If you masturbate and are then filled people too sexualized at too young an age, things become problematic. with shame, and then masturbate again to leading them to want to have sex outside of relieve those anxious, negative feelings, marriage. PARKER: Can you speak to the separation only to bring on more guilt and shame, between masturbation and pornography that’s not good. It is at that point that you BUEHLER: I don’t think that masturba- use? My understanding is that there are risk getting into some problematic behav- tion does that; I mean if masturbation many adolescents and adults who mastur- iors. led to promiscuity, everybody would be bate without pornography being any part As for masturbation becoming a com- promiscuous! of it. pulsive behavior: in the field of sex therapy, (Laughter from all) BUEHLER: That is very true. You can use your own fantasy mate- PARKER: I’ve heard it called the rial, or sometimes people just safest sex ever developed. No get into a sensual experience or STDs involved. No unwanted begin exploring their body; so, pregnancy. you don’t need pornography to get aroused. There are certainly BUEHLER: Those are really good other ways. Human beings are points. I tend to think that mas- very creative. turbation can actually help prevent people from making bad DEHLIN: Let’s hit that topic decisions. If you know that you head on. When I was growing can bring yourself pleasure or up, I was taught that masturba- that you can comfort yourself in tion is a really bad sin. There is this way, you might choose to a famous talk that was given by not seek sexual relationships an LDS Church leader twenty outside of marriage, or relation- or so years ago that basically ships that aren’t healthy for you had the philosophy that the in other ways. body is like a factory that pro- duces semen or hormones, and DEHLIN: So masturbation could what you don’t want to do as a possibly keep you from moral teenager is get the factory transgressions, you’re saying . . . revved up, because once you do you’re always looking for op- BUEHLER: Yes. That’s what I portunities to masturbate, think. which can then lead to sexual behavior with a partner or DEHLIN: What about the idea of maybe even lead to perversions. masturbation as a sexual re- That was, I think, the mind set lease? Is there any psycholog- at the time. As a result, mastur- ical or physiological data that bation had a lot of shame and suggests that people have kind fear connected with it. of a sexual clock that needs a From your point of view, is release? masturbation something we should fear? Does it lead to BUEHLER: At the mid-point of promiscuity, or homosexuality, their menstrual cycle, when as that sermon taught? they’re ovulating, women expe- we would say that if it interferes with your rience surges in hormone levels that often BUEHLER: I would say it doesn’t neces- day-to-day functioning, if it interferes with cause them to feel “randy” or “horny,” and sarily lead to any of those. Understanding your relationships or hinders your ability to if there’s no partner available, then they your own body and finding out that your get to your job, or if it is something that might feel the need to have a sexual release. body can give you pleasure is fine. And, you are actually doing on the job, or if be- Men don’t have the same kind of definitive actually, there are some health benefits to cause of masturbation you’re not pursuing clock, but they have build-ups of semen masturbation. For men it helps with friendships, then you have a problem. But if and hormones, and they can also feel a prostate health; for women it helps bal- it’s not interfering with anything, well, need for release. So we do seem to have a ance the hormones. And, of course, it oxy- maybe it’s not so much of a problem. physiological need. Suppressed or re- genates the body and the brain. If you pressing that need can cause psychological

images: Jul iamil berhave ger —ist ockphot o.com a healthy attitude about it, it can DEHLIN: What about the idea that mastur- problems, disconnecting people from their

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sexuality and from bodily sensation. That’s come a problematic behavior. For instance, abilities—whether mental or physical— not a good thing. I’ve heard of men developing carpal tunnel that make it very difficult for them to have syndrome or actually damaging their geni- partnered sex; pornography and masturba- DEHLIN: Why not? Why not just “pack that tals. So you can do it too much! I think the tion can be an outlet for them. And, actu- stuff down tight” until you are married? primary element that leads to this kind of ally in the Netherlands, many would think That’s what I feel like I was taught. excess is when one doesn’t recognize that of it as a compassionate gesture to provide one is using masturbation as a coping such an outlet. For some reason, here in the BUEHLER: I actually understand that partic- mechanism. One could be trying to cope U.S. we don’t talk about what we might do ular message. However, if you were to sit in with unresolved family-of-origin issues, to provide for the sexual needs of the mar- my office for several sessions, you would with work-related problems, with low self- ginalized or disadvantaged. see that I have a lot of people who are so esteem, with feelings of inadequacy, and get sexually suppressed—sometimes they have caught up in a cycle of excess. DEHLIN: Are there lower incidence rates of never had the experience of self-plea- rape and pedophilia in the Netherlands? suring—and who have worked so hard to DEHLIN: What you’re saying jibes with get rid of sexual feelings, that they can’t rec- what I’ve been learning in my Ph.D. pro- BUEHLER: That I do not know. ognize them once they get married. They gram. We experience anxiety, emotions, can’t “flip the switch.” Consequently, they and sadness but don’t know what to do PARKER: I’ve read studies indicating that have a hard time enjoying sex. with them. So sometimes we take drugs; there are fewer sexual criminal acts in cul- sometimes we inflict dietary restrictions on tures where there’s access to and acceptance PARKER: Yes, both inside and outside of ourselves; sometimes we cut; and some- of pornography. What we don’t know is if Mormonism, we have so many women who times—it sounds like—we compulsively having that outlet favorably affects the gen- have never been able to achieve orgasm. It’s masturbate. It’s all an attempt to regulate eral public, or only those who have violent very sad. emotion, feeling, and distress. criminal tendencies to begin with.

DEHLIN: So are you making the argument BUEHLER: Yes, those are all maladaptive BUEHLER: There are some researchers who that masturbation could be healthy for coping mechanisms. The person hasn’t de- make the argument that people who watch sexual relations in marriage? veloped healthy ways of coping with nega- pornography are sexually savvier, that they tive feelings. understand the human body and the sexual BUEHLER: Yes. I think a woman who under- response better, and thus have better part- stands her own body can communicate nered sex. And some people feel that with her partner what is pleasing to her, pornography can be a celebration of one and that can make sex more enjoyable for PARKER: Sometimes on Mormon blogs, I’ll part of the human experience. the couple. It seems to be difficult for come across headlines like: “Pornography: women—especially when they are shy or Is it really that bad?” or, “Are there good PARKER: Just to clarify, those are theories repressed about their sexuality—to “con- things about porn?” My feeling is that in that are not based on hard data. nect all the dots,” if you will, when they’re many of these cases the bloggers are with a partner. They are trying to negotiate starting to use pornography and want to be- BUEHLER: Correct. One researcher tried to being with a partner who comes to the mar- lieve that they can do so healthily. What ev- do a study of men who have never looked ital bed with his own ideas and his own idence do you know of on either side of at pornography. But the study never hap- needs, and they are trying to accommodate that equation? Does pornography nega- pened because he couldn’t find any men to those needs as well as their own. If the tively impact our psychology or our arousal who had never looked! woman is willing to do some self-explo- templates? Are there positive aspects? And ration, that usually does help the couple now I’m talking specifically about pornog- (Laughter from all) with their enjoyment of sex. raphy and not erotica. DEHLIN: So “everybody is doing it”, basi- PARKER: In LDS culture, people tend to get BUEHLER: One thing that might shock cally. married very quickly. It’s common to have people is that it seems that people who look anywhere from a two-week to a three- at pornography are actually less likely to act BUEHLER: Well, “everyone has done it” is month engagement. I wonder if masturba- out sexually. Sometimes there are fears that more accurate. My experience as a sex ther- tion might relieve some of the sexual looking at pornography will lead to rape or apist working with hundreds and hundreds tension and help those engagements to run sexual assault or pedophilia, but the oppo- of couples is that there are plenty of people a little bit longer. That way, the couple site seems to be true. who really aren’t interested in pornography, could get to know each other a little better who don’t need it, and who don’t see why before they make a huge commitment. DEHLIN: There’s data for that assertion? someone would look at it.

DEHLIN: But on the flip side, is there a limit BUEHLER: Yes, there’s actual data. A re- PARKER: To me, “doing it” connotes a more to the health benefits of masturbation and searcher did a study expecting to find that regular practice versus “Well, I was ex- self-exploration? Are there any dangers in- looking at pornography leads to violent or posed to it once or twice.” volved—any downsides at all? illegal acts. But he found that the opposite is true, which is quite interesting.1 DEHLIN: I’m interested in whether all BUEHLER: Well, yes, masturbation can be- Consider people who have various dis- pornography is alike in terms of its poten-

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tial benefits or damage. In other words, is provides the greatest health benefits for the there “light” pornography that could be greatest amount of people the greatest helpful versus pornography that could be amount of time, what would you advise? DEHLIN: As we move on to a discussion of damaging? Are there shades of good and partnered sex, I can imagine some people bad pornography, and are there shades to BUEHLER: In my practice, I never recom- encountering this conversation who will healthy or unhealthy use of pornography? mend looking at pornography. It really isn’t ask, “How could there ever be a healthy up to me to make that decision. I under- scenario for porn use when you have a BUEHLER: Definitely. I’ve worked with men stand what you’re saying about moral rela- spouse in bed next to you?” who have looked at pornography that both tivism, but to me, it really is a matter of aroused and disturbed them. They come examining your own values. BUEHLER: Well, I think some couples into my office trying to figure out their con- If somebody asks me about pornog- would say, “Variety is the spice of life.” flicting reactions. There is easy access to so raphy, I will ask questions like, “What do Others might say that watching other many different kinds of pornography—not you believe? What does your church tell people in sexual encounters keeps them just the light stuff—there are things that you? What do you think is healthy? What’s from having extra-marital, in-person sexual can be quite shocking or distasteful to a healthy amount for you?” Those are all is- experiences. Some couples watch it to get somebody who stumbles upon it. sues that can be explored. If an activity ideas about sexual practices. It can also leaves someone filled with guilt or shame trigger sexual arousal and interest. And PARKER: And even more upsetting if they after they do it, then I don’t think that’s a some people simply consider it to be a form are finding themselves aroused by it at the healthy activity for them. of entertainment. time but then later feel ashamed about their reaction. DEHLIN: But we just got through saying PARKER: You’re talking about the couples that some people’s interpretation of their who want to look at porn together? BUEHLER: Right. There is some evidence church’s teachings can actually increase that men who are involved in downloading chronic, unhealthy masturbation and porn BUEHLER: Right—when it’s a consensual or looking at child pornography might use. Yet you seem to be willing to turn act. If both partners are enjoying it to- never have looked at it in the first place if people back to the wolves, so to speak—to gether, it would be similar to enjoying a there hadn’t been such easy access. So there say “What are your values?” knowing that meal together or enjoying skiing together. is definitely a dark side to Internet pornog- so many people equate their values with raphy. their church’s teachings. PARKER: I wonder, though, how often it’s Some men who look at pornography actually consensual. Sometimes one end up with quite a bit of sexual dysfunc- BUEHLER: Well, I do try to help my clients partner—usually the woman—will say she tion when they try to have partnered sex. examine their church’s messages about wants to watch it, but what I hear is, “I’ll go They encounter erectile dysfunction or de- masturbation and pornography since those along with it because I know this is what layed ejaculation. Partnered sex just doesn’t are often such a big part of their identities. my husband likes, and I don’t want to be have the same “charge” as what he’s used to But I’m pretty sure people know that a left out.” They are worried; they want to when looking at pornography—and that’s therapy room is different from a pastor’s of- improve their relationship, so they don’t very problematic. fice. A therapy room is a place for free ex- say, “Well, this doesn’t really do it for me.” I ploration; it’s up to them to determine what worry that they are putting themselves in a DEHLIN: Earlier you argued that masturba- feels right. I’m simply a guide. position that will build resentment toward tion in moderate amounts can actually be their partner, which will feed into other is- healthy. If we take violent, heinous pornog- PARKER: Whereas if you go to a Christian sues within the marriage. raphy off the table, are you saying: Hey, it’s counselor or an LDS therapist working for okay if a man or a woman wants to look at an agency associated with its religion, the pornography every once in a while as long therapist is probably more likely to lay out as it doesn’t interfere with their job or their ground rules that go along with the values PARKER: I’d like to talk about whether or marriage or whatever? of the religion, versus a therapist who is not someone can become “addicted” to going to be more experiential, asking what pornography. BUEHLER: I think each person must decide the client is bringing to the table. for him- or herself whether pornography is BUEHLER: Whether you can actually be “ad- something they are comfortable with— BUEHLER: In my practice, I see people from dicted” to pornography, or be a “sex addict” whether it is something that improves their all religions—including Mormonism—as is something we argue about constantly in lives. well as atheists and agnostics. I get the professional circles. whole spectrum. Since there are so many One of the problems with applying the DEHLIN: That kind of statement might different ideas and values concerning “addiction” label in this case is that it’s sim- sound like moral relativism to a religious pornography, I really feel that people have ilar to calling food an addiction. We need to person—”Anyone can do anything they to be square with their ideas and beliefs eat; we have a drive to eat; and we have a want.” If I put on my orthodox-believer about it. If they can’t figure that out in my sex drive, whereas we don’t have a drive to hat, I wouldn’t want my psychologist to say, office, I may suggest they go back to the consume alcohol or drugs. There’s nothing “Do whatever works for you.” I would want church and have a discussion on these is- intrinsic about those substances that causes him or her to tell me what is healthiest. So, sues with somebody they trust. us to seek them out. So, I’m not really sure if you were to give me a guideline for what you can become addicted to pornography

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from that standpoint. other emotional deficits like handling inti- repentance plan, because they consider it a However, there are some similarities to macy and conflict—being able to commu- gross, egregious violation of their marital an addiction. It seems that some viewers of nicate with one’s partner. vows. pornography do need increasingly intense material to achieve the same charge. PARKER: It seems that a lot of women find PARKER: I love your provocative language, Compulsion can also show up—urges that out that their husband is watching John! I agree that there is very little wiggle a person feels he or she must satisfy lest pornography, not because the husband room for masturbation in Mormon culture. some terrible thing happen to them. So it comes and tells her about it but because has some of the characteristics of an addi- the husband is “found out” in some way. DEHLIN: However, it’s probably common, tion, but I don’t know if we can call it a When this happens, I hear a lot of very in- especially when babies come, for there to pure addiction. tense emotions, almost the same type I en- be valleys in the number of sexual ex- counter when there’s been an extra-marital changes going on between husband and PARKER: Are there personality traits that affair. The spouse feels like the porn use is wife. Or sometimes people’s libidos wane. you notice when you work with compul- an infidelity. Let’s just say bluntly that a man doesn’t sive pornography users? “get it” as much as he wants to. Sometimes BUEHLER: For some people, it can be a form he’s faced with weeks or even months BUEHLER: I’ll use the word “men” in my of infidelity. Some people feel that texting without regular intimacy with his wife. reply because I haven’t en- countered women with that kind of problematic behavior. Often the men I work with are emotionally detached from their partner. They may say they love their partner, but their behavior shows they really haven’t made a good attachment. They don’t feel truly bonded to their partner— and pornography is just another wedge. It can become a way for the man to regulate the emotional intimacy in the relationship. And that to me is one of the sad- dest things about using too much pornography.

PARKER: I’ve counseled couples where the man will say, “Well, I only use it once a week. I don’t know why she’s making such a big deal out of it.” But she is devastated be- or “sexting” is a form of infidelity, and Maybe she’s nursing; maybe she’s sore; cause she doesn’t want this to be a part of others don’t feel so threatened. I think cou- maybe she’s just not in the mood. We were her marital life. ples need to have a “sit down on the sofa” talking about that natural clock earlier. I talk and lay it out. “This is my definition of imagine that the man would occasionally BUEHLER: To me that speaks to the man’s infidelity.” Or “If you’re getting sexual grat- masturbate to get a release. Maybe he wants emotional detachment. In effect, he is ification—any sexual gratification—out- something to help stimulate him and turns saying to his wife, “So what if my behavior side the marriage bed, I consider that to be to soft porn and eventually to harder porn. disturbs you? I don’t care.” The not-caring a form of infidelity.” It has to be spoken up He’s likely doing all this in secret because is what allowed the man to get into the front; it has to be discussed. he doesn’t want his wife to think he’s evil pornography and use it to cut his partner and terrible. out of the picture. The not-caring is the DEHLIN: But there are going to be spouses most destructive part of that scenario. who feel that way about masturbation. PARKER: Meanwhile, he’s feeling evil and Sometimes men who overuse pornog- There are probably plenty of Mormon terrible. raphy do so because they are dissatisfied wives who, if they were to find their hus- with aspects of their relationship but are band masturbating, would want to take DEHLIN: Yes, and that’s feeding the shame poor communicators or conflict avoiders. him to the bishop; they would want him to cycle. Pornography is often only a symptom of confess; they would want to put him on a

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BUEHLER: Wait! Why is he unable to tell his exploring each other’s bodies and under- usage: don’t have shame and guilt, use good wife about his sexual needs? Why can’t the standing each other’s sexuality and being judgment. You seem to be arguing that mas- two of them have a “sit on the sofa” conver- freer with one another, then maybe there turbation may even prevent sexual explo- sation about the change in their life, the wouldn’t be as much need for pornography. ration and the spread of venereal diseases. stressor that’s occurred, and talk about how We have a lot of problems with people they are going to continue to have a satis- being suppressed. And it’s not just women BUEHLER: I would agree with that. We have fying intimate relationship? who have their sexuality suppressed—it’s natural curiosity about our bodies and They should explore all the avenues. men, too. They may have developed the about sex, and satisfying that natural cu- Does it have to be sex? Does it all have to be idea that sex is dirty, or not something you riosity is a healthy thing. intercourse focused? Maybe he just needs do with a “nice” woman. We have a lot of to be cuddled or hugged or have his feet or sexual problems in our culture. DEHLIN: And when it comes to sex in mar- neck rubbed. Maybe they simply need to be riage, your mantra seems to be, consciously nicer to each other, giving each DEHLIN: Should a man get rid of the expec- “Communicate, communicate, communi- other treats that don’t require the energy tation that mere penetration is going to lead cate.” Both members of the relationship level of sex. to his wife’s sexual satisfaction? need to give in order to come to a mutual So will a guy go off and take care of him- understanding about their shared sexuality. self because he doesn’t want to bother his BUEHLER: Absolutely. Absolutely. Most wife? Yes. Is that okay sometimes? In my women find that they don’t have orgasm BUEHLER: That’s a good summation. mind, yes. But the more important thing is through penetration. having conversation. We are not taught DEHLIN: And then the final thing I’m how to have an adult-to-adult, sit-down PARKER: Seventy-five percent. hearing you say is to make sure that sex is chat about sex. We’re raised that sex is pleasurable for both members of the something you don’t talk about. It’s too em- BUEHLER: One study showed that women couple. It’s especially important to help barrassing. Which doesn’t really make any who have been in a relationship for a long the wife achieve orgasm regularly. The sense. Talking about sex should carry a time are more likely to have a vaginal or- wife may need to explore herself, even lower level of tension than actually having gasm. A lot of a woman’s response is bound through masturbation, so she can become it, but we have so much shame, so much up in how much she trusts her partner and familiar with what brings her pleasure, guilt. We’re not given an adult vocabulary how familiar she is with her own body. Men and then teach her husband how to help for talking about our sexual needs. That is shouldn’t feel like they have to bring their with that—and that is likely not going to what creates the problem. wife to orgasm through intercourse only. be through penetration alone, but There are many other avenues. through oral sex or manual manipulation PARKER: And I have found that once cou- It’s important for the couple to under- or whatever. You’re saying that couples ples learn to have this type of conversation, stand female anatomy and the whole art of can increase their mutual sexual satisfac- they can usually come to good compro- lovemaking—the nuanced touching and tion, making pornography and masturba- mises. Maybe it will be that he’s going to caressing that leads a woman to become tion less of an issue. masturbate but in her presence or at least aroused. Only when she is highly aroused with her knowledge and permission. And do you want to try for orgasm. Just BUEHLER: I think you summed it up really again, I feel bad that we’re being stereotyp- knowing that can be helpful. well. The more you communicate about sex, ical because I know there are women who When sex goes well, it is a wonderful the more you’ll enjoy it as a couple. have a higher sex drive than men, women experience. But it becomes perilous when it who also look at pornography, and some- becomes too goal-oriented. A man can get NOTES times the shame there can be even greater his ego bent out of joint if he can’t bring his because we don’t talk about women looking wife to orgasm, and a woman can feel guilty 1. Milton Diamond, “Pornography, Public at porn. But I find that once the couple can and upset with herself. That’s not a good Acceptance and Sex Related Crime: A Review,” acknowledge their shared values and come scenario for the couple at all. International Journal of Law & Psychiatry (vol. 32 to some compromises, a lot of this anxiety no. 5), 304–314. can dissipate. DEHLIN: And then if the woman feels as if she has to “fake” the orgasm so the man DEHLIN: What if a good chunk of the doesn’t feel rejected or sad, then that can women who aren’t very interested in sex also drive her to want to avoid sex. Dr. Stephanie Buehler’s book, Sex, Love, only feel that way because their husbands and Mental Illness: A Couple’s Guide to don’t know how to help them achieve or- BUEHLER: And if at some point she can’t Staying Connected is available in book- gasm? Could a couple’s sex life improve if keep up the charade and tells her husband stores everywhere. Her website is the husband got a little savvier? so, it can be devastating. “Faking it” may thebuehlerinstitute.com, where visitors seem like a good idea at first, but I think it can link to a free e-book, Sexual BUEHLER: Definitely. It’s kind of interesting just leads to very bad feelings. Discoveries: 25 Secrets for Incredible Sex. to me that women don’t always put those two things together. They see their hus- DEHLIN: Here’s my summary of what our Natasha Helfer Parker’s website is: band getting a lot of pleasure from sexual main points seem to have been. It sounds natashaparker.org. She also blogs at: activity, but they’re not getting much out of like your advice to teens is to be moderate mormontherapist.blogspot.com. it themselves. If couples are more open to about masturbation and pornography

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BRAVING THE BORDERLANDS . . . have not been realized. My wife has married again; our children have grown. I feel completely rejected, and one of my children still perceives me as very suspect. When I asked priesthood leaders if we UNUSUAL TALES FROM were still sealed, they told me yes—that unless there had been a cancellation, the THE BORDERLANDS sealing was still in place, though subject to my ex-wife’s future wishes. However, when my wife asked her leaders the same ques- by D. Jeff Burton tion, they said no—because I had been excommunicated, we were not sealed. I asked my current stake president (a good man) FIGURE 1. GROUPS IN THE LDS ORBIT for clarification and was told that both an- 1—CORE MEMBERS: true believers, unwaveringly sup- swers were right, but I needed to have my portive, the acceptable. blessings “fully restored” in order for the 2—BORDERLANDS MEMBERS: those who consider themselves faithful to and part of the Church but don’t fit sealing to be valid. Because of financial comfortably in Group 1. problems, I have not been a full tithing 3—MEMBERS-OF-RECORD ONLY: non-participators, payer. Thus, I couldn’t get all my blessings non-believers, non-supporters. DOTS—previous members, prior investigators, and back yet. I asked if he would be willing to non-LDS family members. help with a posthumous restoration of blessings should I die before I could catch up on my tithing. At first, because I was not N THIS COLUMN, I share some un- whatever was needed. current on tithes, he said “no,” but later he I usual—and sometimes troubling—ex- Of course, my wife was stunned, hurt, said he would do it. periences and observations from four betrayed, and furious. She sought counsel What upsets me most is the seeming Borderlanders. I’ve changed the names of from friends, family, and the bishopric. willingness of the local ward and stake the first three. To respond, please send an Some, including one bishop’s counselor, leadership to see my family and me sacri- email to [email protected]. I will forward strongly urged her to divorce me, and she ficed, first on the altar of their biases, and your messages and may include some re- did. Ward members and neighbors soon later on the altar of money (I must “pay for sponses in a later column.1 knew the “sordid” details, and I was pushed blessings”). Everyone has seemed to ignore into the Borderlands, where I still live. my desire to keep my family together and Everyone seemed to rally around my wife, to heal my past sins. This whole episode but I felt little, if any, support from my ward has not drawn me closer to the Church nor JACOB: Having been attracted to both men leadership. I was the expendable one, the back to Group 1. Indeed, it has made me and women since my teens, I am what is throw-away. feel that Church membership is all about sometimes referred to as a bisexual man. I hoped that if I fully cooperated in the money and control, not about helping indi- After a typical LDS upbringing, I went to divorce proceedings, went through the viduals and family. BYU, met a wonderful woman, married in Church’s repentance process, and showed What have others experienced along the temple, and fathered three children. We my wife that I loved her and our children, these lines? Any suggestions? were all very active in the Church and, to she might in time change her mind and be all appearances, a standard Mormon family. willing to reestablish our eternal family. She JEFF: Thanks for sharing your story with During all those years, I did not act on stayed in the family home, and I moved out our readers. Let’s see what responses this my attraction to men. But later, my work of the stake. I’ve been very attentive to my column generates. required me to travel overseas for extended family’s needs, paying child support and periods. During these times away from trying to spend as much time with them as home, I met and became attached to a man. possible. I even tried to go to church with One thing led to another, and we had sex. my kids, but met many objections from MARY: I have been married for ten happy I knew my actions were terribly wrong local Church leaders and others. years to an inactive Mormon from a very and sought counseling. Somehow my wife I completed the Church’s repentance active LDS family. I am not an LDS Church suspected that I might have stepped out on process of excommunication and rebap- member, nor is my family of origin. her. Although she knew no details—espe- tism. I am celibate to this day and observe I think that the LDS Church provides cially not that I had been involved with a all Church teachings, except that I am in ar- good structure and programs for children man—she asked me about it directly. Bad rears on my tithing. Key to my continuing and families and promotes a healthy as they were, I told her the facts. I said I efforts is my desire to see my sealing with lifestyle. It also seems to provide teachings would never commit the act again and was my ex-wife preserved, and I hope progress on how to be a good Christian during this trying to repent for it. I asked for her for- can still be made in healing our family, even lifetime, maybe even better teachings than giveness. I so wanted our marriage and if in the afterlife. other Christian religions offer. As a whole, I family unit to survive; I was willing to do The years have passed, but my hopes think very highly of the LDS people I’ve met or known. D. JEFF BURTON is an author and a former member of the Sunstone Board of Directors. We have two children, ages five and

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eight. My husband would love for all of us into a religion that withholds blessings only,” and a fairly thin membrane between to join up and be active in the LDS Church from those who don’t adhere to its doc- the two is where Borderlanders are located. together. Unfortunately over the years, I trines, teachings, and commandments. I The reasons people find themselves behave read things about Church doctrines would be happier if these religious activi- tween the core group and the non-partici- and teachings that have raised serious is- ties were a source of comfort for me, and a pating group vary. Most of us understand sues. I am also bugged by Mormons bearing refuge from the world at large. But I realize that if five hundred Mormons are sitting in their testimonies to me. They seem to do it that won’t happen unless I am fully con- a chapel, five hundred different versions of more for their benefit than mine, as if trying verted. Mormonism will be represented. The differ- to reaffirm their own beliefs instead of im- Our kids are doing okay at church, but ences are often small and unspoken but can parting any spiritual information to me. they are starting to realize that, as a family, sometimes be quite large. Thus, the “fried These testimony-bearing incidents usually we don’t follow all the “rules.” egg” model doesn’t always fit every person’s happen when I ask a question about some For now I’ll have to remain a fence- situation. Where would you place yourself LDS doctrine or teaching. It’s frustrating be- sitter, which may get more uncomfortable in that simplified model? cause I’m only looking for information. as time goes on. So I’ll work on trying to get I’m trying to determine if I can take part comfortable up there. Perhaps a large OLIVER: That is difficult to explain. Maybe in the LDS experience for the sake of my cushion might help. a little background will help. husband and children. Can I go to church, My perception is that Mormon pioneers participate in family home evenings, get in- JEFF: Any suggestions from our readers on had a raw “fire in the belly” that brought volved in the activities, but not fully accept how to pump up Mary’s cushion? them close together, despite their diverse the doctrine or Church proceedings? set of personalities and backgrounds. They From reading your columns, I note that had a sense of mission which I am sure was others have felt the way I do now. The var- intensified by the newness of the Church ious approaches you suggest others use to OLIVER: While a teenager in the eastern and the persecution it endured. There was a deal with these problems address many of United States, I converted to the Church. feeling of fellowship and an attitude of my concerns, and reading them gives me Then I went on a mission, and married an working together for a common goal. hope. LDS woman. Now, in my early thirties, I’m I don’t feel that kind of fellowship in our a relatively new subscriber to SUNSTONE. I ward and stake. On the whole, Church JEFF: I think you can find suitable ways of recently read your column, “Protecting and members have done well in our society, cre- integrating yourself into your husband’s Strengthening Your Marriage,” and found it ating a kind of cultural security blanket. So and children’s Mormonism. Just do what very interesting and useful. Who developed fellowship or togetherness seems to be built feels comfortable and allows you to be the “Groups in the LDS Orbit” model? How on socializing instead of on mission. (I may honest. Go as far as you can with that fuel. is it supposed to be interpreted? sound cynical but don’t necessarily mean to Time will likely expand your horizons. An be.) Fellowship seems to be all about the initial approach might be to simply tell JEFF: I call that model the “fried egg.” The board-game nights, the dances, dinners and members, “I am not a true believer, but I yolk represents core members; the egg parties, the BYU bond, and other social- want to participate in church with my hus- white is a group of “members of record izing behaviors, some of which I openly band and children. So I’ll use the doctrines and practices that work for me. Is that okay with you?” As for the doctrines, teachings, and unique LDS practices you are not able to accept yet, you might simply ignore the doctrine and theology and instead concentrate on the human, the now, the good, the opportunities for service, and your family’s needs.

MARY (sometime later): Well, we have started attending church with our kids. Depending on the day’s topic in the Gospel Principles class, it can be a bit of a challenge for me to sit and listen to doctrine I don’t necessarily believe—or in Mormonese, doctrine I don’t have a testimony of. I barely made it through the “Final Judgment” lesson last week and am not looking forward to “Exaltation” next week. From what I’ve read, it outlines each commandment and doctrine a person is required to adhere to. I have to come to terms with trying to fit

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criticize (at least with my wife and non- mosexual issues grabbed me, and I gath- member friends). My church experience ered a lot of data. I decided to summarize hasn’t provided me a strong sense of mis- the subject in a book, and over a three- sion and Christian service. week period, the book seemed to come Many born and raised in the Church through me. In short, I felt inspired. I began may know only that socializing founda- to sell the initial book to libraries and book- tion—that “weak fellowship” culture. If so, stores (it sold out at the BYU bookstore). how will they work their way to a spiritual Now I am seeking a publisher. conversion and find a sense of mission? I’m Distributing my book had its costs. Soon worried that this kind of conversion hap- after I completed the first draft, my main- pens only rarely among this population. stream LDS girlfriend decided we needed to So, I suppose I do find myself some- separate. The MPA program declined to where outside the yolk. As a convert, I’ve nominate me for the presidential manage- retained a religious past which was cen- ment fellow program, a nomination I had tered on service and work. My wife and I been counting on and working toward for sometimes skip Church social events to en- years. My parents were upset; my bishop gage in public service efforts. Sometimes called me into his office several times; ward members in the “yolk” perceive us as deans at BYU’s Law School wanted to being inactive, or at least disconnected “warn” me. Nevertheless, I persisted. And PAINTING from the CTR track. every day I feared BYU would block me A better “yolk” (a purer one, in my from graduating. My daughter says the best gift view) would be one in which this “inward I attended the Sunstone Symposium last for Christmas was painting comfort” is changed to a focus on getting summer and have subsequently read exten- out to mingle with, work with, and give sively in the Mormon blogosphere. I feel four daughters’ nails— Christian service to non-members. there is an undercurrent of people who not figures frescoed I don’t mean all this as criticism . . . well, could help the Church transition to a more on massive walls maybe I do. democratic, less hierarchical, less funda- or pastoral scenes sketched mentalist culture. There is far too much JEFF: Thanks for your story. This is another richness inside and outside the Church to on canvas facet of living in the Borderlands that we justify the kind of limited worldview I but eighty ovals brushed haven’t dealt with much in the column. So, spent about a quarter century immersed in. brilliant, readers, please respond. I’m hoping that this undercurrent will grow cotton balls scrunched with the rise of my generation and its successor. between toes— and, oh, the talk while waiting. BRAD [his real name]: I grew up in Idaho, JEFF: What a story. Thanks for being open After mom’s funeral, served a mission, and then began a seven- and sharing your thoughts. You are one of year stint at BYU, finishing a biology de- the few Borderlanders who have been able nothing more we can do, gree, then an MPA and a JD. For six of or willing to “come out” in the column our eyes heavy and weary, those seven years, I was very happy and felt with your real identity. Readers: Any my daughters and I 2 I fit in just fine. I won intramural champi- thoughts for Brad? stretch out on a bed onships, took extra classes in several disci- plines, dated like crazy, served in elders NOTES while I paint their nails. quorums, led student service organizations, During these elongated moments 1. All past columns are available for download attended devotionals, and worked as a I forget where I am teaching assistant. However, instead of rich at www.forthosewhowonder.com. This is column 41. 2. At the August Sunstone Symposium at Weber and why. and rewarding BYU activities, my final year State University in Ogden, Utah, Brad Carmack has been filled with anxiety and loss. chaired session UT11315, concerning issues related I think I see portraits I love to exercise my mind by evaluating to gays and gay marriage. He also presented a paper in miniature, issues I care about, such as happiness, per- “Why Mormonism Can Abide Gay Marriage,” women who came before sonhood, epistemology, equality, gover- UT11342. At the same symposium, I chaired ses- nance, decision-making, and bioethics. Last sion UT11122 about Borderland experiences. and those yet to be, year I became interested in homosexuality, cameos in relief, a topic that, because I’m completely hetero- seraphim and cherubim sexual, had never really been on my radar. Please send me your hovering near small moons, I’m a binge learner, and once I started on experiences from life this topic, I couldn’t stop researching. I be- in the Borderlands. icon faces of saints, came a teaching assistant for a bioethics each oval a token, class where readings and discussion on ho- a passage. mosexuality constitute one week of the D. Jeff Burton, curriculum. The moral gravity of LDS ho- [email protected] ANITA TANNER

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THE FAMILY FORUM Yes, my good old mom would be in for a shock if she came back to live with me on my block! But fair is fair in this reversal of roles. What goes around comes around, everyone knows! ISCIPLINE So what of the moral? I’ll give you a clue: D The fun you felt would pass into the blues If you had to live with us like we lived with you! by Michael Farnworth, Ed.D. XCEPT in cases of severe abuse that E receive attention from authorities, parents are usually insulated from the consequences of their behavior toward their Before we were sent to earth, were we warned never to do vi- children. I knew a family with a young olence, but that we would inevitably be victims of it and very adult daughter who had the brain development of a five- or six-year-old. She could be likely from the hands of our own family? Historically and loving and docile but could also throw terrible, violent tantrums. She would try to statistically, our spiritual, emotional, and physical safety is make her parents shut up and threaten to most threatened by our family, the people who profess to love hit them if they didn’t stop doing things she didn’t like. I can’t help but wonder if she us the most. was giving back to her parents what she’d received from them. Since the family is the basic building EARS AGO MY mother ran across to live with my children like they lived with me. block of our culture, the child’s perception Y the following piece of doggerel. She —AUTHOR UNKNOWN of right and wrong is shaped largely by the was tickled by its message and decided to cultural values the family embraces. share it with all six of her grown children. It wasn’t the most flattering thing I’ve Mormon parents are in an especially inter- received from my mother. It made me esting place. They are trying to be disciples WHEN I’MALITTLE OLD LADY wonder how much resentment she bore of Christ, but they feel pressure to produce toward my childhood self. That thought children who fit cultural expectations. So Then I’ll live with my children and bring reminded me of the years I spent as a they turn to the tools most readily available them great joy child under her rule, and I realized that to them: discipline and punishment. to repay all I’ve had from each girl and boy. the poem needed a response from a child’s Some research suggests that more than I shall draw on the walls and scuff up the floor; point of view. So I created the following ninety percent of us receive corporal pun- run in and out without closing the door. reply. ishment as children. And because disci- I’ll hide frogs in the pantry, socks under my bed. pline patterns tend to get passed down, Whenever they scold me, I’ll just hang my head. A CONSIDERED RESPONSETO generation after generation of parents will I’ll run and I’ll romp, always fritter away THE LITTLE OLD LADY continue to use violence to socialize their the time to be spent doing chores every day. children. I’ll pester my children when they’re on the phone I’d be happy to have my mother come back The problem with our culture’s form of as long as they’re busy, won’t leave them alone. and live with us, that mean old bat! discipline is its preoccupation with control Hide candy in closets, rocks in a drawer, I’d smack her around and pull on her ear. and power. We sometimes immerse our and never pick up my clothes from the floor. I’d spank her butt and yell till she feared! children in a discipline based on punish- Dash off to the movies and not wash a dish I’d do all the things she did to us; ment: hitting, spanking, threats, punitive I’ll plead for allowance whenever I wish. the things I could tell you would make her blush! manipulation, and shame. Our culture jus- I’ll stuff up the plumbing and deluge the floor, I’d sit her in the corner when she didn’t behave, tifies these actions by preaching that what- as soon as they’ve fixed it, I’ll flood it some more. I’d lecture her long, about an hour each day. ever we parents do is for children’s own When they correct me, I’ll lie down and cry, I’d scold her for being inquisitive, then say, good; that we need to prepare our children kicking and screaming not a tear in my eye. Mind your own business, you busy old bray! for the “real world”; that our success as par- I’ll take all their pencils and flashlights and then, I’d ground her, I’d spank her; I’d shame her a lot. ents is determined by our children’s obedi- when they buy new ones, I’ll take them again. Then act as if she were being the mean little snot! ence; and that the honoring of parents is I’ll spill glasses of milk to complete every meal, I’d call her names like slow as a poke— more important than the honoring of chil- eat my banana and just drop the peel. maybe messy and dirty and you little old dope. dren. Put toys on the table, spill jam on the floor, I might even scream, “You make me crazy Instead of examining our real selves, of I’ll break lots of dishes as though I were four. at times! trying to discover our true identity as we What fun I shall have, what joy it will be Please, please go away, here’s a nickel and dime!” journey through life, we are distracted by the outer demands of society. We rely on MICHAEL FARNWORTH, Ed.D., retired from Ricks College after 31 years of teaching the gauges of worldly appearance and pre- family psychology. He is married to Cindi Halliday and is father to Brad, Camie, and tence. We embrace the cultural values of Jeff, along with their spouses Melinda, Nate, and Lindsay. He is grandpa to Joel. control and power even though they are Contact him at: [email protected]. corrosive to our souls and displace the

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things of God. Parents who place obedience above all else often are willing to sacrifice the child’s inner sense of value for the approval of others. Most of us know that disciple is the root word of discipline. A disciple learns and practices the teachings of a master teacher and then helps to spread those teachings. So parents should be the master teachers while the children are disciples. But most young Mormon parents, usually in their 20’s and 30’s, aren’t ready to be master teachers. At a stage in life when they’re barely starting to figure themselves out, they’re certainly not ready to mentor other people. Parenting and discipline are meant to be part of the spiritual journey toward wholeness—not toward Parents who place obedience culturally prescribed behaviors. Both parent and child above all else often are willing to should be involved in the journey—parents learning sacrifice the child’s inner sense of of life’s lessons from the Master (Christ) while chil- value for the approval of others. dren absorb a curriculum of compassion and understanding. This became exasperating? Did she sometimes Jean Piaget spoke of as “an unquestioned journey is fundamentally different if we spank him? acceptance of the given.” Everything is ex- follow the culture instead of Christ. As a young father, I spanked and hit my citing, wonderful, and crying out to be ex- Before we were sent to earth, were we own children and felt justified in doing so. perienced—that is, until fear or shame warned never to do violence, even though Then I concluded that it was immoral to becomes part of the child’s world. When I we would inevitably be victims of it and hit people in order to control a situation or engaged in violent parenting, I instilled very likely from the hands of our own make myself feel better, especially if I were pockets of fear and shame into my chil- family? Historically and statistically, our hitting the children who were supposed to dren. When children begin to doubt them- spiritual, emotional, and physical safety is be under my care. My younger self prob- selves and fear their world, everything most threatened by our family, the people ably would have thought that spanking the changes. They feel stressed and inade- who profess to love us the most. Sociology Christ child was acceptable, but now I quate; they hesitate to attempt new things; professor Murray A. Straus wrote: “The would be too apprehensive of what might they become spiritually anemic. In fact, group to which most people look for love happen if I, as his parent, hit him. I when parents are never satisfied and con- and gentleness is also the most violent wouldn’t be afraid that he would zap me tinually harass their children to be better, civilian group in our society.” with heavenly power; rather, I would the child’s neurological functions become Consider Mary’s job as the mother of worry that my action was morally repre- skewed. Jesus. Was her firstborn a sweet-tempered hensible and indefensible. And when I According to neuroscientist Paul thing, always willing to help, continually read the scripture that says: Inasmuch as MacLean, the lower brain is responsible thinking of others, never rambunctious, ye have done it unto one of the least of for survival action, the middle part is re- never making a mess, and never expressing these . . . ye have done it unto me. I again sponsible for emotions, and the upper an opinion different from his mother’s or fa- worry about how I parented my own chil- area is responsible for thinking. From ther’s? I doubt it. Likely, Jesus sometimes dren. Harville Hendrix’s book, Getting the Love wore his mother down, sometimes behaved You Want, I use two terms—”old brain,” in socially unacceptable ways, leaving her N The Biology of Transcendence, Joseph which includes the stem and limbic areas to figure out how to respond to him. How I Chilton Pearce writes that children be- of the brain, and “new brain,” which in-

did she parent the world’s Savior when he gin with an exuberance towards life which cludes the neo-cortex, or thinking area, MasonBr adl ey—ist ockphot o.coM

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of the brain erodes memory; it disrupts the ability to self; they compare themselves unfavorably Our old brain was fully functional at learn; it blocks the formation of new neu- with others, thus breeding even more inse- birth. We were breathing, our organs rons in the brain; it can permanently curity. This feeling of worthlessness causes were functioning, and we could express damage the memory function of the hip- people to hide from themselves and others, fear, discomfort, and contentment. pocampus; it slowly kills.” As frightening an act dishonest to themselves, to others, Instead of language, our old brain dealt as these effects are on adults, imagine how and ultimately to God. with images and feelings. We were reac- much more powerful their consequences Vanity likely undergirds much of our tionary, instinctual, survival-oriented are upon children. good and bad parental behaviors. We dis- creatures. Our new brain—our sensory, When parents create a discipline envi- place our own sense of childhood failures motor, thinking, and language center— ronment of shame and fear to enforce with exaggerated feelings of both adult su- had been installed, but it was very imma- obedience, their children will spend periority and inferiority. We start the ture. Not until we were seven or eight much time in “old brain” survival strate- process all over again in our children by years old did the new brain begin to dom- gies of fight, flight, or freeze, stunting setting impossible expectations for them, inate, and not until our mid- twenties did their higher neurological development. hoping to obtain the approval of the society it develop to full maturity. Parents’ verbal and physical acts of vio- at large and thus feel better about our chil- The old brain does not recognize linear lence, done in the name of meeting the dren and ourselves. time, so fears and feelings that developed in demands of our culture, may end up Certainly each generation of children early childhood can still live on in our adult squelching the higher brain development deserves better discipline than that their brain. Accessing and working with these we desire for our children. When chil- parents were served. A discipline of com- old, embedded feelings is very difficult, as dren’s obedience is motivated out of fear, passion and Christ-consciousness tastes they are powerful and resistant to change. or when children believe that obedience much different than our culture’s often vi- As William Faulkner wrote, “The past isn’t is the only way to receive love, children olent agenda of control and power. We dead; it isn’t even past.” A look, a tone of can get stuck in lower brain develop- parents can improve, but we must voice, a smell, or a memory can trigger old ment. Obedience becomes survival be- awaken from our cultural slumber to do brain energies from childhood that set off a havior. so, and that is a difficult thing to do. We sequence of behavior beyond the conscious There are spiritual consequences to this are usually only willing to change para- control of the new brain. transformation. Children unable to meet digms in response to crisis situations. Shame, stress, threat, and fear activate their parents’ high expectations blame Voluntary conversion is much easier, but the reflexive old brain into survival mode, themselves. They grow up marinating in a often we don’t see the unintended conse- and the higher cognitive functions of the stew of failure, which generates vanity. The quences of our parenting tactics until new brain are put on hold. Professor of Hebrew word for vanity denotes a sense of they have already rooted themselves in neurology Robert Sapolsky describes the ef- emptiness, falsehood, and worthlessness. our children. The next column will intro- fects chronic stress has on adults: “It sup- These children defend themselves against duce ideas for expanding and under- presses the immune system—causing this deep-seated sense of inadequacy by standing our interactions with our sickness; it slows and disrupts growth; it fantasizing about being an unattainable offspring.

MY SISTER WANTS ME TO COME AND READ THROUGH THIRTY YEARS OF DIARIES

in the house overlooking someone she tries to a heart beat could shatter. Come rainbent pines, remember like a deaf she says We can laugh in the life others man remembers an at what seemed so would envy she loses her opera he heard serious then. Maybe from self in fragments. How eleven years ago. what happened in the could we have changed so My sister, fragile, as apartment when the she asks over the in demand as those flowers roof fell in or phone. How could I not has found her days at Nanny’s as Herbert still be eleven in front losing color, turning thin, was dying we can of the old Plymouth breakable as those nearly know something about on Main street, transparent brittle leaves. the stories we Mother Younger there Nothing bends haven’t begun yet. than I am now. Beginnings. like the pines. Her What might go, pressed days are a shelf of LYN LIFSHIN flat as a daisy from blown glass buds

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IN MEMORIAM The years passed, and I moved around the world—to the mission field, military service, graduate school, four different work locations outside of Utah, and a mission presidency. My contact with Duff was MARION D. HANKS occasional and usually brief, occurring when he would tour a mission in my locale, AND CHIEKO N. OKAZAKI preside at a stake conference in my area, or address a professional group with which I was affiliated. No matter how brief or inter- mittent the contact, however, Duff always I could be a firebrand, and one day I ac- treated me with the same graciousness and costed a sociology teacher about his al- dignity that I remembered from those West Among the First leged affiliation with the Communist Party. High seminary days. by J. Frederick (Toby) Pingree I think Duff thought my aggressive be- Through the years, Duff became a well- havior was juvenile, but during the next known and highly respected person within class, he commented on it in such a way the Church and throughout the world. His J. FREDERICK (TOBY) PINGREE is a life- that I felt validated for being willing to general conference talks were eagerly antic- long disciple of Elder Hanks, and, under take on an established authority figure ipated, and requests for his time and talents Hanks’ personal endorsement, has served as when I sincerely perceived a threat to our came from all quarters. The special compe- chair of the Sunstone Board of Directors. way of government. tence he demonstrated in many fields over But he also challenged me in subtle but the years, and the relatively young age (31) LONG WITH NEWS of this beloved enduring ways. One day, he told us about at which he had been called as a general au- A Church leader’s death came much a family of African-Americans who had thority, led many to expect that he would well-deserved recognition of the extraordi- joined the Church prior to his arrival in one day ascend the Church ladder and be- nary fullness of the life he’d lived. Cincinnati as a missionary. Perceiving that come an apostle, much as had Richard L. Collectively, those who had known him their attendance caused a conspicuous de- Evans, whom Duff had succeeded among hailed Elder Hanks as a genuine “Man for cline in participation by white folks, they the seven presidents of the Seventy in 1953. All Seasons”—an author and scholar, a re- had stopped coming to services. Each But it wasn’t to be: Duff was released markable humanitarian, an accomplished Sunday thereafter, Elder Hanks and fellow to emeritus status around age 70, the athlete, an advisor to five U.S. presidents, a missionaries traveled to the family’s farm now-prescribed retirement time for Boy Scout in the truest sense, a general au- outside of town to hold sacrament Quorum of Seventy members. Though it thority for five decades, a mission presi- meeting with them. As I listened, a keen was never verified, a rumor grew in dent, a temple president, a New Era editor, feeling settled on my heart that something Church gossip circles that Duff had in- a counselor to and leader of governmental was not right. In telling the story, Duff said curred the displeasure of one or more of and international service organizations— nothing derogatory about the Church nor those at the top of the Church hierarchy the list could go on. He personified what its members, but I sensed that he had been being a disciple of Christ means: reaching quietly protesting. Duff’s powerful, un- out to embrace and lift the poor and down- adorned tale of good faith and steadfast- trodden, standing up to the proud and the ness in the face of injustice would mighty, sharing testimony of Christ at all encourage and console me years later times and in all places, rendering service when my disagreement with the Church whether recognized or not, giving liberally establishment on blacks and the priest- to worthy causes. hood came close to open rebellion. But my recognition of Duff Hanks’ Naturally, my intense, constant relation- legacy is personal and intimate: how my life ship with Duff at West High diminished was influenced by 63 years of association significantly when I moved on to the with the man. In the fall of 1947, I entered University of Utah. But later, he became Salt Lake’s West High School and grudg- part of that era’s fabled University of Utah ingly enrolled in early morning seminary. Institute of Religion faculty, along with While completing his law degree at the Lowell Bennion, T. Edgar Lyon, and George University of Utah, Duff (as we always Boyd—a group of L.D.S. Church teachers called him) was our teacher, and it was his that Sterling McMurrin considered the first year on the job. From the beginning, finest ever assembled. Although Duff’s all of my reservations about seminary— classes were invariably overenrolled, I man- and those of my callow comrades—evapo- aged to gain entry to a few. But the demands rated as our teacher worked to know us of university teaching and “General each personally, treated us like peers, and Authoritying” in his life, along with my talked thoughtfully and poignantly of the growing involvement in university life, Savior and of prophets, both ancient and meant that our paths crossed less and less modern. frequently. MARION D. HANKS

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by challenging certain orthodoxies. Coming Home felt more hope for women in the Church The last time I met with Duff was in the that day than ever before. lobby of the Joseph Smith Building (for- by Paula Jensen Goodfellow A few years later, she came to the Rocky merly Hotel Utah). He was well past retire- Mountain Retreat for LDS Women. ment and showing signs of age. He told me Although she was there as the keynote of many of his experiences with other PAULA JENSEN GOODFELLOW, one of the speaker, she didn’t hold herself apart from Church authorities, remarking that in the founding mothers of the DAM Women Retreat the rest of us. I saw her spending hours years before blacks had been given full fel- (www.rockymountainretreat.org), recently talking with the women there, listening to lowship in the Church, many of his Church completed an MA in speech-language them, and sharing her own opinions. colleagues had struggled as he had with this pathology. If Mormon tchotchke makers sold Sister Okazaki made the Church a better gross inequity, hoping and praying for its bracelets that read “WWCD” (What would place because she was not submissive and resolution. He described the deep personal Chieko do?), Paula would totally buy one deferential but took herself seriously as a satisfaction he’d felt at being able to repre- daughter of God. She amplified her talents sent the Lord in many places, under a wide N THE EARLY 1990’s, I lived in much as did the faithful servant in Jesus’s range of circumstances, to diverse people of I Westminster, Colorado, a suburb of parable. Here’s to many more Mormon all races, social strata, nations, and religious Denver. In those dark days of dial-up women like her. persuasions. modems and primitive web browsers, we As we parted, I had the temerity to ask felt relatively isolated from events in Utah. him why, in his view and considering his Despite this disconnection, I began to hear great influence and longevity as a general news from friends about the new Relief Breaking Free of authority, he had not risen to a more promi- Society presidency. They were feisty, inde- Cookie-Cutter nent Church position. He smiled, and pendent, well-educated women. My friend mildly chastened me with a statement that in New Mexico said that Sister Okazaki, the Mormonism “one serves in the Lord’s Church where and new first counselor, had visited her stake by Mary Ellen Robertson when one is called, and for long as one is and that she was an incredibly strong called.” speaker with a very personable manner. Then, after a pause, and with a twinkle A few months later, I heard that Sister MARY ELLEN ROBERTSON is Sunstone’s di- in his eye, he ventured that the Lord had Okazaki was coming to our stake. I was rector of outreach and symposia and was the not selected him for further advancement sure there would be a big crowd, so I ar- first LDS woman to complete the women’s because “He knew me too well and loved rived early. Very early. Early enough that I studies in religion MA program at Claremont me too much.” I do not know whether it actually crashed the leadership meeting be- Graduate School. was the Lord who chose not to elevate Duff fore the main meeting. in this mortal context, but I am certain to I saw Chieko standing at the pulpit: a my core that among those who are chosen tiny woman wearing a simple fuchsia dress. HIEKO OKAZAKI’S SEVEN-YEAR to be known and loved by the Lord, Marion During the question and answer session, it C tenure in the General Relief Society Duff Hanks is among the first. became clear that her outward appearance Presidency (March 1990–April 1997) coin- masked an intelligent, caring, and strong cided with my progress into adulthood— woman. When male leaders asked ques- my last two years of college, my tions, she didn’t use the cloying, high- post-graduation wanderings, my accep- pitched, unsure Relief Society voice; she tance into Claremont Graduate School’s didn’t defer to them. Instead she told the women’s studies in religion program, con- leaders directly, clearly, and strongly what necting with like-minded Mormons via they should do. When a Relief Society pres- email lists, and figuring out life as a single ident asked for guidance on working with LDS woman. her bishopric, Sister Okazaki told the Chieko’s talks were always a highlight in woman to go back to her leaders and tell general conference—engaging, instructive, them what she needed from them and to and, for me, the equivalent of a window explain how it should be done. being thrown open to air a stuffy room. At one point during the main meeting, I Likewise, her books were a source of inspi- was startled and pleased to realize that she ration and instruction, liberally seasoned was quoting from Exponent II. And as she with humor, grace, and realness. spoke, she leaned forward, gripping the Six months after her release from the podium, stating her message forcefully. Her General Relief Society Presidency, Chieko talk was grounded in the teachings of Jesus, spoke at a four-stake women’s conference in emphasizing kindness and love. She urged Pasadena, California. This was my first and us to not be so hard on ourselves. She was only experience hearing Chieko speak pleased with us as we were. live—and uncorrelated. The chapel and Listening to this woman speak, I felt as cultural hall were packed with women if—having been trapped for many years on eager to hear her. another planet—I had finally received the The conference theme was “Discover CHIEKO NISHIMURA OKAZAKI message that it was time to come home. I the Joy,” based on D&C 42:61: “If thou

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shalt ask, thou shalt receive revelation ronment for, she insisted. like/dislike relationship with my Mormon, upon revelation, knowledge upon knowl- I spent the conference taking notes, all-encompassing, surround-sound up- edge, that thou mayest know the mysteries trying to keep up with Chieko’s brilliant bringing—and my public remarks reflected and peaceable things—that which bringeth stream of ideas. A few days later, I typed the that state of mind, that uncertainty, that in- joy, that which bringeth life eternal.” notes and emailed them far and wide. Such ternal debate. Chieko began by holding up four cookie wisdom deserved wide circulation. Sometime after my speech, I stood cutters and asking the congregation what The feedback was immediate from all looking through a window at the outlines they thought cookie cutters had to do with quarters: of the black pine trees stark against the sky joy. Many associated them with the warmth “This summary is something I can pass as the sun slipped past the horizon. Chieko of cooking and raising children. on to three women friends in need today.” came up to me, having heard my words and Chieko said we get many promissory “What a relief to hear something beyond read my writing. The gently observant notes at Church: If we have family home ‘have faith’ and ‘write in your journals.’” woman said something to the effect of: evening, our kids will get along. If we’re “Chieko speaks right where women are: “You have some issues with Mormonism, obedient, we’ll be happy. If we work harder, none of this ‘humble yourselves and follow don’t you?” do better, or do things more times, we’ll be the formula’ stuff, because she knows that “Yes, I do,” I said bluntly, having long blessed. She pointed out that the scripture women need a much different message.” ago given up any pretense. the conference theme was based on focused “What a stunningly beautiful and pow- “But you’re not bitter or anti. You have a on gospel basics—not all the things we’re erful address. I’ve been trying to think why deep yearning for the truth and for God. supposed to do. it hit me so hard. That rare combination of And it’s all right to take issue with She described things that are supposed honesty, good sense, and the gospel?” Mormonism. I, too, have my differences.” to bring women joy. Mothers, for example, When news of Chieko’s 2 August 2011 This conversation had taken a turn from are supposed to find total joy and fulfill- passing began to circulate, a friend wrote to what I’d expected from someone who’d ment in bearing and raising children; single say she remembered my notes from this been in the presidency of the General Relief women are supposed to find joy in talk and lamented that Chieko was gone. Society. (Later, though, I heard Chieko preparing to marry and have families; I attended Chieko’s memorial service in voice her discouragement with the way the widows like herself are supposed to find joy Salt Lake on 10 August 2011. I felt her loss Church approaches homosexuality, and in enduring to the end. keenly, as I’m sure thousands of LDS better understood her words.) Chieko compared these ideals to a café’s women did who had been spiritually fed by She continued, “The Church needs you, Blue Plate Special and worried that women her life’s work. I was grateful that she con- needs your mind and your perceptions. in the Church are too often presented with veyed through her words and by her ex- Don’t go away. Stay.” a meal or a message that may not fill their ample that there is more than one way to be I looked into her eyes, and for one mo- actual needs. The problem with messages an LDS woman and that joy comes from de- ment, felt déjà vu trickling through my delivered like Blue Plate Specials is that veloping a firsthand, personal, intimate, veins. Somewhere, long ago, on some high they don’t treat women as individuals. daily relationship with Jesus Christ. misty mountain in Japan, perhaps. A wise Chieko wondered if others felt as she did woman with long gray hair falling over her sometimes—she doesn’t want one more shoulders; small wooden sandals that Blue Plate Special and feels like she’ll gag The First and Last sounded in the quiet; a purple obi tied on what someone else is trying to feed her. around her long kimono. A fleeting image (At this point, it was difficult for me to re- Time with Chieko in the shifting mist. We both turned to strain the impulse to stand and cheer). by Phyllis Barber other people waiting to have conversations, Chieko returned to her original analogy, but I felt as if a thread had tied itself to me, saying that we sometimes try to live cookie a thread that connected us. cutter lives, and a time can come when PHYLLIS BARBER is most recently the author Chieko’s words have returned to me those boundaries don’t feel good anymore. of Raw Edges: A Memoir (University of many times when I’ve felt there was no That’s when we need personal revelation Nevada Press). Her essay, “The Knife place for me on the pews of my ward or on from our Heavenly Father and Heavenly Handler,” published in AGNI 71, was noted in the Church’s membership rolls; words Mother. We shouldn’t lop parts of ourselves The Best American Essays 2011 and The spoken in the high mountains of Colorado off in order to fit someone else’s prescribed Best American Travel Writing 2011. as the sun set behind jagged peaks. shape. In other words, cookie cutters are for cookies—not human beings; we should N 1997, AT the Snow Mountain not try to live someone else’s life or pray Retreat near Granby, Colorado, I met someone else’s prayer. She tossed the I Chieko. For the first and last time. cookie cutters into the audience for people Even though this was my single encounter to keep and remember the message: women with this graceful, elegant, almost mystical are individuals with individual needs. woman, the meeting made a large imprint She said that if any of us felt useless, on my mind. worthless, unloved, or sad, to get help from We were both speakers at the Denver the Lord, the Relief Society president, the Area Mormon (DAM) Women’s Retreat. At bishop, family, or a therapist—make a the time, I considered myself a misunder- change. You are worth rearranging the envi- stood, rebel/fringe item who was in a

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UPDATE

LDS CHURCH, DOCTRINES RECEIVE subway signs. In the ads, men and women of various races WIDE MEDIA ATTENTION and backgrounds say something about their lives or professions and end with the punchline, “ . . . and I’m a Mormon.” WITH THE BOOK OF MORMON MUSICAL PLAYING ON Mormon watcher Jan Shipps told the Washington Post that Broadway, two Mormons running for president, and a polyg- the Church spent $1 million alone on a Times Square bill- amist leader serving a life sentence for sexually assaulting board located steps away from the theater where the Book of minors, Mormons are receiving a degree of media attention Mormon musical plays. not seen since the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. According to the Post, the LDS Church is using “search While the Church redoubles its efforts to project a hip, di- engine optimization” strategies to improve the visibility of verse image through the “I’m a Mormon” campaign and LDS websites through Google and other search engines. other web and broadcasting initiatives, Mormon scholars “LDS impressed me with how they have leveraged inbound and celebrities are making the rounds on radio and TV in an marketing to dramatically improve their outreach,” web effort to explain to the general public the nuts and bolts of consultant Justin Briggs wrote last December on distilled.net. this peculiar faith. “Their strategy is much more forward thinking than many “We’re jumping into the conversation because there is a organizations and companies.” big one going on about Mormons, and we want to be a part The cover of Newsweek’s June 13/20 issue featured a of it,” Stephen B. Allen, managing director of the Missionary leaping missionary fashioned after The Book of Mormon mu- Department, told the Washington Post. “When someone goes sical ads but with Mitt Romney’s face superimposed. In the into Google, if the first 10 sites are people who hate us, we main article, novelist Walter Kirn, a former Mormon, gives lose in terms of our message.” an overview of the religion, touching on the doctrine of The “I’m a Mormon” campaign includes ads which have eternal progression and the history of polygamy. It also in- been broadcast on TV and YouTube as well as taxi and cludes a reference to Glenn Beck and the John Birch Society. Kirn describes the LDS Church as “an organization which resembles a sanctified multinational corporation—the General Electric of American religion, with global ambitions and an estimated net worth of $30 billion.”

SCHOLARS SPEAK OUT

RICHARD BUSHMAN AND Joanna Brooks are two Mormon scholars who in recent interviews gave candid but sympa- thetic answers to questions about Mormonism. Historian Richard Bushman was asked to respond to CNN’s “In the Arena” blog after Tricia Erickson, an ex-Mormon, called temple ordinances “completely violent, mind controlling and alarming” and stated that “an indoctrinated Mormon should never be elected as President.” “Erickson does a good job of making Mormon temple rituals seem ominous and irrational,” Bushman responded. “The secrecy surrounding the temple inevitably arouses sus- picion, but in my opinion, secrecy is important. I see Mormon temples as an effort to create a sacred space in a secular world—a quest followed by numerous religious peoples throughout history. They are a spatial equivalent of the Christian and Jewish Sabbath where a sacred time is de- marked from the rest of the week.” Bushman did not shy away from difficult theological questions, including one about lyrics from The Book of Mormon musical, according to which, Mormons believe that “God lives on a planet called Kolob.” “Pretty close, but not precisely accurate,” Bushman replied. “Mormon theology differs radically from conventional Christianity in locating God in time and space. He is not outside

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creation as traditionally believed. He is part of the physical uni- ments that you say, ‘God, I promise to keep them.’” verse—a being like the God in Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel “I just think that, you know, are we different?” Marie who could touch Adam’s finger with his own if he chose.” added. “Are we weird? No. We have more fun than anybody Joanna Brooks, who chairs the Department of English on the planet.” and Comparative Literature at San Diego State University and blogs on Mormon issues, published a piece in the 5 POLL: AMERICANS DON’T TRUST August Washington Post dispelling some popular misconcep- tions about the LDS faith. On 24 August, she was a guest on MORMONS, MUSLIMS NPR’s Talk of the Nation, where she gave candid responses to A SURVEY CONDUCTED 10 YEARS AFTER THE 11 difficult questions about gender issues, homosexuality, race, September terrorist attacks reveals that Mormons, along and even the temple garments. with Muslims and atheists, are among the least accepted mi- Asked whether Mormons believe that Jesus is God, nority groups. The “What It Means to Be American” poll by Brooks responded: “There are theological technicalities and the Public Religion Research Institute concludes that only reasons, some of them having to do with the distinctive 67 percent of Americans have a favorable view of Mormons. Mormon view of the shape of the Trinity, which lead some Muslims fared worse, with only 58 percent favorable views, theologians and some Christians to reject us as part of the and atheists fared worst of all, with only 46 percent. mainline orthodox Christian tradition. But we sure feel In a recent interview published by Dialogue: A Journal of Christian to ourselves.” Mormon Thought, author and scholar Shaun A. Casey argues “There is a lot of talk, especially in pop culture, some of it that many Americans still perceive Mormonism as secretive. derisive, about Mormon undergarments,” Brooks observed. “I think centrist and center-right Americans are suscep- “And you’ll see them described as magic undergarments. It’s tible to the fear factor about what they perceive to be closed, worth saying out loud that observant adult Mormons go to secret or secretive, or esoteric groups,” Casey tells Gregory temples as adults and make promises to live lives of modesty A. Prince in the fall 2011 issue. “It’s almost the same way and devotion and fidelity, and they wear undergarments they distrusted the Catholic Church.” under their street clothes to remind themselves of those A 2003 poll by International Communications Research promises. Are they magic? That’s not something I believe, revealed that 53 percent of Americans view Muslims and and calling them so is a little derisive. It’s sort of like calling Mormons as holding values and beliefs dissimilar to their a kippah a magic beanie.” own. In 2006, during Mitt Romney’s campaign for the White House, a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg Poll reported that 37 DONNY AND MARIE ON CNN percent of Americans would not vote a Mormon into the U.S. presidency. IN A RELAXED, humor-filled atmosphere, Donny and Marie Osmond appeared on CNN’s Joy Behar Show on 29 LDS “REGRET” FOR MOUNTAIN August, answering questions about The Book of Mormon musical, polygamy, Mitt Romney, and temple garments. MEADOWS MASSACRE “Do you think Mitt Romney could win being a AS THE SITE OF THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE Mormon?” Behar asked. became a national historic landmark on 11 September, Elder “Could Kennedy do it being a Catholic?” Marie re- Marlin K. Jensen expressed regret for the 1857 massacre in sponded. which a Mormon militia killed 120 men, women, and chil- Using Elder Carlos E. Asay’s language from a September dren emigrating to California. 1999 Ensign article, Donny called the temple garments “an Falling short of issuing an apology, Jensen said that the outward expression of an inward commitment.” human element of the massacre “compels me to say today “The [temple] ceremony there, it goes back to the same just how sorry I am for what happened here so long ago.” ceremony in Solomon`s day—all those sacred temples back Church historian Richard Turley added that “no one alive then, not everybody was allowed in there,” Donny said. “But today is responsible for this horrific crime, but we are re- the promises we make to God—you know, this magical un- sponsible for how we respond to it.” derwear or whatever you want to call it—all it is, is an out- In September 2007, President Henry B. Eyring similarly ward expression of an inward commitment.” expressed “regret” for the massacre in a statement which “But why underwear?” Behar pressed the Osmonds. was prepared by Jensen and authorized by the First “Why not the magic shirt, or the magic socks? Why not a Presidency. ring? Why?” In July 2011, Warner Bros. purchased the film rights to “Way back in the days of Jerusalem . . . , the Old Jon Krakauer’s 2003 bestseller Under the Banner of Heaven, Testament days, they used to wear those things on their fore- which juxtaposes the 1857 massacre with the 1984 Lafferty head to remind them or something on their hand or arm— murders. Ron Howard recently signed on to direct the film it`s the same thing,” Donny replied. “It`s a reminder of the with a screenplay written by former Mormon and Academy promises you make . . . those commitments and command- Award-winner Dustin Lance Black.

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People after being seen “buying Apple computers for himself and family members.” Died. Best-selling Mormon author CHIEKO OKAZAKI, 84, of congestive Charged. With failing to report teen sexual assault, LDS heart failure. Born in Hawaii to Japanese bishop GORDON LAMONT MOON, 43. According to laborers on a plantation, Okazaki moved Duchesne County detective DAN BRUSO, Moon, who is to Utah in 1951, where, despite racial also vice president of the Duchesne County School Board, discrimination, she became a teacher and was told by a teenaged girl of his congregation that she had eventually a school principal. In 1961, been sexually assaulted by a teenaged boy, and Moon ad- she was the first non-Caucasian to join the Young Women’s vised her not to report the assault to the police. General Board, and in 1990, she became the first non- Caucasian to serve in the General Relief Society Featured. Former Miss Wyoming and Presidency. A breast-cancer survivor, Okazaki addressed is- BYU student JOYCE MCKINNEY, 62, in sues often ignored in official LDS discourse, such as sexual ERROL MORRIS’s new documentary abuse and the difficult choices mothers working outside Tabloid. In 1977, McKinney was accused the home must make. As described by Vanderbilt professor of abducting and raping LDS missionary Kathleen Flake, Okazaki was “fearlessly honest about her- KIRK ANDERSON in Ewell, Surrey. The self and the problems that members of the Church faced.” case, dubbed “the Manacled Mormon,” created a media sensation in both the U.S. and U.K. Died. Elder MARION D. HANKS, 89, of McKinney, who claims she was trying to save Anderson conditions incident to old age. One of from “the Mormon cult,” was charged in 1984 with the longest-serving General Authorities, stalking Anderson at his workplace. he served actively for 39 years until his 1992 release at age 70. An athlete and an Out. As a gay man, BYU television producer KENDALL inspiring speaker, Hanks studied law at WILCOX, 41. Wilcox, who has produced documentaries, the University of Utah and taught semi- talk shows, and reality series for BYU, is now producing nary and institute classes for the Church Educational Far Between to document his journey as a gay Mormon. System. From 1962–1964, he served as president of the British Mission, where future apostles JEFFREY R. HOL- Convicted. President of the Fundament- LAND and QUENTIN L. COOK then served as mission- alist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day aries. In the early 1950s, he took African-American visitors Saints, WARREN JEFFS, 55, of sexually into his home when no Salt Lake City hotels would receive assaulting underage girls whom he took them. BYU professor Warner Woodworth called Hanks a as spiritual wives. During the trial, Jeffs, “sweet companion to those who suffered.” “The world has who acted as his own lawyer, attempted Albert Schweitzer,” wrote Woodworth. “The Church has unsuccessfully to prevent the playing of Elder Hanks.” an audio tape in which he can be heard giving sexual instruction to twelve of his wives, including one who was al- Monikered. President DIETER F. UCHTDORF, 70, second legedly 14 at the time of the marriage. The instruction, counselor in the First Presidency. He is known popularly which Jeffs called “heavenly sessions,” was allegedly re- as “The Silver Fox” and “Mr. Mac.” According to Salt Lake lated to ritualistic sexual encounters which Jeffs had with Tribune’s Peggy Fletcher Stack, Uchtdorf received the first his wives in beds and in the baptismal font in the FLDS nickname “for his amazing head of hair” and the second Texas temple.

OCTOBER 2011 PAGE 87 75-79_News:74-79_ update_FINAL.qxd 10/6/2011 8:58 PM Page 88 Everyone’s Responses to The Book in the end, the message is not against Mormonism but literalism: How audiences interpret [the show’s most that whatever our different myths, metaphors, and rituals, the real obscene] song and others like it . . . will purpose of religion is to give us a determine whether the musical is received as higher purpose and a sense of an unapologetically rude yet unexpectedly compassion in the universe. sentimental hit, or a polarizing, provocative —Maur eeN d o w d New Yo r k TiMes work of possible blasphemy. —DAVE ITZKOFF, NEW YORK TIMES

The Book of Mormon may be the most obscene show ever brought to a Broadway stage . . . . But their musical also has an uplifting message: the Mormons save the African villagers and come to realize that the moral of the story is more important than whether it’s true. —JACo B Ber nSTeIn TheDAIl yBeAST.Co M

The day I spoke with co-creator Matt Conservative Mormons have ignored or Stone, I coincidentally ran into a denounced it. The Mormon Church itself group of Mormon missionaries in the . . . has signaled to members to turn the lobby of a mall. A dapper-looking other cheek . . . Meanwhile, some more elder gave me a message to pass liberal Mormons (and some along to Parker and Stone: “Tell them ex-Mormons) are making pilgrimages I said ‘hi’ and I think their show is to New York to see it. funny.” So freakin’ nice. —Laur ie Go o ds TeiN —Chr ISTo Pher BeAM New Yo r k TiMes Sl ATe.Co M 75-79_News:74-79_ update_FINAL.qxd 10/6/2011 8:58 PM Page 89 ’s a Critic ok of Mormon musical

i can’t recommend the show to anybody. it’s For all the show’s refreshing novelty, it cops just too much. i was frequently uncomfortable out almost completely at the finale, giving watching it. But that’s a different thing than the entire cast of the credulous a free moral saying the show is hurtful or willfully pass. The Book of Mormon sets out to attack antagonistic to the Church. it simply isn’t. religious fundamentalism, only finally to em- —GLeN NeLs o N brace Broadway’s gospel of the bottom line. Mo r Mo Nar Tis Ts Gr o up.Co M —Jo hn l Ahr , neW Yo r ker

The score . . . is no better than what you might hear at a junior-varsity college show. The tunes are jingly- jangly, the lyrics embar- rassingly ill-crafted. —Ter r y TeACho uT Wa l l STr eeT Jo ur na l

I’m not willing to spend $200 for a ticket to be sold the idea that religion moves along oblivious to real-world problems in a kind of blissful naiveté. —MICHAEL OTTERSON HEAD OF LDS PUBLIC AFFAIRS

The only problem with The Book of Mormon is that its theme is not quite true. The religions that grow, succor, and motivate people to perform heroic acts of service are usually theologically rigorous, arduous in practice, and definite in their i have no plans to see this new convictions about what is True and False. musical because i really don’t see a —DAVID BROOKS, NEW YORK TIMES need to provide money to someone who misreads and turns the sacred in David Brooks says that “vague, uplifting, non- my faith for their profit. doctrinal religiosity doesn’t actually last.” If Brooks were to attend his local Mormon —LaNe w iLLiaMs , Mo r Mo N TiMes congregation for a few months or years, he’d see how wrong he actually is. —JOANNA BROOKS, RELIGION DISPATCHES 80_AOL_Okazaki:56_aol.qxd 10/6/2011 9:00 PM Page 90

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AN OLIVE LEAF “MAY WE SHOULDER IT TOGETHER . . .”

By Sister Chieko N. Okazaki

With the recent passing of Sister Chieko cial happen where they touch and con- Nishimura Okazaki, Mormonism lost one of nect. We can be part of this network of its tireless fighters for addressing “real” issues service and support, and we can be part of facing Latter-day Saints today—ones for the Savior’s pattern. . . . which there are no easy answers, and which [Let me quote from] material pre- sometimes reveal weaknesses in ways we as a pared with the support of the Brigham Church handle things. Early in Sister Young University’s Women’s Research Okazaki’s tenure as a counselor in the Relief Institute: “Victims need to be believed. Society general presidency, Sister Okazaki be- They need to be listened to. They need came alerted to the intense emotional, phys- to be relieved of any inappropriate guilt ical, and spiritual pain brought on by sexual about their role in the abuse. Many abuse. In characteristic style, she addressed it women reported the strength they felt as head on, refusing to blink in the face of this their bishops and therapists worked to- agony but also refusing to forget the Savior’s gether. This arrangement allows bishops promises to be with us always, no matter what. to concentrate on the spiritual and phys- The following few paragraphs are excerpted ical welfare of their ward members while from remarks given 23 October 2002 during the trained professional works with the an “Embracing Hope” conference at Brigham victim to resolve emotional issues.” One Young University. Access the full text at: of the women was so anxious and fright- http://www.byub.org/talks/Talk.aspx?id=1136. ened about going to her bishop that she wouldn’t let him shut the door of his office during their E ARE ALL HERE TOGETHER IN THIS CHURCH. first conversation. But when he heard her story, “he cried We are all here together in this problem, and we with me,” she said, “and that is when I started trusting W must be all part of the solution. How is it pos- him. He is the first man I ever remember trusting. I gave sible to reveal trust that has been betrayed? When the my therapist permission to talk with him to better under- fabric of our lives is ripped and wrenched, what will make stand how he could best help me.” And now another it whole? Let me use the analogy of a piece of lace or a cro- woman reported that her bishop was also initially baffled cheted dolly or a cat’s cradle. All of them begin with a long, about how to help her, but he took the time to go out and straight thread or string. It becomes complex and beautiful get educated. He still keeps in touch with her even when it touches other parts and other strings, but all of though she has moved to another state. . . . them are fragile. They can be shredded, unraveled, and torn, but we need to remember that there is a pattern. Even OR THOSE OF you who have been spared the if it is damaged, it can be rewoven. Second, each part sup- scourge of abuse, I ask you to open the circles of your ports the other parts and is connected to them. You cannot F sisterhood and brotherhood. Include those whose pick one string out without destroying the whole pattern. I trust has been betrayed by those who should have been their am part of the pattern. The bishop who sits with the in- protectors. Open your hearts to them. Let them open their jured members of the ward while they face the injury and hearts to you. This is a burden that is grievous to be born. begin healing is part of that pattern. . . . You are part of this May we shoulder it together, not merely adjust it upon the pattern, and the Savior is part of this pattern. I like to think backs of those who have born it so long alone. May we love of the Savior’s love as filling the spaces in the lace where each other with a pure unselfish active love as the Savior has there is no thread because there wouldn’t be a pattern if loved us. there weren’t spaces. I think of him as the intersections May our troubled hearts find the peace we seek with him, where the threads come together, making something spe- I pray, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.

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