Brigham Young predicted the fall of the United States from its iniquity, and that Mormonism would be on hand to fill the vacuum. An imam saying as much today about a coming caliphate might be subjected to alternative interrogation techniques.
This past month has been a bad one for God. First, Pat Robertson continues to broadcast. Then Madonna launched a new tour to exploit her newest newfound faith. And, finally, the pope sparked a kerfuffle with the whole Muslim world by quoting an obscure dead guy.
From Islamabad to Casablanca, people went nuts.
Watching the angry mobs on TV, much of the West wondered, "What's wrong with those people?"
An exercise in empathy is in order. Put yourself in their shoes.
What if a Muslim cleric in Riyadh said, "The intention of the Great Satan is to destroy us. . . . If the United States persists in sending armies to destroy us, in the name of Allah we shall conquer them . . . they will find their own buildings in flames."
What if a radical imam said, "They raise a force to come and slay all the Muslims, men, women, and children . . . I will raise my sword and slay those who wish to destroy Allah's people!"
As an American, you might feel threatened. You might even send in the troops to smoke terrorists out of their holes.
Oh, did I forget to mention the above quotes are from Brigham Young? Mostly, anyway. I've substituted "Allah" for "God" a time or two.
Young predicted the fall of the United States from its iniquity, and that Mormonism would be on hand to fill the vacuum. An imam saying as much today about a coming caliphate might be subjected to alternative interrogation techniques.
In the late 1850s, Americans were all in favor of subjecting Young and his followers to alternative interrogation techniques, and worse. President Buchanan was advised by Robert Tyler, son of Buchanan's predecessor, to dodge the slavery question with the "almost universal excitements of an Anti-Mormon Crusade."
Had there been an FBI 10 most-wanted list, Young would have been on it.
The story of early Mormonism is one of violent persecution. Harassment, imprisonment, dispossession and murder chased the Saints into Utah. Mormons can make a case for being the most persecuted white people in America.
But not all Mormons meekly hummed "Come, Come Ye Saints," while being pistol-whipped. There is The Nauvoo Expositor, for instance, destroyed at the instigation of Joseph Smith. It printed, accurately as it turned out, stories detailing Smith's extracurricular matrimonial activities. The same righteous fervor that burned in the mob's breast that smashed The Expositor animated the Muslim crowds that burned Danish embassies over a cartoon defaming their prophet.
It was a bad move for Smith. He was killed by extralegal means while being detained as officials tried to determine his legal status.
Long into the 20th century, Mormons took the assassination of Smith personally. Until the 1960s, the LDS hymn "Praise to the Man" contained the phrase, "Long shall his blood, which was shed by assassins, stain Illinois while the earth lauds his fame."
Once in Utah, Young started grousing that maybe the people of the beehive should become an independent nation with God as their sovereign, and to hell with the USA.
Washington took notice. The Mormon militia employed classic insurgent tactics when Col. Albert Sidney Johnston's army was sent to restore order. Cattle were run off and supply wagons burned.
As the army approached, it is well-known that Young threatened to burn and blow up everything in its path -homes, farms, towns - and fight from mountain redoubts. What isn't as well-known is that he claimed to have agents provocateurs awaiting orders to burn down cities throughout the Midwest and in California.
Buchanan wrote that he was told that "such is believed to be the condition to which a strange system of terrorism has brought the inhabitants of that region, that no one among them could express an opinion favorable to this government . . . without exposing his life and property to peril."
Young's more militant statements are now downplayed as empty bombast. Negotiations allowed the army to peacefully enter the valley. Passions cooled. Life went on.
But a religious leader's words carry weight. Propelled by fear and war hysteria, leaders in Cedar City instigated the massacre of a pioneer train of 120 at Mountain Meadows. The date was Sept. 11, 1857.
So what's with all this religious violence in the Middle East? Just garden-variety fear and bigotry. I referenced LDS church history for this column, but I could just as easily have highlighted Catholics and the Inquisition, or Lutherans' and Martin Luther's comments on Jews.
Turn on the TV and Christian preachers today demonize all of Islam. If you find yourself saying amen to such idiocy and feeling your blood rise at their brutality, then maybe it's time to look closer to home for enlightenment.
Here's another archaic quote: "Love your enemy."
