This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
More than 170 years ago, political hostility following the murder of their leader, Joseph Smith, forced more than 5,000 Mormon refugees from their homes in Missouri in the dead of winter.
The governor of Missouri had issued a blanket extermination order aimed at Mormons because of their religious beliefs. The town of Quincy, Ill., welcomed the homeless with open arms. There was plenty of suspicion and misunderstanding about these peoples' motives, their religious beliefs and their possible armed "threat" to the locals.
Utah's congressional delegation (and others) in Congress and Republican governors who want to block another group of refugees, who are people of faith and whose beliefs and ways they may not totally understand, should stop the grandstanding and learn from this harrowing experience in LDS history.
Compassion, with customary security checks, is the appropriate response. It's nice at least Gov. Gary Herbert is paying lip service to this principle.
Shame on our congressional delegation, who appear to have forgotten history and are out of touch with mainstream Utah values on this issue.
Joel Campbell
Lindon