W.N.19 Leader Issues

Posted by rjhmoore at 3:22 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, October 21, 2008

So reading this book is like spying in on the formation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and discovering all of their dirty little secrets, which is kinda fun :), but at the same time horrifying. Ann Eliza Young portrays Joseph Smith (the founder of the above church) as a Gentile-hating (he calls all "non-Mormons" Gentiles), money-swindling, power-hungry crazy man. OK, maybe not crazy, but the things he does are justification for that title.

Here are some direct quotes from the book to prove my point:

"With the superstition which characterizes this people, they turned every accident or occurrence into some sign from Heaven, and it was always interpreted to promise success to them and confusion to their enemies."

"Houses, barns, and haystacks were burned, men shot, and all manner of depredations committed... probably there was equal blame on both sides; but I have been informed that Joesph taught his followers that it was right, and "commanded of the Lord," for them to take anything they could find which belonged to their enemies, in retaliation for the wrongs which they had suffered at their hands... and as they claim to be the Lord's particularly favored children, they seem to consider this text peculiarly applicable to the situation, and all the excuse they need to give for any irregularities in the way of appropriating other people's property. They are merely coming into their inheritance."

"He (A.E. Young's father who invested all his money in a bank he started with Joseph Smith) was intensely disgusted with the whole proceeding, which, if it had happened in the Gentile world, would have been termed swindling, and Smith would not have been easily let off by the mere calling of names."

"He (Joseph Smith) published his own views on the national policy in a pamphlet, and announced himself as Presidential Candidate. His followers confidently believed that he would be elected. They had no idea that he could fail to attain whatever he attempted."

These are just a few striking quotes that I picked out. If you actually read the book, you get a more in depth view of what Smith was like, and A.E. Young had definitely changed my opinion of him. At first I just thought he was crazy or maybe he really did have a vision, but I wasn't desperate to join the religion. Now I believe that he just wanted attention, money, and power like most everyone does, and he went all out to get them.

Now I do realize that this is one person's point of view and may not be entirely true. However, A.E. Young supports her claims with direct quotes from Smith and other important figures, her education certainly earns her credibility, and the fact that she was born into the religion and married to the leader of it (Brigham Young) makes us see that she knows what she's talking about. Not to mention, she is not overly opinionated on the issue; she in fact mostly just tells us it how it is. So I'll stand firm (at this point) in my position of believing the believable things she says.