Defense of the Faith and the Saints (Volume 1 of 2)Roberts, B. H. (Brigham Henry)
Religion
Defense of the Faith and the Saints (Volume 1 of 2)
Roberts, B. H. (Brigham Henry)
Latter Day Saint churches
"My comment and criticism relate to the power of a monarch whose
tyranny is so effective as that not even the moneys paid by the
government are considered the property of the government's servant
until after this monarch shall have seized his arbitrary tribute,
with or without the willing assent of the victim, so that the
monarch may engage the more extensively in commercial affairs,
which are not a part of either religion or charity."
Can straight-out lying or any other description of lying whatsoever
beat this? Not from the regions of the lowest hell can come a spirit
more damned in falsehood than the author of this speech, and a senator
of the United States sank lower than the author of the falsehood by
repeating it from his place in the senate chamber.
One man works for the government; another teaches school. When such
employees receive money for the Compensation of their services
that money, of course, belongs to them. They own it. It is not
government money. The farmer who digs and delves in the earth for his
compensation, and who by virtue of his toil and going into partnership
with nature--with the soil and the rain and the sunshine--produces his
crop and sells it in the market, and holds the cash in his hand--I say
that money is no more completely the farmer's than is the money earned
by the government employee and the school teacher, theirs. It will go
without saying that the school teacher and the government employee have
just as much right to devote a portion of their income in the work of
the church of their choice as has the farmer to contribute from his
income to a like purpose. This part of the speech is an infamous appeal
to the prejudices of the people of the United States, and is based on
falsehood absolutely.
I might, if it would not take too long, enter into those paragraphs
of the speech which by wonderful twisting and turning undertake to
make it appear that the Gentiles also are made to bear the burden of
this tithing system--this alleged "ecclesiastical tax, levied upon the
people of the state," but it would require too long a discussion, and
so I shall pass it. Besides it is a proposition too absurd for serious
consideration.
A DESCRIPTION OF THE AUTHOR OF SENATOR KEARNS' SPEECH. [A]
[Footnote A: In the paragraphs under this heading are described
the character and lightening like political changes of a certain
politician, whom Senator Kearns employed upon his personal anti-Mormon
newspaper, published in Salt Lake City; and who, it is quite generally
conceded, wrote the Kearns Senate Speech.]
These several clauses of the speech just considered indicate better
than any others that I have found, the probable authorship of the
speech; and I want to talk about that just five minutes.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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