The Mormon puzzle, and how to solve itBeers, R. W.
History
The Mormon puzzle, and how to solve it
Beers, R. W.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- Doctrines; Latter Day Saint churches -- Doctrines
That this system would prove effectual may be safely argued from the fact
that, wherever the Gentiles now live in any number, there polygamy is
discountenanced and is on the decline. JUDGE C. C. GOODWIN, editor of the
Salt Lake _Tribune_, in an article in _Harper's Weekly_, October, 1881,
said: "Not half of the daughters of Mormons who have grown up amid a large
population of Gentiles will ever enter into polygamy."
Besides, it may be argued from a parallel case, which actually did take
place in our own land. The Oneida Community, in the midst of one of the
most prosperous and intelligent communities in the State of New York,
openly defied popular sentiment and covertly transgressed the law by the
maintenance of a social system as abhorrent as that of polygamy; for they
practised promiscuous marriage. They were a community having all things in
common, and the women were as much common property as any other property.
Its members, however, were not mobbed; they were not terrorized in the
name of law; they were not driven into exile by persecution; but free
contact with the healthful currents of the life about them finally
resulted in the disintegration of that portion of their social fabric
which was maintained in opposition to law and the sentiment of their
neighbors. Now, with that practical example in mind, who would dare say
that the scheme we advocate would not be effectual in breaking up
polygamy?
Thus we trust that we have shown that this plan would effectually cure the
evils of the Mormon social system, and bring the Mormons out of the
personal, mental, and moral bondage, which now blinds their eyes and
benumbs their sensibilities.
We regard it the duty of the nation to set on foot this peaceful, yet most
effective, plan. Let the nation at once establish free schools all over
the Territory, to let the rising generation breathe constantly the air of
liberty and have the light of knowledge, that the ignorance and
superstition which form the cement which keeps the Mormon social system
from falling into ruins may not get possession of their minds and souls;
and let the nation offer large inducements for colonists to emigrate to
Utah, and give them every facility. Money spent in this way is for the
general welfare, and is as justifiable as to spend money for a national
exposition, or for checking the spread of cholera or yellow-fever. If the
nation would do these two things, that accursed system of bondage would
disappear within the next decade, and the citizens of Utah would "_be like
the rest of us_."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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