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Show THE DISHONESTY OF IT. President A. II. Lund read from Isaiah. iiSth chapter, and spoko of fasting and its hcnellts: exhorted Iho saints to be moro faithful in observing tho regular monthly fast days, and pay thoir fast nfforings, that thero may bo something in tho storehouso for tho poor In our midst. Report of Millard slake conference; confer-ence; Fillmoro Progress Review. Tt is a patent fact that; if the Mormon Mor-mon pooplo met all tho demands upou them b tho grced3 t3'rants who rule over thorn, lh03' would do nothing" but to fast until starvation rcliovcd them of thoir miserj-. The cry is alwaj'S, ' "Pay! If you aro unable to p:3' without depriving yourselves of food, then fast; but don't forget to pa3'!" WI13' persons of ordiunn' intelligence will submit thoniBcIvcs to endless robberies, rob-beries, tho proceeds of which aro utilized util-ized to tho aggrandizemont of a few solf-stj'lcd prophets, is a mystery, except ex-cept when tho means of wheedling the mono3' out of tho people aro considered. consid-ered. In tho first place, tho Mormon peoplo belicvo thnt their religion is nccessar' in tho plans of heaven for tho redemption of humanity. Of this tho majorit' of them are convinced, I and their faith in the supposed promises prom-ises of tho Lord is of such degree that they arc willing to submit to a 113" per-t sonal sacrifico.in order to achicvo what is described to them-as -tho celestial, or highest, glor3 in tho presence of tho Creator. Taking advantage of this faith and this willingness to self-sacrifice, tho presiding high priests fix tho conditions to salvation to accom-modato accom-modato their own pockets, without caring car-ing what hardships obedience ma3' en tail upon their followers. Hero is a sample- illustration of tho unfairness of tho whole tax schemo of the church: A man paj's tithes during all of his life up to a well-advanced age. In this ho has obc'od ouo of tho principal conditions to the achicvomont of salvation. But nt this noint ho bo- comcs convinced that tho onesided bargain bar-gain is .altogether unfair, and that through observance of it ho has become be-come impoverished. Ho makes complaint com-plaint to this effect and announces refusal re-fusal to contribute further. Imincdi-ateb" Imincdi-ateb" he is declared to havo "lost tho spirit;" ho is frowned upon; ho is treated so uncharitably that he becomes be-comes disgusted with the falso pretensions, preten-sions, of tho leaders; he is ostracised and so persecuted that finals ho feels no concorn over tho prospect of losing his membership in tho church. And hero is whore the high priests make their opportunit.3' to finish up their work. Ho is haled before tho "authorities" "au-thorities" to nnswer "to charges t of apostas3r and "uuchristianliko conduct." con-duct." He has been so irritated and worked up b3f spiteful treatment that ho feels justified in expressing resentment resent-ment against tho courso to which ho has been subjected tho very thing that tho high priests aro looking for. He is unrepentant, and he is excommunicated. excommuni-cated. B3' this one act on the part of the high priests tho former tithe-payer is deprived of all possible prospect of salvation, sal-vation, for tho excommunicate and the apostate are a thousand-fold moro wicked than tho outsider never converted. convert-ed. Ho has kept his part of Iho bargain throughout all the years of his life; but in an hour ho is robbed of all possible reward for or return upon his fulfillment of the contract up to that time in a day the work of a lifetime life-time is undone. Not one iota of credit remains to him for his former faithfulness faith-fulness -by apostasy ho loses all that he has paid in; there is no rebating system; sys-tem; all is gone, and the hicrnrchs havo tho. monej-. So the man is left without money, without oven partial credit for his good deeds, and entire' without prospect for salvation. He is not even to bo permitted resurrection with the others because he has not "continued faithful faith-ful to the end." That is tho one-sided one-sided bargain, and the club used to enforce its terms. Ts there tho slightest slight-est fairness or honesty in the proposition? propo-sition? ! - 1 |
