| Show antl AHTI A WAR WAB UPON RELIGION IT is very often claimed by the eno ene mies mica of the mormons cormons Mor mons espe esre especially clay by professors of so called christianity that they do not assail the tho mormon religion but only make war upon a system of marriage which is obnoxious to the civilized world they do not ox ex plain why they are ore so much exercised over the marital relations of a few Individual sin utah while evils arising from the violations of human and mud divine law are BO so common all over the country but passing that consideration wo will examine a little the pretence predence pre tence that it Is not the reil roll religion gion glon of the latter day saints that is called ni question oneff the tho methodist who assisted in framing the resolutions recently passed by the M mje E conference in this city calling for the political destruction destructs on of utah and the establishment of an Irros irresponsible pons oligarchy of nine persons informed us a few days a ago ao o that if the mormons cormons Mor mons would sigive give 1 up polygamy poy gamy ho holand and his friends would shoulder eh their guns to defend our cur people in rights wo replied that they would probably shoulder cler their weapons aa as the methodists and other se arians allans did in missouri when men maen and children wore were driven from their h and massacred simply because they were mormons cormons Mor mons plural marriage not being then a tenet of their creed nor practiced by any of their number and the 44 christian crata who plundered and murdered them made no ho pretension that they were fighting polygamy As evidence that this claim Is but a snare and a sharn sham we make the following excerpt from an article written by the methodist preacher referred to and published in the utah eer edi bette bedew Bei ew we demand the immediate unconditional and absolute abandonment of the system called celestial marriage if we do not comply with this thia demand we aro are threatened with fine and nd imprisonment with bolts and bars with the disruption of our family ties and as made sacred by solemn ceremonies yearb yeara of attachment and the influences of home with disfranchisement political rain ruin and abject bondage to the will cf a i few malignant enemies professed ministers of the religion of jesus mice make this demand utter these threats and pull political wires to bring about these results us inquire what it Is lawe we are aro required to abandon the an awer Is the system called celestial marriage and that js is an essential pard part of the religion of the latter entitled mor mons but it is objected that system Is not religion 0 chob to deter determine mine the question of what is and what is not religion the idea that religion is only a matter of feel ng ngi angl i emotion sentiment faith and sot act adoration oration in very erroneous it comprehends ends kom tom something ething much more than that it includes the duty ot of man to his maker as well as belief in a divine being and creator it ombra embra embraces nees bervice service obedience practice and requires works as well as 11 falth faith 31 no mam man can dictate to another what his hia religion shall consist of it is not within the province of preal denb dents congresses or courts to de lino line I 1 V the law may and should pio plo hect the citizen from all attempts pt of others to deprive him of ilfe iloe life liberty or the pursuit barsul t of happiness whether the asb aso cult ia Is made in the 1 name of religion or otherwise but jf afa a mans religion does dot pot ot lead him hloi to encroach upon t the h e rights lights of others no one in thib this republic haa has the constitutional right night to interfere the free exercise of that 1 an however foolish or it IV t may appe appear to others and any one who dom dem demands do that bo he shall aban don dona his religion is exceedingly impertinent and transcends the bounds ot of liberty and law but let us examine this doctrine called 61 celestial mar marriage niage ringe and bee see whether or not it may properly be called apar apan a part pant of any ones religion we are of the opinion that the methodists who so impudently demand its abandonment know little 0 or r nothing of its nature practice or effects celestial marriage Is a ceremony of tho the amor mormon on church established by y divine commandment performed only by men holding divine authority tho 0 r rity rits t ysia in places specially consecrated C for the purpose in v u manner prescribed by ecclesiastical direction and administered to none but members of the church represented as bib worthy to receive 11 wherein does ltd it dinner differ iff er from marriage I 1 solemnized by a methodist episcopalian or catholic minister in in these important particulars the ceremony the ordinances preparatory thereto and the authority by which it is administered are all under divine direction having been revealed from heaven in our own times it is not performed for any persons persona who are not members of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints and who have not been recommended by church authorities who know themas themes bb fit subjects for the ceremony the marriage is not merely until death but for all eternity and herein ii the essential quality for which it is called celestial it is eternal marriage marnia marria gp and id Is performed by divine Rut authority hOrity lacking these elements it is not celestial marriage having them it properly comes under than that designation the revelation given by the almighty to this church through the prophet joseph smith the truth of which has been confirmed by the divine witness to thousands manifests the true order of union between the sons and daughters of god and exposes the incorrect order orders s ol 01 matrimony introduced by men it atun un folds the eternity of the mardla marriage e covenant in which mn man and woman are exal exalted tod and god is shows tho the failure of those con contracts tracts which being entered into for time only havo an end when men are axe dead by and through celestial marriage conditions being observed toe too twain made one have a claim upon each other in the world and out of the world in this mortal life and in and after the resurrection of the dead and the tha family commena com ed en on earth will be continued and perpetuated with eternal increase in the world to come leading to power and dominion and glory and exaltation that none can conceive of except those to whom it Is reve zeve revealed aled nied this Is the sealing power which uninformed people deride and do not net understand that which is sealed on earth by divine authority Is sealed and ratified in heaven and is of as full force and effect as though attended to by the tha deity delty himself according to the tile pattern of that ordinance by which adam and eve before death came by sin aln were joine in the garden that god planted edy eds add who being immortals were for eternity joined by the holy order of celestial marriage that which was lost in the fall was restored in christ and the first pair redeemed and sanctified through agli the sacrifice on the cross come forth as 28 one flesh to dwell together forever as in the prIm primeval eval ovAl paradise by man made wedlock the parties are joined but until death the decease of either cuts the contract the father had nothing to do with the union they were united by mans mana ordinance and mans mana a authority and it all pertains to this thia life only with its increase in the resurrection they neither marry nor aro given in marriage but separate and single are as the angels who are merely minister ing log spir spirits ts unto those worthy of and prepared for a far greater weight ana fina extent of glory prepared for a far greater weight ana fina extent of glory celestial marriage then is marriage for eternity performed by b y divine authority and this is a very important in part of the religion of the latte rd saints who regard it as sacred and binding binding for ali all duration the methodists arrogantly dem and that we abandon it this we shall not do to please them or any other body of fanatics and we know of no law human or divine which gives them any color of authority to make sueh euch a demand or any pot power r by which they can enforce its it eve even n though thoy use political weapons or the bulle hnilo tand ani the torch by which they sought to convert the mormons cormons Mor M mons n JI in ju bloody missouri but bat they may say we mean that you yon shall abandon polygamy why dont you yon say what you mean then plural marriage among the 0 mormons cormons Mor mons Is an extension or outgrowth of celestial marriage that which la Is called polygamy in the world is not celestial marriage and as we have shown celestial marriage may not be plural mar marriage if nageb a man mar were to marry any num number r of wives outside of ofa the order cider we lave have briefly explained it would not ba be celestial marriage if he only marries one wife in that order GO so far as he advances it Is celestial marriage inthis in this church he cannot enter into plural family arrangements unless he Is considered worthy because it comprehends an addition of blessing and power and glory through guthe gu the means appointed if certain eternal results are secured by obtaining one wife in celestial marriage thosa results may be enlarged and amplified in worlds to come by increasing the means that lead thereto and this is what the latter day saints have in view v ew when they advance in the comprehension of the principles of et eternal t anal marriage and under the ivine divine d sanction and direction manifest their faith by their then works it will thus be seen that whether in the marriage of one wife or more than one the cormons mormons Mor mons act from religious motives ves vea attending to religious ceremonies having religious objects as us they believe in obedience to the word bind and will of the lord so that when people attack our marriage system they assail our religion no matter how much sophistry use in attempting to defend their bigoted and intolerant course and it certainly does not look like a christian proceeding dw g for christian minia tears to advocate the employment of force to destroy a religious body for the exercise of the right to serve god according to the dictates of their own conscience when that exercise does not infringe upon the nights rights of any othen other society or individual the mormons cormons Mor mons much right to demand the abolition ot or methodist arriage marriage as the methodists have to demand the abandonment of celestial marriage thu the news la Is frequently sent over he the wires to be published paOl labed throughout tue tho land laud that numbers of polygamous ma marriages biages have lust just been performed and the demand is mado made that the government shall at once proceed to destroy mormonism the truth is that the reckless individuals who make such at statements foments a have no means of determining ining the number of marriages polygamous or otherwise solemnized by the latter day balits celestial marriage is performed in places specially special ay devoted to that ordinance to which none are admitted but church members young couples who have no present intention of practising practicing plural marriage are united therein their unions are falsely represented as polygamous marriage marriages and thus excitement is kept up about cM mormon ormon defiance of tho law jaw it is all in keeping with the methodist demand for tho the glud unconditional and absolute abandonment of celestial marriage it is war upon a religious rite it is in falsehood aiding bigotry ignorance and malice allied matrimony has been from time immemorial a matter of religion it should be eo today to day it is JS so BO with the latter day saints and no law prejudice objection or demand will make it otherwise interference with its free exercise ia Is a violation of the supreme law of the land I 1 and those who indulge in it 16 will bu be found fighting against god erom prom the day when the silence of cantu ries was broken by the voice of god speaking to the boy joseph down to this present time it is the religion of heaven revealed again to earth which has been attacked and while BW baal Is opposed to christ and is hostile to the priesthood of god the conflict will go on until the great consummation bhail shall be achieved tho the refuge of lies be swept away and the kingdoms of this id become the wor kingdom of our god jod |
