Show NEITHER RELIGIOUS NOR wor POLITICAL HERESY henesy 1 THE history of the human race shows that it is harder for any government to put down a political heresy that la is founded in a real or pretended religious be bellet belief ilet ilef than any uny other form of peril to the state for more than 1 years after the crucifixion of jesus the christian religion was regarded by the tha best public opinion 0 tha 9 world vorn ta much the bame same light that mormonism Monnon ism is now viewed by public opinion in the united stat states es yet it finally triumphed over all hatreds hat reds I 1 contempt and persecution and has for sixteen centuries remained the religion of nipe moe tenths of europe and america thobro tho progress of mormonism has been more ra rapid id than that of christianity wits whis for the T first t halt century after christ Cli cil rist riat and yet strange as it may seem even to philos philosophic ic minds minus this progress ogress has been made mado in an era which has progress tr been een more than any other within historic limits marked for its ito intellectuality and its discoveries in the path of pure reason and science that a system of faith founded in fiction and the utmost bigotry without one spark of truth or reason in it should have obtained such a footing in such an era em and in the most enlightened part of the world is a mystery more impenetrable than the rise of mohammedanism the foregoing is from a long leader on the JS lormon problem in a recent issue of the san francisco chronicle it isa iss Is a mixture of truth and error history shows that the heresy 1 I 1 of today becomes the orthodoxy of tomorrow and that the best public opinion is frequently foolish and wrong the religion of jesus chhist christ eighteen centuries agoras ago was regarded in the same bame light as mormonism Is today and for the same reasons the two systems are exactly similar one being a reproduction of the other having the same organization doctrines ordinances authority gifts powers spirit and objects the opposition opposition to each ls Is from similar sources source s and for similar simlia r reasons ignorance and prejudice oppose Monnon ism as they opposed opposed early christianity the so called calle best public opinion condemned christ and ills liis is apostles and their teachings just as it now condemns joseph smith and his bis disciples and the same repeated the scribes and pharisees Pharis ees priests and doctors denounced christianity and invoked the secular law for its destruction and the punishment of its adhere adherents nl just as the editors and professors t the puritans and the preachers act now in reference to bior mormonism public opinion Is no safe guide in regard to anything that is strange 0 or seems to be new fox vox has crucified and put to death the best men the world ever saw and nothing that has come to mankind as an innovation has escaped abuse and violence emanating not only f from rom the populace but from inthe the best beat public opinion god almighty never yet in introduced trod hi his s word and will to the inhabitants of this earth but they were met with a storm of indignation and violence from the masses urged on by those who were considered at the time the best I 1 judges of what was right or wrong heresy or orthodoxy the christian religion triumphed over the influences exerted against it for tor two centuries including the weapons wielded by the secular power and bior Alor mormonism monism as the same system is called today to day will have a still greater triumph over modern malevolence and bigotry and the prejudice of this enlightened a age ae e for christianity has endured but in form its life and beauty went out of it after alter the chief perse cautions it encountered ceased while in its resuscitated form vulgarly called Mormon iam lam it will continue and abide and prevail in spirit and in power until the world is regenerated and subdued to god and his hes christ for the mouth of the lord of hosts has spoken enit it the progress which mormonism 11 has made correctly described by tle the chronicle would indeed be aston astonishing ishin I 1 in this philosophical and intellectual age I 1 or in any other if the statement of that paper conce concerning iLg the thle system were in any degree correct A system of faith without any spark of truth or reason in it would be an anomaly indeed there has never been such a i monstrosity in the world it could not exist foran for an hour without some elements of truth and some gleams of reason it would have nothing to becom me mend td it to anyone or keep it alive the greatest im postures and the deepest delusions that have ever deceived mankind have contained truth enough to cover cove r the errors and reason enoah enough to disguise the fallacies by which their believers have been be en led astray and it was the truth and reason they contained which enabled them to survive so long as they continued to exist 6 mormonism I 1 embodies many principles which the best public opinion I 1 accepts as c correct 0 there is not a dee det doctrine trine or precept in the new testa ment mentford for tor instance but Is incorporated in mormonism I 1 A prominent chicago journal recently declared that the caio mormons cormons Mor armons mons believe a great deal too much of christian doctrine they do believe a great deal too much for modem apostate christendom they believe in primitive christianity just as it first existed with all its precepts and spiritual powers many of which the best pub public c opinion of these times has discarded and this restoration 0 of f the ancient gospel contains so much truth and reason that the modern modem masters of loile logic and sectarian orthodoxy are not ab able abie e to point out where its errors are and therefore like their prototypes ot of old appeal to the arm of the civil law a and aud n a some of them to military force to iut put down that which they cannot reach by y arg argument dment and scripture it would indeed be a mystery it if this system could make such headway among the most enlightened nations without one spark of truth or reason in it I 1 the mystery is all ali allin in tho the mind of the chronicle and other papers with similar foolish notions they do not understand this thing which they oppose and denounce as heresy ther they never explain what it Is polygamy Y is their continual cry and even that they do not understand wor fon mormon mon plural marriage Is very different from uia uta which Is known as polyp polygamy rpy in oriental nations and the best public mind has never investigated it besides the marriage doctrines of of mormonism are but a very small part of thes the system stem its fundamental doctrines should should be studied and the source of its power should be traced by those who wish vish to delate on the phenomenon of its success or to denounce it as untrue mormonism makes promises which are bumm buff lelent to destroy it at once if it contained no truth or reason and these are not of temporal benefits benell ts as frequently declared by its opponents people abroad are not induced to embrace it by offers of land or any material advantages they are told that if they will repent of their kneir sins and be baptized into this faith they shall re ceide cefie the holy ghost and its manifestations with a direct testimony from god that the system is true and di I 1 vine in every part of the world those who obey it lil 14 falth faith receive the I 1 alfil fulfil i ment of the promises and that is why they leave their native lands and gather with the latter day saints to uthen uther utah tah tab where they expect to receive further truths and ordinances and spiritual blessings 1 mormonism succeeds like primitive christianity from tile the very same causes and is opposed and hated for the very same reasons it Is no political heresy either elther it Is not hostile to this government in any sense it does not attempt to interfere with it the mormon peo who are arc citizens of the U united n cited lle lie tates claim no greater rights than those of other citizens they are united in their political laith and aud action and carry out in practice that which democrats and republicans proclaim in theory they eschew division and vote together it is claimed that they vote as they are directed by their church leaders if this were true what diff difference arence would there be between voting as their leaders advise and members of political parties voting as their bosses dictate the fre freedom edoin of the individual and the rights of the body of believers are recognized and taught in Monnon ism there is no coercion in it and with a strictly secret ballot the terrorism falsey said to be exercised over the masses s simply an impossibility but the PO political lotical heresy is in the anti mort mori mon idea and method according to that a leading mormon has no ical rights As soon as he becomes prominent among his people he must cease to exercise the privileges of citizenship and his influence with less active and thoughtful minds and if he attempts in a perfectly lawful and legitimate way to prevail uron others to adopt his view sor vote for persons whom he considers the right men for office 0 he must be deprived by force of I 1 any political power whatever taisto this to us is the rankest kind of I 1 political oll heresy and the baldest baldesi finx kind of assumption and absurdity As to the foundation of our faith the mere assertion that it is founded in fiction and the utmost bigotry I 1 goes for nothing the facts do not bear out the statement those who are acquainted with them are likely to be better judges of their value than those who have never fairly investigated Invest gated them every religious creed on its introduction has been denounced as fiction notion and the term bigotry has always been applied to the intense conviction of persons full of zeal for their faith the facts on which the system called monnon ism is founded are sustained by the very best kind ot of evidence and if there is any bigotry in the people who have embraced that faith it is because of human weakness and folly and not a result of its teachings for it accords the broadest liberty to all mankind and uses no means of coercion upon believer or dissenter and its doctrines concerning the future of the human hurlan race are more hopeful charitable and godlike than anything that has been proclaimed for many centuries it will be indeed difficult to put down this religious system whether it be heresy or those who believe in it may be franchised disfranchised dis persecuted imprisoned blaime but itself will survila all attacks and adversities versi ties and will continue to spread and prevail aib aih alb flourishing upon the martyrdom of 14 its votaries Vot aries and strengthened by the misrepresentations of its adversaries and the best public opinion I 1 will some day wake up to the fact that those who have forgot it most have understood it least and that the despised and abused system contains the worlds panacea and is destined to become the universal faith and add endure for ever |