{"id":42048,"date":"2021-09-06T08:01:40","date_gmt":"2021-09-06T13:01:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.timesandseasons.org\/?p=42048"},"modified":"2021-09-08T06:45:44","modified_gmt":"2021-09-08T11:45:44","slug":"the-constitution-of-this-land","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/2021\/09\/the-constitution-of-this-land\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThe constitution of this\u00a0Land\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

The attitude of Latter-day Saints towards the United States government has historically been paradoxical. \u00a0As Dale Morgan wrote: \u201cThe Mormons had a profound respect for government and governmental forms, but disrespect for and outright distrust of \u2018the damned rascals who administer the government.\u2019\u201d[1]<\/a> \u00a0Church leaders have encouraged beliefs that inculcate support for governments, yet we also have a history of conflict with the government in the US. \u00a0In addition, there are some Mormon doctrines that deemphasize the need for government that are held in tension with pro-government beliefs. \u00a0This tension was manifested in nineteenth century Utah\u2019s conflicts with the United States. \u00a0It has also surfaced more recently in the worldview of individuals such as Ezra Taft Benson and Cliven Bundy. \u00a0At its core, this paradox is rooted in the conflict born of a people who believe that the Constitution of the United States of America is inspired of God suffering from intolerance and corruption in the United States of America.<\/p>\n

The Prophet Joseph Smith believed that governmental forms should be respected, especially the Constitution of the United States of America. \u00a0An 1835 summary of belief that was included in the Doctrine of Covenants (Section 134) outlined the basic attitude of Latter-day Saints towards governments by stating that: \u201cWe believe that all men are bound to sustain and uphold the respective governments in which they reside, while protected in their inherent and inalienable rights by the laws of such governments.\u201d[2]<\/a> \u00a0In particular, Joseph Smith held the form of government in the United States in high regard. \u00a0For example, one revelation he recorded in the midst of the crisis in Jackson County Missouri in December 1833 (Section 101) stated that God had \u201cestablished the constitution of this Land by the hands of wise men.\u201d[3]<\/a> \u00a0A revelation recorded a few months before then (Section 98) stated that the \u201cLaw of the land which is constitutonal suporting the principles of freedom in maintaning\u00a0rights and privealiges belonging to all mankind\u00a0is justifyable before [the Lord],\u201d and as a result, \u201cI the\u00a0[Lord]\u00a0justify\u00a0you and your Brotheren of my Chirch in\u00a0befriending that Law which\u00a0[is]\u00a0the constitutoonal Law of the land.\u201d[4]<\/a> \u00a0In an 1839 letter, Smith also called the Constitution \u201ca glorious standard\u201d that \u201cis founded in the wisdom of God.\u201d \u00a0He concluded this letter by testifying that \u201cthe constitution of the united States is true\u201d while stating that many of the things that Mormons hold most dear\u2014God, the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, Christ, and ministering angels\u2014were all true.[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

Encounters with mob violence in Missouri and Illinois and a lack of government intervention, however, soured the perception of the United States Government among the Latter-day Saints. Due to a variety of reasons, Latter-day Saints suffered intolerance, persecution, and internal divisions that led them to move from New York to the Ohio to Missouri and then to Illinois as a result. \u00a0Joseph Smith lamented that Mormons were \u201cpersecuted on account of <our> religious faith\u2014in a country the constitution of which guarantees to every man the indefeasible right to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience.\u201d[6]<\/a> \u00a0During the Missouri Mormon War of the late 1830s, Joseph Smith expressed hope that \u201cthe good sense of the majority of the people, and their respect for the constitution, would have put down any spirit of persecution,\u201d but to no avail.[7]<\/a> \u00a0In 1840, Joseph Smith petitioned politicians in Washington D.C. to help the Latter-day Saints who had been driven from Missouri under the governor\u2019s extermination order, but was rebuffed by President Martin Van Buren, while the Judiciary Committee merely referred them back to the hostile Missouri courts for redress.[8]<\/a>\u00a0 This caused considerable resentment among the Latter-day Saints. \u00a0As President Brigham Young would state later on: \u201cThe government of the United States looked on the scenes of robbing, driving, and murdering of this people and said nothing about the matter, but by silence gave sanction to the lawless proceedings.\u201d[9]<\/a><\/p>\n

Further conflicts with the United States Government and non-Mormons in America led to even greater disenchantment with government officials. \u00a0Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were killed while in protective custody of the governor of Illinois in 1844. \u00a0This served to calcify Mormon resentment against their neighbors. \u00a0For example, one Latter-day Saint stated with bitterness that: \u201cThe whole nation<\/u> is accessory to their death, because the murders have boasted thro\u2019 the States of their heroic deeds, and the first one of them has never been punished for committing that murder! And what is more strange, is no man has ever been punished in the United<\/u> States<\/u> for<\/u> killing<\/u> a<\/u> Mormon<\/u>.\u201d[10]<\/a> \u00a0Jaded and disillusioned, the Mormons moved westward to the Great Basin region. \u00a0Their goal for moving west, according to the notes of one 1844 meeting, was to \u201csecure a resting place . . . where we can enjoy the liberty of conscience, guaranteed to us by the Constitution of our Country: rendered doubly sacred by the precious blood of our Fathers, and denied to us by the present authorities, who have smuggled themselves into power in the States and nation.\u201d[11]<\/a> \u00a0Latter-day Saints felt that they had been denied basic rights by politicians who violated American ideals.<\/p>\n

In the West, Latter-day Saints faced struggles directly with the United States government. \u00a0Latter-day Saints desired self-rule so that they could live according to their unique religious principles. \u00a0The populace in the States felt that Latter-day Saints could not be trusted due to their tendency towards theocratic rule, their practice of plural marriage, their socialist programs, and their religious heterodoxy.[12]<\/a> \u00a0Because of these issues, mainstream Americans identified Mormonism in terms of a political or social problem, stating that it was an \u201cimmoral and quasi-criminal conspiracy\u201d rather than a legitimate religion akin to Protestant Christian denominations.[13]<\/a> \u00a0As such, Latter-day Saints could (in the minds of Americans) be persecuted and crushed as part of an ongoing colonial agenda while still upholding the Constitution and American ideals of religious liberty. \u00a0One Congregationalist reverend wrote: \u201cMormonism must show that it satisfies the American idea of a church, and a system of religious faith, before it can demand of the nation the protection due to religion. This it cannot do, for it is not a church; it is not religion according to the American idea and the United States constitution.\u201d[14]<\/a> \u00a0The tools of the military (the Utah War), the judicial system (the Raid), and politics (the Reed Smoot Hearings) were used to try to force Latter-day Saints to come to heel.[15]<\/a> \u00a0As such, Mormon clashes with the federal government simmered for years in Utah.<\/p>\n

These conflicts led Latter-day Saints to develop a two-fold view in which the U.S. Constitution was supported and admired, but American politicians were not. \u00a0This was rooted in the tension Latter-day Saints faced by holding the form of government in the United States as sacred while suffering persecution that the government participated in (at worst) or did nothing to stop (at best). \u00a0One disaffected Latter-day Saints claimed that during the Missouri Mormon War, he heard Joseph Smith \u201cin a publick address, say, that he had a reverence for the Constitution of the United States and of this State, but as for the laws of this state he did not intend to regard them nor care any thing about <them>, as they were made by lawyers and black legs [cheats].\u201d[16]<\/a> Although drawn from a hostile source, it is similar to what some other Latter-day Saints leaders would later say. \u00a0For example, after decades of civil disobedience over the issue of plural marriage, President Joseph F. Smith taught that: \u201cThe law of the land, which all have no need to break, is that law which is the Constitutional law of the land, and that is as God himself has defined it.\u201d \u00a0When politicians failed to follow \u201cthe provisions of the Constitution,\u201d however, their laws didn\u2019t need to be followed because: \u201cWhere is the law human or divine, which binds me, as an individual, to outwardly and openly proclaim my acceptance of their acts?\u201d[17]<\/a> \u00a0Perhaps President Brigham Young said it best in 1851 when he quipped: \u201cI love the government and the constitution of the United States, but I do not love the damned rascals who administer the government.\u201d[18]<\/a><\/p>\n

Despite their conflicts with the U.S. government, Latter-day Saints thought of themselves as the true defenders of the American system and ideals. \u00a0President Brigham Young stated in 1856 that \u201cUtah . . . is the only part of the nation that cares anything about the Constitution.\u201d[19]<\/a> \u00a0Further, Joseph Smith believed that Latter-day Saints would save the Constitution of the United States from destruction by being \u201cthe Staff up[on] which the Nation shall lean and they [the Latter-day Saints] shall bear the constitution away from the <very> verge of destruction.\u201d[20]<\/a> \u00a0President Brigham Young made a similar prophesy in 1855, when he stated that: \u201cWhen the Constitution of the United States hangs, as it were, upon a single thread, they will have to call for the \u2018Mormon\u2019 Elders to save it from utter destruction; and they will step forth and do it.\u201d[21]<\/a> \u00a0Latter-day Saints believed that the United States would one day fail, but that politically-organized Mormons would step into the chaos and preserve a collapsing system.<\/p>\n

The apocalyptic worldview of the early Latter-day Saints led them to acts that seemed treasonous to other Americans\u2014the organization of their own governmental organizations. \u00a0In 1844, Joseph Smith organized a group known as the Council of Fifty, which was conceived as the foundation for the \u201cliteral kingdom of God\u201d that would \u201cgovern men in civil matters,\u201d particularly during the Millennium.[22]<\/a> \u00a0Initially, a \u201cCopy of the Constitution of the U S.\u201d was placed in the \u201chands of a select committee\u201d chosen to design the constitution of this Kingdom of God.[23]<\/a> \u00a0This indicates that their intention was to preserve the best aspects of the U.S. Constitution, though with some amendments. \u00a0In particular, Joseph Smith declared that: \u201cWe want to alter it [the Constitution] so as to make it imperative on the officers to enforce the protection of all men in their rights.\u201d[24]<\/a> \u00a0Ultimately, they came to advocate a fusion of theocracy and democracy they termed \u201ctheodemocracy\u201d in which council itself was the Lord\u2019s constitution and \u201cspokesmen\u201d who would \u201cdo as [God] shall command.\u201d[25]<\/a> \u00a0For the most part, this council faded out after 1851, but Latter-day Saints also organized a \u201cshadow government\u201d known as the State of Deseret that lasted 1862-1870. \u00a0The State of Deseret was viewed by some as the Kingdom of God that would preserve the Constitution while the remainder of the U.S. collapsed during the Civil War.[26]<\/a> \u00a0The United States survived, however, and Latter-day Saints eventually abandoned attempts at organizing their ideal government.<\/p>\n

Around the turn of the twentieth century, Latter-day Saints began focusing on integration into mainstream American society rather than planning for an imminent Millennium. \u00a0When the first U.S. transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, isolation and complete domination of local politics by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints became impossible. \u00a0Increased pressure by the federal government\u2014particularly over the issue of polygamy\u2014as part of a crusade to recolonize the \u201cwhite savages,\u201d as Mormons were frequently portrayed being, into civilization led to significant changes in upcoming decades.[27]<\/a> \u00a0Plural marriage and dreams of theocracy were discarded and Latter-day Saints began to emphasize aspects of their beliefs that blended well with the ideals of Progressive Era America. \u00a0This led, in part, to Latter-day Saints emphasizing themselves as being extremely patriotic Americans. \u00a0One example of this change is found in the family of Carlos Ashby Badger (1878-1939), a Latter-day Saints who was thoroughly involved in politics, particularly as Senator (and Apostle) Reed Smoot\u2019s secretary. \u00a0Badger\u2019s daughter, Rosalia, recalled that: \u201cPatriotism and love for our country was an integral part of our lives. \u00a0We had a big flagpole on our lawn, and we raised the American flag every day.\u201d \u00a0She added that after they got their first radio: \u201cWhen the president spoke, of course we would hurry home from school to listen as we were very patriotic. … We listened to baseball games\u2014the national pastime, and that was patriotic too.\u201d[28]<\/a> \u00a0The Badgers\u2014like many Latter-day Saints\u2014had become thoroughly Americanized in the early 20th<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n

Despite these changes, some Latter-day Saints have maintained a level of distrust towards centralized government that is rooted in their theology. \u00a0In Joseph Smith\u2019s thought, humankind is free to choose whether or not they will follow those laws that God has put into place and to return to heaven. \u00a0This idea has often been referred to as free agency or moral agency. \u00a0Within this worldview, according to one revelation from the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Constitution was considered sacred because it maintained \u201cthe rights and protection of all flesh,\u201d which meant \u201cthat evry man may act in doctrine and principle pertaining to futurity according to the moral agency which I [the Lord] have given unto them.\u201d[29]<\/a> \u00a0The Constitution was portrayed as sacred because it preserved moral agency by preventing the government from exercising coercive control over human beings and giving them enough rope to (figuratively) hang themselves or to choose to live righteously.<\/p>\n

Latter-day Saints belief in moral agency took on a stronger political dimension during the Cold War. Communism was seen as a system of government that forced individuals to live a certain way whether they willed it or not, while capitalism was seen as a system of moral agency and improvement. \u00a0A few key individuals such as W. Cleon Skousen and President David O. McKay contributed to this worldview, but Ezra Taft Benson (1899-1994) is perhaps the most notable Mormon Cold Warrior. \u00a0To Benson, \u201cnothing is more to be prized, nor more sacred, than man\u2019s free choice. Free choice is the essence of free enterprise.\u201d \u00a0Free enterprise, in turn, is a \u201cdynamo for human betterment\u201d because each individual is motived by self-interest to improve his or her life.[30]<\/a> \u00a0In his eyes, governments existed primarily to protect individuals, while welfare programs and redistribution of wealth were coercive and curtailed freedom.[31]<\/a> \u00a0He advocated local rule and states\u2019 rights because \u201cgreat concentration of power is an evil and a dangerous thing.\u201d[32]<\/a> \u00a0Due to Benson\u2019s emphasis on the freedom of the human soul, the highest expression of patriotism was to \u201clove America\u2019s traditions and its freedoms\u201d and to fight for them \u201cagainst all that which threatens them from within as well as from without.\u201d[33]<\/a><\/p>\n

The elements of anti-governmental feelings in Mormonism have been embodied in recent times, albeit in an extreme version, by Cliven Bundy and his family. \u00a0The Bundies has been involved in a few high-profile altercations with the federal government over land-use policy in recent years, including the 2014 Bundy Standoff in Nevada and the 2016 occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. \u00a0Like Ezra Taft Benson, Cliven Bundy believes that states\u2019 rights and local rule are important to democracy, going as far as stating that he believes Nevada to be a \u201csovereign state\u201d or nation and he doesn\u2019t \u201crecognize the United States government as even existing.\u201d[34]<\/a> \u00a0Cliven has couched his arguments in terms of patriotism, stating that by standing up to the Bureau of Land Management (a different BLM than the one most people think about these days), he felt that he was fighting for \u201cfreedom and liberty and our Constitution.\u201d[35]<\/a> \u00a0Like Joseph Smith and Ezra Taft Benson, Bundy holds the Constitution in high regard, declaring that it is on par with the Bible and Book of Mormon as scripture. [36]<\/a> \u00a0At first glance, stating that he doesn\u2019t recognize the federal government yet has great reverence towards the Constitution may seem paradoxical, yet it could be seen as another expression of the Mormon bifurcate view of sacred American governmental ideals but corrupt United States Government. \u00a0Granted, the Bundy family generally expresses themselves more in terms of American history rather than Latter-day Saint theology, but their beliefs do line up well with the anti-government thought of Latter-day Saints described above.<\/p>\n

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints currently takes a more pro-government tact than the Bundy family and like-minded Latter-day Saints. \u00a0During the 2016 Bundy standoff in Oregon, the Church issued a statement about the occupation, stating that Church leaders \u201cstrongly condemn\u201d and were \u201cdeeply troubled\u201d by the unfolding events. \u00a0They also went on to affirm that \u201cconflicts with government or private groups can\u2014and should\u2014be settled using peaceful means, according to the laws of the land.\u201d[37]<\/a> \u00a0In light of the U.S. Capitol Riot at the beginning of 2021, President Dallin H. Oaks stated that: \u201cSovereign power in the people does\u00a0not<\/em>\u00a0mean that mobs or other groups of people can intervene to intimidate or force government action. The Constitution established a constitutional democratic republic, where the people exercise their power through their elected representatives.\u201d[38]<\/a>\u00a0 This is in keeping with the Church\u2019s general stance towards governments, as stated in one Church manual\u2014that governments \u201cwere instituted of God for the benefit of man.\u201d Church leaders reserve the right to speak out on moral issues, but otherwise the Church remains politically neutral and encourages its members to be involved as citizens.[39]<\/a><\/p>\n

Latter-day Saints have a long and complicated history with government in the United States. \u00a0Early members of the Church like Joseph Smith thought of themselves as patriots who loved the Constitution. \u00a0Yet, early Latter-day Saints were also subjected to religious persecution that they felt violated American ideals and developed a cynical view towards the Government of the United States as it failed to protect them. \u00a0Latter-day Saints portrayed themselves as the true heirs of the Constitution, a point of view that helped them transition into being patriotic Americans after they gave up ideals of theodemocracy and the practice of plural marriage at the turn of the twentieth century. \u00a0During the Cold War, however, renewed skepticism towards centralized governments, such as those found in Communist countries, was encouraged by a few influential Latter-day Saints based on a theology of moral agency. \u00a0The brand of conservative libertarianism that developed from those ideas have found expression today in a few radical Mormons like Cliven Bundy\u2019s family, though the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a whole remain supportive of the government in the United States.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Footnotes:<\/strong><\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Dale L. Morgan, The State of Deseret <\/em>(Logan, UT: Utah State University Press, 1987), 22.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> “Doctrine and Covenants, 1835,” p. 252, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed October 7, 2016, http:\/\/www.josephsmithpapers.org\/paper-summary\/doctrine-and-covenants-1835\/260<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> “Revelation Book 2,” p. 81, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed October 7, 2016, http:\/\/www.josephsmithpapers.org\/paper-summary\/revelation-book-2\/95<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> “Revelation, 6 August 1833 [D&C 98],” p. 67, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed September 5, 2021, https:\/\/www.josephsmithpapers.org\/paper-summary\/revelation-6-august-1833-dc-98\/2<\/a><\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> “Letter to the Church and Edward Partridge, 20 March 1839\u2013B,” p. 8, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed October 7, 2016, http:\/\/www.josephsmithpapers.org\/paper-summary\/letter-to-the-church-and-edward-partridge-20-march-1839-b\/8<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> “History, circa June\u2013October 1839 [Draft 1],” p. [22], The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed October 7, 2016, http:\/\/www.josephsmithpapers.org\/paper-summary\/history-circa-june-october-1839-draft-1\/22<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Joseph Smith, Jr., The Essential Joseph Smith<\/em> (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1995), 130.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> See Richard Lyman Bushman, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling<\/em>, Vintage Books Edition (New York: Vintage Books, 2007), 396-398.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Journal History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Church History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, 8 August 1851.<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> A Mormon Diary as Told by John Pulsipher (1827-1891)<\/em>, 2nd<\/sup> ed. (Idyllwild, CA: M3RDPOWER Press, 2006), 7.<\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> Jedediah S. Rogers, The Council of Fifty: A Documentary History <\/em>(Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2014), 28.<\/p>\n

[12]<\/a> See Terryl L. Givens, The Viper on the Hearth: Mormons, Myths, and the Construction of Heresy<\/em>, updated edition (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997, 2013), 41-65.<\/p>\n

[13]<\/a> \u201cThe Smoot Case,\u201d Kalamazoo Telegraph <\/em>(Kalamazoo, MI), 22 April 1904, accessed 2 December 2016, http:\/\/c278953.r53.cf1.rackcdn.com\/014114.pdf#page=1<\/a>. See also Givens, Viper on the Hearth<\/em>, 11-23.<\/p>\n

[14]<\/a> Reverend A. S. Bailey, \u201cChristian Progress in Utah,\u201d quoted in Kathleen Flake, The Politics of American Religious Identity: The Seating of Senator Reed Smoot, Mormon Apostle <\/em>(Chapel Hill & London: The University of North Carolina Press, 2004), 22.<\/p>\n

[15]<\/a> See Flake, Politics of American Religious Identity<\/em> for more information on this subject.<\/p>\n

[16]<\/a> “Transcript of Proceedings, 12\u201329 November 1838 [State of Missouri v. JS et al. for Treason and Other Crimes],” p. [62], The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed October 7, 2016, http:\/\/www.josephsmithpapers.org\/paper-summary\/transcript-of-proceedings-12-29-november-1838-state-of-missouri-v-js-et-al-for-treason-and-other-crimes\/62<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[17]<\/a> Joseph F. Smith, JD 23:70-71 [9 April 1882].<\/p>\n

[18]<\/a> LDS Journal History, 8 August 1851. The same thought was expressed on 18 February 1855, see Brigham Young, JD 2:182.<\/p>\n

[19]<\/a> Brigham Young, JD 4:40 [31 August 1856].<\/p>\n

[20]<\/a> “Discourse, circa 19 July 1840, as Reported by Martha Jane Knowlton Coray [ca. 1850s],” p. [12], The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed October 7, 2016, http:\/\/www.josephsmithpapers.org\/paper-summary\/discourse-circa-19-july-1840-as-reported-by-martha-jane-knowlton-coray-ca-1850s\/4<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[21]<\/a> Brigham Young, JD 2:182 [18 February 1855].<\/p>\n

[22]<\/a> Council of Fifty, \u201cRecord,\u201d 18 April 1844, in Matthew J. Grow, Ronald K. Esplin, Mark Ashurst-McGee, Gerrit J. Dirkmaat, and Jeffrey D. Mahas, eds., Council of Fifty, Minutes, March 1844-January 1846<\/em>, first volume of the Administrative Records series of the The Joseph Smith Papers<\/em>, edited by Ronald K. Esplin, Matthew J. Grow, and Matthew C. Godfrey (Salt Lake City: Church Historian\u2019s Press, 2016), 128.<\/p>\n

[23]<\/a> Cited in Rogers, Council of Fifty<\/em>, 19.<\/p>\n

[24]<\/a> Council of Fifty, \u201cRecord,\u201d 18 April 1844, in JSP<\/em>, CFM:129.<\/p>\n

[25]<\/a> Council of Fifty, \u201cRecord,\u201d 25 April 1844, in JSP<\/em>, CFM:137.<\/p>\n

[26]<\/a> See Morgan, State of Deseret<\/em>, 91-119.<\/p>\n

[27]<\/a> See Joanna Brooks, \u201cMormonism as Colonialism, Mormonism as Anti-Colonialism, Mormonism as Minor Transnationalism,\u201d in Decolonizing Mormonism: Approaching a Postcolonial Zion<\/em>, ed. Gina Colvin and Joanna Brooks (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, Kindle Edition, 2018), 168.<\/p>\n

[28]<\/a> Rosalia Badger Ford, Rosalia Badger Ford: A Biography <\/em>(unpublished manuscript in possession of the author), 4, 7. 14.<\/p>\n

[29]<\/a> \u201cRevelation Book 2,\u201d p. 81.<\/p>\n

[30]<\/a> Ezra Taft Benson, The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson <\/em>(Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1988), 627.<\/p>\n

[31]<\/a> Benson, Teachings<\/em>, 609, 672-673.<\/p>\n

[32]<\/a> Benson, Teachings<\/em>, 612.<\/p>\n

[33]<\/a> Benson, Teachings<\/em>, 591.<\/p>\n

[34]<\/a> Max Strasser, \u201cFor Militiamen, the Fight for Cliven Bundy\u2019s Ranch is Far From Over,\u201d Newsweek <\/em>2 May 2014, accessed 10 October 2016, http:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/2014\/05\/02\/militiamen-fight-over-cliven-bundys-ranch-far-over-248354.html<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[35]<\/a> Michael Martinez, \u201cShowdown on the range: Nevada rancher, feds facing off over cattle grazing rights,\u201d CNN <\/em>12 April 2014, accessed 10 October 2016, http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2014\/04\/10\/us\/nevada-rancher-rangers-cattle-showdown\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[36]<\/a> John Supulvado, \u201cExplainer: The Bundy Militia\u2019s Particular Brand of Mormonism,\u201d OPB <\/em>3 January 2016, accessed 10 October 2016, http:\/\/www.opb.org\/news\/article\/explainer-the-bundy-militias-particular-brand-of-mormonism\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[37]<\/a> Church Statement, \u201cChurch Responds to Inquiries Regarding Oregon Armed Occupation,\u201d MormonNewsRoom<\/em>, 4 January 2016, accessed 10 October 2016, http:\/\/www.mormonnewsroom.org\/article\/church-responds-to-inquiries-regarding-oregon-armed-occupation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[38]<\/a> Dallin H. Oaks, \u201cDefending Our Divinely Inspired Constitution,\u201d CR April 2021, https:\/\/www.churchofjesuschrist.org\/study\/general-conference\/2021\/04\/51oaks?lang=eng<\/a><\/p>\n

[39]<\/a> True to the Faith<\/em> (Salt Lake City: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2004), 38-39.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The attitude of Latter-day Saints towards the United States government has historically been paradoxical. \u00a0As Dale Morgan wrote: \u201cThe Mormons had a profound respect for government and governmental forms, but disrespect for and outright distrust of \u2018the damned rascals who administer the government.\u2019\u201d[1] \u00a0Church leaders have encouraged beliefs that inculcate support for governments, yet we also have a history of conflict with the government in the US. \u00a0In addition, there are some Mormon doctrines that deemphasize the need for government that are held in tension with pro-government beliefs. \u00a0This tension was manifested in nineteenth century Utah\u2019s conflicts with the United States. \u00a0It has also surfaced more recently in the worldview of individuals such as Ezra Taft Benson and Cliven Bundy. \u00a0At its core, this paradox is rooted in the conflict born of a people who believe that the Constitution of the United States of America is inspired of God suffering from intolerance and corruption in the United States of America. The Prophet Joseph Smith believed that governmental forms should be respected, especially the Constitution of the United States of America. \u00a0An 1835 summary of belief that was included in the Doctrine of Covenants (Section 134) outlined the basic attitude of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10397,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,2895,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-church-history","category-come-follow-me-currculum","category-scriptures"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10397"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42048"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42054,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42048\/revisions\/42054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}