Mormonism Final

Perpetual Emigration Fund

• In 1849 Brigham Young established the PEF to help poor and impoverished Saints around the world gather to Utah. 

  • The call by God to gather was not new to Saints, with them before gathering in Ohio, but when the PEF was established the gathering location transitioned to Salt Lake Valley

• Many traveled to the US to join the LDS movement

  • Program to funded the United Kingdom converts

  • traveling to Utah meant incurring the costs of a transoceanic journey, a train ride, and supplies for the remaining overland trek.

• Travel was not easy or inexpensive, yet members of the Church were willing to make difficult sacrifices so they could join their fellow saints in Zion

Martin Handcart Company

• The story of 3,000 Latter-day Saints pulling their belongings to Utah in handcarts 

• At The Sweetwater (NOV. 4, 1856)

  • story includes efforts in 1856 to help rescue the Willie and Martin handcart companies and three wagon trains that were also late in the season- from Wyoming 

• Sending Aid

  • Brigham Young had sent wagons of supplies to meet incoming companies.

    • This was common and happened multiple times

  • Brigham Young made an urgent call for men, teams, and supplies to rescue the last two handcart companies that October

    • No one knew that the first snowstorm would hit so early—on October 19.

• A disaster- what happened?

  • Departed late July

  • Arrives late November

• Romanticized version:

  • Three youths rescued 500 people!

  • They died later on in life from being exposed to the elements

  • Brigham Young says they gained salvation as a reward for their hero

Pioneer Day

• Commemorates the arrival of the first group of Mormon pioneers to the Salt Lake Valley, on July 24, 1847.

• A day of celebration

  • Parades, Food contest, Fireworks, and Reenactments

An Act in Relation to Service

• When: 1852 (early 1850s)

• Act created during the Utah territory legislations about slavery

  • Questions the Church asks themselves: Do we continue to allow slavery? What do we do with paiute native americans that want to trade slave children?

  • LDS were naturally anti slavery

  • Act created in regard to the issues above

• What: Allowed Slavery, but made a way for slaves to become free over time. Masters required masters to give slaves education. Laws against abusive behavior. Gradual emancipation law

• First time the priesthood restriction is mentioned by a prophet/presidents (have down in writing)

  • Young references Black People being cursed by God

• Who: Brigham Young

• Where: Utah Territory

Racialization

• In context of the 1800s

• Cause: Lots of scientific racism takes off, and evolution is tied to racial categories

  • Pushes people into racial categories

• Context: Racialization was to justify social exclusion- wanted to argue why some people were “more superior” than others

• Mormonism- latter day saints are racialized

  • “Less than white” in some kind of why

  • Polygamy is tied to this

  • Latter-Day Saints is its own race

  • Polygamy: degenerate or deformed

  • LDS associated with different races causes them to be looked down upon

• Not specific WHERE

Elijah Abel

• (1808-1884) Early African American of the Church

  • Best known for being one of the few black men ordained into the priesthood during Joseph Smith’s life time

• 1879 Abel asks for  temple endowment and sealing ceremonies

  • Able retained his priesthood office and standing, but when he applied to President Young for permission to receive his temple endowment and be sealed to Mary Ann, the request was denied. In 1879, a second request from Able was denied by President John Taylor.⁴ Able remained faithful until his passing on December 25, 1884.

• Prompts an investigation, which showed:

  • Abel ordained to the priesthood (1836)

  • Was a member of the Third Quorum of the Seventy (with certificate)

  • A faithful member his entire life

• Decision: Abel’s priesthood would stand, but denied entry to temple and sealment

Jane Manning James

• (1822-1908)

• LDS convert and 1847 pioneer

  • Where: join the Saints in Nauvoo

• “I realize my race & color & cant expect my Endowments as others who are white… My race was handed down through the flood & God promised Abraham that in his seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed & as this is the fullness of all dispensations, is there no blessing for me?” -Message from James to John Taylor (pres. of LDS church)  in 1884

• James’s requests:

  • Be sealed posthumously to Q. Walker Lewis

  • Adopted into Joseph Smith, Jr.’s family as “a child”

  • Endowment and temple work for ancestors

• Concessions by LDS leaders

  • 1875 Limited proxy baptism

  • 1894 “adopted” as servant to Joseph Smith, Jr.

Edmunds-Tucker Act (1887)

• The Edmunds-Tucker Act was a direct response to the continuing practice of polygamy by some members of the LDS Church, despite the Edmunds Anti-Polygamy Act of 1882. 

  • U.S. federal law aimed at suppressing polygamy, particularly within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). 

  • The Edmunds-Tucker Act had a significant impact on the LDS Church and Utah society. It led to the seizure of church property, the loss of voting rights for women, and a period of tension and conflict. 

• Who: Targeted Mormons

• Where: Utah

• Why: Outsider’s issues with polygamy

• When: 1887

Woodruff Manifesto (1890)

(Wilford Woodruff, Prophet-President of the Church 1889-1898)

• Wilford Woodruff issued the Manifesto, which led to the end of plural marriage in the Church.

• In 1889, Church authorities prohibited the performance of new plural marriages in Utah.

• September 25, 1890, President Woodruff wrote in his journal that he was “under the necessity of acting for the Temporal Salvation of the Church.” He stated, “After Praying to the Lord & feeling inspired by his spirit I have issued … [a] Proclamation.”¹⁶ This proclamation, now published in the Doctrine and Covenants as Official Declaration 1, was released to the public on September 25 and became known as the Manifesto.

  • Ends practice of polygamy

  • Leaves some room for interpretation

• The Manifesto was formally presented to the Church at the semiannual general conference held in the Salt Lake Tabernacle in October 1890.

• After the Manifesto…

  • Church members living in 1890 generally believed that the Manifesto was the “work of the Lord,” in Franklin D. Richards’s words.

  • The Manifesto declared President Woodruff’s intention to submit to the laws of the United States. It said nothing about the laws of other nations. Ever since the opening of colonies in Mexico and Canada, Church leaders had performed plural marriages in those countries, and after October 1890, plural marriages continued to be quietly performed there.

• Reed Smoot hearings and the Second Manifesto (1904)

  • At first, the performance of new plural marriages after the Manifesto was largely unknown to people outside the Church. When discovered, these marriages troubled many Americans.

  • After the election of B. H. Roberts, a member of the First Council of the Seventy, to the U.S. Congress, it became known that Roberts had three wives, one of whom he married after the Manifesto.

  • Joseph F Smith felt he had to reassure the american public that the church was not longer practicing plural marriage

    • President Smith sought to protect the Church while stating the truth. His testimony conveyed a distinction Church leaders had long understood: the Manifesto removed the divine command for the Church collectively to sustain and defend plural marriage; it had not, up to this time, prohibited individuals from continuing to practice or perform plural marriage as a matter of religious conscience.

Washing and Anointing

• Washing and Anointing are ritual ordinances performed in temple endowments and the Second Anointing. These practices, which involve water and oil, symbolize cleansing and receiving blessings, respectively.

• Women participation (1880s):

  • First Presidency in 1880: women can do these things, but not because they hold the priesthood. They do these by virtue of having faith in Christ. Also, can only be done for family members

  • Eliza Snow in 1884: Women can perform ordinances for anyone inside or outside their family

  • Wilford Woodruff in 1888: There is a washing and anointing ordinance in the temples, and a washing and anointing practice that can be done within a household.

Chicago World’s Fair

• 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and LDS participation

  • The Chicago World's Fair, formally the World's Columbian Exposition, was a massive international exposition held in Chicago from May 1 to October 31, 1893

  • Things introduced:

    • Aunt Jemima

    • Zippers

    • Ferris Wheels

    • Cracker Jacks

    • Automatic Dishwasher

• Provided a significant opportunity for the Latter-day Saints (LDS) to present themselves to a national and international audience after the 1890 Manifesto that ended the practice of polygamy

• Over 7,000 Latter-day Saints from Utah attended the fair, hoping to showcase their culture, overcome lingering negative stereotypes, and promote statehood for the territory. 

Church Welfare Plan

• Introduced 1936

• Provided work and relief:

  • Established storehouses

  • Established Deseret Industries

  • Created employment projects

• A system of self-reliance and compassionate service that provides both temporal and spiritual support to members and others in need.

• To address the suffering caused by the Great Depression and has since expanded globally. 

• Established by the First Presidency (the highest governing body) of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Fascinating Womanhood

• Book, by helen andelin - arguing that women will be happy in the home if they make their husbands happy

• Defence for traditional marriage

• Created during the same year the feminine mystique- 1963

• People are starting to advocate for changes in gender norms, so this book is a firm defender for the traditional roles of women

• Marabelle Morgan embraces a number of these ideas and creates her own book: The total woman

Ezra Taft Benson

• 13th President of the Church

• He was called to be an Apostle after having been president of two stakes.

• From 1953 to 1961, he served as Secretary of Agriculture in the cabinet of U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower.

• On November 10, 1985, he became President of the Church. 

  • Having a resolute testimony of the power of the Book of Mormon, he emphasized the importance of it in daily scripture study, missionary efforts, and gospel teaching.

1978 Revelation

• The First Presidency announced that a revelation had been received by President Spencer W. Kimball extended priesthood and temple blessings to all worthy male members of the Church.

  • Declared in the Salt Lake Temple

  • This is a time of black power and pride

• most often referred to as Official Declaration 2, that the Mormon Priesthood, synonymous with the power of God and the men ordained to operate this power, would be given to all worthy men regardless of race.

Cobelligerency

• What is it? Strategy that evangelicals promote

• Idea: We can set aside our own religious differences in order to work together politically

  • We all have the common enemy in the rising tide of gay rights, abortion, ERA, etc

  • We all agree on social issues, so let's work together

• Context: US Politics

• When: Rise of Religious right in 1970s-1980s

• Embracing the idea of working together

• Who: Frances Shaffer

The September Six

• The September Six were six members of the LDS Church who were excommunicated or disfellowshipped by the church in September 1993 

  • allegedly for publishing scholarly work against or criticizing church doctrine or leadership.

• The Six: Lynne Kanavel Whitesides, Avraham Gileadi, Paul Toscano, Maxine Hanks, D. Michael Quinn, and Lavina Fielding Anderson. 

The Family: A Proclamation to the World

• "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" is a statement issued by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints- Nov. 1995

• outlines the church's beliefs about family, marriage, gender roles, and human sexuality

• announced by church president Gordon B. Hinckley

• Quotes:

  • proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.”

  • The Family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Proposition 8

• In 2008, Proposition 8, a California ballot measure, was supported by LDS

• This proposition amended the state constitution to define marriage as solely between a man and a woman. 

• The church's First Presidency wrote a letter to California congregations urging support for the measure, emphasizing the need to preserve the "sacred institution of marriage".

  • Led to Rallies & Protest outside LDS temple

• While Proposition 8 passed, it was later overturned by a California court ruling that any ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. 

Ordain Women

• 1978 Revelation that ends the racial priesthood restriction, but caused a number of people to question why the restriction is not lifted for women

• Talk about the potential for women

• 2013 Ordain Women organization is made to push for women in priesthood

• Lots of fear and discussion for people who create profiles on website for ordain women

• Organize a protest outside of the general conference in salt lake city in 2014

  • March in on a meeting of priesthood holder, which these women were not invited to

• Kate Kelly, leader, was asked not to pretest and did so anyway. She was ex communicated

• Women to this day are still not ordained into the priesthood

• Group trying to advocated for change in the church