Spring Break
'Fighting Insanity'
Setting the record on Mormons straight
Kyle Hansen
Issue date: 4/7/08 Section: Opinion
That has not always been the case, even here in the United States. After Joseph Smith established the church in 1830, there was a huge amount of persecution. Members of the church were driven from New York to Ohio and then to Missouri.
Things got so bad in Missouri that the governor issued an "extermination order," which stated that all Mormons were to be driven from the state or be killed. When church leaders went to the U.S. president to plead for protection, President Martin Van Buren refused to help them.
The Saints were driven from Missouri in the dead of winter. Homes were burned, women were raped, and men and boys were killed.
My fourth great-grandfather was imprisoned with church leader Joseph Smith and others in the ironically named Liberty Jail for six months.
I had the opportunity to visit the jail in Missouri last summer. It was a small room, half underground with a dirt floor. There was no protection from the elements, and the times that they spent in the jail were some of the coldest winter months ever recorded in the area.
After the troubles in Missouri, the Saints had a brief period of peace in Illinois before Joseph Smith was killed by a mob of men who painted themselves to look like Indians.
Once again, the Saints were forced to leave their homes in winter. They crossed the frozen Mississippi river and eventually crossed the Plains under the direction of Brigham Young.
Many of them loaded all of their worldly possessions into a cart that they pushed and pulled across the Plains and over the Rocky Mountains to Utah.
Many of them did not make it all of the way and were left in shallow graves as their families moved on.
In order to practice their religion, these people were forced to leave the United States and move into what was then Mexico.
So much for the freedom of religion granted by the Constitution.
Sure, Mormons are a little different, and yeah, I got teased a little as a kid because of my beliefs, but that's all right. It made my convictions grow stronger. I had to decide for myself if what I believed was true. It's not enough to just go off what you have been taught when you are being ridiculed. You have to really believe it for yourself.
But at the same time, we cannot ever let what happened to the early Latter-day Saints happen again.
The blessings of liberty in the United States belong to all, regardless of race or creed. No one should ever have to leave this country just so they can live in peace and worship as they wish.
Things got so bad in Missouri that the governor issued an "extermination order," which stated that all Mormons were to be driven from the state or be killed. When church leaders went to the U.S. president to plead for protection, President Martin Van Buren refused to help them.
The Saints were driven from Missouri in the dead of winter. Homes were burned, women were raped, and men and boys were killed.
My fourth great-grandfather was imprisoned with church leader Joseph Smith and others in the ironically named Liberty Jail for six months.
I had the opportunity to visit the jail in Missouri last summer. It was a small room, half underground with a dirt floor. There was no protection from the elements, and the times that they spent in the jail were some of the coldest winter months ever recorded in the area.
After the troubles in Missouri, the Saints had a brief period of peace in Illinois before Joseph Smith was killed by a mob of men who painted themselves to look like Indians.
Once again, the Saints were forced to leave their homes in winter. They crossed the frozen Mississippi river and eventually crossed the Plains under the direction of Brigham Young.
Many of them loaded all of their worldly possessions into a cart that they pushed and pulled across the Plains and over the Rocky Mountains to Utah.
Many of them did not make it all of the way and were left in shallow graves as their families moved on.
In order to practice their religion, these people were forced to leave the United States and move into what was then Mexico.
So much for the freedom of religion granted by the Constitution.
Sure, Mormons are a little different, and yeah, I got teased a little as a kid because of my beliefs, but that's all right. It made my convictions grow stronger. I had to decide for myself if what I believed was true. It's not enough to just go off what you have been taught when you are being ridiculed. You have to really believe it for yourself.
But at the same time, we cannot ever let what happened to the early Latter-day Saints happen again.
The blessings of liberty in the United States belong to all, regardless of race or creed. No one should ever have to leave this country just so they can live in peace and worship as they wish.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 51
Rick Leland
posted 4/07/08 @ 9:18 AM PST
Setting the Record Straight. Part 2
1. God bless Kyle Hanson. He has the right to say and believe as he wishes. God gives all a free will. And a free won't. (Continued…)
frank
posted 4/07/08 @ 9:33 AM PST
Say, can I be a 'Mormon' if I have heard the names Kathy Sheets and Steve Christensen, or have heard of a 'Jupiter Talisman', or have a passing knowledge of the events of Sept. (Continued…)
JLFuller
posted 4/07/08 @ 10:26 AM PST
Great article. If I can, I would like to add a couple of things about us that are misunderstood too. First, LDS missionaries do not convert anyone. In fact, no human being does that job. (Continued…)
Sharon
posted 4/07/08 @ 10:56 AM PST
Kyle, you wrote, "After Joseph Smith established the church in 1830, there was a huge amount of persecution. Members of the church were driven from New York to Ohio and then to Missouri. (Continued…)
Snoop Dog
posted 4/07/08 @ 11:55 AM PST
What are you talking about Frank? Mormons are the shizzle.
Mike
posted 4/07/08 @ 6:19 PM PST
I know that Jesus Christ lives, and strive every day to follow his example through loving and serving others. Through Jesus Christ, and only Jesus Christ, can I gain salvation. (Continued…)
Bill
posted 4/07/08 @ 7:10 PM PST
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said that it's not those who cry "Lord, Lord" who will get into Heaven but those who do God's will. If you read the entire Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says nothing about the trinity - a doctrine invented centuries later. (Continued…)
Kimberly
posted 4/07/08 @ 8:17 PM PST
Mormons have horns! The only people I have ever heard say that are mormons who say that non-mormons believe this. Reconcile yourselves with the Bible and you will understand why Christians view you as strange. (Continued…)
JD
posted 4/08/08 @ 2:27 AM PST
Great article! The idea that Mormons do not believe in the Trinity is technically not accurate, although many Mormons (and even some Mormon leaders) claim that they are not Trinitarian. (Continued…)
Don
posted 4/08/08 @ 7:47 AM PST
Since the days of Joseph Smith, so-called "Christians" have belittled, lied about, distorted and twisted nearly everything LDS believe. The LDS have responded, defended, stood up for and tried to educate their accusers. (Continued…)
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