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| The last words of Pope John Paul II: . . . "Let me go to the house of the Father," according to documents released by the Vatican. His words were spoken in his native Polish to aides hours before he died last April [2005]. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4257994.stm [Hearing that the Pope was near death], [t]housands of people rushed to the Vatican, filling St Peter's Square and beyond, and held vigil for two days. At about 15:30 CEST, John Paul II spoke his final words, "Let me go to the house of the Father", to his aides in his native Polish and fell into a coma about four hours later. . . . He died in his private apartments, at 21:37 CEST (19:37 UTC) on 2 April, 46 days short of his 85th birthday. http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_John_Paul_II VATICAN CITY - Struggling to swallow and breathe, Pope John Paul II mumbled his final words weakly in Polish: "Let me go to the house of the Father." Six hours later, the comatose pontiff died, the Vatican says. The account of John Paul’s final hours appears in a meticulously detailed official report on his last weeks just released by the Vatican in what might be an effort to ward off any doubts about how forthcoming it has been about his illness and April 2 death. . . . Swallowing and breathing problems were consequences of the progression of Parkinson’s disease, which the 84-year-old pope suffered from for years, doctors have said. Six hours before his death, John Paul said in Polish, "with a very weak voice and with mumbled words, 'Let me go to the house of the Father,'" the report said. The official account is quite close to one offered last month by John Paul’s longtime personal secretary, now Krakow Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz. He told an Italian TV interviewer that a nun who was near the pontiff heard him say: “Let me go to the Lord.” Media accounts published at the time of John Paul’s death said he looked toward the apartment window and whispered "Amen." The Rome newspaper La Repubblica quoted a Polish priest, Jarek Cielecki, as saying the pope died "an instant" after he made a great effort to say, "Amen." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9377134/ _____ The last words of Mormon prophet Joseph Smith: "Oh Lord, my God!" [as he was] crying out while being shot by a mob inside his room [at Carthage Jail in June 1844]. Some assert Smith's cry was a Masonic distress call for help as Smith and some of those within the mob which assassinated him were Masons. http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Famous_last_words "Joseph Smith's Death—Masonic Cry" (Excerpt Mormonism—Shadow or Reality? p. 485): "Although Joseph Smith found himself in trouble with the Masons, he gave the Masonic signal of distress just before he was murdered. In his book concerning Masonry, William Morgan gives this information concerning what a Mason is supposed to do "in case of distress": 'The sign is given by raising both hands and arms to the elbows, perpendicularly, one on each side of the head, the elbows forming a square. The words accompanying this sign, in case of distress, are, "O LORD, MY GOD" is there no help for the widow's son?'" (Freemasonry Exposed, p. 76) "John D. Lee claimed that Joseph Smith used the exact words that a Mason is supposed to use in case of distress: 'Joseph left the door, sprang through the window, and cried out, "OH, LORD, MY GOD, IS THERE NO HELP FOR THE WIDOW'S SON!"' (Confessions of John D. Lee, reprint of 1880 ed., p. 153) "Other accounts seem to show that Joseph Smith used the first four words of the distress cry. According to the History of the Church, Joseph Smith 'fell outward into the hands of his murderers, exclaiming, "O LORD, MY GOD!"' (History of the Church, Vol. 6, p. 618) "Less than a month after Joseph and Hyrum Smith were murdered, the following appeared in the Mormon publication, Times and Seasons: '...with uplifted hands they gave such SIGNS OF DISTRESS as would have commanded the interposition and benevolence of Savages or Pagans. They were both MASONS in good standing. Ye brethren of "the mystic tie" what think ye! Where is our good MASTER Joseph and Hyrum? Is there a pagan, heathen, or savage nation on the globe that would not be moved on this great occasion, as the trees of the forest are moved by a mighty wind? Joseph's last exclamation was "O LORD MY GOD!"' (Times and Seasons, Vol. 5, p. 585) "The Mormon writer E. Cecil McGavin admitted that Joseph Smith gave the Masonic signal of distress: 'When the enemy surrounded the jail, rushed up the stairway, and killed Hyrum Smith, Joseph stood at the open window, his martyr-cry being these words, "O Lord My God!" This was NOT the beginning of a prayer, because Joseph Smith did not pray in that manner. This brave, young man who knew that death was near, started to repeat THE DISTRESS SIGNAL OF THE MASONS, expecting thereby to gain the protection its members are pledged to give a brother in distress. In 1878, Zina D. Huntington Young said of this theme, "I am the daughter of a Master Mason; I am the widow of the Master Mason who, when leaping from the window of Carthage jail, pierced with bullets, MADE THE MASONIC SIGN OF DISTRESS, but those signs were not heeded except by the God of Heaven."' (Mormonism and Masonry, by E. Cecil McGavin, page 17) "On page 16 of the same book, Mr. McGavin quotes the following from the Life of Heber C. Kimball, p. 26: 'Joseph, leaping the fatal window, GAVE THE MASONIC SIGNAL OF DISTRESS.'" http://www.utlm.org/onlineresources/josephsmithsdeath.htm ****** (Personally, I kinda like actress Joan Crawford's reported final expression): "Dammit. Don't you dare ask God to help me." . . . This comment was directed towards her housekeeper who began to pray aloud. http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Famous_last_words |
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| "First Caution "There is no such thing as an accurate, objective history of the Church without consideration of the spiritual powers that attend this work. "There is no such thing as a scholarly, objective study of the office of bishop without consideration of spiritual guidance, of discernment, and of revelation. That is not scholarship. "Accordingly, I repeat, there is no such thing as an accurate or objective history of the Church which ignores the Spirit. . . . "Those of us who are extensively engaged in researching the wisdom of man, including those who write and those who teach Church history, are not immune from these dangers. I have walked that road of scholarly research and study and know something of the dangers. If anything, we are more vulnerable than those in some of the other disciplines. "Church history can he so interesting and so inspiring as to be a very powerful tool indeed for building faith. If not properly written or properly taught, it may be a faith destroyer. . . . "If we who research, write, and teach the history of the Church ignore the spiritual on the pretext that the world may not understand it, our work will not be objective. "And if, for the same reason, we keep it quite secular, we will produce a history that is not accurate and not scholarly--this, in spite of the extent of research or the nature or the individual statements or the incidents which are included as part of it, and notwithstanding the training or scholarly reputation of the one who writes or teaches it. We would end up with a history with the one most essential ingredient left out. "Those who have the Spirit can recognize very quickly whether something is missing in a written Church history this in spite of the fact that the author may be a highly trained historian and the reader is not. And, I might add, we have been getting a great deal of experience in this regard in the past few year. "President Wilford Woodruff warned: 'I will here say God has inspired me to keep a Journal and History of this Church, and I warn the future Historians to give Credence to my History of this Church and Kingdom; for my Testimony is true, and the truth of its record will be manifest in the world to Come.' . . . "Second Caution "There is a temptation for the writer or the teacher Of Church history to want to tell everything, whether it is worthy or faith promoting or not. "Some things that are true are not very useful. "Historians seem to take great pride in publishing something new, particularly if it illustrates a weakness or mistake of a prominent historical figure. "For some reason, historians and novelists seem to savor such things. If it related to a living person it would come under the heading of gossip. "History can be as misleading as gossip and much more difficult--often impossible--to verify. "The writer or the teacher who has an exaggerated loyalty to the theory that everything must be told is laying a foundation for his own judgment. He should not complain if one day he himself receives as he has given. "Perhaps that is what is contemplated in having one's sins preached from the housetops. "Some time ago a historian gave a lecture to an audience of college students on one of the past Presidents of the Church. It seemed to be his purpose to show that that President was a man subject to the foibles of men. He introduced many so-called facts that put that President in a very unfavorable light, particularly when they were taken out of the context of the historical period in which he lived. "Someone who was not theretofore acquainted with this historical figure (particularly someone not mature) must have come away very negatively affected. Those who were unsteady in their convictions surely must have had their faith weakened or destroyed. . . . "The same point may be made with reference to so-called sex education. There are many things that are factual, even elevating, about this subject. There are other aspects of this subject that are so perverted and ugly it does little good to talk of them at all. Some things cannot be safely taught to little children or to those who are not eligible by virtue of age or maturity or authorizing ordinance to understand them. "Teaching some things that are true, prematurely or at the wrong time, can invite sorrow and heartbreak instead of the joy intended to accompany learning. "What is true with these two subjects is, if anything, doubly true in the field of religion. The scriptures teach emphatically that we must give milk before meat. The Lord made it very clear that some things are to be taught selectively and some things are to be given only to those who are worthy. "It matters very much not only what we are told but when we are told it. Be careful that you build faith rather than destroy it. "President William E. Berrett has told us how grateful he is that a testimony that the past leaders of the Church were prophets of God was firmly fixed in his mind before he was exposed to some of the so-called facts that historians have put in their published writings. "This principle of prerequisites is so fundamental to all education that I have never been quite able to understand why historians are so willing to ignore it. And, if those outside the Church have little to guide them but the tenets of their profession, those inside the Church should know better. "Some historians write and speak as though the only ones to read or listen are mature, experienced historians. They write and speak to a very narrow audience. Unfortunately, many of the things they tell one another are not uplifting, go fat beyond the audience they may have intended, and destroy faith. "What that historian did with the reputation of the President of the Church was nor worth doing. He seemed determined to convince everyone that the prophet was a man. We knew that already. "All of the prophets and all of the Apostles have been men. It would have been much more worthwhile for him to have convinced us that the man was a prophet, a fact quite as true as the fact that he was a man. . . . "The sad thing is that he may have, in years past, taken great interest in those who led the Church and desired to draw close to them. "But instead of following that long, steep, discouraging, and occasionally dangerous path to spiritual achievement, instead of going up to where they were, he devised a way of collecting mistakes and weaknesses and limitations to compare with his own. In that sense he has attempted to bring a historical figure down to his level and in that way feel close to him and perhaps justify his own weaknesses. . . . "That historian or scholar who delights in pointing out the weaknesses and frailties of present or past leaders destroys faith--A destroyer of faith--particularly one within the Church, and more particularly one who is employed specifically to build faith--places himself in great spiritual jeopardy. He is serving the wrong master, and unless he repents, he will not be among the faithful in the eternities. "One who chooses to follow the tenets of his profession, regardless of how they may injure the Church or destroy the faith of those not ready for "advanced history," is himself in spiritual jeopardy. If that one is a member of the Church, he has broken his covenants and will be accountable. After all of the tomorrows of mortality have been finished, he will not stand where be might have stood. "I recall a conversation with President Henry D. Moyle. We were driving back from Arizona and were talking about a man who destroyed the faith of young people from the vantage point of a teaching position. Someone asked President Moyle why this man was still a member of the Church when he did things like that. 'He is not a member of the Church.' President Moyle answered firmly. Another replied that he bad not heard of his excommunication. 'He has excommunicated himself,' President Moyle responded. 'He cut himself off from the Spirit of God. Whether or not we get around to holding a court doesn't matter that much; he has cut himself off from he Spirit of the Lord.'" . . . ( Boyd K. Packer, "The Mantle is Far, Far Greater Than the Intellect," http://www.mormonismi.net/kirjoitukset/bkp_mantteli.shtml ) ______ You get Darth Packer's drift: AT THE VERY LEAST, LIE BY OMISSION--OR YOUR HEAD WILL ROLL. |
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| When my uncle, Reed Benson, was president of the Louisville KY mission from 1975 to 1978, a horrible and tragic crime occured on his watch--one committed at the hands of a homicidal Mormon missionary.
If I remember correctly, the murder victim (the killer's companion) had been disabled as a youth in some kind of accident (I seem to recall that it involved a collision with a train, if memory serves me right). The young man, as a result of the accident, was permanently brain damaged but was determined to serve a mission, nonetheless. He entered the field and was assigned to the elder who eventually killed him. The murdering missionary (who apparently "snapped" from dealing with his impaired companion) horribly abused and eventually scalded him to death in their apartment bathtub. I recall that the murder occurred, coincidentally enough, on my Uncle Reed's birthday (we share the same birthday, by the way, which accounts for my middle name being "Reed"). I also recollect that the murderer was eventually remanded by the courts to the custody of his parents and did no prison time. I later heard members of the Benson family talk about this incident where, unbelievably, they essentially blamed the murder victim for his own demise. They discussed among themselves how, after he was injured in his pre-mission accident, his local Church leaders advised him not to go on a mission but that he ignored their advice and went anyway. Subsequently, he was killed by his companion, who had a difficult time dealing with the ill-fated missionary's mental impairment (caused by the accident), which slowed the unfortunate young man down and made him an unbearable challenge to work with, at least as far as his companion was concerned. I was astounded to hear members of the Benson family laying blame for the missionary's death on the missionary himself, saying that he had failed to follow the counsel of his local Church leaders to forego a mission and, consequently, paid with his life. - - For an account recently posted on this board by a then-elder in Kentucky who served as a mission assistant to Reed Benson and who describes the circumstances of the murder of an "Elder Christensen, see: http://www.exmormon.org/boards/w-agor... A so-called reunion "found list" of missionaries who served under my Uncle Reed in the Louisville KY mission contains the name of one "James Christensen" who, under the category of "Home phone," is simply listed as "deceased," with no other information provided: http://www.topomap.to/reunion/refound... Another website, however, "Mahonri--Finding Light in the Darkness," offers a tribute to Mormon missionaries who have died while serving their Church: "We want to honor and recognize the work of all missionaries on the Parley P. Pratt Missionary Memorial, but unfortunately we do not have a complete list of those who have given their lives in the service of the Master. "Nor do we have a complete roster of all missionaries who now face physical, emotional and intellectual challenges as a result of accident or illness suffered on their missions. "Further, we do not have a complete list of those missionaries whose lives were taken before being able to enter the mission field. Your help in compiling a more complete account of those we would honor will be greatly appreciated." They did, however, have the following name and brief biographical information: James E. Christensen, 24, Kentucky Louisville, Moroni, UT 1977 At least it was more than the pathetically meager reference offered up by the Louisville KY mission's reunion website--although the list of dead on the "Mahonri" memorial webpage is followed by a bizarre observation from Apostle M. Russell Ballard: "'Since the day of the Prophet Joseph Smith, we've had approximately 447,969 missionaries serve in the world,' Elder M. Russell Ballard said in 1989. 'Of those 447,969, (some) 525 have lost their lives while serving as full-time missionaries,' he added. 'When you contemplate that number, it appears that the safest place in the whole world is to be on a full-time mission,' concluded the member of the Twelve." http://www.mahonri.org/special/ppplis... Wonderful, tell that to mentally-disabled Elder James E. Christensen: dead at age 24, due--according to family members of Ezra Taft Benson defending their own--his failure to obey priesthood authority. |
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| A Typical Mormon Cover-up: My first inkling of what went on behind closed temple doors came not from my family but from a convert whom we fellowshipped into the Cult.
His name was Charlie and, thanks to my younger sister initially inviting one of their kids to Primary, he and his wife were eventually baptized, along with their four daughters. Charlie was an honest, free-speaking guy, a Korean war vet with a great sense of humor, who had a way of relating to and hitting it off with the teenage young people in our Texas ward (me being one of them at the time). On MIA nights, for instance, instead of giving the Explorers a boring lesson out of the mind-numbing manual, Charlie would let them shoot hoops and watch "Laugh In" in their classroom, while he'd sit back, shoot the breeze and play it cool. In short, Charlie was, like, our favorite "old" person in the ward. After Charlie and his wife had been members for the minimal year-long wait, they went through the temple to be super-glued to each other for time and all eternity, with my parents tagging along as part of the sealing support team. Figuring I could get a straight answer from Charlie, I asked him what it was like inside the temple. He smiled, then started hemming and hawing (as, no doubt, visions of slit throrats and disemboweled guts began dancing through his head). Charlie said he couldn't tell me anything because he wasn't allowed to. I thought to myself, "Man, if Charlie can't fill me in, then who can? This stuff must be serious." But, still, I continued to press, pleading for him to at least give me something. Finally, Charlie relented and said that there was a play inside the temple. He said that there was this Devil character in the play who was pretty neat--but that, Charlie insisted, was all he could tell me. Fast forward a couple of decades-plus. Charlie and his wife have left the Cult and are today living happily ever after. (We've had a chance to chat on the phone a couple of times since he and his wife made their own bolt from the Cult. He had kept a lot of his deep, inner feelings about Mormonism bottled up for years, even after leaving. It was good to hear him finally let loose. It was the old Charlie we kids had come to know and love. :) |
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| Introduction Before somone here chokes on green pea soup shooting from their nostrils on a movie set, a reality check on alleged "exorcisms" may be in order. Exorcisms Are Primitive Rituals Performed on People Who are Often Simply Mentally Ill A 2001 book on the topic, Michael Cuneo’s American Exorcism: Expelling Demons in the Land of Plenty, found no reason to think that anything supernatural occurs during exorcisms. After attending fifty exorcisms, Cuneo is unequivocal about the fact that he saw nothing supernatural—and certainly nothing remotely resembling the events depicted in the 1974 blockbuster film, "The Exorcist." No spinning heads, levitation, or poltergeists were seen, though many involved some cursing, spitting, or vomiting. As far as science is concerned, possession is a mental health issue. http://www.livescience.com/othernews/050830_emilyrose.html _____ Belief in Exorcisms is Rooted in Ignorance of Modern Science Belief in spirit possession flourishes in times and places where there is ignorance about mental states. . . . Psychiatric historians have long attributed demonic manifestations to such aberrant mental conditions as schizophrenia and hysteria, noting that--as mental illness began to be recognized as such after the seventeenth century--there was a consequent decline in demonic superstitions . . . http://www.looksmarttrends.com/p/articles/mi_m2843/is_1_27/ai_95501854 _____ Repetition of Exorcism Tales Has Demonstrably Led to the Creation of False Memories [Scientific experiments reported in The Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied] tell a consistent story. When people are exposed to a series of articles describing a relatively implausible phenomenon, such as witnessing a possession, they believe the phenomenon is not only more plausible but also are less confident that they had not experienced it in childhood. http://www.looksmarttrends.com/p/articles/mi_m2843/is_1_25/ai_68966507 _____ Exorcisms Are Often Merely Learned Behavior In many cases . . . supposed demonic possession can be a learned role that fulfills certain important functions for those claiming it. In his book Hidden Memories: Voices and Visions from Within, psychologist Robert A. Baker . . . notes that possession was sometimes feigned by nuns to act out sexual frustrations, protest restrictions, escape unpleasant duties, attract attention and sympathy, and fulfill other useful functions. http://www.looksmarttrends.com/p/articles/mi_m2843/is_1_25/ai_68966516 _____ Superstitious Belief in Exorcisms is Encouraged by "Modern" Pop Culture [Author Micahel] Cuneo repeatedly reminds the reader of the role of American media in the resurgence of the belief in demonic possession. Only the most willfully naive reader could overlook the role of motion pictures, TV talk shows, book publishers, and the insatiable appetite for publicity among exorcism authors and self-styled "researchers" after reading Cuneo's perceptive accounts of the rise of demonic awareness in the land of plenty. http://www.looksmarttrends.com/p/articles/mi_m2843/is_1_27/ai_95501854 _____ Exorcisms Can Be--And Have Clearly Been Shown to Have Been--Faked Possession can be childishly simple to fake. For example, an exorcism broadcast by ABC's "20/20" in 1991 featured a sixteen-year-old girl who, her family claimed, was possessed by ten separate demonic entities. However, to skeptics her alleged possession seemed to be indistinguishable from poor acting. She even stole glances at the camera before affecting convulsions and other "demonic" behavior . . . . Of course a person with a strong impulse to feign diabolic possession may indeed be mentally disturbed. Although the teenager in the "20/20" episode reportedly improved after the exorcism, it was also pointed out that she continued 'on medication' . . . . http://www.looksmarttrends.com/p/articles/mi_m2843/is_1_27/ai_95501854 Conclusion Silly claims of demonic dispersals are, indeed, enough to make your head spin. |
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| When my dad, Mark Benson, was president of the Indiana-Michigan mission in the 1970s (headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana), the expression of appropriate humor within the walls of the mission home was emphatically enforced and reverentially regulated.
The mission home was located at 4700 Old Mill Road, close to Foster Park, off of West Rudisill Boulevard, in a tired, rundown, blue-collar city which I considered at that time in my teenage life to be (for lack of a better description) the cultural armpit of the Western Hemisphere. (The desks in the study hall of our 50-year-old, dilapidated school, Southside High, were bolted to the floor, for gawd's sake). http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=... The home itself was a sturdy, weathered stone structure, situated in an older part of the city dotted with heavy brick mansions from a bygone era. It was surrounded by thousands of square feet of lawn, landscaped with large trees, featured thick stain-glassed windows, boasted a circular staircase up to the second floor from the spacious living room, had separate living quarters for the mission home staff and sported a large circular driveway that ran between the main house and a roomy, multi-car garage. The mission staff worked in a step-down office located in the basement, in what was a converted wine cellar. During the winter of 1971-72, the temperature was particularly cold. It was not uncommon for the mercury to dip well below the 0-degree mark during the harshest months. It was so cold, in fact, that one quick breath of the icy air and your nose hairs would freeze, literally. One particularly biting, frigid morning (me being 17 years old at the time), I stepped outside and discovered a dead possum--frozen stiff, lying on its back, feet poking into the air--in the middle of the driveway. The poor critter had apparently met its doom during the previous night. I went back inside, descended the narrow staircase into the basement office and informed the mission staff of this frozen forensic find. Always looking for something to lighten the load of their otherwise weary and dreary workday, the elders ascended the stairs carrying their scriptures, went outside and formed a small circle around the deceased varmit, whereupon they commenced an impromptu funeral service. In an air of mock reverence, one of the missionaries opened up his Book of Mormon and, in a slow and solemn voice, quoted some appropriate verses to mark the occasion of the possum's passing. A eulogy to the departed creature was then offered and a prayer pronounced, as the mission staff commended the spirit of the ice-cubed critter into the hands of our precious Redeemer who, as the Holy Word says, is aware of every sparrow that falls and every possum that freezes. I was so deeply moved by the experience that I took pictures of the ceremony, in order to preserve it for future posterity hilarity. _____ On another occasion, members of the mission staff (apparently bored out of their minds and looking for any bit of levity to lighten the load of working long and laboriously for the Lord), cut out pictures from a Sears and Roebuck catalogue featuring young, attractive models in brightly-multi-colored, billowy, one-piece lounge wear, cuffed at the wrists and at the ankles. They then posted the pictures on the walls of their downstairs office with captions attached, noting that this line of lingerie constituted the latest in Church-approved garments. My dad did not regard either the possum funeral or the garmie catalogue commentary to have been at all appropriate--and firmly chastized the mission staff for having engaged in such light-minded and sacriligious behavior. Duly chastened, the mission staff returned to its divinely-decreed drudgery. Sigh. Living in that place was the pits. |
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| Below are selected excerpts from a recent news analysis that blows the cover off of Mormonism's Perpetual Public Relations Big Lie--namely, that it is supposedly the planet's fastest-multiplying church. (Section headings have been inserted for easier reading). Headline: Mormon myth: The belief that the church is the fastest-growing faith in the world doesn't hold up" by Peggy Fletcher Stack The Salt Lake Tribune 26 July 2005 The Mormon Church Is Not the World's Fastest-Growing Church "The claim that Mormonism is the fastest-growing faith in the world has been repeated so routinely by sociologists, anthropologists, journalists and proud Latter-day Saints as to be perceived as unassailable fact. "The trouble is, it isn't true." Other Religious Faiths Are Growing Much Faster Than the Mormon Church ". . . [S]ince 1990, other faiths--Seventh-day Adventists, Assemblies of God and Pentecostal groups-- have grown much faster and in more places around the globe." High Membership Inactivity Rates Plague the Mormon Church ". . . [M]ost telling, the number of Latter-day Saints who are considered active churchgoers is only about a third of the total, or 4 million in the pews every Sunday, researchers say. . . . "[Estimated] worldwide [Mormon member] activity [is] at about 35 percent - which would give the church about 4 million active members." The Mormon Church's Convert Baptism Rate Is Declining "According to LDS-published statistics, the annual number of LDS converts declined from a high of 321,385 in 1996 to 241,239 in 2004. In the 1990s, the church's growth rate went from 5 percent a year to 3 percent." The Mormon Conversion Rate Has Actually Been Measured at Zero Percent "When the Graduate Center of the City University of New York [CUNY]conducted an American Religious Identification Survey in 2001, it discovered that about the same number of people said they had joined the LDS Church as said they had left it. The CUNY survey reported the church's net growth was zero percent." The Highest Mormon Conversion Areas Show the Lowest Member Retention Rates "'It is a matter of grave concern that the areas with the most rapid numerical membership increase, Latin America and the Philippines, are also the areas with extremely low convert retention . . . Latter-day Saints lose 70 to 80 percent of their converts . . .'" The Best Indicator of Actual Mormon Member Growth Rates Is the Number of Stakes Created--and the News Is Not Good "Perhaps the best measure of LDS Church growth is the rate of new church units, such as . . . stakes . . . Because they are staffed by volunteers, such units cannot function without enough active members. "In 1980, The Ensign, the LDS Church's official magazine, predicted that . . . [the number of stakes would grow] from 1,190 . . . to 3,600 in 2000. . . . [T]here were 2,602 stakes worldwide at the end of 2002. "'You can use these trends to say that the percentage is slowing, the numbers have leveled off or they are dropping.'" The Mormon Church Is Having Difficulty Becoming a Bonafide World Religion "One key to Mormonism becoming a world religion . . .is how well it can transcend its founding culture to become universal. . . . "The LDS message has found a ready audience in Latin America and the South Pacific, where Mormon missionaries can tell people God did not neglect them. The Book of Mormon [tells] the story of a Hebrew family that migrated from Jerusalem to the New World and . . . of a visit to their descendants by Jesus Christ after his resurrection. "Still, the [Mormon] church may not fare as well as other Christian religions in Africa and China, since it has no such reassurance for them . . . ." Previous Predictions of Phenomenal Future Mormon Membership Growth Were Fanciful, Inaccurate Guesses "In 1984, University of Washington sociologist Rodney Stark . . . estimated that if [the Mormon Church] continued to grow at . . . 30 percent, there would be 60 million Mormons by the year 2080; if 50 percent, the figure would explode to 265 million. . . . "[Stark said,] 'The [Mormon] church liked the results and people who are against the church are desperate to figure out why it won't happen . . . Everyone takes the thing too seriously. I've tried to make clear all along that I was just trying to bring a little discipline to a lot of crazy conversations.' "It was a game of 'let's pretend,' Stark says, when he applied [a] compound interest formula and saw huge numbers of Mormons. "He says he never meant his projections to dictate the future of Mormonism." _____ For the complete story, see: http://sltrib.com/ci_2890645 |
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| With the latest, and quite significant, legal ruling against LDS Inc. stemming from a Seattle-area lawsuit, it would not be at all surprising to see similar allegations of sex abuse (and their attendant lawsuits) brought against the Mormon Church.
This--without exaggeration--could constitute the beginnings of an ominous and threatening legal precedent, one which could conceivably pose a real dagger-thrust not only at the heart of the Mormon Church's supposed moral legitimacy, but at its very financial solvency. A word of advice to Mormons everywhere: Follow your money, not your prophet. It's starting to swirl down an unrighteous rathole set aside by the leading lights of your Church to pay for guilty verdicts in its name. Did you ever think your tithing money would be used to defend God's "One and Only True Church" in cases of Mormon sexual abuse of minors and all the dirty cover-ups that followed? You should have learned from Joseph Smith . . . |
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| Channel surfing tonight, I came across her introducing Merrill Bateman at a BYU Women's Conference in 1997.
She said, and I quote: "President Bateman's list of accomplishments is as long as my leg and, as you can see, that's pretty long."She paused, cleared her throat, raised an eyebrow slightly and smiled--but there was virtually no reaction from the audience. For one thing, the audience couldn't even see Sister Dew's leg, since she was standing behind a podium and, moreover, what kind of kinky-kooky Mormon fantasy world does the pent-up Sister Dew live in, where she's imagining people gawking at her leg? It was bizarre--and should have prompted a bishop's interview, on the spot. |
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| --God tells you to run for national office.
--God tells you to keep religion out of politics. --God tells you to attack other countries and kill the infidels. --God tells you to follow the Prince of Peace and turn the other cheek. --God tells you he created the world through evolution. --God tells you to condemn evolutionists to hell. --God tells you he protected you when your plane crashed and you survived. --God tells you it's a mystery why he allowed your God-praising church to be destroyed by a tornado and worshippers inside to be killed. --God tells you he healed you because he needs you on earth. --God tells you he didn't heal your loved one because he needs him in heaven. --God tells you the Mormon church is true. --God tells you that the Christian church down the street is better. --God tells you where you put your misplaced car keys. --God tells you to forget about the lost car keys--that without him you're lost. Good gawd. |
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| I cannot go into the details here, but I have learned as of late that elements of the press are entering a heightened stage of alert, as they gear up for the ultimate demise of Hinckley.
Although not at this point earnestly deadline driven (pardon the pun), some suggestion was made that his death might be expected within the next few months. Whether or not that proves to be the case, in a nutshell, the media do not want to be caught off guard, should Hinckley's passing come sooner than later. It is common, of course, for pre-fabricated "obits" to be readied for filing as part of breaking news stories when people of note die. In many newsrooms and broadcast booths nationwide, announcements of Hinckley's eventual death have, no doubt, already been readied for launch with pre-written articles on his life and times. As a related aside, an earlier post noted that a Hinckley talk from decades earlier has been resurrected and reused in the current issue of the Ensign. "Hank" wrote: . . . This month's Ensign [First Presidency] message is a retread of a 1977 talk. I'm sure it's not surprising to most people here, and I'm sure Steve Benson has similar examples from his observations of the inner workings of Mormonism. http://www.exmormon.org/boards/w-agor... _____ "Hank's: subject line of his post was "Hinckley recycles old talk . . . " It is not necessarily true that Hinckley himself has personally recycled one of his earlier sermons for use in this month's Ensign. At his advanced age, Hinckley may not be able to easily pull from his memory bank of past preachings or even do the touch-up inserts and additions to the text that dot the December Ensign's version. On this matter, I speak from my own knowledge and experience with my grandfather, Ezra Taft Benson. Toward the end of his life when he was no longer mentally or physically capable of effectively delivering his own "prophet-seer-and-revelator" sermons, writing them out or dictating to others what he wanted them to contain and convey, Ensign talks/messages attributed to my grandfather were actually cut-and-paste jobs from old files of previously delivered ETB sermons--as retrieved, reconstituted, rearranged and replayed by his ever-ready, cover-the-rear-of-our-prophet-dear office staff. The explanation I heard given for reliance on these re-usable retreads was that the Saints could always use reminding of what they should be doing; thus, repeating a "prophet's" earlier admonitions was simply a reiteration of eternal truths for the benefit of the ever-needy Mormon masses. OK, and if you belief that I've got some gold plates in Palmyra to sell you. I am not saying, however, that Hinckley has necessarily reached the stage where he is effectively out of the lucid lecture loop and will, any day now, be put out to post-mortem pasture. What I am saying is that it is conceivable the appearance of Hinckley's recycled 1977 sermon in the Ensign almost 30 years after the fact indicates that all may not be well in Zion. I suspect that what is happening in media circles with regard to all of this is that astute (and perhaps well-informed) reporters have now begun to connect possible dots--and that the Hinckley death watch may soon begin to take on more focus, if it hasn't already. |
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| When I was a teenager growing up Mormon in Dallas, Texas, an adult priesthood member in our ward took me and several other of the ward's young men on a bow hunting trip for whitetail deer in the eastern part of the state.
We ultimately came up empty-handed as far as bagging any deer was concerned--although a friend of mine pin-cushioned to death an innocent armadillo with target arrows, put the creature's mutilated body in a paper sack and secretly wrapped it up in my sleeping bag while I was out in the bush. I didn't discover its bloody corpse until I unrolled the sleeping bag out in the garage late that evening when I was dropped off home. The "adult" ward member who took us on this mindless, ooga-ooga hunting trip--(a reasonless ritual that served no purpose except to provide young boys the opportunity to personally, and brutally, kill animals we didn't need for survival)--let us know in no uncertain terms that even though we were getting home late Saturday night, he expected us all to be up bright and early the next morning and in attendance at priesthood meeting. In fact, he made it crystal, Liahona clear (complete with scowling visage) that if we did not show up at priesthood meeting as commanded, he would never take us hunting again. Well, I was too damned tired to get up the next morning for priesthood meeting and, frankly, didn't care if I didn't get another chance to go "hunting" again by opting for the covers over the covenant. I didn't tell my father of our adult leader's order that we either attend priesthood or forego any future deer-killing forays with him; I just sleepily informed my dad when he came into my bedroom on Sunday morning to get me up for priesthood that I was too tired to go. He let me sleep in. What skewed priorities the Mormon Cult imposes on the vulnerable children it attempts to warp into mindlessly faithful adherents. In the Mormon mind, it's acceptable for teenage boys to venture out to slaughter wildlife for no good purpose--but if that search-and-destroy mission causes them to miss priesthood indoctrination camp the next morning, no more deer slaying for them. Sick. |
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| When it came to the supposed truthfulness of LDS scripture: **Apostle and First Presidency counselor Hugh B. Brown who, according to Jerald and Sandra Tanner, admitted to Mormon amateur archaeologist Thomas Ferguson that Smith couldn't translate ancient Egyptian. From Ferguson's letter to the Tanners: "According to Mr. Ferguson, Apostle Brown had also come to the conclusion that the Book of Abraham was false and was in favor of the church giving it up. A few years later Hugh B. Brown said he could 'not recall' making the statements Thomas Stuart Ferguson attributed to him. Ferguson, however, was apparently referring to the same incident in the letter of March 13, 1971, when he stated: 'I must conclude that Joseph Smith had not the remotest skill in things Egyptian-hieroglyphics. To my surprise one of the highest officials in the Mormon Church agreed with that conclusion . . . privately in one-to-one [c]onversation.'" http://www.utlm.org/newsletters/no69.htm _____ **Quorum of the Seventy member B.H. Roberts who, after extensive personal study prompted by questions from a missionary in the field, concluded that the Book of Mormon was a plagiarized invention of Smith's immature mind. From Roberts' own writings in his landmark work, Studies of the Book of Mormon (which remained unpublished until decades after his death): "In light of this evidence, there can be no doubt as to the possession of a vividly strong, creative imagination by Joseph Smith, the Prophet. An imagination, it could with reason be urged, which, given the suggestions that are to be found in the 'common knowledge' of accepted American Antiquities of the times, supplimented [sic] by such a work as Ethan Smith's, View of the Hebrews, would make it possible for him to create a book such as the Book of Mormon is. . . . " . . . [T]here is a certain lack of perspective in the things the book relates as history that points quite clearly to an undeveloped mind as their origin, The narrative proceeds in characteristic disregard of conditions necessary to its reasonableness, as if it were a tale told by a child, with utter disregard for consistency. . . . "Is this all sober history . . . or is it a wonder-tale of an immature mind, unconscious of what a test he is laying on human credulity when asking men to accept his narrative as solemn history." http://www.neirr.org/bomdiff.htm |
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| Cases in point:
--Calvin Grondahl, returned Mormon missionary and premiere editorial cartoonist for BYU's Daily Universe in the 1970s, was hired away by the Deseret News without graduating from college. (His most famous cartoon done on Provo's seminarian school grounds showed a battered and bruised BYU student under a pile of rocks, muttering to a campus policeman, "All I said was, "He who is without sin, let him cast the first stone"). Cal lasted for only a few years at the Deseret News, where he finally quit in frustration and moved north to work at the Ogden Standard Examiner. Cal left because the Desert News publisher at the time, Wendell Ashton, informed Cal that he had to choose between competing masters: either working for the Deseret News or doing cartoons that were being picked up by Sunstone magazine. (Many more of Cal's cartoons were also eventually published as collections by Signature Books). Cal was, in fact, found guilty of having made available to a humor-starved Mormon public some hilariously irreverent cartoon anthologies--such as Freeway to Perfection and Faith Promoting Rumors--cartoons that, nonetheless, some in high Church circles actually secretly enjoyed. For instance, Jack Goaslind (a personal family friend and eventual member of the Quorum of the Seventy) had visited our home in Arizona some years ago, during a stake-stumping sermon tour. After conference, we invited him over for lunch, where he sat on the couch and nearly laughed his head off, crowing hysterically as he eagerly read through Cal's books. Apparently, this appreciation for the goofy and inherently spoofy side of Mormonism was not shared by the Deseret News' publisher. Cal saw the writing on the wall and knew he couldn't last. _____ --My grandfather, Ezra Taft Benson, initially encouraged me to try for the job at the Deseret News and even put in a good word for me there. However, I eventually began doodling cartoons down in Arizona that he found personally troubling and disturbingly out-of-line with his fiery brand of conservative thinking. (On the other hand, my grandfather also derided the Deseret News, telling me it was too liberal). In the meantime, the editorial page editor of the Deseret News called me and asked me if I would like to come to work for the Deseret News. He told me that they couldn't give me as much money as I was making in Arizona or as much freedom, but he did say that a benefit of moving to Salt Lake and working there would be that I'd be closer to my family. (Strike three, I thought). I informed my grandfather that I had turned down the job offer from the Deseret News, to which he replied that it was a decision good for both me--and him. [By the way, my syndicated editorial cartoons are still published in the Desert News, for which I would be ungrateful if I did not stand this day and give thanks. :)] _____ --Eventually, I left the Mormon Church in a rather, ahem, outspoken and public fashion--and was thereafer removed from the pages of the Daily Universe, which refused to publish any more of my syndicated work, to which it had subscribed for a number of years. The straw that ostensibly broke the Daily Universe's back was a cartoon I did criticizing sexual harassment of female military recruits by Army drill instructors. In explaining its decision to bid me adieu, a spokesman for the Daily Universe said my cartoons were no longer suitable for consumption by its student body. This judgment was rendered, coincidentally enough, soon after a BYU student had written to the Lord's university student newspaper, protesting the use of tithing funds to publish the cartoons of a known apostate. (Some years later, that same individual--now a former student--wrote me to apologize and to acknowledge that he, too, was now a former Mormon. He said that his demand I be removed from the pages of BYU's house organ was a futile attempt on his part to convince himself that he was a stalwart, testimony-holding believer when, in fact, his faith was actually faltering). _____ Being an editorial "harpoonist" in Zion's Camp can be a tricky business. :) |
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| Introduction: A Barren Valley--or a Legend Barren of Truth? Persistently-propagandized Mormons have long claimed that when Brigham Young arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, he and his cohorts found the place to be devoid of trees--except, supposedly, for a single cedar, tenaciously clinging to life in a desolate wasteland that the Mormons boast to have (according to scriptural prophesy, of course) resurrected to resplendant glory. Indeed, even today, Utah promotional shop-and-spend guides portray the Salt Lake Valley of invented 1847 fame to have been a veritable no-man's-land: "Historically, the one-time desert wilderness [of Utah] was created by settlers seeking refuge from religious persecution, and neither barren land, nor drought or a plague of crickets could dissuade the Mormons from their purpose." http://www.attractionguide.com/salt_l... Uh-huh. And if you believe that, I've got thousands of cricket-gorged seagulls to sell ya. Actually, It's All Kid's Stuff Here's a dose of reality from a Social Studies unit designed for Utah fourth-graders (which, apparently, is a learning level still far above that of many true-believing Mormons): "There is a myth about the Salt Lake Valley. It says that the valley was a barren and lifeless desert with only one tree when the first Mormon pioneers arrived. "Here is what the valley was really like when the Mormon pioneers first came. Much of it had rich, good soil. Wherever sagebrush grew, the soil was good, and sagebrush grew all over the valley. There were also tall grasses. Trees and bushes grew along all the streams and flowed from the mountains to the Jordan River and into the Great Salt Lake. On the mountains were forests of pine trees. http://teacherlink.ed.usu.edu/tlresou... Chopping Away at the Tall Tale If a basic elementary school lesson isn't enough to convince brain-gutted, gullible Mormons of the facts on the ground, LDS historian Will Bagley put the silly "Lone Tree" fable to rest, once and for all, in an article for the Salt Lake Tribune, entitled "The Lone Tree Shrine: Fact And Fiction:" "One of the most colorful fights over Utah's history--the Battle of the Cedar Tree Shrine--concerned what the Salt Lake Valley looked like when Brigham Young first saw it . . . . "Salt Lake City schoolchildren used to be taught that the only tree growing in the valley when the Mormon pioneers arrived was a cedar (actually, a juniper) standing in the middle of what is now 600 East just below 300 South. "Several 1847 journals reveal this simply wasn't so. The clerk of the Pioneer Camp, Thomas Bullock, wrote that the 'very extensive valley' was 'dotted in three or four places with Timber.' "But facts seldom get in the way of a beloved legend, especially one that celebrated the belief that the Mormon pioneers found a wasteland and made the desert 'blossom as a rose.' "True or not, the Lone Tree tale was enshrined in bronze on Pioneer Day in 1934 when the Daughters of Utah Pioneers erected a columned 'peristyle' shrine around what was left of the cedar on the median of 600 East. "A plaque told how the pioneers of 1847 paused beneath the shade of the lone cedar to offer songs and prayers of gratitude. "The 1847 Mormons actually missed the tree by a mile, since they followed the Donner Party trail to present-day 1700 South and took 'a strait road to a small Grove of Cotton Wood Trees' on City Creek at 300 South and State streets. "[Also enshrined on the marker is the exaggeration that] the tree was a favorite 'trysting place' for lovers. "But then, on the evening of September 21, 1958 . . . someone sawed off and absconded with the Lone Tree. The Daughters' president . . . noted how hard the society worked to preserve old relics and how discouraging it was when 'vandals come along and tear down our good work.' "That might have been the end of the story had not an enterprising reporter phoned A.R. Mortensen, head of the [Utah] state historical society. "'Kind of secretly,' the reporter asked the state's chief historian if he believed that the cedar was the only tree growing in the valley in 1847. Mortensen burst out laughing and asked, 'Hell no, do you?' "That afternoon the front-page of the Deseret News claimed he had called the revered Lone Tree 'a historical fraud' and 'a dead stump with little historical value.' "These offhand remarks ignited a firestorm and brought down the wrath of . . . 300,000 Daughters [of the Utah Pioneers] on Mortensen's unsuspecting head. The controversy nearly cost him his job and led the historical society's board to denounce the 'wanton destruction' of the Lone Tree and censure Mortensen's 'unfortunate comments.' Mortensen stuck to his guns. He was, after all, right. . . . "The Lone Stump monument still stands, graced by a 1960 plaque that acknowledged there were other trees in the valley in 1847. "But there's a part of this tale that has never been told in print--the solution to the mystery of the stolen cedar. Not long after the desecration, Salt Lake Tribune editor Art Deck got a call telling him to check a locker at the Greyhound Depot if he wanted to know the fate of the Lone Tree. Inside the locker was a sack containing the ashes of one of Utah's most beloved landmarks." http://www.historytogo.utah.gov/salt_lake_tribune/history_matters/072300.html _____ Conclusion: Getting to the Root of It All As usual, inconvenient historical facts end up proving just how easily Mormons can make, well, an ash of themselves. :) |
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| I had the pleasure of discussing with "SLCabbie" the Morg's go-to "historian" Richard Bushman's spinning song, broadcast recently on National Public Radio. "Cabbie" made some astute observations, portions of which are shared here with his permission: Bushman's Comparing Persecuted, Criminal, Free-Lovin' Mormons to Persecuted, Criminal, Free-Lovin' Rajneeshis " . . . Bushman doesn't get a pass from me on . . . his distorted picture of Mormon persecution in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois. "He repeats the usual myths and likens the treatment to what the Rajneeshis suffered up in Oregon. "Only trouble with that one is my younger sister was doing some accounting for the Rajneeshis at the time and spent a lot of time there. I followed events pretty closely because a longtime AA 'spiritual adviser' of mine also spent time there. "It was basically a free love compound, and besides that and bringing lots of street people in to upset the political applecart, there was an incident of 'biological warfare' where the R's tried to contaminate some salad bars with something like Salmonella bacteria just before a major election. '"They were also indicted on numerous tax and fraud charges and the Bagwhan was deported. "Typical cult stuff. It looks to me like 'free love' in one form or another operates in many cults. "There's probably a book there, but I'm saving my literary talents for the story of how the LDS Church buried the old Salt Lake Tribune." _____ Joseph Smith's Alcoholic Father's Typical Attraction to Religion "Bushman [also] made a big deal about JS Sr. and his 'religious searching' . . . "JS Sr. was an alcoholic, and it's common among late-stage alcoholics to develop strong religious tendencies (probably because of the accumulated build-up of shame; religion affords them a catharsis)." ***** Thanks, "Cabbie." You're one of this board's wisest. |
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| This, located on a website dedicated to Mormon missionaries who have been killed, who have otherwise died or who have been severely injured while on their divinely-appointed rounds to convert the planet: "Since the day of the Prophet Joseph Smith, we've had approximately 447,969 missionaries serve in the world," Elder M. Russell Ballard said in 1989. "Of those 447,969, (some) 525 have lost their lives while serving as full-time missionaries," he added. "When you contemplate that number, it appears that the safest place in the whole world is to be on a full-time mission," concluded the member of the Twelve. [emphasis added) _____ The website on which this astounding claim is made is called "Mahonri: Finding Light in the Darkness." http://www.mahonri.org/special/ppplist _____ In honor of God's young, stripped-of-life, but ever-faithful Mormon missionary Stripling Warriors killed in the line of duty, the site offers the following tribute: We want to honor and recognize the work of all missionaries on the Parley P. Pratt Missionary Memorial, but unfortunately we do not have a complete list of those who have given their lives in the service of the Master. Nor do we have a complete roster of all missionaries who now face physical, emotional and intellectual challenges as a result of accident or illness suffered on their missions. Further, we do not have a complete list of those missionaries whose lives were taken before being able to enter the mission field. Your help in compiling a more complete account of those we would honor will be greatly appreciated. . . . . _____ Up next comes a long list of dead or severely injured missionaries who came to be that way in the glorious field of latter-day, lead-them-into-the-font combat, after which follows this pious pitch for donations: If you would like to make a contribution towards the recognition of a particular missionary or in the name of your family, company or business, please contact a member of the Board of Directors of the Parley P. Pratt Missionary Memorial, a project of the NextLevel Family Foundation. The NextLevel Family Foundation (NLFF) is a non-profit organization, incorporated in the state of Utah as a 501(c)(3) charitable entity. Adonis Bronze and the Alpine Art Center & Sculpture Park are private businesses. Neither the Missionary Memorial nor the NextLevel Family Foundation is associated with or sanctioned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. . . . To share names of missionaries who may be honored on this memorial, please call David Tuttle 801 768-3933 or e-mail: dtuttle@nlevel.com or direct regular mail to 1593 N. 1400 E. Lehi, UT 84043. _____ Rest in eternal, proselytizing peace--the hundreds of you who, in the name of your protective, loving, throat-slitting Mormon God, embarked on one of the "safest" assignments in the world. On second thought, you are not allowed to rest. You've got discussions to teach and quotas to reach in the spirit world of glorious missionary endeavor. So, get up, dust yourself off and get a move on. |
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| Original Article Steve is commenting on: http://www.mormoncurtain.com/topic_ex...
In a now-closed thread, "Former Church Insider" made some very interesting and, in some cases, extraordinary claims. I was asked in that thread to offer my assessment on those claims and do so below: CLAIM: I was reading the question about Steve Christensen (who died from the bomb planted in the Judge building by Mark Hoffman) in an earlier post and felt compelled to add more to the story. Steve was a friend of a friend who grew up with the family in Bountiful. Steve was a straight arrow in his church beliefs and was a bishop at the time of his death. His father, Mac Christensen owned the Mr. Mac stores in area, and unlike his brothers, Steve decided to leave the family business to strike out on his own. He was a savvy and successful young businessman and as far as I know was a stalwart in the church in spite of his access to unseemly church records and artifacts. His death was tragic and unfortunate. REACTION: Sounds credible. I have a former Mormon, well-connected source who personally knew Christensen and describes him in much the same way. _____ CLAIM: As a result of his death, his brother Stan, who manages two of the Mr. Mac stores - and a really nice guy, lost his faith in the church and became inactive - and still is to this day. As far as I know, Steve's family has been well taken care of and remains active. REACTION: Don't know. _____ CLAIM: At the time of Steve's death, the leadership of the church was in frenzy - especially PR savvy GBH, and control freak BKP. Open access by the public to the church history department (on the first floor of COB)was forever restricted by edict from BKP - with access granted only to those who had a "church" purpose for being there, with IDs and a sign in log. REACTION: Sounds credible. My personal conversations with Dallin Oaks and Neal Maxwell, held in Maxwell's Church office in September of 1993, indicated a real concern on their part with wanting to insure tight control over access by D. Michael Quinn and others to sensitive Church archival material--as well as a stunning and ugly willingness to smear the character of those (Quinn and Brent Metcalf, in particular) who were outspoken critics of the Church. _____ CLAIM: This stemmed in part from the fact that there was much more to the Mark Hoffman story than is commonly known. Because Mark was the fair haired RM with a talent for digging up the good and bad documents about the Church, he was granted access to many documents and artifacts that were not accessible even to the "Quinn" type historians of the church in their full access heydays (long before they were Exed). REACTION: Don't know. _____ CLAIM: The President's vault, otherwise known as "F" vault one of a series of 6 vaults located in the Granite Mountain church site in Little Cottonwood Canyon - next to where the granite blocks used in building the SL Temple were quarried. The front of the vault complex is manned and womened by employees and missionaries who duplicate genealogical microfilms to fulfill orders from church Fam. History libraries all over the world. The six vaults are connected by a corridor protected by a many ton steel door that supposedly can withstand a nuclear blast and are located far into the mountain at the rear of the complex. Each of these 6 vaults is cavernous and contains microfilm, discs, and other data files for financial, membership, genealogical and other church records. Until the Mark Hoffman episode, access to the vault was restricted to those with official church business only (although at one time tours were conducted there for the public). REACTION: Don't know. _____ CLAIM: The biggest issue with Mark Hoffman was the Church trying to suppress the "Salamander Letter" - since Joe Smith supposedly spoke to a salamander instead of moroni. I doubt the church would have destroyed it, instead, they would have hidden it away. Why is it that the Michael Quinn types can no longer have access? The church has so many records that it doesnt even know what they have and what are they going to do, have someone go through it all and decide what to keep and what not to keep? - at the expense of someone finding out what is in there? REACTION: Sounds credible. Oaks personally admitted to me that the Church did not cooperate fully with a Salt Lake police subpoena regarding its William McClellin document collection because, he said, the Church unilaterally concluded that the police did not need the documents which Oaks said the Church had in its possession. Despite claiming to me that the McClellin documents in its possession were from McClellin's younger, pro-Mormon days and were not incriminating, Oaks also told me that the Church did not even know what was actually in those documents until they were later examined by the Church during the Hofmann investigation. In another, previous one-on-one discussion with Oaks in 1985(coming on the heels of the Hofmann bombings and arrest), he was incredibly tight-lipped, refused to speak to a reporter who was with me in Salt Lake and spoke to me stiffly from behind a desk that had been almost completely cleaned off. _____ CLAIM: Fawn Brodie's book was based on what she had access to because of her relative David O. McKay - Why is it that the Church no longer discloses it's financial reports - because they can control and spin the information in a way that suits them. Hinkley recently said in an interview with AP that church history was an "open book". As long as it's the book that they want you to see, and not the one that exists out of reach of everyone. Believe what you want to. _____ REACTION: Sounds credible. Much of what I know about the inside workings of the Mormon Church hierarchy comes from the fact that, as a member of a well-connected and powerful Church family, I was privy to inside the Cultway information which was gleaned from both my personal observations of the goings-on and from information provided to me by Church employees, Church leaders and family members. I also know from the personal confessions of Oaks and Maxwell to me that, in fact, Church history is far from being an "open book." _____ CLAIM: Mark Hoffman was given unfettered access to the remote "F" vault that reminded me of the warehouse in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" where the Ark of the Covenant was eventually placed. It is the only vault that contains artifacts, relics and original church documents such as pioneer journals and anything related to early church history. This is probably the most secure vault in the country - with the possible exception of the US gold reserves storage at Ft. Knox. There are rumors that the vault contains Joseph Smith's Jupiter talisman and seer stones among other items. You'd think the place would be organized and items would be stored logically, but at least at the time I saw it, everything seemed in disarray on dusty shelves and in piles. But it was evident that almost everything in there was "old". Mark was given access to this vault and apparently had a co-conspirator who worked for him at the vault complex. It was discovered after Mark Hoffman was exposed, but never reported to anyone outside the inner circle of the inner circle of those who worked inside the church around this issue, that the church had actually paid a lot of money to Mark Hoffman for documents that it already owned, and that these documents had been taken out of the "F" vault. This was too embarrassing for the church to admit to anyone, but resulted in unbelievable restrictions to church history documents. The only access by anyone, even GA's to the "F" vault is now granted only by GBH. REACTION: Don't know. _____ CLAIM: If you'll recall in reading "Angels and Demons", the Dan Brown book, the Catholic Church also has an archives at the Vatican that no one has access to, for the same reason. Documents there have potential for harming the Catholic Church if they are disclosed in any way to the public - so they are controlled solely by the church. REACTION: I have no sources in the Vatican (although I have a well-known, former Catholic-turned atheist friend who does). _____ CLAIM: With regard to the Mormon Mafia - another fact about the church that is not commonly known and is a bit scary is that the overwhelming majority of church security are former CIA and FBI agents. The church's security operation is as state of the art and sophisticated as any in the world, with the possible exception of the US security agencies. REACTION: Sounds credible. Ray Hillam, a former BYU faculty member (for whom I worked as a teaching assistant in the 1970s and who was spied on by the Church, under direction from members of the Quorum of the Twelve, during the Wilkinson era because Hillam was considered to be a liberal threat), confirmed to me that the U.S. intelligence services recruit heavily from the ranks of LDS returned missionaries. (I was strongly discouraged by my father from enrolling in Hillam's classes but did anyway). I have had my own run-ins with Church Security personnel on Temple Square in my post-Mormon days. Efforts were made by Church security agents to stop me from talking to Visitor Center missionaries (who actually instigated contact with me and not the other way around). In this episode, evidence of Church security presence was pervasive and obvious, when they chose to make it known. Later on the day of my contact with these Church security agents, a member of my family was approached by a Church security employee and falsely told that I had been asked to leave Temple Square. _____ CLAIM: Millions have been spent on encryption technology for communications. - (this resulted in part by the media monitoring church security radio traffic and reporting the death of Spencer Kimball, before the news was relayed to the first presidency). At the time of its purchase in the mid-80's for several million dollars, the church was the only owner of an encrypted communication system that was developed for and to a large extent by the CIA. REACTION: Don't know. _____ CLAIM: Many of you will remember the Clinton white house scandal involving FBI records that resulted in the suspicious death of Vincent Foster. The Clintons were digging up dirt using FBI files on their enemies. Similarly, the church keeps records of this type on all members of the church as well as non-members whom they deem to be a potential treat to the church. The effort is ongoing and incredibly invasive - I can tell you for a fact that this particular site is monitored for people like me, by church employed hackers who easily find and identify IP addresses of those with opinions not favorable to the church, or even as you'll recall from your recommend interviews, "those who sympathize with apostates". REACTION: Sounds credible. Oaks informed me that the Church keeps tabs on troublesome Mormons via the so-called "Strengthening the Members Committee," and provides (he said, benignly) news clippings and other information to the bishops and stake presidents of these targeted members because, Oaks said, the local leadership is too busy to keep files themselves. I have former Mormon friends (who were highly visible and critical of the Church, specifically D. Michael Quinn, Maxinne Hanks and Martha Beck) who had credible reasons to believe that their phones were tapped by the Church and who so informed me. In my own experience, I have suspicions that attempts may have been made to monitor my own phone calls around the time that I was openly critical of the Church around the time of my voluntary departure from it ranks over a decade ago. My public criticisms of Mormon Church public officials and Mormon doctrine also resulted in me being contacted by an official LDS representative, both by letter and in person, exhorting me to back off. Two of my bishops, as well as two of my stake presidents, also requested to speak directly with me (permission granted). Because of my public criticisms of Mormon doctrine, one of the stake presidents released me from my position as a high councilman--after he was contacted by H. Burke Peterson of the Presiding Bishopric, who called to make inquiries of my stake president about my activities. The same stake president was also contacted by a Mormon in the Arizona legislature, who told him that I should not be holding positions of prominent authority in the Church. The stake president assured me that neither of these contacts had any influence on his decison to release me from my high council position. I was also contacted directly, via phone, by my grandfather during the Hofmann episode (when I drew critical cartoon commentary of official Mormon response to Hofmann's deceptions) and told to "go easy" on the Church. Further, after I publicly accused Oaks of lying about what he actually knew regarding Boyd K. Packer's behind-the-scenes efforts to have an outspoken member of the Church excommunicated (Paul Toscano), I was informed by a faculty advisor at BYU's student newspaper, the Daily Universe, that if the newspaper printed my claims (which had already been published in the Salt Lake Tribune), the Universe would be shut down by the university's Board of Trustees--namely, by order of the Quorum of the Twelve. _____ CLAIM: Membership records are tagged for those who are regarded as a threat to the church - particularly insiders. Those who have been in higher leadership positions, particularly at the Stake Presidency level, will know that new move-ins, or current members records will be sometimes tagged with "do not call to leadership position" notations on them. There are numerous ways that the church screens for potential treats. Several of the most common are monitoring sites like this one, tracking computer use at porn sites by IP address, stationing "solid" members or older missionaries in places where they can observe and record license plate numbers of individuals who visit porn shops or strip clubs, to match them with members. Persons employed in companies or in the public venue where there salary information is available will have these records compared to tithing records to ensure that tithing is paid on the gross. REACTION: Sounds credible. I personally know a member of the Church whose temple recommend was taken away by the member's bishop because the member in question was engaged in what the bishop considered to be inappropriate internet communication with another individual. That said, however, the activities of the member were informally reported to the bishop and were not brought to the bishop's attention via any official Church monitoring channels. From my own personal experience, local ward members spied on activities of my own family and reported these activities to local ward authority, resulting in a reprimanding contact from a local ward leader. _____ CLAIM: All bishops and stake presidencies are subjected to comprehensive background checks by the church prior to an official call being issued. This is to protect the church from any potential embarrassment later. There have been many frustrated stake presidents over the years who have submitted the name of a potential bishop for approval, only to find out later that the church will not approve the name, for some unknown reason. REACTION: Don't know. _____ CLAIM: It is also well known that the wrong remark or comment or dress or look (take your pick) to one of the, GA's, the 12 or even their secretaries, will result in a record being tagged and that individual forever being blessed with an unknown scarlet letter on his/her record. And I do really mean it's a blessing. REACTION: Sounds credible. I have a Mormon Utah source who informed me that an employee of the Church-owned Deseret News eventually lost his job, in all probability for having personally offended Thomas Monson with what Monson regarded as an offensive joke. _____ CLAIM: In my humble opinion, absent the dead bodies, the church is in many ways much the same as in the avenging angel days of Brigham Young, where church members were so tightly controlled that they feared for their lives if they decided to leave the church or leave the Salt Lake Valley. REACTION: Sounds credible. I have personally seen Church employees express real fear and exhibit extreme caution in what they say and do--and where they say and do it, even when far outside Salt Lake City--out of concern that they might be under some sort of Church surveillance. _____ CLAIM: Somewhere there was a prophesy that the church would fall from within. I have seen a lot of waste, corruption, mismanagement, dishonesty, and particularly cover-ups and some of the most egotistical bastards I've ever encountered in my life at the highest levels of the church. REACTION: Sounds credible. A Mormon source has told me that in the process of performing employment duties in behalf of the Church, this source witnessed extravagant, wasteful, thoughtless and needless spending of tithing funds by other Church employees. _____ CLAIM: Being a former member and convert, I just wish I'd had the internet to help me find out about the "real" moron church before the missionaries talked me into baptism. I've often wondered if my life would have been the worse for not joining, I've finally reached the conclusion that it would have been much, much better. REACTION: I agree that it probably would have (as would have also been my own). _____ CLAIM: Steve, [p]lease give me a way to contact you and I'd be happy to either phone you or e-mail you privately. I know mike from snow very well and was acquainted with your grandfather...happened upon him in his office when I was about to visit Howard Hunter right after Spence Kimball passed. ETB was still in his office as the head of the 12, and boy did he looking bad - had his face in hands and looked like he'd been crying....they had not switched offices yet - so my mistake walking in on him. I've got too much to lose right now with my family, etc. by getting too deep into this. Believe me, I know a lot of folks at COB and CAB, and nothing I said in my post is fabricated - and there is a hell of a lot more that goes on up there that most people don't know about. Remember Mr. Martel Byrd - used to be over Church Security after his stint ruining the self esteem of young men and women in the Salt Lake Mission Home - what an asshole? - would you put anything past that guy? I may not be back to a computer before morning, but will respond as soon as I can. REACTION: Sounds increasingly credible. |
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| There are some on this board persisting in insisting that "Former Church Insider" (FCI) is not what he claims to be: namely, a person who was once employed in important positions within the LDS bureaucracy, who came to witness--first-hand--how the Mormon Church actually operates and who is now talking openly about what he saw and heard. In response to those skeptics--and as I have said before--I am inclined to conclude that FCI is a legitimate, credible whistleblower. In the frequent communications he and I have had lately, FCI has given indications of his unique personality, his honest feelings and his challenging circumstances that bolster that opinion. Below are some odds and ends from our recent correspondence, posted here with FCI's written, but conditional, permission: "You're free to post anything I tell you in private if you'd like but, for the time being, I'd still like to stay anonymous." _____ Very well, get out the black magic marker, so to speak, and let's proceed: FCI's Desire to Get a Lot Off His Chest "Sometimes my mouth runs faster than my head . . ." ". . . [M]aybe [RfM administrators] think I'm a bit over the top in my willingness to 'sing like a canary,' as one poster put it." "I can't wait to tell the board what really goes on with the Missionary Committee and how the Lard calls those kids. What a crock. [Y]ou'll see." _____ FCI's Inner Conflicts About Possibly Being Punished by the Mormon Church Because of His Decision to Go Public with What He Knows "I just don't want to take the chance of being called into a SP's [stake president's] office and being blindsided before I'm completely ready to make the formal exit . . . ." "[But] [i]f I get ex'd over all this before I'm ready, maybe it'll be a blessing and someone else can pay the [hundreds of dollars] a month [for supporting my children] . . . on missons . . . . "My utility bills have been getting higher lately and I'm looking for some relief. [To] [t]ell the truth, [if I] . . . get ex'd, [it would] save an immediate 10%, plus [the monthly mission support expenses]--and [I'd] have my life again. "[A]ctually it doesn't sound too bad. I'll probably be paying child support and alimony, but may still come out ahead." "You know, the way I feel now, I'm actually looking forward to the day when I get called in. "I'll make sure I have an attorney with me when I do, though, and maybe a friend from the press. . . . [M]aybe I'll bring him along for some fun." _____ Wanting to Know on What Topics He Should Post: Heavy or Light "I would love to tell the story of a loony apostate in our ward . . ." "If this [light] stuff is too trivial, let me know. I'll just stick with the hard stuff. [T]here's much more to come, folks." "The unfortunate result of my not being specific with the names of individuals, is that much of what I bring up will not have as much impact and is less verifiable. "Are all GAs, for instance, off limits?" _____ Handling Attacks from Critics on the RfM Board "It was a bit frustrating at first to be dissed by the majority of the board. "Like you, there are a lot of things I know and a lot of things I don't. "However, I did take note of a lot of what went on up there and could go on for hours with stories." "At least among a core group, it appears that my legitimacy as a former insider has been established and validated through the preponderance of material." _____ How Mormon Church Employees Advance in the Ranks "I've also served in leadership callings at the ward and stake level and saw some pretty bizarre things at that level, as well. "For job security and to ensure advancement within COB [the Church Office Building], you had to hold leadership callings at the ward and stake level. [F]or some positions it was a prerequisite and I'm ashamed to say now that I would have turned down a lot of calls to those positions otherwise, had I not felt the pressure to keep myself in the good graces of my employer. "I have never looked back [now] that I've left and know that there are a lot of folks up there like me that would jump at an opportunity to leave if they could get out." _____ FCI's Current Level of Church Activity "[I] . . . don't wear white shirts to Church when I go and always seem to be sick on Sundays. . . ." "[M]aybe I'll get sick right before Church tomorrow, so I can stay home and give everyone my 'real' testimony on the [RfM] board." "I also conveniently skip a lot of meetings that I'm supposed to be to and have happily started getting a reputation in local Church matters of not being very reliable or dependable. [S]eems to keep a lot of the local leaders guessing about me. "[A]ctually, it's been kind of fun, because they all know . . . [that] in my previous more active life I was, and am, pretty responsible. "My . . . bishop is afraid of me . . . [T]he guy won't even look me in the eyes . . ." "There is a guy [I know] who works [for the Church] and is a recent convert. [H]e's going through the same gyrations that I did and now worries about how to get out with his sanity and his marriage." ". . . My 'Friday night date' [is] one of the few (emphasis on 'few') vestiges of the Church that I can continue to live with." "It's been a lot of years since I had a beer, but maybe soon. I'll have to break the law if I drink one in Utah, though. [M]y first one will not be a 3.2%, which is all you can get here. I'll have to bring a 'real beer' in as contraband from another state." _____ Ezra Taft Benson "You've been pretty outspoken about ETB. I never found ETB to be as bad as some made him out to be but when I knew him and of him, he'd become pretty senile--or at least a feeble old man--and didn't know him in his ultra-conservative heydays. "There's nothing I would say that would be that negative, just some interesting observations. "I did, however, know a few folks that about left the Church when [ETB] took the head of the Church. "I was quite impressed with his 'Pride' talk and was disappointed to learn later that it may have been written by a family member who plagiarized a writing from CS Lewis (at least that's what I've heard but who knows). . . . "I used to work closely with [name deleted] at COB, what a nice guy. I think you're related to him." _____ An Assessment of FCI's Credibility from Another Former Church Employee This e-mail also sent to me recently: "Reading FCI's posts made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. "I'd bet money he was a Church employee. It sounds way too familiar." |
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| It was March of 1973 and I was a freshly-scrubbed, sacred oil-rubbed new missionary, ready to ship off to Japan.
First stop had been the Salt Lake temple for my rags-to-itches garment makeover. I was herded through my first session ever with several other clumsy but compliant elders. It was one of those now-rare "live" shows, starring real, B-grade actors--temple workers--who played their roles without benefit of a rattly, B-grade film. Our cast that day featured an old wheezer-geezer who had been assigned the role of Satan. Frankly, he wasn't all that convincing when he hobbled out and weakly muttered, "Now is the great day of my power." A couple of hours later--after we had been fitted with a baker's cap/green apron ensemble, then sliced and diced, made to pray in the Adamic tongue while doing the hokey-pokey and finally ordered to whisper 6th grader passwords into giant garment holes carved out of an oversized curtain, it was time to head down into the bowels of the temple sporting our new, stylin,' yet unyellowed, one-piece garmies, where we would change out of our white sheets into our white shirts, and prepare to sally forth in unripened righteousness to make the world safe for theocracy. Still trying to figure out what I had just been through, I was in a changing stall, self-consciously attempting to modestly dress for success without anyone getting a peek at my special underwear. Across the way in his own stall, an older gentleman (and obvious veteran of many an endowment session) was also changing, while at the same time watching in mild amusement as our band of bungling brothers suited up for battle. Seeing that we were awkward and uncomfortable at switching from one goofy costume into another, he smiled and began making conversation. "Did you all get your new names today?" he asked (Like, yeah, right, as if he didn't know the answer to that one). We all nodded dumbly and said that we had. Then, without thinking (after all, I was a Mormon), I blurted out, "Mine's 'Ezekiel!'" Good golly, Miss Folly. I hadn't even been "Ezekiel" for more than 90 minutes before managing to spill my for-God's-ears-only celestial clubhouse name--my holy handle that I had been commanded only moments earlier never to utter except at an approved temple Veil in this life while doing follow-up work for dead people and, ultimately, at the Super-Dooper Veil when entering through Man's Turnstile of Happiness into post-mortem celestial glory (under, of course, the watchful gaze of Joseph Smith, who was really just checking out the women). The very instant "Ezekiel" slipped over the edge of my bottom lip and fell to the Salt Lake temple's locker room floor, I felt an awful pit of hell in my stomach. "Now I've done it," I thought to myself, in silent horror. The old man kept smiling at me as if nothing of eternal consequence had happened--but it didn't make me feel any better. I apologized to him for spilling the beans. He just kept smiling. For a long time afterward, I felt horribly guilty. Eventually, however, I managed to convince myself that I hadn't really committed the unmentionable sin. True, although I had blabbed my secret temple name away from the Veil--in technical violation of the offical Handbook of Oh-No No-Nos--I had done so within the sacred walls of the temple. So what if they happened to be tiled walls in the downstairs bathroom? It was still the temple, for Elohim's sake. Certainly the Lord would understand and flush my sins away. Or would he? On that fateful day in March of 1973, an old Devil-playing geezer wobbled out in front of our missionary group to announce that now was the great day of his power. In so doing, he succeeded in getting me to blurt out my sacred-secret-don't-repeat-it celestial sign-on. In, of all places, a bathroom. OK, a temple bathroom. Holy sh*t. And thus offically began my apostasy. |
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| R.I.P., Charles Augustus Benson: Progenitor of Ezra Taft Benson and Company--Who Was Lynched for Murder Questions have recently been raised on the Recovery from Mormonism board, as to the identity of a certain “Charles A. Benson” who was the target of an unceremonious necktie party at the hands of an enraged Logan, Utah mob in February of 1873, for having murdered a member of the family of the local sheriff. For instance, a RfM poster reported that a “Mormon mob lynch[ed] Charles A. Benson for murder in Logan, Utah, under circumstances in which his LDS apostasy [was a] contributing factor. He [was the] son of former Cache Valley president, deceased apostle Ezra T. Benson, whose official biography states that ‘no further record of his life is available’ after Charles's endowment date. . . .” ("On this day in Mormon history, Feb. 18," post by "Baura," pay_lay_ale666@hotmail.com, on Recovery from Mormonism board, 18 February 2006, at http://www.exmormon.org/boards/w-ag... ) _____ Indeed, noted historian D. Michael Quinn identifies Charles A. Benson as the individual who was hanged in Logan, Utah, on 18 February 1873, in what Quinn describes as a “religiously motivated killing," although Quinn minimally identifies the lynched man in the main text as merely the “apostate son of a deceased apostle.” (D. Michael Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power [Salt Lake City, Utah: Signature Books, 1997], p. 258; see also, foonote 215 for Chapter 7, "Post-1844 Theocracy," p. 540). _____ Another RfM poster speculated as to the relationship of said Charles A. Benson to, ahem, well, other Bensons: ”I may be wrong, but the Charles A. Benson that was lynched in Logan in 1872 [sic] by a Mormon mob for being an apostate . . . is probably Steve Benson’s some-odd great uncle . . . . It stands to reason that Steve Benson would have been hanged by an angry Mormon mob for apostasy had he lived back in those days.” ("120 years ago, Steve Benson would have been hanged by a Mormon Mob," post by "stuck," RfM board, 18 February 2006, at http://www.exmormon.org/boards... ) _____ Which prompted this RfM reply: ” . . . Steve would [first] have to murder the right person to qualify for his relative's treatment.” ("Re: 120 years ago, Steve Benson would have been hanged by a Mormon Mob," post by "Baura," RfM board, 18 February 2006, at http://www.exmormon.org/boards... ) ____ For the record (since my grandfather, Ezra Taft Benson, never informed the Mormon Church membership at large or his own family about it), yes, Charles Augustus Benson was the son of Brigham Young-appointed Apostle Ezra T. Benson--whose grandnephew, Ezra Taft Benson, became the 13th President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. _____ The claim that “no further record” of Charles A. Benson is available after his endowment date is a bunch of unholy hooey, perpetrated by the Benson family and willing co-conspirators intent on fuzzing the facts. So, let me stick my neck out here and, as they say, go for “the rest of the story.” _____ Ezra T. Benson: Mormon Church Apostle Who Died Before His Son, Charles Augustus Benson, Was Lynched for Murder OK, OK, Ezra T. Benson was a progenitor of mine who served as an apostle to Mormon Church president Brigham Young--and who died before his son, Charles Augustus Benson (who happened to have a serious criminal past) was hung by a mob of outraged citizens for murdering a relation of Logan's top lawman. First, some basic background: According to “The Ezra T. Benson Genealogical Society, Inc.”, Ezra T. Benson was “[m]ade [an] Apostle to the [Mormon] church” on 16 July 1846. 23 years later, on 3 September 1869, he “unexpectedly died,” meaning that “each [of his] wives had to provide for herself.” (All told, Ezra T. Benson reportedly had at least eight wives and some 35 children). ("The Family of Ezra T. Benson [1811–1869], Last update: 9 April 2005," at http://etb.bensonfamily.org) _____ The death of Ezra T. Benson was dramatically described as being “like a flower cut down.” He died while treating a sick horse, “[as] he walked toward Lorin Farr’s house” in Ogden, Utah. In fact, he expired on the spot, where he reportedly “fell to the ground without warning.” Another account also said he “dropped to the ground and to all appearances was dead, though they [meaning those with him at the time of his death] would continue their efforts to resuscitate him.” Ezra T. Benson’s demise was blamed on “[o]verwork and the burden of worry . . . [which] had weakened his heart and brought on his death.“ To be precise, much of that anxiety had been precipitated by his inability to reach a settlement with the Central Pacific Railway over a grading contract. (Donald Benson Alder and Elsie L. Alder, The Benson Family [Salt Lake City, Utah: Woodruff Printing, Inc., 1979], pp. 26-27, 24; John Henry Evans and Minnie Egan Anderson, Ezra T. Benson: Pioneer, Statesman, Saint [Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret News Press, 1947], pp. 355-56; and “The History of Ezra T. Benson,” at http://etb.bensonfamily.org/histories/etb-alder.htm) _____ Charles Augustus Benson: Sired Son of Ezra T. Benson Family records show that there were actually two sons fathered by Ezra T. Benson, each bearing the name of Charles Augustus Benson. Now, as to which one ended up getting the noose: The first Charles Augustus Benson was the first-born child of Ezra T. Benson and his first wife, Pamelia Andrus Benson. This Charles Augustus was born in Uxbridge, Worchester County, Massachusetts, on 26 September 1832, and died there on 13 October 1833. According to the Benson family genealogical history, “[y]ears later, in his autobiography, Ezra T. Benson refers to this child as being named ‘Ezra Taft Benson.’” (Alder and Alder, p. 38) _____ The second Charles Augustus Benson--the one who ended up being strung up--was the third child of Ezra T. and Pamelia Andrus Benson and was born in Griggsville, Pike County, Illinois, on 3 July 1837. (Another account erroneously has this second Charles being born on 9 July 1838, at Griggsville, Illinois). (Alder and Alder, p. 30; and Evans and Anderson, p. 355) _____ Since the first child of Ezra T. and Pamelia Andrus Benson had died years earlier and because the second child of their union was a girl named Chloe Jane Benson (who was born in April 1835, in Holland, Massachusetts, and died on 13 October of the same year “with the croup”), the Charles Augustus Benson of Logan lynching fame would have been the oldest, surviving son of Ezra T. Benson at the time of his death in 1873. (Alder and Alder, p. 38; and Evans and Anderson, p. 355) _____ The official Benson family genealogical history reports that a Charles Augustus Benson, age 12, “arrived in Great Salt Lake 22 October 1849,” with Ezra T. Benson, as part of the 5th Company, indicating that this particular Charles would have been born in 1837. In fact, the same Benson family genealogical history notes that a Charles Augustus Benson was born on 3 July 1837 and that “this child came across the plans with them” (meaning the Bensons). (Alder and Alder, p. 30) _____ The same account innocuously (and in very limited fashion) reports on certain major events in this latter Charles’ lif--while conspicuously failing to mention any of the circumstances surrounding his death: ”Charles Augustus Benson was the oldest son born to Ezra T. Benson who lived. He crossed the plains as boy of 12 with his father and mother, Pamelia. He was endowed 11 April 1856 at [the Salt Lake City] Endowment House when he was 19 years of age. This endowment took place before his father left for his European mission. “In 1860, at the age of 22, he went to Logan, Utah, with his parents and became a trapper. He owned traps, knives and a gun, which were the tools he needed for his occupation. After his father’s death in 1869, he lived in the vicinity of Logan until his death, 18 February 1873.” (Alder and Alder, p. 36) _____ The above account fails to note that the gun which Charles Augustus Benson used to kill animals was most likely also the one he used to kill a human being. (We'll get to that little detail in short order). _____ The Mysterious Life and Times of Charles Augustus Benson: the First and (Thus Far) Only Benson to Die at the Hands of a Lynch Mob--Which Caused an Apostate Revolt Among the Faithful The death of the second Charles Augustus Benson “in Logan, Utah, 18 February 1873” (Alder and Alder, p. 38) occurred the same year that Quinn notes one “Charles A. Benson” was neck-stretched in Logan, Utah. Hmmmm . . . As an intriguing aside, although the date of death of some (if not all) of the siblings of this second Charles are noted in Benson family genealogical records, the unique circumstances surrounding Charles’ death are also absent from at least one other account of Ezra T. Benson’s life. The reason given by Benson family historians for the lack of death dates for some of Charles’ siblings is that of “record unavailable.” In the following evasive version of events, the date of Charles’ death is not provided and the cause of his death is left unexplained, supposedly because the records were, well, unavailable. All that is offered about his severely undereported life is this cryptic summation: ”Charles Augustus Benson according to temple record was baptized 9 July 1846 and endowed 11 April 1856 in the Endowment House at Salt Lake City. No further record of his life is available.” (Evans and Anderson, p. 355), emphasis added _____ Yet, Quinn, in a footnote on the death of “Charles A. Benson” (Extensions of Power, p. 540), cites the following sources as the basis for the actual cause of his demise: ”A.J. Simmonds, ‘Cause of Death—LYNCHING,’ The West 17 (Jan. 1974), 26-27. 48; A.J. Simmonds, The Gentle Comes to Cache Valley: A Study of the Logan Apostasies of 1874 and the Establishment of Non-Mormon Churches in Cache Valley, 1873-1913 (Logan: Utah State University Press, 1976), 9-10” _____ Simmonds himself confirmed that the Charles A. Benson who was lynched at the hands of Loganites was, in fact, the son of Mormon Apostle Ezra T. Benson. Simmonds (late curator of Special Collections at Utah State University in Logan and author of several historical accounts on Cache Valley) wrote an article entitled, “Aaron DeWitt: The Man, His Times and His Letter" (in which Simmonds described as DeWitt as "probably Logan's first 'permanent' apostate Mormon"). In his article, Simmonds provided the graphic details of Charles Augustus Benson’s death: ”On Valentine's Day, 1873, Charles Augustus Benson, 41-year-old son [sic] of the late Apostle E.T. Benson, shot and killed David W. Crockett after an argument in the snow-filled street near Logan Hall. Benson escaped and hid out in Hezekiah Thatcher's barn for 3 days. “When, in the early morning of February 17, he tried to run from the city, he was captured and jailed at the county courthouse. At 10:30 a.m. the building was stormed by a lynch mob, the officers overcome, and Benson hanged from the sign board across the sidewalk in front of the building. That afternoon a coroner's jury agreed 'that the said Charles A. Benson came to his death from strangulation caused by a rope around his neck.' . . . “There exists the possibility of--if not official connivance--at least official consent to Benson's lynching. In his old age, Nicholas W. Crookston, Cache County Sheriff (1881-1909), recorded the events of the lynching which he had witnessed as a boy [noted here with original punctuation and spelling]: “'(Benson) lived with his Mother driving a team of mules in the Canyon and done some farming always carrying two revolvers in his belt and bluffed everyone that come his way. He lived accrossed the Street from Bishop Preston and when their pet rabits or chickens went out in the street they were shot by Benson off hand with his revolvers he being an excelent Shot The Bishop remarked that him and Benson could not live much longer in the Same Town. “’Later in the day (of the lynching) while he was still hanging I went back there and I herd this conversation one C.C. Goodwin came up and Said he was going to send for the US marshal and would investigate this affair to the Bottom He was told that Old Settlers was running this town and for him to go home and be a good boy as there was room for 3 or 4 on that Sign Bord he went at once.' “Possibly that same winter (the dates are uncertain and it could have been as late as the winter of 1876- 1877), C. C. Goodwin was waylaid on the streets of Logan, beaten unconscious and left in the snow. . . . No formal investigation was ever made of the lynching. “But that year, many of the Benson family left the Mormon Church of which their father had been an apostle and of which their grandnephew would become President in 1985, and joined St. John's Episcopal.’” (Note: Simmonds claimed that Charles Augustus Benson, son of Ezra T. Benson, was lynched at age 41. If, however, he was born in 1837, as has been reliably reported, he would have been 35, not 41, at the time of his death). (“Blood Atonement or Just Plain Murder?: Aaron DeWitt, the Man, His times and His Letter,” by A.J. Simmonds, at http://www.saintsalive.com/mormonism/murder.html) _____ A more detailed and colorful account of the murder of David W. Crockett at the hands of Charles ("Charlie") Augustus Benson--and the latter's subsequent lynching--was provided by historian Ray Somers: "The snow lay several inches deep in the northern Utah city of Logan in early February 1873. The colored alcohol in a hundred cheap thermometers all over town hovered close to zero. Even with the intense cold, there was a great deal of activity in Logan. It was a Friday night, Valentine's Day. "There was a dance at Logan Hall to celebrate the holiday. However, not everyone was occupied solely with the cold and the Valentine's Ball. Not far away from where Watchman Birdno was beginning his rounds, a group of young men were walking slowly along Third Street toward Logan Hall. They had been doing some heavy drinking. Some of them were laughing and a few were quarreling; a couple were armed. Utah was still a frontier in 1873 and while revolvers were hardly a necessity, many men--particularly the young men--wore them. "If the frontier experience proved anything, it was that liquor, arguments, and six-guns don't mix. Words got warmer and tempers shorter. "All of a sudden, Charlie Benson drew his gun and fired at David W. Crockett. The bullet struck Crockett in the chest. He crumpled to the ground, the blood from the wound staining the snow. The gunfire has a sobering effect. Charlie holstered the gun and, quickening his steps, started walking along the street. "Dozens of people who had seen the shooting stepped back into the doorways along Third Street as Charlie passed, then hurried to the body lying in the snow. Crockett had died instantly. " Benson enjoyed a reputation in Logan only small boys envied. He had a mercuric temper and a draw to match. In December 1868, he had shot and killed eighteen year old William Parry in Malad City, Idaho Territory, and then fled back across the Utah border. Utah officials had held him in custody, but a certain frontier leniency about such cases--where even a vague excuse of self-defense could be advanced--had secured his release on a writ of habeus corpus. "People thought of this earlier incident as they saw twenty-five year old Crockett dead in a snowdrift stained with his own blood. "Charlie passed Logan Hall, then doubled back to his home. Quite sober by now, he told his mother what he had done, took a loaf of bread, some cheese, and a buffalo robe, and left. The horses were all disabled with the sickness that made its seasonal round every winter. If he were to escape, it would have to be on foot in the middle of a hard winter. "By the time Charlie walked out into the bitter cold of St. Valentine's night, the city was alerted to the murder. The police and special police became mobilized for the search. County Sheriff Alvin Crockett, the victim's uncle, assumed co-command of the search with Marshal Fletcher. Armed volunteers doubled and then redoubled the size of the police force. Parties immediately covered the roads leading out of town. Sheriff Crockett wired Salt Lake City, Ogden, and his Cache County towns near Logan. The city resembled an armed camp. "No one got much sleep that night. Behind bolted doors, armed citizens kept a vigil. Early the next morning, the police began a house to house search. At the home of David Crockett, Sr., young David's coffin lay open and hundreds of the family, the friends, and the merely curious filed by to view the remains. Across town a few faithful friends called on Charlie's mother to try to comfort her. "Saturday closed with hundreds of searchers finding no trace of their quarry. "Under a thick covering of hay in the big stone barn behind Moses Thatcher's house on Second Street, Charlie Benson ate the last of the bread and cheese and wrapped himself tighter in the robe. It had been a long day for him, too. "Sunday brought a repeat of the house to house search. Church meetings were short. This morning there was more concern with worldly matters. Monday passed with parties still guarding the roads and patrolling the streets. Marshal Fletcher remained convinced that Charlie was still hiding in the city. The citizens were not sure where he was. Logan was scared. Rumors multiplied and Charlie's crimes grew with each retelling. "Under the hay in Thatcher's barn, Charlie came to a decision. At daybreak he would try to get out of town. Vigilance must surely relax after seventy-two hours. "Early the next morning, he crept out of the barn and through the pre-dawn darkness to Frederick Goodwin's home. Goodwin was a rancher who, like many in Utah, found it more comfortable to live in town and hire men to run his cattle on the prairies know as the Big Range, twenty miles northwest of Logan. Frederick Goodwin had been Charlie Benson's friend. Mr. Goodwin had also been young Crockett's friend. "When Charlie tapped on the window, Goodwin told him to go home. Benson answered that he couldn't; the place was too well guarded. Goodwin then offered an alternative, 'Get away if you can; you've caused trouble enough to your friends.' "Charlie turned south to First Street; then ran west along the road until it became a trail among the willows bordering Logan River. By the time he reached the outskirts of town, the first traces of morning were lighting the tops of the nine-thousand foot peaks east of the city. "A patrolman thought he saw someone running along the street, a dark silhouette against the white snow. He told the Marshal. There were tracks in the crisp snow--tracks of a man running. "Immediately they raised the hue and cry. A hundred armed men were soon following the trail along First Street, beyond the town, among the willows. About two miles west of Logan they spotted him. The leafless branches gave no screen to shield him. A hundred men raised rifles. Marshal Fletcher shouted at him to either surrender or be shot. Charlie gave up. "With taunts and threats that grew louder at each step, the posse led him back to town. Since Logan City had no jail, they took him to the County Courthouse and locked him in a cell at the rear of the building. "However, the crowd did not disperse. They had been living in fear for four days--close to panic much of the time. Now the object of their fear lay locked up in a cell inside a frail white-frame building. Slowly, quietly, they talked up their anger. They rehearsed their injuries, real and imagined, but vivid after four days of living with them. The scared men soon became brave and vengeful. "At some point in their muttering, the crowd became a mob; the volunteers became vigilantes. Suddenly a couple of them bolted from the group toward the courthouse, to the cell, and dragged Charlie Benson back out the door. Someone had a rope with a noose already tied on one end. "In front of the building was a high sign-post carrying the words, 'Cache County Courthouse.' The men slipped the noose around Charlie's neck. The rope was thrown over the signpost and a dozen men on the other end lifted Charles A. Benson to his death. "The next day David W. Crockett was buried in the city cemetery atop the bluffs east of town. Mary Ann Weston Maughan wrote in her diary, 'It was a very large funeral.' At 3:30 p.m. on February 20, 1873, Charles A. Benson was buried in the same cemetery. Funeral services took place at the grave. The funeral-going Mrs. Maughan recorded that 'M. Thatcher, J. Hatch, and Thomas X. Smith spoke and said what could be said to comfort the mourners.'" (Simmonds, A. J. "Cause of Death--Lynching," In R. Somers, History of Logan [Logan, Utah: Somers Historic Press, 1993]) _____ Moreover, according to the “Niels Hansen Timeline,” not only was a “Charles Benson” identified as “the oldest son of Ezra Taft Benson” who was, in fact, lynched in 1873, his hanging sparked (as alluded to above) an apostate revolt among the townspeople: ”Charles Benson, oldest son of Ezra Taft Benson, shot and killed a friend while drunk and was lynched and hung, leading to the families of several friends and sisters leaving the LDS Church.” (“Niels Hansen Timeline, Relating to Niels Hansen, b. 1795, Odense, Denmark - d. 1902, Aetna, Alberta, Canada,” at http://www.saintclair.org/stories/niels_hansen_timeline.html _____ David William Crockett: Murder Victim of Ezra T. Benson’s Apostate Son Charles Augustus Benson’s murder victim was a 25-year-old man named David William Crockett who, according to Crockett’s personal family records, was “shot on [the] streets of Logan by a drunken ruffian” on 14 February 1873. Crockett was born on 13 March 1848 in Davis County, Iowa, to David and Lydia Young Crockett, the tenth of 15 children. Crockett was a baptized and endowed member of the Mormon Church, the son of faithful Mormon converts. Two of his siblings were born in Nauvoo, Illinois. One of his brothers was named after, and blessed by, LDS Church leader Wilford Woodruff. The Crockett family fled Nauvoo in 1846, as part of the massive Mormon exodus westward. In 1849, they migrated with the Willard Richards Company from Iowa to the Salt Lake Valley. (Interestingly enough, the families of David Crockett and Ezra T. Benson arrived in the Salt Lake Valley the same year, only three days apart). Brigham Young eventually dispatched the Crockett family to help settle Payson, Utah, where the younger David’s father was elected as that town's first mayor. Crockett’s mother, Lydia, served as a midwife in Payson and later in Cache Valley, helping to deliver over 1,000 babies. From Payson, Crockett’s father and mother moved their family to Logan, after Crockett’s older brother, Alvin, and his wife located there in 1860. Crockett’s family played a prominent role in the history of Logan, Utah. Alvin was elected Logan's first mayor in 1866, where he served for four years. In 1872, he became a councilman to Mayor William B. Preston. During this time, Alvin was also Logan’s first marshal. He eventually was elected Logan’s sheriff, serving in that capacity from 1865 until 1882. The official history of the Cache County Sheriff’s Office notes what befell his brother David: ”On Valentine’s Day 1873, Sheriff Crockett’s younger brother, David, was shot to death by Charlie Benson. Benson was arrested and jailed. "A few days later, a vigilante mob broke into the jail overcoming Sheriff Crockett and Logan Marshall Mark Fletcher and seized the alleged murderer Benson. "Benson was taken to Main Street near the site of the Old White Court house where he was hanged by the neck and died.” In a tragic and ironic twist, Alvin Crockett personally knew and worked with the father of the man whose sone ended up murdering a member of Alvin's family. In fact, Alvin Crockett was at Ezra T. Benson’s side the day the apostle died and tried in vain to save his life: “ . . . Ezra T. Benson . . . left Logan the afternoon of September 2, 1869, with Brother Alvin Crockett, for Ogden in connection with his business (Brother Crockett was a settler in Logan in 1860 and later served as [its] mayor . . .) “. . . As the two men leisurely traveled along he talked encouragingly of his future hopes with Brother Crockett. “They stopped for the night with friends at Wellsville. Early the following morning they started on their way to Brigham City. . . . In a happy frame of mind he left for Ogden in the afternoon. Just before he arrived there one of his horses took sick with colic. . . . After doing everything possible to make it comfortable . . . he brought him back . . . and placed him in the barn. “With Brother Crockett and Ephraim Turner, he started for the home of Lorin Farr. As they neared the house, without warning, Brother Benson suddenly slumped to the ground, striking Brother Turner’s leg as he fell, and to all appearances was dead, though they would continue their efforts to resuscitate him.” Another of David’s brothers, Emer, subsequently served as Logan’s sheriff from 1899 until 1900. Emer stood over six feet in height, was known for his wrestling matches with the local Native Americans, farmed 600 acres in what is present-day North Logan and worked in logging, road building and construction of the Logan Temple. (”Thomas Crockett,” at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~bobbistockton/crohtm..htm ; “David William Crockett B. 13 Mar 1848 D. 14 Feb 1873,” at http://remembermeforever.com/Ream_Volker_RMF/genealogy/person6464.htm ; “Cache County Sheriff’s Office: History,” at http://www.cachesheriff.com/Sheriffsmain/history.htm ; and Evans and Anderson, pp. 319-321) _____ In a nutshell (or better yet, gun shell), Mormon Apostle Ezra T. Benson’s son, Charles Augustus Benson, murdered a member of a respected LDS family that had played an important role in the civic and religious life of a Mormon community. A member of that very Crockett family (who was sheriff of Logan at the time) bravely attempted to save the life of the man whose son was to eventually kill a member of the sheriff’s own family four years later. (By the way, later generations of boastfully contented Bensons were never informed of these inconvenient facts during any of their regularly-held family reunions, where great praise and adulation were heaped upon the Bensons--by none other than the Bensons). _____ Conclusion: Covering Up the Blighted Benson Past The much-heralded (at least in Benson family circles) Benson family history project entitled, The Benson Family, was compiled by Donald Benson Alder and Elsie L. Alder--the genealogists chosen by the “Ezra T. Benson Association” to undertake the assignment of putting the Benson family’s best foot forward, regardless of the facts. This careful created history was printed in 1979, three years after the sources noted by renowned LDS historian D. Michael Quinn on the death of Charles Augustus Benson at the hands of an enraged mob were published by the Utah State University Press (and five years after an earlier account of his death had already had become a matter of public record). Yet, despite its glaring omissions surrounding the vigilante hanging of Ezra T. Benson’s oldest surviving child, my grandfather Ezra Taft Benson, in the preface of the Alders’ sanitized work, described his family history project as a “noteworthy compilation.” Noteworthy, indeed, for what it left out. As my grandfather further wrote, in shamelessly back-slapping words: ”I commend their effort to all family members with the prayerful desire in my heart that this compilation will instill within us and our posterity a sense of our heritage, a loyalty to our name, and a resoluteness to become imbued with the same virtues that have ennobled our ancestors.” Uh-huh. Virtues such as drunkenly murdering the brother of the local sheriff. (Alder and Alder, p. 1) _____ If this nauseating self-worship wasn’t bad enough, in a letter attached to each Benson family member’s personal copy of this "history," my grandparents lauded the Benson Family Cover-Up as “a great book . . . .[that] we hope you will prize and make good use of . . . “ (Ezra Taft and Flora Benson, “TO OUR BELOVED MARRIED GRANDCHILDREN,” 24 June 1982), original emphasis _____ Excuse me, but did you say noble, virtuous ancestors? The story of choking out Charles with a hangman’s noose takes a bit of the bloom off the Benson family rose, at least as that rose was piously presented by my grandparents in a letter to my wife Mary Ann and myself on 20 February 1980: ”What a great family and what grateful grandparents and parents. The Lord bless you all--now and always--is our humble prayer.” _____ That prayerful Benson humbleness didn't last very long. The story of Charles Augustus Benson losing all hope at the end of rope made yet another letter my grandfather sent to me on 18 August 1982 seem a little less impressive: ”We have a great family and the grandchildren are all marrying well and are performing beautifully as they face the responsibilities and problems of life. We are proud of all the children, grandchildren, their companions and the great-grandchildren. Of course, Grandma says they’re all ‘great’ and I know they are.” _____ Why, of course. I'm just wondering if “all” includes boozed-up family members strung up for murder. Generations of post-Charles Augustus Bensons have conveniently never been informed at Benson family self-worship services, reunions, testimony meetings or other faith-promoting myth-manufacturing make-overs that the oldest surviving child of Apostle Ezra T. Benson was a rabble-rousing, loud-mouthed, gun-slinging apostate ne'er-do-well who murdered a man in a drunken fit and ended up swinging from the end of a rope in the heart of a Mormon-run town, thanks to an outraged mob bent on vigilante justice that had decided it wouldn't take kindly to murder. Nor were we ever told that as a result of that murder and its abbreviated road-to-justice lynching, several members of the Benson family abandoned Mormonism and joined the growing ranks of apostates seeking support at the local Episcopalian Church. The oh-so-careful compilers of the official Benson Family Whitewash, in the introduction of what they discreetly described as their “reference book of recorded names, dates & places,” said the following about their research efforts in behalf of the “Ezra T. Benson Genealogical Society:” ”We feel we must preserve these records for the generations to come after us. “We believe that many members of the Benson Family will appreciate the information we have found and will want to know about their progenitors and where the came from . . . . “We realize if we extended our search we would find much more information to add to this book but we feel this is the year (1979) to print this, ‘THE BENSON FAMILY.’” (Alder and Alder, p. 2), original emphasis _____ Yes, of course, you’ve got to stop somewhere. Otherwise, the truth might come out. |
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| The Strange Death of Samuel H. Smith--Brother of Joseph Smith and Heir Apparent to the Assassination-Emptied Mormon Throne Samuel Harrison Smith was the younger brother of Joseph Smith, an early baptized member of the Mormon Church, one of its original founders and one of the so-called "Eight Witnesses." He was also one of the Church's first missionaries and served on the Kirtland, Ohio, high council. He died under mysterious circumstances on 30 July 1844, at the age of 36, barely a month after Joseph and Hyrum Smith were shot to death in a jailhouse siege. Perhaps not coincidentally, Joseph Smith had chosen his brother Samuel to take on the leadership mantle for the Church if both he and Hyrum were killed. According to Joseph Smith's private secretary William Clayton, Joseph had "said that if he and Hyrum were taken away, Samuel H. Smith would be his successor." After their deaths in Carthage, Samuel personally transported Joseph's body by wagon--lain in a plain pine box covered with prairie grass--back to Nauvoo. Soon thereafter, he became violently ill and was himself dead in a matter of weeks. (see "Samuel Harrison Smith," at http://today.answers.com/topic/samuel-harrison-smith; H. Michael Marquardt, The Rise of Mormonism: 1816-1844 [Longwood, Florida: Xulon Press, 2005], p. 635; Dallin H. Oaks and Marvin S. Hill, Carthage Conspiracy: The Trial of the Accused Assassins of Joseph Smith (Urbana, Illinois, University of Illinois Press, 1976], p. 21); and Ernest H. Taves, Trouble Enough: Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon [Buffalo, New York: Prometheus Books,1984], p. 216) _____ Cries of Foul Play from Members of Joseph Smith's Family Despite efforts by the Mormon Church to dismiss allegations that Samuel Smith was a victim of a murder plot at the hands of Church leaders conspiring to succeed Joseph Smith, members of the Smith family vigorously contended that Samuel had been purposely killed in a power grab that took place in the aftermath of Joseph's assassination. Five years after Samuel's death, published media accounts by the only Smith brother to survive the Nauvoo period, William, charged that Samuel had been deliberately poisoned: "In the October 1849 issue of his newspaper, the Melchisedek & Aaronic Herald, William Smith publishe[d] a list of Mormon martyrs, including Samuel H. [Smith] , 'who died from the effects of poison administered to him. He died within one month after the martyrdom of his brother.'" ("Martyrs of the Latter Day Saints," Melchisedek & Aaronic Herald (Covington, Kentucky) 1, no. 7, Oct. 1849) ____ A few years later, in a letter to the New York Tribune, William Smith provided further details on the suspicious death of his brother, Samuel, pointing a direct finger at Brigham Young and Willard Richards, accusing them of orchestrating Samuel's murder: "I have good reason for believing that my brother Samuel H. Smith, died of poison at Nauvoo, administered by order of Brigham Young and Willard Richards, only a few weeks subsequent to the unlawful murder of my other brothers, Joseph and Hiram Smith, while incarcerated in Carthage jail. "Several other persons who were presumed to stand between Brigham Young and the accomplishment of his ambitions and wicked designs, mysteriously disappeared from Nauvoo about the same time, and have never been heard from since." (William Smith, "Mormonism," letter to the New York Tribune, 28 May 1857) _____ In private correspondence in 1892, William Smith further asserted that Willard Richards asked Hosea Stout (who happened to be Samuel's caretaker) to kill Samuel in order to prevent Samuel from taking office as Mormon Church president before the Quorum of the Twelve (which happened to be led by Brigham Young) could convene to handpick a successor. (William Smith, letter to "Bro. [ . . . ] Kelley, 1 June 1892) _____ Samuel Smith's own daughter, Mary B. Smith, expressed her belief that her father and her uncle Arthur Milliken were simultaneously poisoned through the administration of a powdery toxin purported to be medicine--noting, as well, that the same doctors attended both men. According to Mary, Milliken stopped taking the fatal substance but Samuel continued to the last dose, which "he spit out and said he was poisoned. But it was too late—he died." (Mary B. Smith Norman, letter to Ina Coolbrith, 27 March 1908; the above citations found in "Samuel H. Smith (1808-1844)," at http://www.saintswithouthalos.com/b/smith_s.phtm ) _____ Moreover, Samuel Smith's wife, Levira Clark Smith, also concluded that her popular husband had, in reality, been murdered--and proceeded to name the murderer. Writes author Richard Abanes: "[In the wake of Josepsh Smith's death,] Samuel Smith . . . seemed a reasonable choice to many Saints [for the Church's next president]. In fact, he nearly took control of the Church before the Twelve had returned [to Nauvoo], much to the irritation of Willard Richards, who wanted no leader to be name unilt all the Apostles were present. "Richards may have gone so far as to have Samuel murdered to prevent any succession. Samuel's wife believed this to be the case, naming as her husband's murderer the Chief of Police--Hosea Stout, a Danite widely known for having a violent streak and a cold-hearted disposition. "Everyone knew he was more than capable of homicide. He had already been, and would continue to be, connected with several murders and assaults involving apostates and Church critics. . . . "In the case of Samuel Smith, Stout had acted as Samuel's care-giver when he fell ill, and in that capacity had given Samuel 'white powder' medicine daily until his death. Samuel's wife, daughter, and brother . . . all believed the powder to be poison." (Richard Abanes, One Nation Under Gods: A History of the Mormon Church [New York, New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 2002], p. 207) _____ Brigham Young Denies Ordering the Murder of Samuel Smith Brigham Young hotly denied allegations that he had also been involved in the death of Samuel Smith, instead offering up a questionable alibi. ". .. William Smith has asserted that I was the cause of the death of his brother Samuel, when brother Woodruff, who is here to day, knows that we were waiting at the depôt in Boston to take passage east at the very time when Joseph and Hyrum were killed. "Brother Taylor was nearly killed at the time, and Doctor Richards had his whiskers nearly singed off by the blaze from the guns. In a few weeks after, Samuel Smith died, and I am blamed as the cause of his death.'" (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, vol. 5, July 1857, p.77) _____ Dissecting Young's Shaky Denial Recovery from Mormonism poster "Perry Noid" raises serious questions about the truthfulness of Young's denial of involvement in the death of Samuel Smith: " . . . I [am] struck at how weak [Young's] defense [is]. "He simply seem[s] to be relying on the 'Hey. I was out of town' alibi that Mafia types like to rely on after giving instructions to an agent who just happens to be 'in town.' "It seems like he's counting on suckers not asking the next obvious question, i.e., '[S]ince [Young] and his pro-polygamy faction obviously were the prime beneficiaries of Sam[uel] Smith's untimely demise, doesn't it stand to reason that [Young] could have given instructions to a subordinate or have knowingly approved of the plan in advance? "At the very least, isn't it possible that [Young] knew what happened after the fact and covered it up because it worked out so nicely for himself?' "The pattern of denial by [Young] in this instance sure does feel similar to that used in the Mountain Meadows Massacre case. "But it's also highly likely that [Young] literally got a 'taste of his own medicine' since his own death followed a prolonged episode of painful, violent vomiting and discomfort that may have been the result of a revenge poisoning." _____ "Perry Noid" offers additional intriguing and compelling information which makes it entirely possible to conclude that Samuel Smith could well have been seen as a dire threat to the interests of Young's conniving inner circle of power-mongering polygamists: " . . . Samuel was probably the last best hope that the Smith clan had to maintain a dominant leadership position in the Church. "If he had succeeded Hyrum to the office of Patriarch, that position could have been leveraged into a hereditary presidency, that only Smiths were eligible to attain. "Samuel probably wasn't capable of being a strong leader like Joseph, or even Hyrum, but the Smith Clan was likely hoping that he would be able to hold things together long enough for Joe III to ascend to the throne. "Samuel's claim, in addition to being supported by the fact that he was the eldest Smith male in line after Joe and Hyrum, was also supported by the fact that he was the third official convert to Mormonism, after Joe and Oliver. "So, I believe that, first and foremost, he was a serious obstacle to the ambitions of the strong pro-polygamy faction that was coalescing behind Brigham. "I don't know whether or not Samuel would have continued to go along with polygamy, but my impression was that he was not an enthusiastic supporter and the remainder of the Smith clan would probably have intended to dump it all together, knowing that it would be a continuing source of trouble for their Church. "One biography of Samuel indicates that he had no plural wives, but only married his second wife after his first wife had died." ("Thanks for the re-post," by "Perry Noid," Recovery from Mormonism board, 5 June, year unknown; and "My understanding of the situation . . .," idem, RfM board, 5 June, year unknown, at http://www.exmormon.org/mormon/mormon248.htm ) _____ Further Reasons to Question Young's Attempts at Distancing Himself from the Dastardly Deed Noting the documentation amassed by historian D. Michael Quinn as well as others, avid student of Mormon history and RfM poster "Deconstructor" asks, "Why would such an accusation be laid against Brigham Young?," then explains: "To understand the context, you have to remember that after Smith and Hyrum were killed, there was some conflict over who should be his successor. "Brigham Young was not in Nauvoo when Smith was killed, but started to head back as soon as he heard the news. "Meanwhile in Nauvoo, several potential leaders were positioning to take the reins of leadership. The most popular replacement was Samuel Smith, the brother of Joseph Smith. William Clayton had recorded Joseph declaring his brother William his successor if both he and Hyrum were killed. "But Brigham Young's first cousin and Church apostle, William Richards, insisted that nothing should be decided until Brigham Young could return to Nauvoo. "However, many members did not want to wait, and more and more support was gathering behind Samuel Smith, Joseph Smith's brother, to become the next Prophet and leader of the Church. "For a select few, this presented a problem because Samuel was violently against polygamy. It was looking like Samuel Smith would become the next prophet and promised to denounce the practice of plural marriage. "Michael Quinn, from The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power, explains what happened next: "'Then Samuel Smith suddenly became violently ill and died on 30 July 1844. This added suspicion of murder to the escalating drama. "'Council of Fifty member and physician John M. Bernhisel told William Smith that anti-Mormons had somehow poisoned his brother. "'William learned from Samuel's widow that Hosea Stout, a Missouri Danite and senior officer of Nauvoo's police, had acted as his brother's nurse. Stout had given him "white powder" medicine daily until his death. Samuel became ill within days of the discussion of his succession right, and by 24 July was "very sick." "'There had been enough talk about Samuel's succession claims that the newspaper in Springfield, Illinois, reported, "A son of Joe Smith [Sr.] it is said, had received the revelation that he was to be the successor of the prophet." "'William Smith eventually concluded that Apostle Willard Richards asked Stout to murder (his brother) Samuel H. Smith. "'The motive was to prevent Samuel from becoming Church president before Brigham Young and the full Quorum of Twelve arrived (in Nauvoo). "William's suspicions about Stout are believable since Brigham Young allowed William Clayton to go with the pioneer company to Utah three years later only because Stout threatened to murder Clayton as soon as the apostles left. "Clayton regarded Hosea Stout as capable of homicide and recorded no attempt by Young to dispute that assessment concerning the former Danite." "One could dismiss William Smith's charge as a self-serving argument for his own succession claim, yet Samuel's daughter also believed her father was murdered. "'My father was undoubtedly poisoned,' she wrote. 'Uncle Arthur Millikin was poisoned at the same time--the same doctors were treating my father and Uncle Arthur at the same time. Uncle Arthur discontinued the medicine-without letting them know that he was doing so. (Aunt Lucy [Smith Millikin] threw it in the fire). "'Father continued taking it until the last dose [which] he spit out and said he was poisoned. But it was too late--he died.' "Nauvoo's sexton recorded that Samuel Smith died of "bilious fever," [which was] the cause of death listed for two children but no other adults that summer. "This troubling allegation should not be ignored but cannot be verified. "Nevertheless, Clayton's diary confirms the efforts of Richards to avoid the appointment of a successor before his first cousin Brigham Young arrived. "'Stout's diary also describes several occasions when Brigham Young and the apostles seriously discussed having Hosea "rid ourselves" of various Church members considered dangerous to the Church and the apostles. Stout referred to this as "cut him off-behind the ears-according to the law of God in such cases." "'Stout's daily diary also makes no reference whatever to his threat to murder Clayton in 1847. When the Salt Lake "municipal high council" tried Hosea Stout for attempted murder, he protested that "it has been my duty to hunt out the rotten spots in the Kingdom." He added that he had "tried not to handle a man's case until it was right." "'Evidence does not exist to prove if the prophet's brother was such a "case" Stout handled."' (D. Michael Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power {Salt Lake City, Utah: Signature Books, 1994], pp.152-153)." _____ In support of William Smith's charge that Samuel Smith was rubbed out on the orders of Brigham Young in order to prevent him from becoming head of the LDS Church, historian Dan Vogel's cites testimony from members of Joseph Smith's own family: "Hyrum & Joseph was Murdered Carthage Jail in Hancock Co[,] Illinois. Samuel Smith died in Nauvoo, supposed to have been the Subject of Conspiracy by Brigham Young." (Dan Vogel, "Joseph Smith Family Testimony, William Smith Notes Circa 1875, " in Early Mormon Documents, p. 488; and "LDS Mormon History--Brigham Young Murder Samuel Smith, Was Joseph Smith's brother Samuel murdered?," at http://www.i4m.com/think/leaders/brigham_murder.htm ) _____ Mormon Supporters Claim Samuel Smith's Death Was Due to Accidental Injury or Fever Despite numerous indications fueling deep suspicions that Samuel Smith may have died of deliberate poisoning at the hands of an inner Mormon circle cabal, the LDS Church-owned and -published Encyclopedia of Mormonism makes the suggestion that he actually died from a conveniently unidentified horse-riding injury, supposedly sustained during Samuel's dramatic effort to save the lives of his brothers Joseph and Hyrum: "Upon hearing of the dangers to his brothers at Carthage, Samuel attempted to ride to their aid, but arrived too late to intervene. He died within the month, apparently of an injury sustained in that ride." (Sydney Smith Reynolds, "Smith Family," Encyclopedia of Mormonism: THe History, Scriptures, Doctrine, and Procedure of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, vol. 3 (New York, New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1992], p. 1360) _____ On the other hand, Mormon historian Donna Hill mentions nothing about Samuel suffering a riding injury, claiming instead that in his gallop to Carthage to save his brothers, he was chased by a mob, arrived too late to rescue them, carried the murdered bodies of Joseph and Hyrum back to Nauvoo and, amid this ordeal, "[c]ontracted a fever and survived his brothers by only a few weeks." Fellow LDS historians Leonard J. Arrington and Davis Bitton agree with Hill's explanation of Samuel Smith's death, adding only that the mob that chased Samuel on his ride to Nauvoo had "mud-daubed faces." (Donna Hill, Joseph Smith, the First Mormon: The definitive story of a complex and charismatic man and the people who knew him [Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, 1977], p. 448; and Leonard J. Arrington and Davis Bitton, The Mormon Experience: A History of the Latter-day Saits [New York, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1979], p. 82) _____ Other professional observers--notably the non-Mormon variety--aren't as willing to shrug off Samuel Smith's death to a riding injury or a fever. Richard N. and Joan K. Ostling, in their book, The Power and the Promise: Mormon America, note that Joseph Smith designated his brother Samuel to be his successor, adding that Samuel "would have succeeded [his assassinated brother] Hyrum as [Church] Patriarch and thus had a claim [to succeed Joseph as prophet], but died just weeks after Joseph and Hyrum, amid rumors he had been poisoned." (Richard N. Ostling and Joan K. Ostling, The Power and the Promise: Mormon America [San Francisco, California: HarperSanFrancisco, 1999], p. 337) _____ Conclusion: In Mormonism, the Living Prophets Are More Important Than the Dead Prophets Could it be that some of the dead prophets became dead at the hands of those who wanted to become the living prophets? |
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| I was driving toward LA yesterday on my motorcycle, cruising along minding my own business when, all of a sudden, I heard a loud bang, accompanied by a significant jolt.
My motorcycle shuddered but, fortunately, I managed to keep it steady and pulled over to the shoulder of the highway, where I expected to find that I had blown my rear tire. To my surprise, as I dismounted, I saw a large black truck pulling off the highway right behind me. The driver--a young man with a wife and two children in the cab--got out and earnestly asked if I was OK. I looked at the back of my bike, where I observed noticeable damage, and said, "You hit me. How did that happen?" The driver confessed that he had struck me from behind, after he had dropped a water bottle and was searching for it, only to find himself colliding with my motorcycle when he eventually raised up and looked down the road over his dashboard. I thanked him for doing the right thing by stopping. He replied that when he was younger, he had led a rough life but had recently gotten it together and had been baptized. Not feeling the urge to go there, I didn't ask him what church he had been baptized into. The highway patrol soon showed up and issued him his requisite ticket. Despite the damage to the bike, I was able to turn around and drive it back home (I didn't want to risk taking it on to California). On the way back, I pulled into a truckstop and got off the bike. A woman, passing by on the sidewalk as she was leaving the convenience store, smiled and observed "What a beautiful bike." I thanked her and said I had just been rear-ended by a truck that was going 80 mph. She replied, "God must love you. It wasn't your time to go." Well, what a nice thought. I get hit by a someone barreling down the highway at 80 mph behind the wheel of three-quarter ton Dodge Ram pick-up truck, who had been led by God to turn his life around and get baptized. God, I am subsequently told, loved me enough to save me from high-speed death at the hands of this seen-the-light baptized person--meaning that the Lord's message to me was that it wasn't my time to go. Golly, I think I want to be baptized. :) |
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| Or, should I say "Bunkhead"? The guy was such a nut. By comparision, he made my uncle Reed (and Bunkhead's partner in poppycock) look like Isaac Newton. Or was it Fig Newton? Scientifically illiterate and religiously zealous (always a dangerous combo), Bunkhead would show Christian fundamentalist filmstrips in his Book of Mormon 421 and 422 returned missionary classes, contending that Noah's Flood, along with the supposedly instantaneous freezing of Siberian woolly mammoths, was caused by an icy astroid being pulled into Earth's orbit a few thousand years ago (which also, by the way, suddenly created the world's major mountain ranges, due to this spacey invader's strong gravitational pull on our planet). These absurdities were rooted in a book of bombastic bamboozlement--meaning, of course, that it was highly touted by Bunkhead (despite opposition from some outspokenly peeved students in his class who actually knew something about science). Authored by Donald Patton, it was entitled The Biblical Flood and the Ice Epoch and, when it came to woo-woo science, was Bunkhead's Bible. (So, you can forget all about that Plate Tectonics thing--it's just a tool of the Devil). http://biblesearchers.com/catastrophes/catastrophes1.shtml _____ Bunkhead also used to admonish his classes to give him the right answer by rubbing his chin, as he paced back and forth at the front of the room, shaking his head and muttering, "Now, elders . . . " On his exams, we had to answer the questions in Book of Mormon scripture language--otherwise, he said, he could weed out the pretenders among us from those who really knew the Word. Speaking of which, walking through the old Joseph Smith building one day with him and my uncle Reed, he vowed to "smoke out" evolutionists on campus and force them, he declared, to choose between Charles Darwin and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In that Salem-era witchtrial mentality of his, Bunkhead published a pamphlet entitled, "The Fall of Adam, the Atonement of Christ and Organic Evolution"--which purported to represent the official Mormon position on the subject. Actually, it was nothing more than a clunky, selective, cut-and-paste propaganda piece, composed of wacky statements from wacking GAs that agreed with Bunkhead's wacky ideas about things scientific. http://cgi.ebay.com/LDS-MORMON-RARE-FAL... _____ Word has it that Bunkhead eventually retired to his personal bunker complex in the foothills of Levan, Utah, where he died and is currently buried until the morning of the First Insurrection. |