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Official Declaration - Mormon Doctrine Studies - Posted: 24th Oct, 2007 - 11:51pm
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KoZ2 - Kingdom of Zion Topic - December 12th, 1889
Official Declaration
Official Declaration - December 12th, 1889
From the bordeglobal.com/foruminv/index.php?showforum=120 site.
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[1] OFFICIAL DECLARATION. SALT LAKE CITY, December 12th, 1889. TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: In consequence of gross misrepresentations of the doctrines, aims and practices of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly called the "Mormon" Church, which have been promulgated for years, and have recently been revived for political purposes and to prevent all aliens, otherwise qualified, who are members of the "Mormon" Church from acquiring citizenship, we deem it proper on behalf of said Church to publicly deny these calumnies and enter our protest against them. We solemnly make the following declarations, viz.: That this Church views the shedding of human blood with the utmost abhorrence. That we regard the killing of a human being, except in conformity with the civil law, as a capital crime which should be punished by shedding the blood of the criminal, after a public trial before a legally constituted court of the land. Notwithstanding all the stories told about the killing of apostates, no case of this kind has ever occurred, and of course has never been established against the Church we represent. Hundreds of seceders from the Church have continuously resided and now live in this Territory, many of whom have amassed considerable wealth, though bitterly hostile to the "Mormon" faith and people. Even those who have made it their business to fabricate the vilest falsehoods, and to render them plausible by culling isolated passages from old sermons without the explanatory context, and have suffered no opportunity to escape them of vilifying and blackening the characters of the people, have remained among those whom they have thus persistently calumniated until the present day, without receiving the slightest personal injury. We denounce as entirely untrue the allegation which has been made, that our Church favors or believes in the killing of persons who leave the Church or apostatize from its doctrines. We would view a punishment of this character for such an act with the utmost horror, it is abhorrent to us and is in direct opposition to the fundamental principles of our creed. The revelations of God to this Church make death the penalty for capital crime, and require that offenders against life and property shall be delivered up to and tried by the laws of the land. We declare that no Bishop's or other courts in this Church claims or exercises the right to supersede, annul or modify a judgment of any civil court. Such courts, while established to regulate Christian conduct, are purely ecclesiastical, and their punitive powers go no further than the suspension or excommunication of members from Church fellowship. That this Church, while offering advice for the welfare of its members in all conditions of life, does not claim or exercise the right to interfere with citizens in the free exercise of social or political rights and privileges. The ballot in this Territory is absolutely untrammeled and secret. No man's business or other secular affairs are invaded by the Church or any of its officers. Free agency and direct individual accountability to God are among the essentials of our Church doctrine. All things in the Church must be done by common consent, and no officer is appointed without the vote of the body. We declare that there is nothing in the ceremony of the Endowment, or in any doctrine, tenet, obligation or injunction of this Church, either private or public, which is hostile or intended to be hostile to the Government of the United States. On the contrary, its members are under divine commandment to revere the Constitution as a heaven-inspired instrument. Utterances of prominent men in the Church at a time of great excitement have been selected and grouped, to convey the impression that present members are seditious. Those expressions were made more than thirty years ago, when through the falsehoods of recreant officials, afterwards demonstrated to be baseless, troops were sent to this Territory and were viewed by the people, in their isolated condition, fifteen hundred miles from railroads, as an armed mob coming to renew the bloody persecutions of years before. At that time excitement prevailed and strong language was used; but no words of disloyalty against the Government or its institutions were uttered; public speakers confined their remarks to denouncing traitorous officials who were prostituting the powers of their positions to accomplish nefarious ends. Criticism of the acts of United States officials was not considered then, neither is it now, as treason against the nation nor as hostility to the Government. In this connection we may say that the members of our Church have never offered or intended to offer, any insult to the flag of our country; but have always honored it as the ensign of laws and liberty. We also declare that this Church does not claim to be an independent, temporal kingdom of God, or to be an imperium in emperio aiming to overthrow the United States or any other civil government. It has been organized by divine revelation preparatory to the second advent of the Redeemer. It proclaims that "the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Its members are commanded of God to be subject unto the powers that be until Christ comes, whose right it is to reign. Church government and civil government are distinct and separate in our theory and practice, and we regard it as part of our destiny to aid in the maintenance and perpetuity of the institutions of our country. We claim no religious liberty that we are unwilling to accord to others. We ask for no civil or political rights which are not granted and guaranteed to citizens in general. We desire to be in harmony with the Government and people of the United States as an integral part of the nation. We regard all attempts to exclude aliens from naturalization, and citizens from the exercise of the elective franchise, solely because they are members of the "Mormon" Church, as impolitic, unrepublican, and dangerous encroachments upon civil and religious liberty. Notwithstanding the wrongs we consider we have suffered through the improper execution of national laws, we regard those wrongs as the acts of men and not of the Government; and we intent, by the help of Omnipotence, to remain firm in our fealty and steadfast in the maintenance of constitutional principles and the integrity of this Republic. We earnestly appeal to the American press and people not to condemn the Latter-day Saints unheard. Must we always be judged by the misrepresentations of our enemies, and never be accorded a fair opportunity of representing ourselves? In the name of justice, reason and humanity, we ask for a suspension of national and popular judgment until a full investigation can be had and all the facts connected with what is called the "Mormon" question call be known. And we appeal to the Eternal Judge of all men and nations to aid us in the vindication of our righteous cause. WILFORD WOODRUFF, GEORGE Q. CANNON, JOSEPH F. SMITH, Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. LORENZO SNOW, FRANKLIN D. RICHARDS, BRIGHAM YOUNG, MOSES THATCHER, FRANCIS M. LYMAN, JOHN HENRY SMITH, GEORGE TEASDALE, HEBER J. GRANT, JOHN W. TAYLOR, M. W. MERRILL, A. H. LUND, ABRAHAM H. CANNON, Members of the Council of the Apostles. JOHN W. YOUNG, DANIEL H. WELLS, Counselors. |
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Declaration Official
There are several doctrinal teachings that I found intriguing in this declaration.
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That we regard the killing of a human being, except in conformity with the civil law, as a capital crime which should be punished by shedding the blood of the criminal, after a public trial before a legally constituted court of the land. |
Is this an acceptance or advancement of Capital Punishment by the Church?
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We also declare that this Church does not claim to be an independent, temporal kingdom of God |
I believe this will change sometime after the coming of Christ. I am just wondering if there was an attempt to set up the "Temporal Kingdom of God" with the United Order. Has the Kingdom of God as Theocracy ever been part of the Church past or present?
The declaration (which for some reason I had never read before) seems to be an argument against the charges that the church practices Blood Atonement (the theory that the church kills apostates).
Official Declaration Studies Doctrine Mormon
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| Is this an acceptance or advancement of Capital Punishment by the Church? Not hardly below is the quote from LDS.org prom a press release about capital punishment. You can find is by searching "capital punishment" at LDS.org |
"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints regards the question of whether and in what circumstances the state should impose capital punishment as a matter to be decided solely by the prescribed processes of civil law. We neither promote nor oppose capital punishment."
It is a change from our old position. Still is not morally correct in my opinion, but it is a start. I think we will get to capital punishment opposition some day. We are slowly moving that way as these posts have shown.
It is a change from our old position. Still is not morally correct in my opinion, but it is a start. I think we will get to capital punishment opposition some day. We are slowly moving that way as these posts have shown.
Declaration Official
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I think we will get to capital punishment opposition some day. |
I am not sure the Church will ever come out against Capital Punishment, but of course I would not be the first to know if it did. I would be interested to discuss the morality of capital punishment sometime in another forum. I am looking forward to that discussion.
TOPIC: Official Declaration