\u201cA previously unknown comment from Joseph Smith on religious liberty.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0 It\u2019s really exciting (to me, anyway) to see these \u201cnew\u201d expressions from the Prophet:<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
God cannot save or damn a man only on the principle that every man acts, chooses and worships for himself; hence the importance of thrusting from us every spirit of bigotry and intollerance towards a mans religious sentiments, that spirit which has drenched the earth with blood \u2014 When a man feels the least temptation to such intollerance he ought to spurn it from him. \u00a0It becomes our duty on account of this intollerance and corruption \u2014 the inalienable right of man being to think as he pleases \u2014 worship as he pleases &c being the first law of every thing that is sacred \u2014 to guard every ground all the days of our lives. \u00a0I will appeal to every man in this council beginning at the youngest that when he arrives to the years of Hoary age he will have to say that the principles of intollerance and bigotry never had a place in this kingdom, nor in my breast, and that he is even then ready to die rather than yeild to such things. . . . \u00a0When a man is free from [intolerance] he is capable of being a critic. \u00a0When I have used every means in my power to exalt a mans mind, and have taught him righteous principles to no effect \u2014 he is still inclined in his darkness, yet the same principles of liberty and charity would ever be manifested by me as though he embraced it. \u00a0Hence in all governments or political transactions a mans religious opinions should never be called in question. \u00a0A man should be judged by the law independant of religious prejudice, hence we want in our constitution those laws which would require all its officers to administer justice without any regard to his religious opinions, or thrust him from his office.\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Matthew J. Grow and R. Eric Smith,\u00a0The Council of Fifty: What the Records Reveal about Mormon History<\/em>. \u00a0(Spelling and punctuation in the original.)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 I\u2019ve just finished recording my introduction to the latest volume (Volume 26) of Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture. \u00a0Thanks to Tom Pittman for his indispensable help. \u00a0 Did I manage to hide the quivering anger in my voice? \u00a0I tried really hard. \u00a0 *** \u00a0 Yet another vicious expression of my perpetual […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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