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"Mormon" redirects here. For other uses, see Mormon (disambiguation).

Template:Infobox Mormons

The Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, a religion founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. beginning in the late 1820s. Most Mormons are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), while a minority are members of Mormon fundamentalist[1] or other independent churches. Many Mormons are also either independent or non-practicing.

Mormons are often associated with polygamy. Many early Mormons did in fact practice polygamy, though the practice was disavowed by the LDS Church in 1890[2], and phased out over the next 15 years.[3][4][5] The vast majority of modern Mormons are monogamists.

During the polygamist era, Mormons developed a unique culture and cohesive communitarianism apart from the rest of American society, which they have retained. This culture includes a health code that eschews alcoholic beverages, tobacco, coffee, and tea. Practicing adult Mormons wear religious undergarments that remind them to dress modestly. For religious reasons, Mormons tend to be very family-oriented, and have strong connections across generations and with extended family.

The center of Mormon cultural influence is in Utah, and North America has more Mormons than any other continent. However, the majority of Mormons are located outside the United States, drawing strength from the large number of members located in Latin America.[6]

History

Main article: History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The history of Mormonism is typically divided into three broad time periods: (1) the early history during the lifetime of Joseph Smith, Jr. which is in common with all Latter Day Saint movement churches, (2) a "pioneer era" under the leadership of Brigham Young and his 19th-century successors, and (3) a modern era beginning around the turn of the 20th century as the majority of Mormons suspended the practice of polygamy.

Beginnings

See also: History of the Latter Day Saint movement and Joseph Smith, Jr.

Mormonism traces its origins to the Church of Christ founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. on April 6, 1830 in Western New York.[7] Initial converts were drawn to the church because of the newly-published Book of Mormon, a self-described chronicle of indigenous American prophets that Smith said he translated from golden plates.[8]

Smith intended to establish a New Jerusalem in North America, called Zion.[9] In 1831, the church moved to Kirtland, Ohio (the eastern boundary of Zion),[10] and began establishing an outpost in Jackson County, Missouri (Zion's "center place"),[11] where he planned to eventually move the church headquarters.[12] However, in 1833, Missouri settlers brutally expelled the Saints from Jackson County,[13] and the church was unable via a paramilitary expedition to recover the land.[14] Nevertheless, the church flourished in Kirtland[15] as Smith published new revelations and the church built the Kirtland Temple as the site of what they viewed as a new Pentecost.[16] The Kirtland era ended in 1838, after a financial scandal rocked the church and caused widespread defections.[17] Smith regrouped with the remaining church in Far West, Missouri,[18] but tensions soon escalated into violent conflicts with the old Missouri settlers.[19] Believing the Saints to be in insurrection, the Missouri governor ordered the Saints' expulsion from Missouri.[20] In 1839, the Saints converted a swampland on the banks of the Mississippi River into Nauvoo, Illinois, which became the church's new headquarters.[21]

Nauvoo grew rapidly as missionaries sent to Europe and elsewhere converted new converts who then flooded into Nauvoo.[22] Meanwhile, Smith secretly introduced plural marriage to his closest associates.[23] He also established ceremonies to allow righteous Mormons to rule as gods in the afterlife,[24] and a secular institution to govern the Millennial kingdom.[25] He also introduced the church to the story of his First Vision, in which two heavenly "personages" (Mormons interpret them to be God the Father and Jesus) appeared to him at age 14. Long after Smith's death, this vision would come to be regarded by Mormons as the most important event in human history after the resurrection of Jesus.[26]

On June 27, 1844, Smith was arrested on charges of treason and inciting a riot,[27] and then killed by a mob while awaiting trial in Carthage, Illinois.[28] His death led to a succession crisis,[29] and Brigham Young assumed leadership over the majority of Saints.[30] Young had been a close associate of Smith's and was senior apostle of the Quorum of the Twelve.[31] Other groups of Latter Day Saints followed other leaders to form other denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement.[32]

Pioneer era

Brigham Young who led the LDS Church from 1844 until his death in 1877

For two years after Smith's death, conflicts escalated between Mormons and other Illinois residents. To prevent war,[33] Brigham Young led his followers, the Mormon pioneers constituting most of the Latter Day Saint movement, to Nebraska and then eventually beginning in 1847 to what became the Utah Territory.[34] As groups arrived over a period of years, LDS settlers branched out and colonized a large region now known as the Mormon Corridor.

Young incorporated The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a legal entity, and initially governed both the church and the state as a theocratic leader. He also publicized the previously-secret practice of plural marriage,[35] a form of polygamy.

By 1857, tensions had again escalated between Mormons and other Americans, largely as a result of accusations involving polygamy and the theocratic rule of the Utah territory by Brigham Young.[36] The Utah Mormon War ensued from 1857 to 1858, which resulted in the relatively peaceful[37] invasion of Utah by the United States Army, after which Young agreed to step down from power and be replaced by a non-Mormon territorial governor, Alfred Cumming.[38] Nevertheless, the LDS Church still wielded significant political power in the Utah Territory.[39]

At Young's death in 1877, he was followed by other LDS Presidents, who resisted efforts by the United States Congress to outlaw Mormon polygamous marriages. Conflict between Mormons and the U.S. government escalated to the point that in 1890, Congress disincorporated the LDS Church and seized all its assets. Soon thereafter, church president Wilford Woodruff issued a Manifesto that officially suspended the practice.[40] Although this Manifesto did not yet dissolve existing plural marriages, and did not entirely stop the practice of polygamy, relations with the United States markedly improved after 1890, such that Utah was admitted as a U.S. state. Relations further improved after 1904, when church president Joseph F. Smith disavowed polygamy before the United States Congress and issued a "Second Manifesto" calling for all plural marriages in the church to cease. Eventually, the church adopted a policy of excommunicating its members found practicing polygamy and today seeks to actively distance itself from “fundamentalist” groups still practicing polygamy.

Modern times

During the early 20th century, several smaller groups of Mormons broke with the LDS Church over the issue of polygamy, forming several denominations of Mormon fundamentalism. Meanwhile, the LDS Church, representing the vast majority of Mormons, worked to reintegrate itself with the American mainstream. The LDS Church grew substantially and became an international organization, due in part to the spread of missionaries across the globe. The LDS Church became a strong and public champion of the nuclear family and at times played a prominent role in political matters.

Culture and practices

See also: Culture of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Cultural Mormon

Due to the differences in lifestyle promoted by Mormon doctrine and history, a distinct culture has grown up around Mormonism. Mormons and their culture are headquartered in the Intermountain West, but as the faith spreads around the world, many of its more distinctive practices follow, such as adhering to the Word of Wisdom, a health law or code that prohibits the consumption of tobacco, alcohol, coffee and tea, and other addictive substances.[41] As a result of the Word of Wisdom, the culture in areas of the world with a high concentration of Mormons tends to be reflected.[42][43]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The terms Mormon and Mormonism are used by Mormon fundamentalists in reference to themselves. The LDS Church disagrees with that self-characterization and encourages journalists only to use the word Mormon in reference to the LDS Church. See Style Guide - LDS Newsroom. Despite the LDS Church preference, the term fundamentalist Mormonism is in common use.
  2. ^ http://lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/od/1?lang=eng
  3. ^ B. Carmen Hardy (1992). Solemn Covenant: The Mormon Polygamous Passage (Urbana: University of Illinois Press).
  4. ^ D. Michael Quinn, "LDS Church Authority and New Plural Marriages, 1890–1904", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Spring 1985, p. 9.
  5. ^ Kenneth Cannon II, "After the Manifesto: Mormon Polygamy, 1890–1906", Sunstone, Jan.–Apr. 1983, p. 27.
  6. ^ Todd, Jay M. (1996). "More Members Now outside U.S. Than in U.S." News of the Church. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Retrieved 7 May 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  7. ^ Scholars and eye-witnesses disagree whether the church was organized in Manchester, New York at the Smith log home, or in Fayette at the the home of Peter Whitmer. Bushman (2005, p. 109); Marquardt (2005, pp. 223–23) (arguing that organization in Manchester is most consistent with eye-witness statements).
  8. ^ Book of Mormon, Introduction.
  9. ^ Bushman (2005, p. 122).
  10. ^ Brodie (1971, p. 97) (citing letter by Smith to Kirtland converts, quoted in Howe (1833, p. 111)).
  11. ^ Smith et al. (1835, p. 154); Bushman (2005, p. 162); Brodie (1971, p. 109).
  12. ^ Smith said in 1831 that God intended the Mormons to "retain a strong hold in the land of Kirtland, for the space of five years." (Doctrine and Covenants 64:21).
  13. ^ Bushman (2005, pp. 222–27); Brodie (1971, p. 137) (noting that the brutality of the Jackson Countians aroused sympathy for the Mormons and was almost universally deplored by the media).
  14. ^ Brodie (1971, pp. 141, 146–59); Bushman (2005, p. 322).
  15. ^ Brodie (1971, p. 101); Arrington (1992, p. 21) (by summer of 1835, there were 1500 to 2000 Saints in Kirtland); Desert Morning News 2008 Church Almanac pg.655 (from 1831 to 1838, church membership grew from 680 to 17,881).
  16. ^ (Bushman 2005, pp. 310–19); (Brodie 1971, p. 178).
  17. ^ Bushman (2005, pp. 328–38); Brooke (1994, p. 221) ("Ultimately, the rituals and visions dedicating the Kirtland temple were not sufficient to hold the church together in the face of a mounting series of internal disputes.")
  18. ^ Roberts (1905, p. 24) (referring to the Far West church as the "church in Zion"); (Bushman 2005, p. 345) (The revelation calling Far West "Zion" had the effect of "implying that Far West was to take the place of Independence.")
  19. ^ Bushman (2005, pp. 357–364); Brodie (1971, p. 227-30); Remini (2002, p. 134); Quinn (1994, pp. 97–98).
  20. ^ (Bushman 2005, p. 367) (Boggs' executive order stated that the Mormon community had "made war upon the people of this State" and that "the Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the State if necessary for the public peace"). In 1976, Missouri issued a formal apology for this order (Bushman 2005, p. 398).
  21. ^ Bushman (2005, pp. 383–84).
  22. ^ Bushman (2005, p. 409); Brodie (1971, pp. 258, 264–65).
  23. ^ Brodie (1971, pp. 334–36); Bushman (2005, pp. 437, 644).
  24. ^ Widmer (2000, p. 119) (Smith taught that faithful Mormons may progress until they become co-equal with God); Roberts (1909, pp. 502–03); Bushman (2005, pp. 497–98) (the second anointing provided a guarantee that participants would be exalted even if they sinned).
  25. ^ Quinn (1994, p. 120–22); Bushman (2005, pp. 519–21) (describing the Council of Fifty noting that Smith prophesied "the entire overthrow of this nation in a few years," at which time his Kingdom of God would be prepared to take power)
  26. ^ LDS Church (2010), Joseph Smith Home Page/Mission of the Prophet/First Vision: This Is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!, retrieved 2010-04-29; Allen (1966, p. 29) (belief in the First Vision now considered second in importance only to belief in the divinity of Jesus.); Hinkley, Gordon B. (1998), "What Are People Asking about Us?", Ensign (November) {{citation}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help) ("[N]othing we teach, nothing we live by is of greater importance than this initial declaration.").
  27. ^ Many local Illinoisans were uneasy with Mormon power, and their unease was fanned by the local media after Smith suppressed a newspaper containing an exposé regarding plural marriage, theocracy, and other sensitive issues. Smith was charged and arrested for crimes including treason.
  28. ^ Encyclopedia of Latter-Day Saint History pg. 824. Brodie (1971, pp. 393–94); Bushman (2005).
  29. ^ Quinn (1994, p. 143); Brodie (1971, p. 398).
  30. ^ Bushman (2005, pp. 556–57).
  31. ^ Smith's position as President of the Church was originally left vacant, based on the sentiment that nobody could fill Smith's shoes. Years later, the church established the principle that Young, and any other senior apostle of the Quorum of the Twelve, would be ordained President of the Church as a matter of course upon the death of the former President, subject to unanimous agreement of the Quorum of the Twelve.
  32. ^ Quinn (1994, pp. 198–211).
  33. ^ In 2004, the State of Illinois recognized the expulsion of the Latter-day Saints as the "largest forced migration in American history" and stated in the adopted resolution that, "WHEREAS, The biases and prejudices of a less enlightened age in the history of the State of Illinois caused unmeasurable hardship and trauma for the community of Latter-day Saints by the distrust, violence, and inhospitable actions of a dark time in our past; therefore, be it RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we acknowledge the disparity of those past actions and suspicions, regretting the expulsion of the community of Latter-day Saints, a people of faith and hard work." "Official House Resolution HR0793 (LRB093 21726 KEF 49525 r), Illinois General Assembly, April 1, 2004
  34. ^ "Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail: History & Culture", U.S. National Park Service. "The great Mormon migration of 1846–1847 was but one step in the LDS' quest for religious freedom and growth."
  35. ^ The Mormon doctrine of plural wives was officially announced by one of the Twelve Apostles Orson Pratt and Smith's successor Brigham Young in a special conference of the elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints assembled in the Mormon Tabernacle on 28 August 1852, and reprinted in an extra edition of the Deseret News Template:Cite article. See also The 1850s: Official sanction in the LDS Church
  36. ^ See Tullidge, Edward, History of Salt Lake City, 132-35 (Original from the University of Michigan, 1886).
  37. ^ The most notable instance of violence during this war was the tragic Mountain Meadows massacre, in which leaders of a local Mormon militia ordered the massacre of a civilian emigrant party who had the misfortune of traveling through Utah during the escalating military tensions.
  38. ^ To combat the notion that rank-and-file Mormons were unhappy under Young’s leadership, Cumming noted that he had offered to help any leave the territory who desired. Of the 50,000 inhabitants of the state of Utah, the underwhelming response—56 men, 33 women, and 71 children, most of whom stated they left for economic reasons—impressed Cumming, as did the fact that Mormon leaders contributed supplies to the emigrants. Cumming to [Secretary of State Lewis Cass], written by Thomas Kane, May 2, 1858, BYU Special Collections.
  39. ^ Firmage, Edwin Brown; Mangrum, Richard Collin (2002), Zion in the Courts: A Legal History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1830-1900, U. of Illinois Press, p. 140, ISBN 0252069803 {{citation}}: More than one of |author= and |last1= specified (help)
  40. ^ Official Declaration — 1
  41. ^ Doctrine & Covenants, Section 89.
  42. ^ Salt Lake Tribune Editorial, Liquor stores: Banning phone listings, stores won't stop abuse.[dead link]
  43. ^ Johnson, Megan. America's 10 Fittest Cities—and 10 Least Fit, Too, 15 December 2008, U.S. News & World Report (via Usnews.com)[failed verification]


References

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