Comments on: “A Curious and Interesting Enterprise”

By: queuno

queuno — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 14:35:19 +0000

I think Jettboy is onto something in #7, though…

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 19:47:59 +0000

Okay, you’ve adequately defended yourself!

By: BruceCrow

BruceCrow — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 19:45:53 +0000

I’m sure I am colored by what happed later. And I’m pretty sure I would have a hard time un-coloring myself. It is the advantage of “judging history from the standards of today.” Wait a minute. I think I’ve heard that before. Somewhere….

This editorial is proof that at least one person saw the potential of the Mormon colony. The author may indeed have simply admired them for that. But by virtue of what later happened I would guess that others were not so thrilled about the idea.

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 19:08:03 +0000

Good point, Mark B. It was also published a few months before the “runaway judges” fled back to Washington, giving scurrilous reports to every newspaper editor they found en route. In a way, this was the honeymoon period of Mormon history — we’re gone and no longer clashing with anyone within the nation’s settled borders, and we haven’t yet become a headache beyond the borders.

By: Mark B.

Mark B. — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 18:58:52 +0000

This was, of course, published before the 1852 public pronouncement of the practice of plural marriage. One wonders if the writer would have been so sanguine about Mormonism two years later.

By: Martin Willey

Martin Willey — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 18:26:33 +0000

No religious belief is ridiculous, and we should be careful how we despise – much more, how we persecute the chosen faith of any people.

This is pretty enlightened stuff. Someone needs to say it again, today.

By: Jettboy

Jettboy — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 17:43:25 +0000

I didn’t say he was making a statement against the Mormons. His views seem to represent genuine respect for the Mormons. I said he was likely making fun of the United States for showing generosity to a religion that was so recently kicked out.

By: Hunter

Hunter — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 17:04:34 +0000

I tend to disagree with Jettboy. There is a certain amount of respect called for here. Notice that the writer doesn’t call Mormon belief “ridiculous”; rather, he says no “religious belief” is ridiculous. And he even does so far as to say that Mormons’ belief is their “chosen faith” and worthy of respectful distance.

Not to go overboard, no, I don’t think the writer is trying to win converts on the part of the Church. Rather, he’s recognizing the pragmatic good of politically letting go of peoples’ beliefs. To me, it’s sort of the cynical foil to George Washington’s belief that religion is good for society; here, he’s arguing that the suppression of religion is actually bad for society. So, yes, it’s a poke in the eye of the United States.

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 17:01:21 +0000

Bruce, your awareness of what did in fact happen later is probably coloring your reading a bit, don’t you think? And Jettboy, you’re waaaay overthinking things, no?

Why is it not possible for the occasional person to find something admirable, or say something pleasant about us, or want to help out a new settlement that had just been endorsed by Congress, without its being taken as veiled mockery or a hidden warning to the public?

By: BruceCrow

BruceCrow — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 16:54:51 +0000

OK, my latent Mormon paranoia is kicking in. Let’s see if I can keep it in check.

Fear of his observations coming true were probably among the motivators for John M. Bernhisel receiving the donated books; as well as proposing to send bibles, federal officials and later an army to what would be come Utah. There was no way certain people in the east were going to let his predictions come true.