MORMONS

Mormon's Latter-Day Saints

Mormon's Latter-Day Saints

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the fastest-growing and most successful religion ever created on American soil. Nevertheless, as a minority religion, it has struggled to assimilate into the political and social culture of the United States of America. In this paper I will examine some of the various ways in which Mormons, and other members of minority religions, have sought greater acceptance and mainstream status while trying to stay true to their religious beliefs and deal with the persecution that constantly hinders their push for assimilation (Reiss, Bigelow, 2005). I will also compare and contrast the way that other minority religions in the United States have dealt with persecution and assimilation, in relation to Mormonism. Before examining these questions I will provide a brief history of Mormonism to set the context.

Joseph Smith was born in Palmyra, New York in 1799, a period of religious awakening for America (Riess & Bigelow, 2005.) At the age of 14, Smith was confused about which direction his faith was headed, so he asked God for guidance. He later stated that God responded, saying that all religions were wrong and that he should not join any church. This revelation is now known as the "first vision" in the Mormon Church (Krakauer, 2004.)

Three years later, at the age of 17, Smith reported receiving another vision, in which God told him that he needed to retrieve a set of golden plates from a nearby hill. On September 27, 1827, Smith said he retrieved the plates and translated their contents from an ancient language, using a special pair of spectacles, then returned the spectacles and plates to an angel (History of Mormonism, 2009). In March,1830, Smith's translation of the plates he claimed to have found was published: it was titled The Book of Mormon (History of Mormonism, 2009).

Despite controversy over this new religion, the church began to grow and missionaries were sent as far as Ohio. However, angry Protestants started to persecute Mormons and harass their leaders. In 1831, Smith said God told him to move his church to Kirtland, Ohio, where a number of Mormon missionaries already lived (Ostling, 1999). However, financial troubles and more persecution led Smith to move the church to Jackson County, Missouri. After a brief period of peace, the Mormons again found themselves at odds with their Protestant neighbors and fighting escalated until Governor Lilburn Boggs ordered the expulsion of Mormons from Missouri. Then on October 27, 1838, dozens of Mormons were killed in the Haun's Mill Massacre, and Smith was arrested (History of Mormonism, 2009). Upon his release, Smith led his church to Nauvoo, Illinois.

In Nauvoo, the church finally found some peace and the city began to prosper. By 1840 the church had 16,000 members (Riess & Bigelow, 2005). However, as the congregation grew, more people began to oppose the Mormon church. Around this time Smith received a revelation advocating polygamy. This only fanned the flames of ...