Mormons have numerous significant instances of violence throughout their history as a religious group.[1] In the early history of the United States, violence was used as a form of control. According to Mormon history, their members have faced persecution and forceful expulsion from where they have settled, such as being driven from Ohio to Missouri and from Missouri to Illinois during the lifetime of church founder Joseph Smith. Soon, those that followed one of Smith's successors Brigham Young settled in the Utah Territory and became the largest denomination of the Latter Day Saint movement, the LDS Church. Church history records that their migrations were accompanied by acts of violence that included massacres, home burnings, and pillaging.
One notable incident was the death of Mormonism's founder, Joseph Smith. In 1844, Smith was jailed in Carthage, Illinois and killed by a mob outside the jail. Smith attempted to defend himself by using a small pistol which was given to him by church leader Cyrus Wheelock, but was shot while trying to escape by climbing through a window in the jail. His brother, Hyrum Smith, was also killed during the same incident.
There have also been instances in which Mormons were involved in acts of violence. For example, under the direction of Mormon leaders, the Danites burned and looted Davies County and engaged in clashes with the Missouri state militia during the 1838 Mormon War. Additionally, there were incidents such as the Mountain Meadows Massacre, the Battle Creek Massacre, and the Circleville Massacre, in which Mormons were implicated in acts of violence against non-Mormons. Furthermore, Mormons participated in various conflicts, including the Walker War and the Black Hawk War, in which Mormon settlers engaged in clashes with Native American tribes in the western United States.
The record of these incidences of violence have negatively affected both the history and the doctrines of the Latter Day Saint movement.[2]
^Gregor, Anthony James (2006). The Search for Neofascism. Cambridge University Press. p. 164. ISBN 978-0-521-85920-2 – via Internet Archive. A long and doleful history of violence attended the founding, establishment, and fostering of [the LDS Church] ... Nonetheless, little purpose would be served in identifying the [church] as neofascist.
^Bagley, Will (2004). Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows. University of Oklahoma Press. p. xvii. ISBN 978-0-8061-3639-4 – via Internet Archive.
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