In the late1820s, criticism centered around Joseph Smith stating he had been led to a set of golden plates from which he said the Book of Mormon was translated. In the 1830s, one of several criticisms was for Smith's handling of a banking failure in Kirtland, Ohio. After the Mormons migrated west, there was fear and suspicion about the LDS Church's political and military power in Missouri, culminating in the 1838 Mormon War and the infamous Mormon Extermination Order by Governor Lilburn Boggs. In the 1840s, criticism of the church centered on its theocratic aspirations in Nauvoo, Illinois. Criticism of the practice of plural marriage and other doctrines taught by Smith were published in the Nauvoo Expositor. Opposition led to a series of events culminating in the death of Smith and his brother while jailed in 1844.
As the church began openly practicing plural marriage under Brigham Young during the second half of the 19th century, the church became the target of nationwide criticism for that practice, as well as for the church's theocratic aspirations in Utah Territory. Young introduced policies in 1852 that discriminated against black men and women of African descent which were not reversed until 1978.[1] Beginning in 1857, the church also came under significant media criticism after the Mountain Meadows Massacre in southern Utah.
The church's 2008 support of California's Proposition 8 sparked heated debate and protests by gay-rights organizations.[3][4]Affirmation is a group of current and former members of the LDS Church who have criticized the church's policies on homosexuality. Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry is a Christian organization that has criticized the church's theology. The Institute for Religious Research is an organization that has criticized the church, in particular the Book of Abraham. Numerous other organizations maintain web sites that criticize the church.
Polygamy is perhaps the most controversial early Mormon practice, and was a key contributing factor for Smith's murder. Under heavy pressure—Utah would not be accepted as a state if polygamy was practiced—the church formally and publicly renounced the practice in 1890.[citation needed] Utah's statehood soon followed. However, plural marriage remains a divisive issue, as despite the official renunciation of 1890, it still has sympathizers, defenders, and semi-secret practitioners.
"completely demoralizes good men and makes bad men correspondingly worse. As for the women—well, God help them! First wives it renders desperate, or else heart-broken, mean-spirited creatures."
Pratt ended her marriage to husband Orson Pratt in 1868 because of his "obsession with marrying younger women" (at age 57, Orson Pratt married a sixteen-year-old girl, his tenth wife, younger than his daughter Celestia).[6] Sarah Pratt lashed out at Orson in an 1877 interview, stating:[7]
"Here was my husband, gray headed, taking to his bed young girls in mockery of marriage. Of course there could be no joy for him in such an intercourse except for the indulgence of his fanaticism and of something else, perhaps, which I hesitate to mention."
The Tanners argue that early church leaders established the practice of polygamy in order to justify behavior that would otherwise be regarded as immoral.[8] The Ostlings criticize Joseph Smith for marrying at least 32 women during his lifetime, including several under the age of 16, a fact acknowledged by Mormon historian Todd Compton.[9][10] Compton also acknowledges that Smith entered into polyandrous marriages (that is, he married women who were already married to other men)[10] and that he warned some potential spouses of eternal damnation if they did not consent to be his wife;[11] in at least two cases, Smith married orphan girls who had come to live at his home.[12]
However, Bushman notes that evidence of sexual relations between Smith and any wives of his followers is sparse or unreliable.[13] Compton argues that some marriages were likely dynastic in nature, to link families.[citation needed]
Bar chart showing age differences at the time of polygamous marriage between teenage brides and early Latter Day Saint church leaders. The average age of first marriage for white US women from 1850 to 1880 was 23, with those marrying at ages from 15 to 19 ranging from 6.5 to 27.5 percent of the population depending on region and year.
The Tanners argue that the church's 1890 reversal of its policy on polygamy was done for political reasons, citing the fact that the change was made during the church's lengthy conflict with the federal government over property seizures and statehood.[19] The Ostlings say that, soon after the church received the revelation that polygamy was prohibited, Utah again applied for statehood. This time the federal government did not object to starting the statehood process. Six years later, the process was completed and Utah was admitted as a state in 1896.[20] The Ostlings note that soon after the church suspended the practice of polygamy, the federal government reduced its legal efforts to seize church property.[20] Despite this, Mormon leaders after 1890 continued to sanction and participate in plural marriages in secret, in smaller numbers, both in the U.S. and in Mexico, for the next several decades.[21]
Mormons Ron Wood and Linda Thatcher do not dispute that the change was a result of federal intervention and say that the church had no choice in the matter. The 1887 Edmunds–Tucker Act was crippling the church and "something dramatic had to be done to reverse [the] trend."[22] After the church appealed its case to the U.S. Supreme Court and lost, church president Wilford Woodruff issued the 1890 Manifesto. Woodruff noted in his journal that he was "acting for the temporal salvation of the Church".[23]
Joseph F. Smith acknowledged reports that church leaders did not fully adhere to the 1890 prohibition. After the Second Manifesto in 1904, anyone entering into a new plural marriage was excommunicated.[27]
Discussion regarding the historicity of the Book of Mormon often focuses on archaeological issues, some of which relate to the large size and the long time span of the civilizations mentioned in the book. After Joseph Smith founded the movement in upstate New York in the 1820s, the faith drew its first converts while Smith was dictating the text of the Book of Mormon from golden plates with reformed Egyptian writing on them, which he said he found buried after being directed to their location by the Angel Moroni. The book described itself as a chronicle of early indigenous peoples of the Americas, known as the Nephites, portraying them as believing Israelites who had a belief in Christ many hundreds of years before Jesus's birth. According to the book, the Nephites are one of four groups (the others being the Lamanites, Jaredites, and Mulekites) who settled in the ancient Americas. The Nephites are described as a group of people that descended from or were associated with Nephi, the son of the prophet Lehi, who left Jerusalem at the urging of God c. 600 BC and traveled with his family to the Western Hemisphere, arriving in the Americas c. 589 BC. After the translation was complete, Smith said he returned the golden plates to the Angel Moroni.
A contemporary Mormon view is that these Israelite civilizations rose and fell in Mesoamerica.[28] Civilizations of their magnitude and duration would be expected to leave extensive archaeological records.[29] Several Mesoamerican civilizations did exist in the time period covered by the Book of Mormon, including the Olmec, Zapotec and Maya.
Adherents of the Latter Day Saint movement give varied responses to these criticisms. Some invoke the limited geography model, regarding the events of the Book of Mormon as taking place in such a geographically limited area that no evidence should be expected. Some counter that the words used in the Book of Mormon refer not to the animals, plants and technologies that they do presently but to other similar items that did exist at the time.[35][unreliable source?][36] These views are not directly supported by the LDS Church, but they do support archaeological efforts to further understand these situations, including research being performed by Brigham Young University (BYU) professors.[36]
In the 1830s, the church was heavily criticized for Smith's handling of a banking failure in Kirtland, Ohio.[37][38] After the Mormons migrated west, there was fear and suspicion about the LDS Church's political and military power in Missouri,[a] culminating in the 1838 Mormon War and the Mormon Extermination Order (Missouri Executive Order 44) by Governor Lilburn Boggs. In the 1840s, criticism of the church included its theocratic aspirations in Nauvoo, Illinois. Criticism of the practice of plural marriage and other doctrines taught by Smith were published in the Nauvoo Expositor.[40][b] Opposition led to a series of events culminating in the killing of Smith and his brother while jailed in 1844.[43]
The Ostlings criticize Brigham Young's teachings that God and Adam are the same being.[44][45] One apostle, Franklin D. Richards, also accepted the doctrine as taught by Young, stating in a conference held in June 1854 that "the Prophet and Apostle Brigham has declared it, and that it is the word of the Lord".[46] But, when the concept was first introduced, several LDS leaders disagreed with the doctrine, including apostle Orson Pratt, who expressed that disagreement publicly.[47] The church never formally adopted the doctrine, and has since officially repudiated it.[48][49]
Brigham Young introduced a doctrine known as "blood atonement", regarding the unpardonable sin, or sin for which Jesus Christ's atonement does not apply.[50][51] He taught that a person could atone for such sins only by giving up his or her life.[52] Various church leaders in the 19th century taught likewise,[53][54][55] but more recently church leaders have taught that the atonement of Jesus Christ is all-encompassing and that there is no sin so severe that it cannot be forgiven (with the exception of the "unpardonable sin" of denying the Holy Ghost).[56]
Critics such as Richard Abanes[57] and the Institute for Religious Research[58] criticize the church[57][58] for changing the principle asserting that God was once a man. They cite changes to the LDS Church publication Gospel Principles between the 1978[59] and 1997[60] editions, where "We can become Gods like our Heavenly Father" was changed to "We can become like our Heavenly Father", and "our Heavenly Father became a God" was changed to "our Heavenly Father became God".[57][58] But, official LDS Church publications still affirm the doctrine of eternal progression, and the official church manual, Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Lorenzo Snow (2012),[61] affirms that "As man is, God once was; as God now is, man may be."[62][63] The 2009 edition of Gospel Principles quotes Joseph Smith as stating, "It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the Character of God. … He was once a man like us; … God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ himself did".[64]
Reacting to accusations of abuse by teachers,[65]Boy Scouts leaders,[66] clergy, etc., social welfare activists have campaigned for more robust of measures toward greater prevention of abuse of individuals served by counselors and other professionals, advocating greater transparency and quicker referral of allegations to criminal investigators.
The LDS Church has a zero tolerance policy concerning sexual misconduct. It also gives specific instruction on conducting one-on-one interviews with youths, including encouraging them to have parents or other trustworthy adults sit directly outside the room. Church leaders are to avoid any situation that could be misinterpreted.
2018 protest over leaders' sexual interviews with children and teens
In 2018 over 800 protesters gathered and marched to the LDS Church headquarters to deliver a petition with over 55,000 signatures asking for an end to semiannual, closed-door, one-on-one interviews between adult male local church leaders and children and teens during which many members have been asked about their sexual behaviors and thoughts in ways they felt were harmful.[69]
The church has often been secretive about its finances, especially in the United States. The church has not disclosed its assets in the U.S. since 1959.[70] This has drawn criticism from the Ostlings and the Tanners, who consider its financial practices to be overly secretive.[relevant?][71][72][73]
The church does disclose financials in the United Kingdom[74] and Canada,[75] where it is required to by law. In addition, the church employs an independent audit department that provides its certification at each annual general conference that church contributions are collected and spent in accordance with church policy.[76] Moreover, the church engages a public accounting firm (currently Deloitte & Touche in the United States; PricewaterhouseCoopers in the United Kingdom) to perform annual audits of its not-for-profit,[77] for-profit,[78] and educational[79][80] entities. Lay leaders at the local level are not paid.[81]
The Tanners and the Ostlings accuse the church of being overly greedy and materialistic, citing the large amount of wealth accumulated by the church, and citing the strong emphasis on tithing,[82] and suggest that the church is more like a business than a spiritual endeavor.[73][83]
In December 2019, a whistleblower alleged the church holds over $100 billion in investment funds, which are managed by an affiliate, Ensign Peak Advisors; that it failed to use the funds for charitable purposes and instead used them in for-profit ventures; and that it misled contributors and the public about the usage and extent of those funds. According to the whistleblower, applicable law requires the funds be used for religious, educational or other charitable purposes for the fund to maintain its tax-exempt status.[84] Other commentators have argued that such expenditures may not be legally required as claimed.[85] In response to the allegations, the church's First Presidency stated that "the Church complies with all applicable law governing our donations, investments, taxes, and reserves," and that "a portion" of funds received by the church are "methodically safeguarded through wise financial management and the building of a prudent reserve for the future."[86]
The Ostlings say that the LDS Church retaliates against members that publish information that undermines church policies,[87] citing excommunications of scientist Simon Southerton[88] and biographer Fawn M. Brodie.[89] They further state that the church suppresses intellectual freedom, citing the 1993 excommunication of the "September Six", including gay LDS historian D. Michael Quinn, and author Lavina Fielding Anderson.[87] The Ostlings write that Anderson was the first to reveal the LDS Church keeps files on Mormon scholars, documenting questionable activities, and the Ostlings state that "No other sizable religion in America monitors its followers in this way".[87]
Richard Abanes and the Ostlings criticize the LDS Church for maintaining a group called the Strengthening Church Members Committee, led by two church apostles.[91] According to the Ostlings, the purpose of this committee is to collect and file "letters to the editor, other writings, quotes in the media, and public activities" of church members that may be publishing views contrary to those of the church leadership.[92] The committee has also recruited students to spy on professors at Brigham Young University who are suspected of violating the church's dictates.[93][94]
The Tanners state that throughout the 20th century the church denied scholars access to many key church documents, and in 1979 said that it had refused to publish Joseph Smith's diary.[95] Apologists point out that The Joseph Smith Papers project provides access to Smith's journals.[96]
An analysis of B. H. Roberts's work History of the Church, when compared to the original manuscripts from which it is drawn, "more than 62,000 words" can be identified that were either added or deleted.[97] Based on this analysis, Jerald and Sandra Tanner contend that the church distorts its history in order to portray itself in a more favorable light.[98] Specifically, they allege that there was a systematic removal of events that portray Joseph Smith in a negative light.[99]
D. Michael Quinn responded to these charges by pointing out that methods by Roberts used in creating History of the Church—while flawed by today's standards—were not uncommon practices in the nineteenth century, even by reputable historians.[100]
The Tanners cite the selective use of Brigham Young's statements, presented in a manner to give the illusion that he was in favor of blacks receiving the priesthood.[101] The Tanners also state that the church attempted to discredit evidence that Joseph Smith was arrested, tried, and found guilty by a justice of the peace in Bainbridge, New York, in 1826.[102] The Tanners have also highlighted changes such as the title page of the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon that described Smith as "Author and Proprietor" of the book, which was revised in subsequent editions to be "Translator",[103] and the description of Oliver Cowdery's skill at using the divining rod found in the 1829 edition of the Book of Commandments, which does not appear in the corresponding section of the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants.[104]
FARMS responds to the "author and proprietor" charge by arguing this title conformed to the governing copyright laws in 1830.[105]
The Ostlings consider other omissions to be distortion, noting that the widely distributed church manual Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young omits any mention of Young's polygamy, and that the book's chronological summary of Young's life includes the date of his first marriage, the date of the first wife's death, and the date of the second legal marriage, but omits mention of Young's dozens of other marriages.[106]
In 1842, Willard Richards compiled a number of records in order to produce a history of the church. Among the records examined were the various accounts related to Zelph. In the process of combining the accounts, Richards crossed out Woodruff's references to "hill Cumorah," and Heber C. Kimball's reference to the "last great struggle with the Lamanites"[107]
Mormon historian D. Michael Quinn has accused LDS Church leaders of urging historians to hide "controversies and difficulties of the Mormon past".[108] Mormon scholar Allen Robers says church leaders "attempt to control depictions of the Mormon past".[109] Non-Mormon professor John Hallwas of Western Illinois University says of LDS historians: "[they] do not mention Mormon intimidation, deception, repression, theft, and violence, or any other matters that might call into question the sacred nature of the Mormon experience."[110]
Columbia University professor Richard Bushman, a member of The Joseph Smith Papers advisory board, responds to critics that those on the project "work on the assumption that the closer you get to Joseph Smith in the sources, the stronger he will appear, rather than the reverse, as is so often assumed by critics."[111]
Deborah Laake and Colleen McDannell say that the church takes a repressive stance towards sexuality and that this may be psychologically unhealthy.[114][115]
Affirmation, a Mormon LGBT organization, and Ed Decker, a critic of the LDS Church, both state that the repressive attitude of the church may—in extreme cases—lead to suicide, as in the case of 16-year-old Kip Eliason, who committed suicide because of the stresses that resulted when his church bishop told him that masturbation was sinful.[116][117]
In January 1982, the church's First Presidency issued a letter to local leaders stating that they had "interpreted oral sex as constituting an unnatural, impure, or unholy practice." The letter was not distributed to the general membership.[118] This letter also instructed local leaders not to inquire into the specifics of married members' sex lives. However, this portion of the letter was often ignored, and in response to letters of protest from members, another letter was issued to local leaders in October reiterating the prohibition on inquiring into specific sexual practices.[119]
Scott Thumma and Affirmation.org contend that the LDS Church is homophobic.[120][121] Affirmation.org cites a faithful, celibate, gay Latter-day Saint who shortly before his suicide wrote: "Straight members have absolutely no idea what it is like to grow up gay in this church. It is a life of constant torment, self-hatred and internalized homophobia."[122]
"God Loveth His Children", a pamphlet produced by the LDS Church, acknowledges that many gays "have felt rejected because members of the Church did not always show love." It criticizes those members, and challenges gays to show love and kindness so the members can "change their attitudes and follow Christ more fully".[123]
Gay historian D. Michael Quinn has hypothesized that early church leaders had a more tolerant view of homosexuality. He writes that several early church leaders and prominent members, including Louie B. Felt, May Anderson, Evan Stephens, and presiding patriarchJoseph Fielding Smith, may have either had homosexual tendencies or were involved in homosexual relationships.[124] George Mitton and Rhett S. James do not dispute that some early members may have had homosexual tendencies, but they call Quinn's assertion of tolerance a distortion of church history that has little support from other historians. They state the current leadership of the church "is entirely consistent with the teachings of past leaders and with the scriptures."[125]
As church president, Gordon B. Hinckley encouraged church members to reach out to homosexuals with love and understanding.[130]
Affirmation.org has particularly criticized sexual repression of homosexuals, both inside and outside of the church.
A letter dated June 20, 2008, sent to Mormon bishops and signed by the First Presidency, called on Mormons to donate "means and time" to a California ballot measure designed to defeat the state's May ruling allowing same-sex marriage. Richard and Joan Ostling point out that the LDS Church actively campaigns against same-sex marriage statutes, including donating $500,000 in 1998 towards a campaign to defeat such a referendum in Alaska.[131] The church's support (80 to 90 percent of the early volunteers who walked door-to-door in election precincts and as much as half of the nearly $40 million raised[132]) of California's Proposition 8 in 2008 sparked heated debate and protesting by gay-rights organizations.[3] The church's political involvement and stance on homosexuality has been denounced by former LDS member Reed Cowan in the 2010 documentary film 8: The Mormon Proposition.[133]
Richard and Joan Ostling, and Hugh F. Pyle state that the LDS Church's policy on temple admission is unreasonable, noting that even relatives cannot attend a temple marriage unless they are members of the church in good standing.[134][135] The Ostlings, the Institute for Religious Research, and Jerald and Sandra Tanner say that the admission rules are unreasonable because admission to the temple requires that a church member must first declare that they pay their full tithe before they can enter a temple.[136][137][138] The Mormonism Research Ministry calls this "coerced tithing" because church members that do not pay the full tithe cannot enter the temple, and thus cannot receive the ordinances required to receive the highest order of exaltation in the next life.[139]
The church teaches that a living person, acting as proxy, can be baptized by immersion on behalf of a deceased person, citing 1 Corinthians 15:29;[140] Malachi 4:5–6; John 5:25; and 1 Peter 4:6 for doctrinal support.[141] These baptisms for the dead are performed in temples.
Floyd C. McElveen and the Institute for Religious Research state that verses to support baptism for the dead are not justified by contextual exegesis of the Bible.[142][143] In 2008, the Vatican issued a statement calling the practice "erroneous" and directing its dioceses to keep parish records from the Genealogical Society of Utah which is affiliated with the LDS Church.[144]
Some Jewish groups criticized the LDS Church in 1995 after discovering that vicarious baptisms for the dead for victims of the Holocaust had been performed by members of the church.[145][146] After that criticism, church leaders put a policy in place to stop the practice, with an exception for baptisms specifically requested or approved by victims' relatives.[147] Jewish organizations again criticized the church in 2002, 2004, 2008, and 2012[148][149] stating that the church failed to honor the 1995 agreement.[147] The LDS Church says it has put institutional safeguards in place to avoid the submission of the names of Holocaust victims not related to Mormon members, but that the sheer number of names submitted makes policing the database of names impractical.[145]
Jerald and Sandra Tanner allege that Joseph Smith copied parts of the Mormon temple endowment ceremony from Masonic rituals (such as secret handshakes, clothing, and passwords), and that this undermines the church's statement that the rituals were divinely inspired.[150] The Tanners also point to the fact that Joseph Smith was himself a Freemason[151] prior to introducing the endowment rituals into Mormonism.
The Tanners criticize the church's revision of the temple endowment ceremony over the years, saying that revisions were made to obscure provocative practices of the early church.[98][152]
FairMormon, a Mormon apologetic organization, acknowledges changes to the endowment ceremony and points out that (according to Joseph Fielding Smith) Joseph Smith told Brigham Young the ceremony was "not arranged perfectly", and challenged him to organize and systemize it, which Young continued to do throughout his presidency.[153]
Minorities and women
Black people
Green Flake, an enslaved Black man reported to have driven the first wagon of LDS pioneers to the Salt Lake Valley in 1847
From 1852 to 1978 church policy excluded men of black African descent from ordination to the priesthood. During the same period black men and women were not allowed to participate in temple endowment or sealing ordinances.[1]Richard and Joan Ostling point to the restrictions as evidence that past LDS Church policies were racist in nature. Before the change in policy, most other adult males in the LDS Church were given the priesthood.[155]Jerald and Sandra Tanner cite quotes from church leaders such as Brigham Young, who said, "You must not think, from what I say, that I am opposed to slavery. No! The negro is damned, and is to serve his master till God chooses to remove the curse of Ham".[156] The Tanners also illustrate church racism by quoting sections of the Book of Mormon which describe dark skin as a sign of a curse and a mark from God to distinguish a more righteous group of people from a less righteous group, and by citing passages describing white skin as "delightsome" while dark skin is portrayed as unenticing (2 Nephi 30:6). These references in the Book of Mormon refer to those presumed to be the ancestors of Native Americans, not people of African descent.[157]Joseph Fielding Smith, later president of the church, wrote in a 1963 letter that people with dark skin were less faithful in the pre-mortal life, and as such, did not warrant the blessings of the priesthood.[158][159] The Tanners also cite other church leaders, historical and modern, who have spoken in favor of segregation and restrictions on admission to the priesthood for men of African descent.[158][160]
Policy reversal
On 8 June 1978, church president Spencer W. Kimball, rescinded the restriction on priesthood ordination and extended temple worship to all worthy Latter-day Saint men and women.[161] Also in 1978, ApostleBruce R. McConkie told members to "[f]orget everything that I have said, or what President Brigham Young or President George Q. Cannon or whomsoever has said [about Blacks and the priesthood] .... We spoke with a limited understanding."[162] Both the original policy and the reversal are criticized. The Tanners state that the church's 1978 policy change of allowing all worthy male members, including people of black African descent, to hold the priesthood was not divinely inspired as the church said, but simply a matter of convenience.[163]Richard and Joan Ostling point out that this reversal of policy occurred as the LDS Church began to expand outside the United States into countries such as Brazil that have large, ethnically mixed populations, and as the church prepared to open a new temple in São Paulo, Brazil.[164] A few black elders were ordained to the priesthood under Joseph Smith, who never expressed any opposition to having the priesthood available to all worthy men. The priesthood restriction originated under Brigham Young.[165]
Gregory Prince and William Robert Wright state that these leaders were a product of their time and locale. They say that many leaders, including Smith, David O. McKay, and initially Brigham Young, were not opposed to blacks receiving the priesthood.[166] They further state that the policy was a practice supported by Christian scripture and was not a doctrine of the church.[167] Despite several church leaders throughout the 1950s and 1960s supporting its reversal, the policy was kept in place through 1978 because the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles felt that a revelation to the president of the church was needed to change it.[168]
Calls for apology and transparency
Some black members and critics have called on the church to do more to apologize for the restrictions, while other black members have argued against that effort. In 2004 Darron Smith, a critical black church member, contends in his book, Black and Mormon, that the church "refuses to acknowledge and undo its racist past, and until it does that, members continue to suffer psychological damage from it" and that "the church has not done enough to rectify its racist past".[169] The large majority of black Mormons, however, say they are willing to look beyond the racist teachings and adhere to the church.[170] Church president Gordon B. Hinckley gave sermons against racism. In 2005 he taught that no one who utters denigrating remarks can consider himself a true disciple of Christ, and noted the irony of racial claims to the Melchizedek priesthood.[171]
In 2003 Richard Abanes contended that the church tries to hide past racial practices, citing the 1981 change in the Book of Mormon, which stated that the Lamanites had become "a white and a delightsome people" to "a pure and a delightsome people" (2 Nephi 30:6).[172] In 1840, the "white and delightsome" of the original Book of Mormon text was changed by Joseph Smith to "pure and delightsome" in the third edition;[173] it reverted to "white and delightsome" after Smith's death in subsequent editions, as editions were based on one published in England. In 1981, the First Presidency approved a change that adopted the 1840 version by Smith, as saying that converts would become "pure and delightsome".[174]
Recent scrutiny and church response
Criticisms for the past policies on race discrimination were renewed during the 2012 presidential campaign of Mitt Romney and in 2018 surrounding the 40th anniversary of the lifting of race restrictions.[175][1] The church published the following statement in December 2013:[176]
Today, the Church disavows the theories advanced in the past that black skin is a sign of divine disfavor or curse, or that it reflects unrighteous actions in a premortal life; that mixed-race marriages are a sin; or that blacks or people of any other race or ethnicity are inferior in any way to anyone else. Church leaders today unequivocally condemn all racism, past and present, in any form.
Artistic depiction of Joseph Smith preaching to Native Americans in Illinois
Over the past two centuries, the relationship between Native American people and the LDS Church has included friendly ties, displacement, battles, slavery, education placement programs, official and unofficial discrimination, and criticism.[178][179] Church leadership and publications taught that Native Americans are descendants of Lamanites, a dark-skinned and cursed people from the Book of Mormon.[180][179] More recently, LDS researchers and publications generally favor a smaller geographic footprint of Lamanite descendants.[c][183] There is no direct support amongst mainstream historians and archaeologists for the historicity of the Book of Mormon or Middle Eastern origins for any Native American peoples.[184][185][186]
Soon after Mormons colonized the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, Native American child slaves became a vital source of their labor, and were exchanged as gifts.[187][188] The settlers initially had some peaceful relations, but because resources were scarce in the desert, hostilities broke out with the local Native Americans.[189] According to LDS Church HistorianMarlin K. Jensen as more LDS immigrants arrived and took over the land of Native nations, "Resources the Indians had relied on for generations diminished, and in time they felt forced to resist and fight for their own survival ... the land and cultural birthright Indians once possessed in the Great Basin were largely taken from them."[189] Within 50 years of Mormon settlement, the population of Utah's Native Americans was reduced by almost 90%.[190]
The church ran an Indian Placement Program between the 1950s and the 1990s, wherein indigenous children were adopted by white church members. Criticism resulted during and after the program, including claims of improper assimilation and even abuse.[191][192] However, many of the involved students and families praised the program.[193] Church leaders taught for decades that Native Americans' darker skin would be made lighter due to their righteousness.[194][195][196]
Current teachings and policies leave homosexual members with the options of: potentially harmful attempts to change their sexual orientation, entering a mixed-orientation opposite-sex marriage, or lifelong celibacy.[205][206][207] Some have argued that church teachings against homosexuality and the treatment of LGBT members by other adherents and leaders have contributing to their elevated rates of PTSD and depression,[208][209][210] as well as suicide and teen homelessness.[211][212][213] The church's decades-long, political involvement opposing US same-sex marriage laws has further garnered criticism and protests.[214][215]
Richard and Joan Ostling argue that the LDS Church treats women as inferior to men.[216] The Cult Awareness and Information Centre also point to comments such as those made by church leader Bruce R. McConkie, who wrote in 1966 that a "woman's primary place is in the home, where she is to rear children and abide by the righteous counsel of her husband".[217] The First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve espouse a complementarian view of gender roles.[218]
Claudia Lauper Bushman notes that, in the 1970s and 1980s, "just as American women pressed for greater influence", the LDS Church decreased the visibility and responsibilities of women in various areas including welfare, leadership, training, publishing, and policy setting. Despite this, Bushman asserts, "most LDS women tend to be good-natured and pragmatic: they work on the things that they can change and forget the rest."[219]
Jerald and Sandra Tanner point to comments by certain church leaders as evidence that women are subject to different rules regarding entry into heaven. They state that 19th-century leader Erastus Snow preached: "No woman will get into the celestial kingdom, except her husband receives her, if she is worthy to have a husband; and if not, somebody will receive her as a servant".[220] In Mormon doctrine, celestial marriage is a prerequisite for exaltation for members of either gender.[221]
On December 28, 2020, seven lawsuits were filed against the LDS Church, based on allegations which stated that it covered up decades of sexual abuse among its Boy Scouts of America (BSA) troops in Arizona.[223] On September 15, 2021, it was agreed that the BSA, which the church ended affiliation with in 2020, would receive an estimated $250 million in settlements from the church.[224][225] The church had been the BSA's largest single sponsor.[225]
Mormon apologetics organizations, such as FAIR and the Maxwell Institute, seek to counter criticisms of the church and its leaders. Most of the apologetic work focuses on providing and discussing evidence supporting the claims of Smith and the Book of Mormon. Scholars and authors such as Hugh Nibley,[226] Daniel C. Peterson,[227] and others are well-known apologists within the church. The Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS) was a well-known apologetic organization before being absorbed into the Maxwell Institute in 2006.
↑ Bushman noted that in Daviess County, Missouri, non-Mormons "watched local government fall into the hands of people they saw as deluded fanatics".[39]
↑ Historian Fawn Brodie argued that given its authors' intentions to reform the church, the paper was "extraordinarily restrained" given the explosive allegations it could have raised.[41] A prospectus for the newspaper was published on May 10, and referred to Smith as a "self-constituted monarch".[42]
↑ Prior to 2006, the introduction to church-published editions of the Book of Mormon stated Lamanites form the "principal ancestors of the American Indians." Since the 2006 edition, the same passage now reads they are "among the ancestors of the American Indians." [181][182]
↑ Bushman 2005, p.439: "There is no certain evidence that Joseph had sexual relations with any of the wives who were married to other men. They married because Joseph's kingdom grew with the size of his family, and those bonded to that family would be exalted with him."
↑ Goodstein, Laurie (10 November 2014). "It's Official: Mormon Founder Had Up to 40 Wives". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 June 2017. [Joseph Smith Jr.] married Helen Mar Kimball, a daughter of two close friends, 'several months before her 15th birthday'.
↑ Turner, John G. (27 October 2012). "Polygamy, Brigham Young and His 55 Wives". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2 June 2017. The sheer variety of Brigham Young's marriages makes it difficult to make sense of them. He married—was sealed to, in Mormon parlance—young (Clarissa Decker, 15) and old (Hannah Tapfield King, 65).
↑ Hardy, Carmon (1992). Solemn Covenant: The Mormon Polygamous Passage. University of Illinois Press. ISBN0-252-01833-8. [pageneeded]This was done to place obedience to God above conformity with society or "mammon." Breakaway polygamist groups took this a step further, parting with Salt Lake's leaders and practicing polygamy openly.
↑ Rood, Ron and Thatcher, Linda. "Statehood". Brief History of Utah. historytogo.utah.gov. Archived 2017-11-10 at the Wayback Machine .
↑ Fagan, Garrett G.; Feder, Kenneth L. (1 December 2006). "Crusading against straw men: an alternative view of alternative archaeologies: response to Holtorf (2005)". World Archaeology. 38 (4): 718–729. doi:10.1080/00438240600963528. S2CID162321776.
↑ Young, Brigham (April 9, 1852), "Self-Government–Mysteries–Recreation and Amusements, not in Themselves Sinful–Tithing–Adam, Our Father and Our God", in Watt, G.D., Journal of Discourses, by Brigham Young, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, His Two Counsellors, the Twelve Apostles, and Others, vol. 1, Liverpool: F.D. & S.W. Richards, 1854, pp. 46–53,
↑ Cantwell, Robert W. (May 2007). "Church Auditing Department Report, 2006". Ensign. 37 (5): 6. Retrieved 2011-12-06. The Church Auditing Department has been granted access to all records and systems necessary to evaluate the adequacy of controls over receipts of funds, expenditures, and safeguarding of Church assets. The Church Auditing Department is independent of all other Church departments and operations, and the staff consists of certified public accountants, certified internal auditors, certified information systems auditors, and other credentialed professionals. Based upon audits performed, the Church Auditing Department is of the opinion that, in all material respects, contributions received, expenditures made, and assets of the Church for the year 2006 have been recorded and administered in accordance with appropriate accounting practices, approved budgets, and Church policies and procedures.
↑ "Finance". accredit.byu.edu. See page 9 of pdf document available at "Finance 7"(PDF). Archived from the original(PDF) on 2007-06-12. Retrieved 2009-02-05.. Accessed 16 May 2007.
↑ Godfrey 1994 "Zelph was a white Lamanite, a man of God who was a warrior and chieftain under the great prophet Onandagus who was known from the [hill Cumorah is crossed out in the manuscript] eastern Sea, to the Rocky Mountains. He was killed in battle, by the arrow found among his ribs, during a [last crossed out] great struggle with the Lamanites" [and Nephites crossed out]."
↑ D. Michael Quinn On Being A Mormon Historian p. 21: Lecture to BYU Student History Association, Fall 1981
↑ Hallwas, John (1995). Cultures in Conflict: A Documentary History of the Mormon War in Illinois. Utah State University Press. pp.2–3. ISBN0-87421-272-3.
↑ "The Joseph Smith Papers: Quotes About the Project". lds.org. Archived from the original on October 24, 2012. Retrieved 2011-12-06. We work on the assumption that the closer you get to Joseph Smith in the sources, the stronger he will appear, rather than the reverse, as is so often assumed by critics. His warmth, his sincerity, and his absolute devotion to the cause come through page after page.
↑ Rischin, Moses. "The New Mormon History." The American West (Mar. 1969): 49.
↑ The New Mormon History. Ed. D. Michael Quinn. Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1992. (vii).
↑ Quinn, D. Michael (2001). Same-Sex Dynamics Among Nineteenth-Century Americans: A Mormon Example. University of Illinois Press. pp.195–264. ISBN0-252-06958-7.
↑ McKeever, Bill, "Tithing by Coercion", MRM.org, Mormonism Research Ministry, retrieved 2013-01-17
↑ "Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?" (1 Corinthians 15:29)
↑ Buerger, David John (2002), The Mysteries of Godliness: A History of Mormon Temple Worship (2nd ed.), Salt Lake City: Signature Books, ISBN1-56085-176-7, pp. 139–140
↑ "Race and the Priesthood". The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. December 2013. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
↑ Bruce R. McConkie, 1978 (All Are Alike Unto God, A Symposium on the Book of Mormon, The Second Annual Church Educational System Religious Educator's Symposium, August 17–19, 1978.)
↑ Fish, Jessica N.; Russell, Stephen T. (Aug 2020). "Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Change Efforts are Unethical and Harmful". American Journal of Public Health. 110 (8): 1113–1114. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2020.305765. PMC7349462. PMID32639919. With substantial evidence of serious harms associated with exposure to [sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts (SOGICE)] particularly for minors, 21 states (and multiple cities and counties) have passed bipartisan laws or regulations prohibiting SOGICE. ... Furthermore, compared with LGBTQ youths with no exposure, those exposed to SOGICE showed 1.76 times greater odds of seriously considering suicide, 2.23 times greater odds of having attempted suicide, and 2.54 times greater odds of multiple suicide attempts in the previous year.
↑ Galliher, Renee; Bradshaw, William; Dehlin, John; Crowelle, Katherine (25 April 2014). "Psychosocial Correlates of Religious Approaches to Same-Sex Attraction: A Mormon Perspective". Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health. 18 (3): 301, 304. doi:10.1080/19359705.2014.912970. S2CID144153586– via ResearchGate. The major findings from the study are that non-biologically based views regarding the etiology of SSA [same-sex attraction], remaining active in the LDS Church, remaining single, and engaging in mixed-orientation marriages were all associated with higher reported levels of internalized homophobia, sexual identity distress, and depression, and lower levels of self-esteem and quality of life. ... This study does affirm and extend the existing literature by suggesting that psychosocially based beliefs about SSA etiology active participation in non-LGBT-affirming churches, being single and celibate, and mixed-orientation marriage—all of which are common beliefs and/or practices within modern, active LDS culture—are associated with poorer psychosocial health, well-being, and quality of life for LGBT Mormons. Conversely, biological beliefs about SSA etiology, complete disaffiliation from the LDS Church, legal same-sex marriage, and sexual activity are all associated with higher levels of psychosocial health, well-being, and quality of life for LGBT Mormons.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is the largest Latter Day Saint denomination. Founded by Joseph Smith during the Second Great Awakening, the church is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has established congregations and built temples worldwide. According to the church, as of 2023, it has over 17.2 million members of which over 6.8 million live in the U.S. The church also reports over 99,000 volunteer missionaries and 350 temples.
Polygamy was practiced by leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for more than half of the 19th century, and practiced publicly from 1852 to 1890 by between 20 and 30 percent of Latter-day Saint families.
In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is one of the governing bodies in the church hierarchy. Members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles are apostles, with the calling to be prophets, seers, and revelators, evangelical ambassadors, and special witnesses of Jesus Christ.
Jerald Dee Tanner and Sandra McGee Tanner are American writers and researchers who publish archival and evidential materials about the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Tanners founded the Utah Lighthouse Ministry (UTLM), whose stated mission is "to document problems with the claims of Mormonism and compare LDS doctrines with Christianity". As of 2022 Sandra Tanner continues to operate the ministry after Jerald's death in 2006.
During the history of the Latter Day Saint movement, the relationship between Black people and Mormonism has included enslavement, exclusion and inclusion, and official and unofficial discrimination. Black people have been involved with the Latter Day Saint movement since its inception in the 1830s. Their experiences have varied widely, depending on the denomination within Mormonism and the time of their involvement. From the mid-1800s to 1978, Mormonism's largest denomination – the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – barred Black women and men from participating in the ordinances of its temples necessary for the highest level of salvation, and excluded most men of Black African descent from ordination in the church's lay, all-male priesthood. During that time the LDS Church also opposed interracial marriage, supported racial segregation in its communities and church schools, and taught that righteous Black people would be made white after death. The temple and priesthood racial restrictions were lifted by church leaders in 1978. In 2013, the LDS Church disavowed its previous teachings on race for the first time.
Brigham Henry Roberts was a historian, politician, and leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He edited the seven-volume History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and independently wrote the six-volume Comprehensive History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Roberts also wrote Studies of the Book of Mormon—published posthumously—which discussed the validity of the Book of Mormon as an ancient record. Roberts was denied a seat as a member of United States Congress because of his practice of polygamy.
Mark Edward Petersen was an American news editor and religious leader. He was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. He served as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1944 until his death. He became managing editor of the church-owned Deseret News in 1935 and then editor in 1941. He filled the vacancy in the Quorum caused by the excommunication of Richard R. Lyman.
Signature Books is an American press specializing in subjects related to Utah, Mormonism, and Western Americana. The company was founded in 1980 by George D. Smith and Scott Kenney and is based in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is majority owned by the Smith-Pettit Foundation.
The Mormon religion is predicated on what are said to be historical events such as the First Vision of Joseph Smith and the historicity of the Book of Mormon, which describes a detailed pre-Columbian history of the Americas. Joseph Fielding Smith, the tenth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, declared that "Mormonism, as it is called, must stand or fall on the story of Joseph Smith. He was either a prophet of God, divinely called, properly appointed and commissioned, or he was one of the biggest frauds this world has ever seen. There is no middle ground." As Jan Shipps has written, "Mormonism, unlike other modern religions, is a faith cast in the form of history," and until after World War II, Mormons did not critically examine the historical underpinnings of their faith; any "profane" investigation of the church's history was perceived "as trespassing on forbidden ground."
William C. Conway was an American neo-Druid and the leader of a mystical sect in the Latter Day Saint movement.
Possibly as early as the 1830s, followers of the Latter Day Saint movement, were practicing the doctrine of polygamy or "plural marriage". After the death of church founder Joseph Smith, the doctrine was officially announced in Utah Territory in 1852 by Mormon leader Brigham Young. The practice was attributed posthumously to Smith and it began among Mormons at large, principally in Utah where the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had relocated after the Illinois Mormon War.
The standard works of Mormonism—the largest denomination of which is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints —have been the subject of various criticisms. Latter-day Saints believe the Book of Mormon is a sacred text with the same divine authority as the Bible; both are considered complementary to each other. Other Mormon sacred texts include the Pearl of Great Price and Doctrine and Covenants, which are also recognized as scripture. Religious and scholarly critics outside Mormonism have disputed Mormonism's unique scriptures, questioning the traditional narrative of how these books came to light and the extent to which they describe actual events. Critics cite research in history, archeology, and other disciplines to support their contentions.
Mormonism and Nicene Christianity have a complex theological, historical, and sociological relationship. Mormons express their doctrines using biblical terminology. They have similar views about the nature of Jesus Christ's atonement, bodily resurrection, and Second Coming as mainstream Christians. Nevertheless, most Mormons do not accept the doctrine of the Trinity as codified in the Nicene Creed of 325 and the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed of 381. Although Mormons consider the Protestant Bible to be holy scripture, they do not believe in biblical inerrancy. They have also adopted additional scriptures that they believe to have been divinely revealed to Joseph Smith, including the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. Mormons practice baptism and celebrate the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, but they also participate in other religious rituals. Mormons self-identify as Christians.
Reed Connell Durham, Jr. is a historian of the Latter Day Saint movement and former director of the Institute of Religion in Salt Lake City, Utah for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Durham is remembered for a controversial speech given in 1974 about Freemasonry and the Latter Day Saint movement.
From 1852 to 1978, temple and priesthood policies in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints prohibited both Black women and men from temple ordinances and ordination in the all-male priesthood. In 1978, the church's highest governing body, the First Presidency, declared in the "Official Declaration 2" statement, that the restriction had been lifted. Between 1830 and 1852, a few Black men had been ordained to the Mormon priesthood in the Latter Day Saint movement, under Joseph Smith.
Since Mormonism's foundation, Black people have been members; however, the church placed restrictions on proselytization efforts among Black people. Before 1978, Black membership was small. It has since grown, and in 1997, there were approximately 500,000 Black members of the church, mostly in Africa, Brazil and the Caribbean. Black membership has continued to grow substantially, especially in West Africa, where two temples have been built. By 2018, an estimated 6% of members were Black worldwide. In the United States, approximately 1% of members are Black.
In the past, leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints including Brigham Young have consistently opposed marriages between members of different ethnicities, though interracial marriage is no longer considered a sin. In 1977, apostle Boyd K. Packer publicly stated that "[w]e've always counseled in the Church for our Mexican members to marry Mexicans, our Japanese members to marry Japanese, our Caucasians to marry Caucasians, our Polynesian members to marry Polynesians. ... The counsel has been wise." Nearly every decade for over a century—beginning with the church's formation in the 1830s until the 1970s—has seen some denunciations of interracial marriages (miscegenation), with most statements focusing on Black–White marriages. Church president Brigham Young taught on multiple occasions that Black–White marriage merited death for the couple and their children.
This is a bibliography of works on the Latter Day Saint movement.
Over the past two centuries, the relationship between Native American people and Mormonism has included friendly ties, displacement, battles, slavery, education placement programs, and official and unofficial discrimination. Native American people were historically considered a special group by adherents of the Latter Day Saint movement (Mormons) since they were believed to be the descendants of the Lamanite people described in The Book of Mormon. There is no support from genetic studies and archaeology for the historicity of the Book of Mormon or Middle Eastern origins for any Native American peoples. Today there are many Native American members of Mormon denominations as well as many people who are critical of Mormonism and its teachings and actions around Native American people.
Bennett, John C. (1842), The History of the Saints; or An Exposé of Joe Smith and Mormonism, Boston; New York: Leland & Whiting; Bradbury, Soden, OCLC11081448
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