Vojtch Duda AF/JAP

1. Introduction
The meaning of the word Mormons is relatively broad. It generally refers to all adherents of so-called Latter Day Saint movement. It is a religious movement, coming from Christianity, formed in the early 1830s by an American farmer Joseph Smith, who claimed to be a Gods prophet who restored the true church of Jesus Christ, as all other Christian denominations had fallen into apostasy and corruption, straying from the Gods truth. The fundamental scripture of the movement is the Book of Mormon, written and published by Joseph Smith, allegedly a new biblical text, translated from ancient gold plates, delivered to Smith by an angel. The book gave its believers this originally pejorative name, as they used to prefer to refer to themselves as Latter Day Saints, because they also believed, that they lived in the end times before the Christs Second Coming. Today, the Latter Day Saint movement is divided into several denominations, and the name Mormons most typically applies to members of by far the largest of these The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, frequently abbreviated as the LDS Church. It is considered one of wealthiest, most influential and fastest growing churches in America, with more than 13 million members worldwide. According to the 2001 census, 1366 Czech citizens are LDS believers. In the United States, the church and its members are officially valued and respected, but it was not always so. History of this essentially American religious movement includes stories of conflict, persecution and forced migration of indeed biblical proportions. And this history is inseparably connected with the personality and teachings of the Mormon controversial prophet.

2. Life, death and legacy of Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith was born on December 25th 1805 on a small rural farm in Vermont. His family later moved on to Palmyra, New York. It was still the American frontier, an area on the edge of civilization, fired by great religious fervor, caused by unseen freedom of religion, granted by the constitution then young United States. Divisions of faith were found even within families, and the Smith household was no exception. The father was a Universalist, the mother a Presbyterian and the children were long struggling with the question which of the churches they ought to join. In this time of confusion, Joseph Smith, then only fourteen years old, claimed to have the first of what would later became a long series of divine revelations. As he recounted, he went to a grove of trees to pray, and was visited by God the Father and Jesus Christ there. And he asked them the question that troubled him the most: Which of the churches is true? And the answer was that none of them was, and that he was chosen to restore the true church of Christ on this Earth. This story of Smiths first revelation has been recorded in several different versions, and one of the later, most detailed versions became the official version, taught by the

LDS Church today. At that time, Joseph kept the story only for himself and his family and friends, who believed in him as a prophet. However, three years later, he claimed to have another vision that became crucial for founding of the new church. Smith said he was visited by an angel, who told him about an ancient biblical text, written in plates of gold, buried not far from the Smiths farm, and revealed the location of the plates to him. Few years later, Joseph allegedly took the Plates home and translated them into English with assistance of his wife and friends, using a strange divinatory device called a seer stone. After that, he returned the plates to the angel Moroni, without ever showing them to anyone else. He named his translation The Book of Mormon, after an ancient prophet who was supposed to be the author of much of the text in the gold plates. He published it in 1830, and the book was spread from his family and friends to foreigners. It tells a story of an ancient tribe of Israelites, who left their homes in the Middle East and sailed to the New World, the present-day America. There, they split into two tribes: the prosperous Nephites and the nomadic Lamanites, whom Mormons consider ancestors of modern-day Native Americans. The two tribes became hostile and waged wars with each other for centuries. Until the day Jesus Christ visited them in his resurrected being and preached peace and justice to them. The consequential period of harmony would last for some two hundred years, but later, the tribes fell into the old conflict again. Gradually the Lamanites gained advantage, and Nephites eventually found themselves at the brink of extinction. Before the final clash, the prophet Mormon gives the gold plates, recording the entire history of the tribes in America, along with the original teachings of Jesus Christ, to his son Moroni, the last Nephite to survive. He completes the gold plates and buries them on a hill near present-day Palmyra, New York, to be later revealed to and dug up by Joseph Smith. After its publication, the Book of Mormon caused both acceptance and outrage, bringing Smith followers as well as enemies. Few months after publishing the book, first Mormon missionaries head to the neighboring states, and Smith himself leaves Palmyra for the town of Kirtland, Ohio, to settle there for the next eight years. During that period of time, he declared he had more, some 65 visions, determining the next development of the church which was finally renamed to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. First Mormon temple, inspired by the Old Testament tradition was built in Kirtland, and numbers of Latter Day Saints grew not only in United States, but also in Europe, as Smith sent some of his most faithful adherents to England as missionaries. However, it was also time of growing hostility of non-Mormon population. Mormons were feared and hated for a number of reasons, both worldly and religious. Other settlers resented the fact that Mormons tended to gather in large numbers, bringing economic competition and possibility of taking control of a local government, as they usually voted as a bloc. Non-Mormons were also suspicious about many strange Mormon rituals and doctrines, such as baptism for the dead, and angry for the constant claims of Mormon preachers, that all other forms of Christian faith are false and corrupted. Inhabitants of the state of Missouri were also concerned that Joseph Smith had revealed that their land was chosen as a site of New Jerusalem, where Mormons were to gather before the Judgment Day.

Instead, it was in Missouri where the hostility grew violent and culminated into an issue of an extermination order by the governor of Missouri in August 1838, decreeing that all Mormons within the state boundaries must be either driven away or wiped out. This resulted in the massacre in the Mormon settlement of Hauns Mill, where a local militia slew 17 people, including unarmed children. Earlier that year, Smith was forced to flee from Kirtland, due to some not quite clarified financial and sexual scandals, when even some of his oldest friends had turned against him. His family and several faithful members followed him. He joined groups of his people escaping from Missouri and settled in Illinois, founding the city of Nauvoo, which would soon grow large and prosperous. Smith gradually gained immense political and military influence over the city, turning Nauvoo into almost perfect theocracy. He also revealed probably the most controversial of Mormon practices polygamy, and was the first of Mormon leaders to take many wives. Although the practice remained officially confidential at that time, rumors about it were spread to the public. Along with Smiths raising political power, it angered many outsiders and Mormons alike. After his daring attempt to repress right to free speech by destroying a local newspaper that criticized him, he was arrested, and murdered by an angry mob that broke into the jail three days later. His death in 1844 resulted into chaos and schism within the church, which split into several groups. Large group of Mormons, who renounced the revealed practice of polygamy, founded what is now known as the Community of Christ. But the majority of Saints followed Smiths closest friend, Brigham Young, who would become the second president of the church.

3. Brigham Young, the Mormon exodus and the Utah War

Young decided to lead Mormons out of the territory of the United States, to escape further persecution and violence. That resulted in thousands of Mormon pioneers, wave after wave, migrating into the valley of the Great Salt Lake, then Mexican unsettled territory. It was a long and perilous journey and many of the new settlers died along the way. Not long after their settlement in their new promised land, Mormons found themselves on the territory of the United States again, as vast western territories were ceded to the USA after the Mexican war. The state of Utah with the capital of Salt Lake City is founded on the lands settled by Mormons, and although Brigham Young is appointed its governor a long period of quarrels with the federal government breaks out. It culminated in so-called Utah war, when the entire Mormon territory was declared in rebellion. Although no armies battled in this conflict, it wasnt entirely bloodless, as it settled stage for the Mormon local militia slaughtering 120 civilians of a wagon train passing across the Utah territory. The tragedy becomes known as the Mountain Meadows massacre. In spite of the peaceful ending of the war, much of the problems and tension between Utah and the federal government endured.

4. Gradual reformation of the LDS Church, Mormons at present

Not long after Brigham Youngs death in 1877, U.S. government takes more serious action in their fight against Mormons in Utah. They wanted to put an end to polygamy, and they feared the theocracy in Utah, as Mormons were used to follow

their religious leaders instead of the elected leaders. Utah was long refused statehood, and polygamy was declared a felony. All its practitioners were disfranchised and arrested, and many U.S. territorial prisons soon became filled up with fathers of Mormon families. Ultimately the government started to threaten the LDS leaders by confiscation of the entire property of the church. Finally in 1890 Wilford Woodruf, the 4th president of the LDS church, issued the Manifesto renouncing the polygamy, and Utah was granted statehood six years later. Until 1950s, Mormons continued to adapt to conditions acceptable for the central government, which lead to important economic and cultural transformation of the regions inhabited by LDS members. The church itself changed too, mainly in granting priesthood and full membership without regard to race, and moderation of its approach towards traditional Christianity. However, no major Christian church, Catholic or Protestant, officially consider Mormonism a Christian denomination, and refer to it as a sect, or an independent religion based on Judaism, as there are definitely some notable facts and principles, that differ Mormonism from fully Christian churches, and make it stand apart. All worthy male members are granted LDS priesthood. Women are not allowed to become priestess in the church. Several feminist members who strived to change the principle were punished by excommunication. All members are expected to give 10% of their gross income to the church. The financial politics of the church is strictly confidential, never fully revealed not even to the contributing membership. All young and capable male members are expected to spend two years of their lives as full-time missionaries, often being sent to remote foreign countries, sometimes risking their lives for the expansion of the church. The Book of Mormon, along with the Doctrine and Covenants (a compilation of Smiths revelations), and the Pearl of the Great Price (a selection of various religious texts important to the LDS believers) and Holy Bible are the official scriptures of the church. They are claimed to be a true testimony of real people and events, and questioning their authenticity is not allowed. Temples are the centre of Mormon faith. Outsiders and members not found worthy are not allowed in, and those who are must not speak about much of the rituals that take place there. Mormons are not allowed to smoke, use any kind of drugs, and drink alcohol, coffee, and black or green tea. Since Wilford Woodruffs Manifesto, the practice of polygamy has been officially discontinued, and since 1904 punished by excommunication. The church itself took part in many federal raids against isolated Mormon fundamentalist communities which refused to renounce the practice. In spite of that, plural marriage still exists. Although its treated as a crime, 30 000 60 000 polygamists are estimated to live in the U.S. territory today.

Works Cited Internet Sources

Online Film Documentaries
The Mormons. Dir. Helen Whitney. FRONTLINE and AMERICAN EXPERIENCE , 2007. 12 June 2008 <http://www.pbs.org/mormons/view/>.

Online Encyclopedias
"Book of Mormon." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. n.d. 3 July 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Mormon>. "Latter Day Saint movement." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. n.d. 3 July 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latter_Day_Saint_movement>. "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. n.d. 3 July 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints>.

Website Documents
"Population by denomination and sex." esk statistick ad. 9 Dec. 2006. 3 July 2008 <http://www.czso.cz/csu/2006edicniplan.nsf/t/3D00462B10/$File/4032060119.pdf>.