The LDS Church and State

Dear Readers,

I’d be interested to see what an LDS theocracy would look like these days. Right now the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is officially politically neutral. Here’s the official statement: http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/public-issues/political-neutrality

And right now the LDS church doesn’t have political jurisdiction over any state. Not even Utah, technically. But what would it look like, I wonder, if the LDS church ran the government? What would it look like if the LDS church made and enforced all the laws, had the power to collect taxes, build roads, declare war, coin money and so on?

I’m curious because the true church and state haven’t always been separated. For example, Moses was effectively the king and the prophet at the same time. Nephi was also effectively the king and the prophet at the same time.

In modern times, Joseph Smith was the mayor of Nauvoo and the general of the Nauvoo Legion, and he was even a candidate for President of the United States.

We shouldn’t call 1840’s Nauvoo a theocracy, though. Well, I don’t know, maybe we should. It’s arguable. Here’s the definition from Dictionary.com: “a form of government in which God or a deity is recognized as the supreme civil ruler, the God’s or deity’s laws being interpreted by the ecclesiastical authorities.”

Also, “theocracy” has sort of a bad connotation. When I hear the word “theocracy,” I think it really means there’s a dictator claiming revelation from God, killing all dissenters. But the beautiful thing about Nauvoo and the beautiful thing about Salt Lake City is that the inhabitants didn’t all have to be Mormon. Everybody was invited to convert, and probably socially pressured to convert, but everybody wasn’t legally required to convert. It wasn’t a law to be Mormon. It wasn’t a law to pay tithing or attend church on Sunday. You wouldn’t get fined or thrown in jail if you didn’t do your home teaching. Sure, there were probably laws that reflected the Mormon milieu, (like many U.S. laws reflect a Christian background) but the freedom of religion was ensured for all.

I think 1840s Nauvoo and 1850s -1900s Salt Lake City were a lot like the government found in Alma chapter 1 in The Book of Mormon. In that chapter, a bad guy named Nehor preached against Christ and became popular and eventually killed a righteous man named Gideon. The law could not punish Nehor because of his preaching- the Nephite government supported freedom of speech- but they did have a law against murder, so they punished Nehor for murder. In Alma 1:14, Alma is talking to Nehor:

14 Therefore thou art condemned to die, according to the law which has been given us by Mosiah, our last king; and it has been acknowledged by this people; therefore this people must abide by the law.

15 And it came to pass that they took him; and his name was Nehor; and they carried him upon the top of the hill Manti, and there he was caused, or rather did acknowledge, between the heavens and the earth, that what he had taught to the people was contrary to the word of God; and there he suffered an ignominious death.

16 Nevertheless, this did not put an end to the spreading of priestcraft through the land; for there were many who loved the vain things of the world, and they went forth preaching false doctrines; and this they did for the sake of riches and honor.

17 Nevertheless, they durst not lie, if it were known, for fear of the law, for liars were punished; therefore they pretended to preach according to their belief; and now the law could have no power on any man for his belief.

Isn’t that great? In that “theocracy” where Alma was the chief judge and the prophet at the same time, Alma still allowed freedom of speech. That’s a heck of a lot different than what Stalin and Hitler and other godless dictators did.

When Joseph Smith was asked how he governed the early Latter-Day Saints, he replied, “I teach them correct principles and they govern themselves.” What a brilliant, beautiful response.

I really wonder what would have happened if Joseph Smith wasn’t assassinated and the Mormons weren’t kicked out of Illinois. That would have been awesome if Joseph Smith became politically popular and became the President of the USA.

I’m sort of like the Jews in the meridian of time who were expecting a political Messiah instead of a spiritual Messiah. Sometimes I want a Messiah with real political clout, someone who will stop reigning in the heavens and start reigning on the Earth, someone who will turn all the injustices into justices, and make all crime and suffering go away.

I like this passage in Jews Without Money, by Michael Gold on page 189 and 190. In the book a group of Christian boys beat up Mikey, basically just because he’s a Jew, and they call him a “Christ-killer.” Mikey goes home to his mother and asks her about how the Jews killed Christ.

I sat in my mother’s lap, sobbing, while she washed away the blood and filth. She scolded me, kissed me, and cursed the bad Christians who had done this.

“Who is Christ, momma?”

“It is their false Messiah!” said my mother, bitterly.

“But I didn’t kill him! Why do they say I killed him?”
“Of course you didn’t kill him, darling. Don’t cry so. The Christians killed him, and now they blame us for it.”

“But who was Christ, momma?”

“He was a bad magician who wanted to make the Jews believe he was the Messiah. But we laughed at him, so he hated us, and betrayed his own race to the Gentiles.”

“And he really wasn’t the Messiah?”

“Of course not. When the Messiah comes he will save the world. He will make everything good. That false Messiah made things only worse. Look at the world; liars and thieves everywhere, wars, murders, and children killed with street cars! When the true Messiah comes he will change all this.”

“When will he come, momma?”

“I don’t know. Ask Reb Samuel; [a learned, faithful Jew in the neighborhood] maybe he can tell you.”

The thing pressed on my mind. I asked Reb Samuel in his umbrella store that afternoon. He said the Messiah might not come for many years. He would ride a white horse and put to shame every enemy of the Jews.

Would he look like Buffalo Bill? I asked.

No. He would be pale, young, and peaceful. He would not shoot people down, but would conquer them with love.

I was disappointed. I needed a Messiah who would look like Buffalo Bill, and who could annihilate our enemies.

I can relate a little bit to Mikey when he wants a Messiah who will more quickly fix all wrongs. Unfortunately, Mikey (who basically represents the author himself, Michael Gold) does not do all he can to better the world himself while patiently waiting for the Messiah to come. Unfortunately, Mikey does not explore spirituality, become more faithfully Jewish, or convert to a different religion. Instead he forsakes God and converts to Communism.

He ends the book, on page 309, this way:

A man on an East Side soap-box, one night, proclaimed that out of the despair, melancholy and helpless rage of millions, a world movement had been born to abolish poverty.

I listened to him.

O workers’ Revolution, you brought hope to me, a lonely, suicidal boy. You are the true Messiah. You will destroy the East Side when you come, and build there a garden for the human spirit.

O Revolution, that forced me to think, to struggle and to live.

O great Beginning!

Notice the way Mikey addresses the Communist Revolution as he would address a Deity. For some reason, his commitment to Communism and his commitment to Judaism are mutually exclusive- Mikey can’t be a devout Jew and a devout Communist at the same time. I think he can be ethnically a Jew and politically a Communist at the same time. He can claim Judaism as a cultural heritage, but he can't be spiritually a Jew and politically a Communist. It just does not work.

That’s the way it seems to be with Communism and religion. I suppose theoretically, one could be socialist/communist and also Christian. But it hasn’t happened much before. Can you think of anyone who was devoutly Christian and devoutly Communist at the same time? I can’t.

Sincerely,
Telemoonfa