Brigham Young pulling the wool over America's eyes

From FAIRMormon

Jump to: navigation, search

This page is based on an answer to a question submitted to the FAIR web site, or a frequently asked question.

Contents

Question

I'm told that Brigham Young made the following statement:

"We shall pull the wool over the eyes of the American people and make them swallow Mormonism, polygamy and all."

Critics say this shows the fundamental dishonesty of LDS leaders. What can you tell me about this?

Source(s) of the criticism

  • Richard Abanes, One Nation Under Gods: A History of the Mormon Church (Thunder's Mouth Press, 2003), 281.
  • Ambrose B. Carlton, The Wonderlands of the Wild West, with Sketches of the Mormons (N.p.: n.p., 1891), 321.
  • Dan Erickson, "As a Thief in the Night": The Mormon Quest for Millennial Deliverance (Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 1998), chapter 8, footnote 118.
  • E.A. Folk (editor of the Baptist and Reflector), Story of Mormonism citing discourse of 12 July 1875 in Salt Lake Tabernacle.
  • Brigham Young, quoted in Proceedings Before The Committee On Privileges And Elections Of The United States Senate In The Matter Of The Protests Against The Right Of Hon. Reed Smoot, A Senator From Utah, To Hold His Seat, 4 vols. (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1906), 1:15; citing as source E.A. Folk as above.

Response

FAIR has been unable to find a legitimate source for this purported quotation from Brigham Young. It was quoted at the Reed Smoot hearing report, but the source is only given as E.A. Folk, editor of the Baptist and Reflector, a Nashville, Tennessee paper published by the Tennessee Baptist association.[1]

A citation generally given for Brigham Young's remarks is from the Church's English publication: "The Manifesto," Millennial Star 52 (24 Nov. 1890): 744.

However, an examination of this reference shows no sign of the quote in question—see PDF scan of the original here.

Later authors have continued to repeat the "quotation" from Brigham, and provide the citation to the Millenial Star in their footnotes. However, these authors do not seem to have verified the original. They are likely simply repeating the claim from previous authors without checking:

  • Richard Abanes, One Nation Under Gods: A History of the Mormon Church (Thunder's Mouth Press, 2003), 281.
  • Dan Erickson, "As a Thief in the Night": The Mormon Quest for Millennial Deliverance (Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 1998), chapter 8, footnote 118.

Since the Smoot Committee hearings "quotation" of Brigham came from an apostate Mormon, it's possible that this witness provided false testimony (either unwittingly or intentionally). The prestige of a U.S. Congressional document has led subsequent writers to trust this witnesses' account without verifying the source for themselves.

Conclusion

As far as FAIR's researchers can determine, this quotation is a fabrication. We cannot locate it in any LDS source, and those non-LDS sources who provide a reference are in error.

If any reader has further information, please contact us. At present, however, the best assumption seems to be that the quote is a fabrication or distortion.

Endnotes

  1. [back]  See "Baptist and Reflector," rootsweb.com (accessed 15 December 2007). off-site The Smoot Hearing report cites this author with his editorial title in volume 1, page 15.

Further reading

FAIR wiki articles

Accusations of dishonesty wiki articles

FAIR web site

Accusations of dishonesty FAIR articles
  • FAIR Topical Guide: Apologetics and scholars FAIR link
  • FAIR Topical Guide: Changes in the historical record FAIR link
  • Davis Bitton, "I Don't Have a Testimony of the History of the Church," (FAIR Conference, 2004). FAIR link
  • Scott Gordon, "Dealing with Difficult Issues." FAIR link
  • L. Ara Norwood, "Nehors in the Land: A Latter-day Variation of an Ancient Theme." FAIR link
  • Daniel C. Peterson, "Easier Than Research, More Inflammatory Than Truth." FAIR link
  • Juliann Reynolds, "Critics in Wonderland: Through the Liberal Looking Glass." FAIR link
  • John A. Tvedtnes, "Scholarship in Mormonism and Mormonism in Scholarship." FAIR link
  • Allen L. Wyatt, "Response to the "Shotgun Approach" of Anti-Mormon Argumentation." FAIR link

External links

Accusations of dishonesty on-line articles
  • Howard C. Searle, "Authorship of the History of Brigham Young: A Review Essay," Brigham Young University Studies 22:3 (1982): 367.
  • Howard C. Searle, "Authorship of the History of Joseph Smith: A Review Essay," Brigham Young University Studies 21:1 (1981): 101. PDF link off-site
  • Dean C. Jessee, "The Writing of Joseph Smith's History [1839–46]," Brigham Young University Studies 11:4 (1972): 439. PDF link off-site
  • Dean C. Jessee, "I have heard that Joseph Smith didn't actually write his history—that it was prepared by clerks under his direction. If so, how reliable is it?," Ensign (July 1985): 15. off-site
  • Dean C. Jesse, "Priceless Words and Fallible Memories: Joseph Smith as Seen in the Effort to Preserve His Discourses," Brigham Young University Studies 31:2 (1991): ?. off-site

Printed material

Accusations of dishonesty printed materials
  • Dallin H. Oaks, “Gospel Teachings About Lying,” BYU Fireside Address, 12 September 1993, typescript, no page numbers; also printed in Clark Memorandum [of the J. Reuben Clark School of Law, Brigham Young University] (Spring 1994).
Retrieved from "http://en.fairmormon.org/Brigham_Young_pulling_the_wool_over_America%27s_eyes"
Personal tools