The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1885-05-27
THE RAIDS EFFECT.
and not to individuals.


If the men who are most interested in
continuing this warfare against the
Mornons would look the situation
souarely in the face, and take full ac-
count of all that appears, they would.
If intelligent beings, ask themselves If
they were not defeating their own pur-
pose by continuing the crusade. In
Arizona a dozen men or such matter
have been convicted and sent to prison
for unlawful cohabitation;" in Idaho
perhaps an equal number have been
declared guilty and fined orimprisoned;
in the Utah penitentiary there are
eight men, who were sent there
because they were polygamists. In
these thirty or so who have
been convicted and are suffering the
penalties prescribed by the law, there is
not one who does not feel frner in his
faith than he did before his conviction,
who does not know better than before
that he has been doing Gods will, and
is gaining a reward. The question of
whether or not these men are right in
their belief and supposed knowledge,
cannot be discussed; in the eyes OF all
the world they might.be wrong, and it
would not change their own opinions; in
their own mlHds they are right, and that
is enough for them; fines and imprison-
ment cannot convince them that they are
in error; on the contrary, these punish
ments tend to confirm them in their be-
lief. and make absolute what was before
doubtful OF such peculiar stuff is the
human mind composed, and so pecu-
liar is the operation upon it of religious
ideas and influences, that the man who
tells another that he is fanatic with
the view to reasoning him out of his
fanaticism, is himself rank bigot, and
is besides ignorant of human nature
and its best known characteristics.
Hence we may say, that the proposition
that the Mormons are right, and the
contrary one that they are wrong in
their religious belief cannot be discussed
in connection with a movement to COM
pei them 10 believe otherwise; and as
religions belief is something that cannot
be overcome and destroyed by force, the
foolishness of the present operations of
the government is apparent. When
the convicted Mormons come out
of the penitentiary and pay
their fines, they are Mormons
still. with their faith in the divinity of
the religion in all its features ground
deeper into their hearts; they have
suffered what they will persist in saying
and believing has been persecution for
polygamy and pelygamy willbe dearer
to them than eEer. If religious person
were to be punished for his belief in the
necessity of baptism, and nothing we're
said against prayer, he would soon pin
his hope of salvation on bap tism, per-
haps to the neglect of prayer.
There may be way to crush out
polygamy, but it must lie through de-
stroying the belief in the right
fitness of the system. and not
through fine and Imprisonment,
and the application of laws harshly
and maIiciOusly enforced. Polygamy
and pOlygamists have more sympa-
thizers in Utah to-day than they had
six months ago when the crusade was
inaugurated, and the husbands of more
than one SwIfe who lwere in their
own minds questioning the rightfulness
and morality of the system, are growing
stronger in the faith as they are being
pursued and bounded by the law