The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1890-08-26
PUNISHMENT FOR OPINIONS.


We commend to the anti-Mormon fanat-
les, who are at present so loudly demand
ing the disfranchisement of the members
OF the Mormon church, on the ground that
the latter believe in the doctrine of poly
gamy, the following words of deathless
truth from the writings of President JOHN
BAscoM:
The state can derl only with overt acts. The
private life of the individual in its intellectual
and spiritual freedom, must be fully preserved
as The pleasant frnit of civilization. Gdinions.
therefore. whether they pertain to politics
or religion, whether they be sound or
unsound, safe or unsafe, must be
allowed to shape themselves with
their own law of growth This growth may be
attended with some dangers and with serious
disadvantages; it must none the less be permit
ted TO proceed. The state should not try to con-
troll opinion because it cannot usually control
IT, and because the effort to do it, when success
ful, Is destructive to the resources of spiritual
me- which are ultimately its own resources.
rms principle is SO fundamental as to demand
very careful and liberal Interpretation. Com
munism, mischievous as it is and dangerous as
IL Is Is entitled TO all that argument and dis
cusslon can do forit. Not till it shows itself in
Religious dogma may be logically at war with
popular liberty. The church that maintains it
is not therefore conspiracy against the state.
Overt acts alone are reasonable. No man can
tell how far The logical fruits of faith will ap-
pear IN action, or what correction they may find
within the belief ITSELF Ethics, page 2s2.
We believe that the average mind will
need no demonstration that the man who
would punish another for some opinion the
latter held, is a fanatic of the most pro-
nounced character. We know of men, and
they are not Mormons either, who say that
man who would advocate punishment for
opinions or beliefs, is savage. 1t would,
indeed, csrry US back into the middle ages
for such doctrine as punishment for be-
lief to be generally carried out Freedom
OF opinion is one of the greatest blessings
and richest fruits of civilization. Opin-
ions cannot logically be punished as
being wrong; for there is no sub
sIantial agreement among mankind in
general as to which opinions are
wrong and which are right. This is
especially true in religion and politics, and
these are the very cases in which fanatics
4
There is substantial agreement among
mankind as to which acts are punishable
because Of the general consensus of opinion
that certain acts are wrong
1t is not possible to prevent man from
thinking and thence arriving at a conclu
sion. As quoted above, the state cannot
control opinion, though it may make {
hypocrite of man by causing him to deny
or hide his real opinion, in order to escape
the penalty
We suppose there is no Mormon batter 81
depraved as to assert that the Morn oas ar;
as bad as the Communists; yet our author
says that Communists are entitled no
only to their own opinions, but hav,
a right to express and discuss them
Nothing short of an overt act can be pun
Iished; and the reader will bear in mine
that every man in the Mormon church con
vlcted of any unlawful overt act, has beer
punished, usually severely punished An,
Mormons not within the law are within
the penitentiary.
1t has never been charged that Mormon
doctrine was at war with popular liberty
1t has been called 'streasonable' by SON,
foolish persons who did not know tn,
meaning of that word. But nothing Of tn,
sort is seriously maintained by tn,
enemies of popular liberty in Utah, VIII,
have always, when hard pressed upon thi
point fallen back on some vague mytl
about the union of church and state 1
the Objectionable doctrine were at wa
with popular liberty, not even then, say
our author, would it be subject to govern
mental censorship. But this is not evel
charged against the Mormon teachings.
No man can say what anothers belle
will lead the latter to do. Much less cal
he assume that another's belief will lead t
the commission of crime, and thence pro
coed TO punish the obnoxious believer be
forehand, when no wrong has yet bee
done by him. Yet this is precisely wha
the plotters against human liberty in Uta
are aiming at They say the Mormons be
lieve in polygamy, which is crime; there
fore Mormon will be likely to take NOR
than one wife, SO punish him beforehan
by disfranchisement, confiscation of proI
erty, and by preventing him from acouirin
title to any public land.
Stripped of the mask of hypocrisy, whic
the clamorers assume when seeking thus
oppress and plumber the Mormons, the pre-
position of the advocates of disfranchise
ment for belief, is this:
1.-The Mormons believe in polygamy, tina
is, we accuse them of believing in that do,
trine.
F 'Men who are charged with a belief i
that doctrine are not good citizens so W
maintain, therefore disfranchse them an
place them in our power-for we are yer
DESTROYS of holding the offices.
do not permit any trial before punsl
:, ing each Mormon in this way, because son
of them might prove or testify that the
1 have no such belief as that we charge the
WITH
This is really the position in which Il
u advocates of punishment for thought, ar
. that an improved thought, have place
i themselves.