Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1902-02-18
sEorARIAN TRICKS OF TRADE.

SECTARiAN TRICKS OF TRADE.
We occasionally receive letters Of in
qulry concerning expressions alleged
to have been used many years ago,
ny some Of the leading authorities Of
the Church under circumstances which
then existed and which called for some
stern rebukes ana strong language
against cyi-docrs Isolated sentences
have been extracted from dlscourses
delivered nearly half century ago
which, without the context, are made
10 appear harsh and TO convey wrong
ideas very far from those entertained
by the speakers. These extracts some
OF them only parts Of sentences, are
caught up by many so-called Christian
preachers and repeated to their au-
diences Cor the purpose Of mlsrepresent-
ing the character Of those who origin
ally uttered them,and also the doctrines
really believed in by the Latter-day
Saints,
Surprising they were quoted correctly
and intended to convey the Ideas claim
cd Nay more suppose the speakers
were as bad and wicked as their op-
ponents would have them to appear,
what would all that have to do with
the principles acknowledged and pro-
mulgated by the Church Of Jesus
Christ OF Latter-day Saints? II has
been repeatedly published that the
written standards of this Church are
the Bible, the Book Of Mormon, the
Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl
OF Great Price Individual theories mo-
tions and utterances, when not In ne
cord with those standards, or recog-
nl2ed as doctrine by the Church are
to be regarded as the personal Views Of
the speakers or writer's for which they
alone are responsible.
Suppose we we're to Judge the prlmi.
tive Christian Church by the utt6rances
Of the chief Apostle, Peter ito whom
Christ gave the keys Of the klngdom) at
the time when His Master was Betrayed
into the hands Of the Roman sodIersi
when Peter cursed and swore and de-
clared concerning Jesus, II know not
the man. Would that be considered
just and falr2 Or II we were TO take
the conduct OF the Corlnthlan members
OF that Church and their arguments,
referred to by the Apostle Paul In l
Cor. v, IL. Would that be d proper cr-
terion as TO the character Of the early
Saints? Reading the account given In
the first three chapters in Revelation,
what kind Of people would the Saints Of
those times be considered II their enc.
miles quoted the sayings concerning
them therein recorded, as though they
were OF general applications
Take the history given OF ancient ser.
wants of God. their acts and words;
pick out such as would suit the purpose
Of their enemies, and IN what light
could they be made to appear before
scofiing world2 Look at Noah's indul.
gence after lls coming forth from the
arck. Abraha'is apparent deception Of
the Egyptians. Jacobs cunning and
schemlng as TO Esau and TO Laban
Moses Staying the Egyptian. Davlds
course In reference to Urlah. Solo
mons diversions and departures from
the way OF the Lord. Hoseas peculiar
actions as related in his first chapter,
and many other strange things recorded
concerning holy men Of old. without
proper explanation, what q horrible tale
could be told concerning their dolngs
and their words That would be what
we might expect OF sneerlng Atheists.
but how would II be viewed n coming
from protesting Christians?
one Of the very common quotations
from discourse delivered by President
Brigham Young is that In which he
referred to the kind Of characters that
had gathered to Utah with the Saints
In early times, whom he characterized
as Just as mean devils as the world
could produce THE greatest and
smoothest llars;" gamblers who could
"cut and shuttle cards with the greatest
rogues on Gods footstoll, and So on.
This Is used by plous preachers among
the sects as evidence OF the kind of
people the Latter-day Saints are. and
as though President Young boosted of
their powers and approved OF their
wickedness, whereas In that very dis.
course he denounced them and their
evil ways IN the strongest terms. Tho
theme Of his discourse was the saving
OF the Savior, that "the kingdom OF
heaven Is like net cast into the sea
which gathers Of all kinds" He men.
toned those characters as among tn,
evidences that this is the kingdom Of
God. But he showed that the day o
separation would come.
That is a fair sample OF the manner
in which little bits Of dlsoourses an.
parts Of sentences are picked out by th
enemies Of the Latter-day Saints 70
the purpose OF misrepresentation an,
abuse. often statements that neye
were made by any Of our leading mel
are invented, in order TO show tina
they were false prophets, For IN
stance, here is one that is going III
rounds among the preachers and !
circulated In pamphlets pretending I
explain "Mormonism." II is asserte'