The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-06-23
SOME LIGHT, BUT MORE NEEDED

SOME LIGHT, BUT MORE NEEDED,
The Mormon people are growing out
of the old ruts into which q half cen
tury of night cast them, but in this
progress there is still so much room
for Improvement that broad minded
citizens, who know what conditions
ought to be, feel it duty to enlighten
them on subjects of which the average
Mormon knows nothing. Take the
Prophet Joseph, for instance If any
sane man, in normal mental equilib-
rum, will read all the Prophet wrote,
gathering the prophesies that he made
into two classes, one being for those
statements that "came true" and in
the other, the long list of those which
were complete failures, he will find
that the name prophet is misnomer.
If he will follow the life Of Brig
ham Young down through the years,
reading his discourses and analysizing
his life, he cannot admire him as a re-
take nineteen women, live with
them as wives, and then have sealed
TO him large number of more forum
ate sisters, is enough to corrupt the
best man God ever made.
But the peculiar feature Of Mormon
ism is that it teaches people to rely
upon so-called revelation to the utter
disregard of reason. Perhaps it would
be difficult TO find the matter summed
up in fewer words than in d statement
made by Brigham Young in the old
Bowery in 1855, Orson Pratt Gone of
the most intelligent early leaders) had
spoken a few words, exhorting the
saints 10 read good books, and he be-
came quite enthusiastic. Brigham had
always endeavored to hold this man
down because he was fairly well
read. On this occasion Brigham fol,
lowed the advocate of good books with
scorehing denunciation of the ideas
set forth. Among other things Brigham
said: "Were ] TO live to the age of
Methusaleh, and every hour Of my life
learn something new out Of some one of
these books, and remember every par
ticle had acquired, five minutes of rev
elation would teach ME more truth and
more right than all this pack of non
sense that I should have packed into my
unlucky brains
Among the devout saints this doctrine
of the superiority of revelation, so
called, over all forms of book learning
is well known fact. Go into the Nor
mon communities, ask the saints about
happenings and statements of the old
days in Utah, and you will find thou
sands who will not believe your words,
even when supported by their own
church books, books that have been
gathered up years ago, and now safely
concealed from view, If the Mormon
people would read carefully all their
own literature. especially that of a half
century ago, let alone much written by
honest non Mormon observers, we
should nave peace in Utah in short
time, They forget that the principal
difference between an OK and man is
IN the ability OF the man TO reason and
discern right from wrong. But in Nor
ban, or dwarfed into complete subjec~
tivity.
The only thing that will elevate man
kind is the cultivation of the higher
powers of the mind. The ability to cor
relate, to build upon solid ground is the
his, what is man? The Mormon people |
i've, to marked degree, In subiec-
tive state, that is, following blind be.
ief, regardless of its falseness and re-
wing on others, supposed to be in di |
,ect communication with God. Tt is
ieplorable state, this utter disregard
'or common sense views, to say nothing
If thorough mental analysis. Were it
lot for the fact that earnest. broad
minded men and women have striven
Turing these many years for enlighten-
nent in Utah, we should still have the
Mormondom, Just as it was in
he days of Brigham Young But one
yho reads those old journals. containing
he discourses of Heber G. Kimball, j.
W. Grant, Brigham Young and others,
will immediately see the progress the
aints have made. This change for the
,etter is plain, because there are very
ew Mormons now living who would
ountenance, or even permit, such doc
rine as that which guided the saints
n days gone by and which founded the
dormon church in Utah,
Yet, Notwithstanding this progress,
he people, followers of Joseph +. Smith
nd his chieftains. are deceived, ONLY