Posted on 06/11/2010 9:44:43 AM PDT by Colofornian
Below we give the particulars of the most diabolical outrage that has ever been perpetrated in this free country. Had it been the act of an excited multitude, it would have appeared much more excusable; but it was the deliberate work of men who acted not from the impulse of a sudden emotion, nor amid the tumult of an intoxicated multitude. It was done in cold blood! and is there any thing further needed to exhibit the feindish and tyrannical disposition of Joe and his sattelites. To comment on this most wanton act would be an insult to our readers.
The following are the particulars which appeared in our extra of yesterday:
TUESDAY JUNE 11, 1844.
Mr. Sharp: -- I hasten to inform you of the UNPARALLELED OUTRAGE, perpetrated upon our rights and interests, by the ruthless, lawless, ruffian band of MORMON MOBOCRATS, at the dictum that of that UNPRINCIPLED wretch Joe Smith.
We were privately informed that the CITY COUNCIL, which had been in extra session, for two days past; had enacted an ordinance in relation to libels, providing that anything that had been published, or anything that might be published tending to disparage the character of the officers of the city should be regarded as LAWLESS. They also declared the "Nauvoo Expositor," a "nuisance," and directed the police of the city to proceed immediately to the office of the Expositor and DESTROY THE PRESS and also the MATERIALS, by THROWING them into the STREET!!!!
If any resistance were made, the officers were directed to demolish the building and property, of all who were concerned in publishing said paper; and also take all into custody, who might refuse to obey the authorities of the City.
Accordingly, a company consisting of some 200 men, armed and equipped, with Muskets, Swords, Pistols, Bowie Knives, Sledge-Hammers, &c, assisted by a crowd of several hundred minions, who volunteered their services on the occasion, marching to the building, and breaking open the doors with a Sledge Hammer, commenced the work of destruction and desperation.
They tumbled the press and materials into the street, and set fire to them, and demolished the machinery with sledge hammer, and injured the building very materially. We made no resistance; but looked on and felt revenge, but leave it for the public to avenge this climax of insult and injury.
C. A. FOSTER.
June 11,1844.
We received the above communication by the hands of Charles A. Foster, about 1/2 past 11 o'clock to-day. We have only to state, that this is sufficient! War and extermination is inevitable! Citizens ARISE, ONE and ALL!!! -- Can you stand by, and suffer such INFERNAL DEVILS!! to ROB men of their property and RIGHTS, without avenging them. We have no time for comment, every man will make his own. LET IT BE MADE WITH POWDER AND BALL!!!
From the article: Mr. Sharp: -- I hasten to inform you of the UNPARALLELED OUTRAGE, perpetrated upon our rights and interests, by the ruthless, lawless, ruffian band of MORMON MOBOCRATS, at the dictum that of that UNPRINCIPLED wretch Joe Smith. We were privately informed that the CITY COUNCIL, which had been in extra session, for two days past; had enacted an ordinance in relation to libels, providing that anything that had been published, or anything that might be published tending to disparage the character of the officers of the city should be regarded as LAWLESS. They also declared the "Nauvoo Expositor," a "nuisance," and directed the police of the city to proceed immediately to the office of the Expositor and DESTROY THE PRESS and also the MATERIALS, by THROWING them into the STREET!!!! If any resistance were made, the officers were directed to demolish the building and property, of all who were concerned in publishing said paper; and also take all into custody, who might refuse to obey the authorities of the City. Accordingly, a company consisting of some 200 men, armed and equipped, with Muskets, Swords, Pistols, Bowie Knives, Sledge-Hammers, &c, assisted by a crowd of several hundred minions, who volunteered their services on the occasion, marching to the building, and breaking open the doors with a Sledge Hammer, commenced the work of destruction and desperation. They tumbled the press and materials into the street, and set fire to them, and demolished the machinery with sledge hammer, and injured the building very materially. We made no resistance; but looked on and felt revenge, but leave it for the public to avenge this climax of insult and injury.
How would we feel, if the Mormon "prophet" of today, "determined" that Free Republic was a "public nuisance" and ordered "a company consisting of some 200 men, armed and equipped, with Muskets, Swords, Pistols, Bowie Knives, Sledge-Hammers to march to Fresno, break down JimRob's business doors with a Sledge Hammer, and commence the work of destruction and desperation, tumbling computers, etc. into the street, and set fire to them, and demolished the machinery with sledge hammer???
Mormons celebrate all this? Why? Because they celebrate Smith as a martyr. And it was principally this act he ordered, that led to an eventual gun battle where Smith died (two guns were smuggled into Smith in prison, just like Ron Gardner's acts in Utah where he sits on death row for having a weapon smuggled into him)
Mormons don't celebrate Smith the criminal, but Smith the "martyr." They wind up essentially endorsing what Smith did to the Nauvoo Expositor. Hence, this doesn't remain merely an act in history. It catapults through time.
Go ahead. Ask your Mormon neighbor: "Was Joseph Smith committing criminal acts by ordering the destruction of the Expositor?" The answer you'll get will show where their absolutes lie -- and it won't be with Freedom of the Press.
Wow, that really was the title...
Interesting. I didn’t know this aspect of the affair.
Smith was demonic in his ways.
I really think that mormonism is wacky.
But this happened a very long time ago. Are mormons today supposed to feel anymore guilt over this than white people in general should feel about slavery in this nation?
It was 1844....everything had that title. :)
Interesting piece.
The early mormons were not students or fans of the Constitution of the United States were they ???
They 1st Amendment rights of others...whether in religion or free speech or the freedom of the press ...were nonexistant in the mormon mindset..
Was destroying property an offense punishable by death, without trial?
Are mormons today supposed to feel anymore guilt over this than white people in general should feel about slavery in this nation?
Add to this discussion the things that Abraham Lincoln did to newspapers and the press in general during the Civil War, and it takes on a whole new light.
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/analysis.aspx?id=21225
They felt this as a war, and it was very much frontier America. Much different from today.
Accordingly, a company consisting of some 200 men, armed and equipped, with Muskets, Swords, Pistols, Bowie Knives, Sledge-Hammers, &c, assisted by a crowd of several hundred minions, who volunteered their services on the occasion, marching to the building, and breaking open the doors with a Sledge Hammer, commenced the work of destruction and desperation.
________________________________________
Well isnt that special...
Joey Smith sent a LYNCH MOB of hundreds to make martyrs of the editors of the Nauvoo Expositor...
Plus his personal militia of 5,000 Danites were there too...
Joey Smith was a dangerous terrorist and tyrant who enticed others to riot on the streets of America..
Only if your name is Colofornian.
They felt this as a war, and it was very much frontier America
_________________________________________
Then Joey Smith was shot as a war criminal...
or if you like...in battle...
>>> How would we feel, if the Mormon “prophet” of today, “determined” that Free Republic was a “public nuisance” and ordered “a company consisting of some 200 men, armed and equipped, with Muskets, Swords, Pistols, Bowie Knives, Sledge-Hammers to march to Fresno, break down JimRob’s business doors with a Sledge Hammer, and commence the work of destruction and desperation, tumbling computers, etc. into the street, and set fire to them, and demolished the machinery with sledge hammer???
Well since you ask, I expect that depends on the circumstances. A brigade of freepers would march on the New York Times newsroom tomorrow if they thought they could. What’s your point ? By the way, has the “Mormon prophet of today” made any remarks at all about Free Republic I hadn’t heard of ?
I’m certain we are all excited by exploits of “religious” violence from a century and a half ago. We certainly don’t want that pot to ever stop boiling do we.
Carry on.
Smith’s spirit was alive and in command at Mountain Meadows, too.
Good Q. It comes down to whether they acknowledge what happened was immoral, wrong, and criminal.
Now with slavery, it was immoral, wrong, and legal, so the "criminal" part doesn't apply. But there were already laws on the books against what Smith ordered. It was immoral, wrong, and illegal.
It didn't matter whatever Smith's city council tried to put together after the fact -- IOW after what was published. A city council can't make a decision and then suddenly apply it post-facto to somehing already published.
So the Q then comes down to this: Do Mormons declare Joseph Smith to be immoral, wrong, and criminal in his conduct on June 10 and June 11, 1844?
If they don't -- and it appears they don't given how they celebrate Smith as a heroic "martyr" today -- then that tells you your answer. Most physical descendents of families that embraced slavery -- and spiritual descendents of churches that endorsed slavery -- will at least declare that slavery was immoral and wrong...That's not the case with today's Mormons' backward view of Smith's actions on those days.
(If you don't believe me, take a tour of that Nauvoo jail...the Mormon church owns it, and gives tour guides...note how they describe the series of events involved)
See post #15
What religion do you belong to? Have you publicly denounced all acts that led to innocent deaths performed by people in your religion that happened many generations before you were born?
“Accordingly, a company consisting of some 200 men, armed and equipped, with Muskets, Swords, Pistols, Bowie Knives, Sledge-Hammers, &c, assisted by a crowd of several hundred minions, who volunteered their services on the occasion, marching to the building, and breaking open the doors with a Sledge Hammer, commenced the work of destruction and desperation.”
And the reciprocity for this was that an armed company
of non-mormons whose property was destroyed and whose
wives were hit on by Smith, approached the jail. When
Joe Smith emptied his pistol into the crowd, he signed
his own death warrant, made the masonic sign of distress
and took a bullet for his crimes.
Frontier living at its finest.
Read post #15. If you go to the Mormon church's presentation of its Nauvoo jail scene @ that site in Illinois (today), you'll get a description where Mormons are proud of what Smith did...including what he did in the final weeks of his life.
The parallel would be: What if you went to a Southern Plantation. And they gave tour guides of what life was like in 1844. And pride over how those landowners ran their plantation -- including how they ran the lives of their slaves-- was part of the tour.
See, in this case, then, we're no longer talking then only about 1844 America, are we? Now we're talking about something different.
Furthermore, to take the parallel one step further, if you had historical specifics about what a theoretical "plantation" family did in abusing their slaves 166 years ago, and if those tour guide hosts commended all those actions 166 years later...then guess what? The pot is still boiling.
If a plantation opened as a museum and they led a tour including how the slaves were treated, I would look at it like an educational experience.
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