Brigham Young Christian Faith

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Practicing Faith on the Frontier It is difficult enough to practice your faith even in the best of times. Attempting to practice your faith while being threatened with eviction from your land, or even death, undoubtedly complicates the issue. The notion of Freedom of Religion did not seem to apply to the Mormon populace in the 1800s. It is another case in point of the conflicts generated by a set of religious beliefs that are somewhat unconventional. The two most celebrated Mormons in the 1800s were Joseph Smith and his loyal disciple Brigham Young. Young was born 1801 in Whitingham, Vermont. Brigham Young, his parents, and his siblings frequently moved from town to town in the north-eastern United States. Young considered a number…show more content…
That practice seeks a pristine or original Christianity as it existed during the lifetime of Jesus Christ. Brigham Young was attracted to this belief and also that of Mormonism’s millennialistic view. They believed that mankind was living in the last years of life on earth or the “latter days” which would then be followed by a thousand-year period where “Christ will reign” before passing final judgment on mankind. ‘One of these was “Christian primitivism”, a belief that the Mormons were restoring Christianity exactly as it had existed when first established by Jesus Christ.’ (Brigham pg. 23.) Brigham Young became so obsessed with Mormon principles that he felt compelled to travel to Kirtland, Ohio. It is in Kirtland that Young met Joseph Smith, Mormon founder and leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Brigham Young, like many of the followers of Mormonism were immediately drawn to Smith’s imposing presence and…show more content…
The act effectively abolished the legislation previously passed by territorial legislature relative to polygamy. ‘The Mormons appeared to many federal officials as unworthy of the privilege to govern themselves.’ (Brigham pg. 163.) The ideals and practices professed by Joseph Smith and Brigham Young ran counter to the majority of the population and would now forever be ridiculed or prohibited. The beliefs of Brigham Young and the Latter-day Saints had been challenged for thirty years. The Mormons literally ran out of anywhere else to escape and build their sanctuary. Their morals and values received constant challenge and they themselves were frequently and violently confronted. The Mormons found themselves as outcasts in their own country. The first amendment of the U.S. Constitution only seemed to apply to those with more conventional
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