Among the eschatology that Mormons have shared with their more radical Evangelical friends is a view that the United Nations is the Great World Conspiracy. While I have serious concerns with the United Nations, I take council in the sentiments of the Leaders of the Church at the end of WWI. Considerable differences in opinion existed between General Authorities over the League of Nations. However, President Grant championed the Treaty, entreated the church for its support, and repudiated any scriptural based opposition to it. (more…)

The Nauvoo Neighbor recently posted on the digitalization of the 19th century editions of The Salt Lake Tribune. In the second volume of the Tribune there is a reprint of a New York Times article on English perceptions of Mormonism. Interestingly, the content seems slightly anachronistic pushing a flavor of multiculturalism that is not foreign to the contemporary Occident (which multiculturalism can be seen in this recent post). (more…)

Watching conference last weekend, I was most caught by Pres. Hinkley’s talk on gambling. I was less struck by his subject than by the emphatic nature of his discourse. He seemed to be doing a number of things simply to get the saints to take him seriously. (more…)

The second to last feature of the May 2005 edition of The Atlantic Monthly is the obituary of Owen Allred (1914-2005). Allred was excommunicated in 1942 and later became the Patriarch of the Apostolic United Brethren (I always wondered about Ronan), a polygamous sect numbering between 5,000 and 7,000 adherents. Surprisingly, though it poked a little fun at plural marriage, the article was completely sympathetic and terminated with a resolve that the polygamy would be vindicated by history. Several aspects of the article are notable. (more…)