Thirty (1835)kind of repentance and reformation acceptable in the sight of God.” (Orson Pratt, The Seer
[Washington, D.C.: Orson Pratt, 1853–1854] 223.)
“The principle, the only one that beats and throbs through the heart of the entire inhabitants
of this Territory, is simply this: The man who seduces his neighbor’s wife must die, and her nearest
relative must kill him!” (George A. Smith, JD, 1:97.)
“Around Sept 1871, while under arrest for the murder of Richard Yates years earlier,
[William Adams ‘Wild Bill’] Hickman wrote an autobiography/confession in which he confessed to
numerous murders. Years later, his confession was given to J. H. Beadle, who published it under the
sensational title Brigham’s Destroying Angel. It’s unclear how much of the account is factual and how
much is exaggerated, but in his confession Hickman implicated Brigham Young as being the one who
ordered Yates’ murder, as well as most of the other murders to which Hickman confessed.” (“Wild
Bill Hickman,” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 10 Jun. 2011, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 12 Jun. 2011
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Bill_Hickman.
“The Mormons believe in blood atonement. It is taught by the leaders, and believed by the
people, that the Priesthood are inspired and cannot give a wrong order. It is the belief of all that I
ever heard talk of these things—and I have been with the Church since the dark days in Jackson
County—that the authority that orders is the only responsible party and the Danite who does the
killing only an instrument, and commits no wrong. ...[T]he orders of the Priesthood are...blindly
obeyed by the people. Punishment by death is the penalty for refusing to obey the orders of the
Priesthood. ‘I knew of many men being killed in Nauvoo by the Danites. It was then the rule that
all the enemies of the Prophet Joseph should be killed, and I know of many a man who was quietly
put out of the way by the orders of Joseph and his apostles while the Church was there. It has always
been a well understood doctrine of the Church that it is right and praiseworthy to kill every person
who speaks evil of the Prophet. This doctrine was strictly lived up to in Utah...” (John Doyle Lee, The
Mormon Menace, Being the Confession of John Doyle Lee, Danite, Introduction by Alfred Henry Lewis
[New York: Home Protection, 1905] 289–91, 295.)
“I had many to assist me at the Mountain Meadows. I believe that most of those who were
connected with the Massacre, and took part in the lamentable transaction that has blackened the
character of all who were aiders or abettors in the same, were acting under the impression that they
were performing a religious duty. I know all were acting under the orders and by the command of
their Church leaders; and I firmly believe that the most of those who took part in the proceedings,
considered it a religious duty to unquestioningly obey the orders which they had received. That they
acted from a sense of duty to the Mormon Church. ***BRIGHAM YOUNG...said ‘God had shown
him that the massacre was right.’ [He] ordered John D. Lee to keep the whole thing secret, ...controls
the every act of the Mormon people and makes slaves of his followers, [and] assumes that he does
nothing except by direct authority from Heaven.” (John D. Lee, Mormonism Unveiled: or, The Life and
Confessions of the Late Mormon Bishop [St. Louis: D. M. Vandawalker, 1891] 213, 381.)
“Suppose you found your brother in bed with your wife, and put a javelin through both of
them[. Y]ou would be justified, and they would atone for their sins, and be received into the
kingdom of God. I would at once do so, in such a case; and under such circumstances, I have no
wife whom I love so well that I would not put a javelin through her heart, and I would do it with
clean hands. ...There is not a man or woman, who violates the covenants made with their God, that
will not be required to pay the debt. The blood of Christ will never wipe that out, your own blood
must atone for it.” (Brigham Young, JD, 3:247.)
“Lying for the Lord. Shortly after the first bomb went off, Hofmann called Hugh Pinnock to
inform him of Christensen’s death and to assure Pinnock that he was still willing to go through with
the McLellin deal and was arranging to pay off the bank loan. After the second bomb went off, Mark
calmly met with LDS Apostle Dallin Oaks in his church office and informed him that the bombings
must relate to failed business dealings of Christensen and Sheets and had no connection to Mark’s
documents. Later Pinnock and Oaks met with Gordon B. Hinckley to discuss how to proceed with the
McLellin transaction. The day after the explosion that injured Mark Hofmann, Elder Pinnock was