LDS Priesthood Unveiled Appendix 1The foundation of the United States of America was based on “priesthood” power and
authority; and most of the Founding Fathers were active Masons. George Washington laid the
cornerstone for the U.S. Capitol building on September 18, 1793 in a Masonic ceremony, while
wearing an apron.^24 The apron was part of the Masonic attire worn by participants of the rituals
of Masonry. At the time of its conception, the United States was infested with the attitude of
freemasonry—believed by many even today to be one of the most dividing and arrogant
“orders” of men ever devised. As explained in chapter thirty-five, Joseph disliked everything
about Masonry. But to play his role in giving the LDS people what they wanted according to
their desires, in spite of the real truth, he superficially supported any member’s desire to
participate in Masonic fraternities and even superficially participated in Masonry himself for a
time,^25 until he was kicked out for blasphemy.^26
Joseph chose to incorporate the Masonic apron into the presentation of the “holy
temple endowment” by dressing Lucifer in it. When he did this, many of his most trusted
friends and colleagues who were themselves loyal Masons, branded him a blasphemous
and irreverent colleague for plagiarizing their Masonic ceremonies. Many later abandoned
him as a fallen and false prophet.^27 They wondered how Joseph could do this and mock
their great nation and its founding father (George Washington).
As mentioned, the LDS Church at that time had fallen into a precarious state of
dissension from within and rising persecution from without. Joseph knew his time was very
limited, so he couldn’t have cared less what others thought about him. So what if he had
dressed Lucifer in the same apron that the “Father of the United States” wore when he
symbolically laid the “cornerstone” of American power and authority? The United States
government had not used their “authority” to act when called upon and supplicated to
protect Joseph and his newly created religion.^28 Joseph was not vindictive though, because a
lot of the persecution he blamed on the actions of the LDS people, themselves. However, he
purposefully made the symbolic connection between Lucifer—the founder of all of the
world’s philosophies and religions—and George Washington—the “father” of the present-day
“one nation under God” that continually persecuted Joseph and the Saints. Joseph presented
the god of this “one nation under god” as the “god of this world”—Lucifer himself!
Joseph taught that the same authority and power that the United States
government used, including the lawyers, enforcement authorities, and judges,^29 as well
the merchants and bankers who collectively controlled it—was also a type of priesthood,
not unlike that of any religious authority. In theory, the priesthood of the elected officers
of government was derived from the people through an authorizing document—the U.S.
Constitution. Likewise, many Christian groups derive their “authority” and priesthood
from a document—the Holy Bible. Joseph knew that the Masons claimed their own power
and authority—yet another priesthood “of my...(Lucifer’s) priesthoods.”^30 He taught that
most men are so much concerned about “the things of this world, and aspire to the honors
of men”^31 that they negate the true purpose and meaning of a righteous power and
authority, i.e., the priesthood of their foundationalized humanity. In other words, they
negate the righteous acts that are aligned with the message of Christ.
Joseph conveyed his true feelings about the United States government while he was
imprisoned in a jail at Liberty, Missouri in March of 1839. In Joseph’s experience, the
government had not used its power righteously, as the law ostensibly provided within its
statutes, in order to protect an individual’s right to religious freedom. Joseph was disgusted
with political power and authority, as well as with the religious people who supported it. A
few months before, in October of 1838, Missouri Governor Lilburn W. Boggs had issued an