The Gospel According to Jeffrey

It’s time, once again, for everybody’s favorite column, Slam the Press! Honestly, this isn’t going to be so much of a slam as a series of corrections that is much, much too long for the comments, so I figured I’d post them here. The article in question is from the Humboldt County, California,  Journal article The Mormon Moment , by Scottie Lee Myers. Overall, it’s a pretty good article, and it left me feeling very good about both the missionaries and the reporter himself. However, there are a few significant errors throughout the peace, along with a several more minor ones that could also stand a fix. So as usual, let’s take them one at a time. “In 1827 [future Church President Joseph] Smith was a 25-year-old New Yorker who made a living using psychic powers to find treasure.” First of all, a minor historical point: Smith was born in December 1805, so in September 1827, he would have been 21. This is actually quite significant, because when he was 25, he was serving as Presi...

So here we are again: Pioneer Day weekend. And once again, I won’t be celebrating. Before I continue, let me give some background for the uninitiated: in the 1830s, Latter-day Saints were a persecuted minority (whereas now, everybody loves us, right? Right? [crickets chirping]). Seriously, though, the Latter-day Saints were intent on building a Zion society—not a Utopia per se , but about as close as we fallible humans can get. Anyone was welcome to join the Saints in this endeavor, regardless of religious persuasion. However, the non-LdS takers were few, indubitably because of the stigma associated with the Church of Christ and its much-maligned members. About a year after the Church was organized in 1830, Church leaders moved its headquarters from the Palmyra, New York, area to Kirtland, Ohio. Shortly thereafter, the Church set up a second center in Jackson county, Missouri. But within just a few years, mob violence had become so significant that the Saints were driven out of Oh...