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I have been thinking a lot about BY lately. Especially him and Emma Smith. It occurred to me that BY was a governor at the same time he claimed to be prophet. I’m thinking his role of governor affected the church’s long term political views, that has molded the way things currently are. What do you think? I don’t know. Brigham Young hated Republicans–he referred to them as “Black-hearted Republicans.” (see http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_14142688 ) After all, the Republican party was founded in 1856 to rid the country of the “twin relics of barbarism: slavery and polygamy.” I think Brigham would be rolling in his grave to see all the Mormons now supporting the same Republican party that dismantled polygamy.As the man who set up Consecration in Utah, Brigham would be pro-union, pro-environment, pro-socialism–pretty much everything the Republicans stand against.
mormonheretic wrote:As the man who set up Consecration in Utah, Brigham would be pro-union, pro-environment, pro-socialism–pretty much everything the Republicans stand against.
What more proof do you need that Brigham was way off base as far as politics is concerned.
Quote:I don’t know. Brigham Young hated Republicans–he referred to them as “Black-hearted Republicans.” (see
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_14142688 ) After all, the Republican party was founded in 1856 to rid the country of the “twin relics of barbarism: slavery and polygamy.”It’s worth pointing out here that both the Democrat and Republican parties were quite a bit different in Brother Brigham’s day. Republicans were social progressives who were trying to liberate oppressed minorities. Democrats were largely conservative with a heavy presence in the south. A few events happened that led to the parties we have today: FDR’s New Deal expansion of the federal government went against the grain of small government conservatives and started the ball rolling. The transformation was complete when the Kennedys embraced civil rights for African Americans. At that point, many longtime Democrats, including Strom Thurmond, Ronald Reagan, and Orrin Hatch, switched parties.
It’s fun to speculate about which of today’s parties Brigham Young, Joseph Smith, and other historical church leaders would identify with. But it’s important to remember that party platforms are not as set in stone as we think and they change over time.
BY was a Governor of a Territory, not a State. This was necessary when the Saints first arrived in the Valley because there was not government presently constituted. As a Governor, he simply did a spectacular job including: The founding of 2 Universities (U of U and BYU), both of which admitted women (rare in the U.S.).
The founding of one of the most successful banks in the West, Zion’s Bank
He oversaw the planning and initial building of the Salt Lake Temple
He was instrumental in bringing the trans-continential railroad to Utah and the creation of 100s of Utah railroad jobs.
He helped organized ZCMI (one of the first and largest Inter mountain Department Stores
He instituted classroom education for all children and was instrumental in the very high literacy rates among Utah Pioneer children.
He help to establish one of the world’s best record-keeping systems for family history.
He was appointed by the President of the United States to be in charge of Indian Affairs and the Native Americans respected him so much that he was called, “The Great White Chief”.
He made several advances in farming and agriculture and food production.
He proved to be a superb city-planned and helped design a city with extra wide streets, parks, sidewalks, etc.
The list goes on and on.
In my opinion, BY was, by far, one of the most talented leaders that the United States has ever had.
Now for his faults:
He appeared to misunderstand the African-American race and believed biblical scriptures about the “curse of Cain”.
He had too many wives all of whom had credit cards at ZCMI (now, honestly, this could not have been good)
He was a bit bossy and could throw his weight around
He contracted Colorado Tick Fever and almost died
I never saw him have a decent hair-cut
Steve-hpias wrote:It’s fun to speculate about which of today’s parties Brigham Young, Joseph Smith, and other historical church leaders would identify with.
Libertarian
MWallace, that was classic, funny and profound. Thank you.
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