The Mormon Candidate - a Novel (44 page)

Ben put down his camera. “
Smith started the Danites
?”

“A
few
years into his career as prophet, Smith was facing a rebellion among his initial cohorts
. The
se men
had
become his
business partners
in th
e
new church
after providing
testimonies to
support his
tales
about golden tablets
and angels. I
n exchange
, they
expected to become
r
ich. But when
Smith’s
land and banking
speculations
failed, the
y
recanted
their testimonies
and rebelled against his authority. By that time, Smith had collected enough believers to defend his flourishing sect.
He
convenient
ly announced a divine
revelation that the rebels should be destroyed
—
a sermon known among
Mormons
as
the ‘Rebel Rousing Discourse.’
He preached that
, unlike what Christians believe,
Judas
had not hu
ng himself
after betraying Jesus
, but
had been k
illed
on God’s orders by
the Apostle Peter
.
Similarly,
Smith
claimed
,
God had
ordered
him to form
the Danites
who would
destroy
the
opponents of the Mormon Church.
”

“Sounds extreme,” Ben said. “Are we talking histor
ic facts
or anti-Mormon speculation?”

“Documented history.” Dreyfuss unfolded a sheet of paper. “This is a copy of the original Danite Manifesto. Read it.”

Ben
pushed aside his food and
looked at the paper. It was a photocopy of a document whose serrated margins testified to old age. At the bottom, several columns of signatures appeared, crowded together. The text itself occupied the top half of the page and was handwritten in neat, old
English
-
style cursive:

We have solemnly warned you, and that in the most determined manner, that if you do not cease that course of wanton abuse of the citizens of this county, that vengeance would overtake you sooner or later, and that when it did come it would be as furious as the mountain torrent, and as terrible as the beating tempest; but you have affected to despise our warnings, and pass them off with a sneer, or a grin, or a threat, and pursued your former course; and vengeance sleepeth not, neither does it slumber; and unless you heed us this time, and attend to our request, it will overtake you at an hour when you do not expect, and at a day when you do not look for it; and for you there shall be no escape; for there is but one decree for you, which is depart, depart, or a more fatal calamity shall befall you.

Dreyfuss took back the paper. “These signatures at the bottom are of eighty-three leading Mormons, including Joseph Smith
’
s brother, Hyrum.”

“Interesting,” Ben said. “How did they contend with God’s commandment not to kill?
”

“Good question.
To
justify
murder,
Smith
said
that the Danites in fact
were
doing their victims a favor, spiritually speaking.”

“A favor?”

“
Blood Atonement
,” Powell said. “The sinner, or even the innocent bystander, is redeemed by being killed and wins entry to heaven
as a martyr
. It’s the same
theological doctrine
invoked
by t
he Inquisition to
extract confessions by torture and
burn people at
the stake
. Today’s
j
ihadists
also use this concept to justify
bomb
ing
their fellow Muslims
—including collateral victims
.”

“Come on,” Ben said
.
“
How can you compare
Mormons
to
j
ihadists
?
”

“Let me quote for you,” Powell said, “Joseph Smith’s exact words
as written down by the Danites’ commander
,
John D. Lee
,
at the time
:
‘
We will establish our religion by the sword. We will trample down our enemies and make it one gore of blood from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean. I will be to this generation a second Mohammed, whose motto in treating for peace was:
“
The Al-Koran or the sword!
”
So shall it eventually be with us: Joseph Smith or the sword!
’”

“
Within a short time,
” Dreyfuss said
,
“
Caldwell County in Missouri became a totalitarian theocracy, where disobedient Mormons were literally destroyed. By eighteen thirty-eight, the Danites numbered over a thousand
,
and they attacked
not only Mormon opposition but non-Mormons, whom
Smith
called
‘
Gentiles.
’
Soon enough, when Smith attempted to take over the state government, Missouri was in civil war, which ended with the Mormons’ exile to Illinois, where the same pattern repeated.
Joseph
Smith created a theocracy in a city-state called Nauvoo, built his Danite
s into a
militia
force of over
five thousand
armed zealots
, and in
’
forty-four declared himself candidate for
p
resident of the United States.”

“
Did h
e?” Ben laugh
ed
. “That’s ridiculous!”

“Not if you command a
militia
that was
almost as strong as
the United States
A
rmy at the time, and
much
better trained
and motivated
. The Danites were
fed and equipped by
the tithing of
tens of thousands of hardworking
believers who
expected
Joseph
Smith to become
‘
K
ing to rule over Israel
.’ Unfortunately, the rest of the country was less receptive to
his aspirations
,
and everyone was repulsed by the
polygamous lifestyle he
practiced and preached
. T
wo more wars ensu
ed
,
and the bloodshed
end
ed
only after
Joseph Smith was arrested and
lynched
. T
he Mormons
migrated to the
Salt Lake
region
, which was
still
part of Mexico.
”

“And the
Danites
?”

“They
continued to serve
, basically giving
Smith’s heir,
Prophet
Brigham Young
,
total control over the region, killing and robbing westward pioneers while stomping on internal opposition. B
ut the
y
overdid it with the Mountain Meadows massacre.”

“That rings a bell,” Ben said. “I thought Indians did that.”

“
The Mormons used the natives
to
attack
the travelers.” Dreyfuss sighed. “T
he Baker-Fancher wagon train
, about a hundred and fifty
men, women
,
and children
on their way
to California through the Utah territory
with all their cattle, cash, and belongings—a promising loot. But they fought back, and
there was a standoff
.
The Danites’ commander, John D. Lee, tricked the wagon
train leaders into
surrender
ing
their guns
in exchange for
safe passage
, and then
his men murder
ed
everyone
.”

“
I remember now,” Ben said. “There was a PBS documentary about it
.
”

“
The Mountain Meadows massacre
,” Dreyfuss said, “
was a tipping point
.
The
whole
nation was outraged, and t
he Mormons
didn’t help themselves by proclaiming that all
other Christians
were
Gentiles
whose churches were
false
and
whose souls required
b
lood
a
tonement.
President Buchanan sent the US
A
rmy to subdue the Mormon rebellion, and Brigham Young
was
f
aced with certain destruction
. He
made the
only
logical
decision
and
dropped the vision of a
n independent
Kingdom of
Zion in the Salt Lake Basin. Utah became a state, and Young became its first
governor.
Finally, as a token of appeasement for the massacre,
Lee
was shot by
a
Mormon
firing squad at Mountain Meadows.
”

“
Was
that,” Ben
asked
, “the end of the Danites?”

“No,” Dreyfuss said. “Brigham
Young appointed
Orrin
Porter Rockwell to lead the Danites,
and they took an
oath
of secrecy
: ‘
In the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, I do solemnly obligate myself ever to conceal, and never to reveal the secret purpose of this society.
’
Rockwell himself
went
on to murder over a hundred men while establishing the Danites as a lasting secret force. They’ve
remained a
deadly
force
, eliminating every threat and opposition to
the leaders of the LDS Church.”

“Even today?”

“You bet,” Streep said.
“How else would you explain
why,
a few years ago
,
the
Mormons unveiled
a life-size statue of Orrin Porter Rockwell in Lehi, Utah
,
in a dedicated park, investing a huge amount of money to commemorate a known murderer who actually died of natural causes in jail as he awaited trial for one of his murders? The reason is that they don’t see the Danites as murderers but as
a
venging
a
ngels who exact
b
lood
a
tonement as prescribed by the
p
rophet
Joseph Smith and
by
his successors.”

“
Sounds like fiction
,” Ben said.

“Is this fiction?”
Streep reached over and poked the bruise on his forehead. “
W
ho tried to kill you?”

“We
believe
,” Dreyfuss said,
“
that the Mormon leaders in S
alt Lake City ordered the Danites to
eliminate any
threat
to
Joe
Morgan’s chances of
winning the elections and
becoming president.
Obviously you showed up on their radar screen.
”

“But my editor
says that the bapti
sms
of dead Medal of Honor winners will not be
such hot
news, which means it won’t damage Morgan
’s chances
that
much.”