Hmmm, with a little google searching I came up with this. Very interesting, I wondered what the Nauvoo Expositor published that caused JS to fly off the handle and destroy the presses.
Wow. I just loved-loved-loved how he called the Priesthood Brethren the "Strikers". Great word "Strikers". (The men who would approach the newly-arrived immigrant sisters and convince them to meet with JS in a secret place, and then would be beguiled into accepting polygamy). "Strikers". Awesome.
It is an interesting read. William Law and friends knew the Truth and had the balls to proclaim it with some poetic flare describing the used polygamous "wife":
She is like some tender tree, the pride and beauty of the grove -- graceful in its form, bright in it foliage, but with the worm praying (sic) at its heart; we find it withered when it should be most luxuriant. We see it drooping its branches to the earth, and shedding leaf by leaf until wasted and perished away, it falls in the stillness of the forest; and as we muse over the beautiful ruin, we strive in vain to recollect the blast or thunder-bolt that could have smitten it with decay. But no one knows the cause except the foul fiend who perpetrated the diabolical deed.
Hello out there. This is my first internet message regarding my 35 year struggle to make sense of my mormon experience. I was a missionary in the far east and married in the temple, yet right after my return from my mission 35 years ago I began to question what I believed in and how I used my efforts. It took a couple of years to honestly ask myself intellectually what I was feeling and ignoring emotionally. The result was a disconnection from complete activity in the church although there has been intermittent but somewhat regular connection with the church since then.
Last weekend I went to a missionary reunion in Provo to see my mission president and perhaps other missionaries not seen for 35 years. Upon entry into Utah, I immediately began to remember all of the emotional pain of my time in preparation there for the mission, the time on my mission and the pain of losing the woman I wanted to marry after my mission who also lived in the Provo community. I went to the reunion, looked up a former church leader in Provo once close to me, and even looked up the name in the telephone directory of that woman. The whole time in Utah I felt doubt about myself and very uneasy about the past. I was glad to be out of state the next day.
Perhaps I need some soul searching to make a recovery from the past, although my life as I have currently made it is successful. I invite any comments. Eric My e-mail is eric_law12@netzero.com.