Posted by:
Hmmm...
(
)
Date: February 25, 2015 06:39PM
Joseph Smith original circle of friends were an oily bunch of con men and women (think Emma and his mother Lucy here) who were willing to say ANYTHING to con a dollar out of an homest man.
As their little core of thieves grew and the proto church began to emerge they turned their sites to missionary tactics to recruit new members with fresh financial resources. The missionaries used every deceptive tactic known to encourage immigrant growth. They wanted new money, to be sure, but the poor were just as welcome do to the voting power each new citizen gave Smith in growing political ambitions. Those with assets were told to bring them along. The destitute were told to come also as this new Zion had so much abundance to share, there was ample to give every man a fresh start in life.
That was the dream. Unfortunately, there was no truth to the sales pitch. Once the new recruit and his family reached the new promised land he was expected to consecrate all his wealth to the care of Joseph Smith and friends and receive back only "sufficient" for his needs. And if said recruit and family were still in need, they were then instructed that everything really belonged to God including the personal possessions of the Gentiles who refused to tithe unto the Lord. So claiming the possessions of the "unrighteous" was not to be considered stealing, but rather claiming what is God's as long as a tenth is "consecrated" to the Mormon church.
Thus began a process of natural selection. Those for whom the Mormon practice of "Consecration" was found abhorrent either fled, or were murdered by the increasingly powerful Mormon band of secret police/thugs called the Danites before they could spread the word to outsiders on how things really worked in "Zion."
The website
https://launiusr.wordpress.com/2012/05/18/mormon-nauvoo-and-the-problem-of-theft-of-non-mormon-property/ is just one of many discussing the problems locals had to put up with Mormons stealing everything not nailed down.
For an outsider's view of Nauvoo, including his fear of being murdered at the hands of the Mormons "The City of the Mormons, or Three Days at Nauvoo" by Henry Caswall is a fascinating read that can be found in PDF at
http://www.truthandgrace.com/The_city_of_the_Mormons.pdfSo, in conclusion, Mormonism is the product of natural selection. The needy, the weak, the corrupt stay within the ranks of Mormonism, while those with integrity who do eventually figure out the scam escape, or die trying.