The Mormon Influence

The Mormon Influence

From its beginnings in 1830 with just six members, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has evolved into one of the fastest-growing religions in the world. There are more than 10 million members in more than 160 countries and territories. The church was conceived and founded in New York by Joseph Smith, who said God the Father and his son, Jesus Christ, came to him in a vision when he was a young boy. Smith said he also saw a resurrected entity named Moroni, who led him to metal plates that were engraved with the religious history of an ancient American civilization. In 1827 Smith translated this record into the Book of Mormon.

Not long after the Church's creation, religious persecution forced Smith and his followers to flee New York, and they traveled first to Ohio and then to Missouri before settling in Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1839. But even here the fledgling church was ostracized, and Smith was killed by a mob in June 1844 in Carthage, Illinois. To escape the mounting oppression, Brigham Young, who ascended to the Church's leadership following Smith's death, led a pilgrimage to Utah, then a territory, with the first group arriving in the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847. Here, under Young's guidance, the Church quickly grew and flourished.

In keeping with the Church's emphasis on proselytizing, Young laid plans to both colonize Utah and spread the Church's word. This work led to the founding of small towns not only throughout the territory but from southern Canada to Mexico. Today the Church continues that work through its young people, with most taking time out from college or careers to spend two years on a mission at home or abroad.

Latter-day Saints believe that they are guided by divine revelations received from God by the Church president, who is viewed as a modern-day prophet in the same sense as other biblical leaders. The Book of Mormon is viewed as divinely inspired scripture and is used side-by-side with the Holy Bible. Families are highly valued in the Church, and marriages performed in the Church's temples are thought to continue through eternity. Though Mormons were originally polygamists, the Church ended the practice in order to gain statehood for the territory in the 1890s. Excommunication is the consequence for those continuing polygamy. In 2001, after publicizing his five-wife family on national talk shows, Tom Green learned that Utah authorities could in fact be moved to prosecute polygamy. Since the 1950s, Utah law enforcement had held a "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding polygamy. Green's 2001 trial was the state's first polygamy trial since the 1950s.

Under the Church's guidance, Utah has evolved into a conservative state where the good of the Church is placed above most other concerns. Despite most states' belief that church and government should be separate, Utah legislative leaders regularly consult with Church officials on key legislation. And the Church's opposition to alcoholic products has led to the state's peculiar liquor laws. To enter a bar that sells liquor, you first must purchase a "membership," usually $4 for three weeks. Beer bars, however, do not require such memberships, nor do restaurants that serve food with liquor.

The population of Utah was estimated to be 2.6 million in 2006. About 50% of Salt Lake City residents belong to the Church, but statewide the number is closer to 70% of Utah's population.