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| | =Fabricated quotes attributed to Brigham Young= | | =Fabricated quotes attributed to Brigham Young= |
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| − | ==Fictitious "Brigham Young quote" being circulated on the web==
| + | *[[/The "I have never given counsel that is wrong" quote|The "I have never given council (sic) that is wrong" quote]] |
| − | The following fabricated quote has gained circulation on the web:
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| − | <blockquote>
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| − | I am a Prophet of God in this dispensation. I carry on the work that began with Joseph Smith. I led the Saints to the barren Salt Lake Valley and it is where we built Zion, even though Joseph Smith taught the Savior would return in Jackson County Missouri. Monogamous marriage is not the order of heaven, for it is only through polygamy that a man may achieve exaltation. The government should stay out of the lives of the Saints and let us worship and practice our religion according to the dictates of our own conscience. If there ever comes a day when the Saints interfere with the rights of others to live as they see fit, you can know with assurance that the Church is no longer led by a Prophet, but a mere man. The doctrines of this Church are eternal, for they were ordained before the world was and any man who changes these doctrines such as the temple ceremony, or the man who abandons polygamy, or allows blacks the Priesthood of God, is a fallen prophet.
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| − | I am Brother Brigham. And I am the voice of God.
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| − | </blockquote>
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| − | | |
| − | ===Response===
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| − | This quote is a conflation of things that Brigham discussed, with a negative spin. We examine here the individual elements of the fabricated quote and provide responses to it.
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| − | | |
| − | ==== ====
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| − | {{BrighamClaim
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| − | |claim=
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| − | "I am a Prophet of God in this dispensation."
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| − | |realquote=
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| − | "I have never particularly desired any man to testify publicly that I am a Prophet; nevertheless, if any man feels joy, in doing this, he shall be blest in it. I have never said that I am not a Prophet; but, if I am not, one thing is certain, I have been very profitable to this people." ({{JDfairwiki|vol=10|disc=62|start=339}}) | |
| − | |response=
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| − | *Brigham's actual statement is at odds with the fabricated statement.
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| − | }}
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| − | | |
| − | ==== ====
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| − | {{BrighamClaim
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| − | |claim=
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| − | "I carry on the work that began with Joseph Smith. "
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| − | |realquote=
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| − | "to carry on the work of God..." ({{JDfairwiki|vol=1|disc=12|start=75}})
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| − | |response=
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| − | *Brigham talks of carrying on the work of God, not the work of Joseph Smith.
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| − | *This is an attempt by the author of the quote to imply that Joseph Smith is more important to Latter-day Saints than God.
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| − | *{{Detail|Joseph Smith/Status in LDS belief}}
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| − | }}
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| − | | |
| − | ==== ====
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| − | {{BrighamClaim
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| − | |claim=
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| − | "I led the Saints to the barren Salt Lake Valley and it is where we built Zion, even though Joseph Smith taught the Savior would return in Jackson County Missouri." | |
| − | |response=
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| − | *This is an attempt to imply the if Brigham were a true prophet, that the Saints would never have had to leave "Zion" in Jackson County.
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| − | *Brigham never refers to the "barren Salt Lake Valley."
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| − | *{{Detail|Joseph Smith/Prophecies/Independence temple to be built "in this generation"}}
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| − | }}
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| − | | |
| − | ==== ====
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| − | {{BrighamClaim
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| − | |claim=
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| − | "Monogamous marriage is not the order of heaven, for it is only through polygamy that a man may achieve exaltation."
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| − | |realquote=
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| − | "The only men who become Gods, even the sons of God, are those who enter into polygamy" ({{JDfairwiki|vol=11|disc=41|start=269}})
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| − | |response=
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| − | *{{Detail|Polygamy/The only men who become gods are those that practice polygamy}}
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| − | }}
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| − | | |
| − | ==== ====
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| − | {{BrighamClaim
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| − | |claim=
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| − | "The government should stay out of the lives of the Saints and let us worship and practice our religion according to the dictates of our own conscience."
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| − | |response=
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| − | *Brigham never made a statement like this, but other Church leaders have made statements to this effect:
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| − | **John Taylor: "[T]here is no law, human or divine, that can rightful[l]y rob us of those liberties or trample upon our rights. We have a right to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience; and no man, legally, in this land, has a right to interfere with us for so doing." ({{JDfairwiki|vol=5|disc=31|start=182}})
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| − | **Orson Pratt: "If we do not transgress the law, then let us be free, like any other American citizens, and let us worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience." ({{JDfairwiki|vol=7|disc=34|start=225}})
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| − | **George Q. Cannon: "[T]o take our flight as best we could in our poverty to some remote land where we could worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience in peace and in quietness." ({{JDfairwiki|vol=26|disc=30|start=285}})
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| − | *{{Detail|Joseph Smith/Prophecies/Government to be overthrown and wasted}}
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| − | }}
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| − | | |
| − | ==== ====
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| − | {{BrighamClaim
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| − | |claim=
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| − | "If there ever comes a day when the Saints interfere with the rights of others to live as they see fit, you can know with assurance that the Church is no longer led by a Prophet, but a mere man."
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| − | |response=
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| − | *This is an obvious allusion to Proposition 8.
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| − | *The phrase "mere man" does not appear in the 26 volumes of the [[Journal of Discourses]]
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| − | *The phrase "mere man" appears only once in the {{MAfairwiki|vol=2|num=5|start=270}}, but it is not used by Brigham Young.
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| − | *{{Detail|Mormonism and politics/California Proposition 8}}
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| − | }}
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| − | | |
| − | ==== ====
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| − | {{BrighamClaim
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| − | |claim=
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| − | "The doctrines of this Church are eternal, for they were ordained before the world was and any man who changes these doctrines such as the temple ceremony, or the man who abandons polygamy, or allows blacks the Priesthood of God, is a fallen prophet."
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| − | |response=
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| − | *Brigham never said any of this. The author of the fabricated quote simply wishes to imply that the Church should never change its doctrine or policies.
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| − | *{{Detail|Church doctrine/Changing}}
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| − | *{{Detail|Temples/Endowment/Changes}}
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| − | *{{Detail|Mormonism and racial issues/Blacks and the priesthood}}
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| − | }}
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