Thursday, May 10, 2012

'Traditional' marriage and the right to bear arms

In the 1830s, the people of Missouri were angry that Mormons were living among them and practicing bigamy. The Mormons committed other sins, in that they were opposed to slavery, tended to vote in cohesive blocks, and tended to elect other Mormons. This angered the local church going politicians, and they and their constituents began raiding Mormon settlements, and the Mormons began raiding them right back. The pattern was always the same: A Mormon settlement would be attacked, and when they fought back, they were accused of being an 'insurrection," and were driven from the land or killed. The locals would then confiscate their property. The Mormons eventually would settle around what is now Kansas City. Mormon petitions and lawsuits demanding a return of their property failed to bring any satisfaction: the non-Mormons refused to allow the Mormons to return to their land and reimbursement for confiscated and damaged property was refused.

William Peniston, a candidate for the state legislature, made disparaging statements about the Mormons, calling them "horse-thieves and robbers",and warned them not to vote in the election. Reminding Daviess residents of the growing electoral power of the Mormon community, Peniston made a speech in Gallatin claiming that if the Missourians "suffer such men as these [Mormons] to vote, you will soon lose your suffrage." Around 200 non-Mormons gathered in Gallatin on election day to prevent Mormons from voting.

On October 24, 1838, a state militia marched along the crooked river and confiscated weapons from Mormon homes. After imprisoning and preparing to execute Mormons who refused to turn in weapons, a Mormon raiding party attempted a rescue, which resulted in the Battle of the Crooked River. Four people were killed in the battle, and it resulted in the Governor issuing executive order 44, ordering the state militia to wipe out the Mormons.Three days later, the Haun's Mill massacre occured, where 19 Mormons were killed by the Militia, even though a truce was in effect at the time.

John Smith, the founder of the Mormon church was arrested and then murdered in his cell.The killers were let free.

This resulted in the Mormons fleeing to Utah under an agreement where the militia agreed to stop killing them if they left the country. Under the new church leader Brigham Young, they founded Salt Lake City in 1846.

In 1857, the United States Congress declared that Utah was a territory of the union, and President Buchanan demanded that the Mormons follow the laws on marriage, which Young refused. Buchanan sent 2,500 Federal troops, who ousted Young and replaced him with a more favorable Governor. Utah then applied for statehood under this government, and was accepted on the condition that they outlaw polygamy in their constitution.

There you have it, the tenth, first, and second amendments all violated to force marriage laws on a free people. Note that before tyranny could be carried out, the government needed a monopoly on force. It is also hard to believe people when they tell you that 'traditional marriage' has been the law of the land in the USA when they use that as an excuse to outlaw gay marriage, when you know that marriage as practiced in this country was enforced at the muzzle of a gun.

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