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A Comparison of the LDS Articles of Faith with the Bible - Part 7by Lloyd SharpArticle 12: " We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law." It is difficult to explain the utter falsehood in the above statement made by Joseph Smith. Of all the early Mormon leaders, the inability to abide by the law of the land is best seen in the case of Joseph Smith. Most notably so in the case with the Kirtland Safety Society Bank. In A Comprehensive History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we read the following:
"In November, 1836, a number of brethren including the presidency and other leading elders of the church, applied to the Ohio state legislature for a charter for a bank, to be known as the "Kirtland Safety Society Bank;" but on account of religious prejudice it is supposed, the legislature refused to grant the charter." (B. H. Roberts, 1:400-402) Historians have noted however, that the reason the charter was denied is due to the fact that "there is no evidence to sustain the idea that it was even asked to grant one. No bills to establish a Mormon bank were ever considered by the [Ohio] legislature." (Robert Kent Fielding, The Growth of the Mormon Church in Kirtland Ohio, pp. 179-181, insert added) Be that as it may, Joseph Smith and other LDS leaders decided to defy the state legislature, start their own bank (naming it the Kirtland Safety Society Antibanking Company) and print their own currency. All of which was done to no avail as the bank went bankrupt within a year. Another example of LDS leaders defying the law deals with the practice of polygamy. In February of 1833 the state of Illinois passed a law making it illegal to commit "the crime of marrying while one has a wife or husband still living from whom no valid divorce ahs been effected." The doctrine of polygamy was established as official doctrine by Joseph Smith 10 years later in 1843 (Doctrine and Covenants 132). Also noteworthy is the fact that Joseph Smith was indicted on charges of polygamy.
"May 25, 1844 (Saturday) Joseph Smith learned that the grand jury at Carthage had found two indictments against him, one of them for polygamy." (Andrew Jenson, Church Chronology: A Record of Important Events Pertaining to the History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1914], p.25) Had he not been killed in the Carthage jail, "it is very possible that he would have gone to prison for being a polygamist." (Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Mormonism - Shadow or Reality?, p. 205) After the Manifesto was issued to abolish polygamy among Mormons, many LDS leaders continued to practice polygamy in defiance of the law of the land and the law of the LDS Church. Sixth LDS President Joseph F. Smith testified as follows in the Reed Smoot Case:
"The CHAIRMAN. Do you obey the law in having five wives at this time, and having them bear to you eleven children since the manifesto of 1890? The above examples vividly show that early LDS leaders did not consider the law of the land, or laws of their own church to be worth following when it fit their need. As such, it is unlikely that they were true prophets of the living God. Article 13: "We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul-We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things." As we come to the last Article of the LDS faith, we ask several important questions that pertain to "doing good to all men." Is it good to all men to teach false doctrines? Is it good to all men to follow false prophets? Is it good to all men to usurp the authority of the Bible? Joseph Smith regularly broke the laws of the land and the laws of God. He has given scores of false prophecies and lied to even his own followers. We ask that the answer to such questions be carefully weighed before accepting the LDS Church as the only true church on the face of the earth.
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