Unsettling Mormonism
an archive of unsettling histories, mythistories, and mystories
from U.S. & Mormon settler colonialism, white supremacy, and imperialism
from U.S. & Mormon settler colonialism, white supremacy, and imperialism
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This is my testimony of the Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which my entire family have been followers of since 1884.  Mormon Mythistries I’d like to bear my testimony: I know this church is an overtly white-settler-Christian-imperial-capitalist-hetero-supremacist corporation which refuses to apologize, acknowledge, or be accountable to the ongoing harms they’ve enacted. I know Joseph Smith was a pedophile, (attempted) murderer, & con-man who stole millions in contemporary dollars from his members and constantly ran from being held accountable for any of his crimes. I know Brigham Young was an imperial genocidal terrorist who also controlled his own people (my ancestors) through blood-atonements (divine murder) & other abuses of power. I know The Book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price, and D&C were made up by Joseph Smith as part of his financial con in the form of a religious corporation and they are each book teaches that white-supremacy, heteropatriarchy, settler-colonialism, classism, Christian-supremacy, & antisemitism are divine. I know the Mormon doctrine of eternal families is rooted in anti/philosemitism, misogynistic polygamy, and classist pedophilic eugenics—that Joseph threatened to murder his own wife in the same revelation in Joseph describes the doctrine of eternal families & polygamy. I know Mormon temples, priesthood, and Israeli-identity are examples of anti/philosemitic, hetero-patriarchal, and white-Christian-settler-supremacist practices. I know Mormon end-times beliefs are far-right, Christian-Nationalist/supremacist, anti-queer, and contribute to the destruction of the livability of our planet (the only one we’ll ever know). I know this church sided with & assisted Nazis during & after WWII—that its leaders (using their religious and US gov authority) actively fought against allowing Jewish refugees (even those converted to Mormonism) from emigrating to the U.S. I know the contemporary church uses their mass fortune (the results of the financial con that their founder started) to defend, enable, and assist child abusers while they abuse survivors of child abuse—and to create deadly anti-queer laws globally. I know they use their missionary program to colonize Indigenous Peoples across the world spreading this white-Christain-supremacy & nationalism comminting genocide through cultural assimilation. I know the Mormon God is openly white-supremacist as he uses whiteness as a mark of his Chosen People and uses “a skin of blackness” as a mark of evil. And openly advocates for segregation and anti-miscegenation (in both scripture and the words of his prophets). I know the current Prophet & other leaders were all grown ass men as this church assisted Nazis, committed genocide through the Lamanite Placement Program, openly practiced anti-Black segregation, fought against civil rights, homosexual marriage rights, and women’s rights. And they do it all with the word love on their lips. I know this church learned everything it knows from the U.S. settler-colonial project in which it was conceived. That the only thing Mormon leaders and the U.S. government have ever fought over is who will dominate the masses, the land, and it’s Peoples. I know that it is our responsibility as heirs & products of these projects to, like Jesus, destroy those which seek to hoard and abuse power and wealth through the subjugation and exploitation of people and that which gives us all life. Amen This essay is also featured in Testimony "Vol. 3" by Related Records
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 Collage featuring settler-nativist images like so-called Mount Timpanogos with it's official false Native mythistry, Boy Scouts & the Order of the Arrow patch which are both examples of settler-nativism. “I come from ancestry that are Cherokee Indians so I definitely am sympathetic"
- UT Rep. Birkeland, as she voted to block Utah HB-40, a bill protecting Indigenous families, children, and Nations. “You don't just get to decide you're Cherokee if the community does not recognize you as such. Ancestry is different from tribal membership; Indigenous identity…(is something) that Indigenous communities alone have the right to…define.” - Dakota scholar Kim Tallbear talking about Elizabeth Warren’s claim of Indigeneity. Birkeland’s claim––like the Lamanite identity––is a form of settler-colonial violence called Settler-Nativism. “Settler Nativism...is a Settler Move To Innocence… an effort to mark oneself blameless in the attempted genocides of Indigenous peoples…to deflect a settler identity, while continuing to enjoy settler privilege & occupying stolen land.” - EveTuck & K. Wayne Yang, “Decolonization is not a metaphor” Mormons have been Settler-Nativists from their beginnings. When Joseph Smith claimed to find an ancient record about the ancestors of contemporary Indigenous Peoples–Settler-Nativism. Whenever Mormons weaponize the Lamanite curse to suggest that white Mormons are the true heirs of this so-called Promised Land–Settler-Nativism. Everytime a Mormon dresses up as a Book of Mormon character–Meta-Settler-Nativism “Do they need some blood tie with the frontier & its dangers in order to experience what it means to be an American? Or is it an attempt to avoid facing the guilt they bear for the treatment of the Indians?” - Vine Deloria Jr. Settler-Mormons even claim an ancestral relationship with Indigenous Peoples through their philosemitic Israelite identity. My G-Grandma Hale wrote that Euro Mormons & Lehi’s People (Ancient Mormon Patriarch of Indigenous Peoples) are both descendants of the same Tribe of Israel & are destined to be the “leaders of the whole anglo-saxon race.” Mormonism is itself Settler-Nativism. These fabricated blood ties not only perpetuate the “custodian” role that Mormons assigned themselves over Indigenous people & this land, but also nativizes white-settler-Mormons by inventing a blood connection to this land, deflecting their “settler identity while continuing to enjoy” the settler rights & privileges taken with this imagined relationship. Thus, through Settler-Nativism Rep. Birkeland is openly able to harm Indigenous Peoples & justify that harm by claiming Cherokee identity & sympathy with no relationships with Cherokee People. She is able to enact settler-violence & “mark herself blameless” simultaneously. (Like the entire Lamanite Placement Program). In what ways do you internalize this land as your own? – In what ways do you “mark yourself as blameless” for historic and ongoing settler colonial violences. In what ways do you nativize yourself as a (ex)Mormon, American, conservationist, REI shopper, tree hugger? – How have you internalized “what it means to be an American?” In what ways are being accountable to the ongoing genocidal histories that allow you & I to live in this land? Land I imagine you also love.  Joseph Smith presidential campaign poster (1846) Here’s a list of 11 Mormons who’ve run for U.S. President* beginning with Joseph Smith’s 1844 campaign. (*Eldridge Cleaver was not yet a Mormon when he ran *Sonia Johnson was no longer a Mormon when she ran *Ezra Taft Benson never ran bc his Prophet wouldn’t let him) Mormons have been politically active since their founding. Mike Lee, Mitt Romney, and the Udall family are all from power Mormon Pioneer dynasties who gained and maintained power and wealth through land theft. Currently Mormons represent 1.7% of the 117th Congress (and 2% of the US population). They serve and have served as members of the State Dept, as US ambassadors, as well as the CIA, FBI, and many federal courts. But no Mormon has ever been US President despite being a uniquely U.S. American religion and repeated attempts by members.
10) Jon Huntsman Jr., 2012, Republican
 Six months after Joseph Smith organized his church he sent missionaries to the Cattaraugus Tribe & other Indigenous Peoples. Joseph commanded these missionaries to marry these Indigenous women so “that their posterity may become white & delightsome.” But Mormon leaders sought greater goals than just the assimilation of their supposedly fallen brother –– They sought an army & insurrection, they sought empire. Mormonism is founded on the belief that we are in the Latter-days, or End-times. These End-Times will culminate in the return of Jesus as the King of a global Mormon Zion (empire). To bring this to pass Mormons must prepare their Zion through the overthrow of the fallen U.S. ––specifically with an army of converted Indigenous Persons. This belief is shown in the White Horse Prophecy, said to be given by Smith in 1843: “You will see the Constitution of the U.S. almost destroyed, it will hang is if by a thread…it will be saved by the efforts of the White Horse (Mormons) & the Red Horse (converted Lamanites) who will combine in its defense.” A statement on prophecy on this church's website reads: "The so-called 'White Horse Prophecy' is based on accounts that have not been substantiated by historical research & is not embraced as Church doctrine." Yet as you can read in the second half of this post, leaders have repeated this prophecy throughout this church’s history, including politicians. And as you can read below, Mormon leaders were clearly gathering an army to fight against the U.S. as part of their Zion-building settler-project. So, whether those words were spoken by Smith or not, this Prophecy is in fact, “substantiated by historical research," despite what the current leadership claims. Or as Mormon insurrectionist Ryan Bundy says: “Whether the church calls it doctrine or not, we got quotes from several prophets reiterating that…I take the words of the prophets both modern & previous ones seriously. That’s what I’ve read…that’s what I believe.”  Mormon U.S. Insurrection & Indigenous Assimilation“I tell you the (Indigenous People) of these mountains will yet be a shield to this people if we do right and…look to these poor degraded natives.” - Wilford Woodruff “It would seem that it’s the fate of the Indian as a race to be wiped out and become extinct…but hope lies for them in the fact that God foretold He would not permit their utter destruction…I am looking to the fulfillment of all things that the Lord has spoken, Zion is bound to rise and flourish. The Lamanites will blossom as the rose on the mountains.” - Wilford Woodruff “The Latter-day Saints in these mountains never can have the privilege of going back to Jackson County and building…the New Jerusalem … until quite a large portion of (Indigenous People) go back with us.” - Orson Hyde “President Young in his address to the Saints…said (U.S. Pres) Polk…had a hand in the death of Joseph and Hyrum. And that they should be damned for these things. If they ever sent any men to interfere with us here, they shall have their throats cut. With uplifted hands to Heaven (Young) swore…that he would never cease…to make every preparation and avenge blood of the Prophets and Saints. That he intended to have every hole and corner from the Bay of Francisco to Hudson Bay known to us. And that our people would be connected with every tribe of Indians throughout America. And that our people would yet take their squaws, wash and dress them up, teach them and raise up children by them. And not many generations hence they will become a white and delightsome people. In no other way will it be done.” - Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, July 28, 1847 (Mormons had been in so-called Utah for only four days) “Young..counselled the brethren to buy up the Lamanite children as fast as they could and educate them and teach them the gospel so that not many generations they would be a white and delightsome people for the Lord could not have devised a better plan than to have put us where we are in order to accomplish this thing.” - Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, May 12, 1851 “By and by (Indigenous People) will be the Lord’s battle ax in good earnest.” - Brigham Young to Las Vegas Fort missionaries 1855 "If the Lord blesses us…we can have 1000 brave warriors on hand in a short time to help quell the eruption (the Utah War) that might take place in the principalities.” - John Steele, Las Vegas Fort missionary 1855 “Young said that the U. S. are fools to…send out troops to fight us. This season we shall whip them out; then they will send out reinforcements; then we shall have the Lamanites with us and the more the United States send out, the worse off they will be, for they will perish with famine.” - Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, August 2, 1857 (Utah War started a month earlier) Young said “If the government of the United States persists in sending armies to destroy us, in the name of the Lord, we shall conquer them…I shall not hold the Indians still by the wrist any longer for white men to shoot at them, but I shall let them go ahead and do as they please and I shall carry the war into their own land…You may tell them they must stop all emigration across this continent. The Indians will kill all that attempt it.” - Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, September 13, 1857 (Mountain Meadows Massacre started 7 days prior and ended on the 11th) “Elder John D. Lee also arrived with an awful tale of blood. A company of California emigrants of about 150 men, women and children, many of them belonged to the mob in Missouri and Illinois…They wanted to do all the evil they could, so they poisoned the springs of water; several of the saints died. The Indians became enraged at their conduct and they surrounded them on a prairie, but the Indians fought them 5 days until they killed all their men about 60 in number. They then rushed into their corral and cut the throats of their women and children, except some 8 or 10 children, which they brought and sold to the whites.” - Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, September 29, 1857. (Elder Lee was the organizer and an enactor of this massacre. No Indigenous Peoples participated in this massacre. Mormons continued to blame Nuwu for this for 150 years.) “President Heber C. Kimball..said that the United States would not go down very speedily, but gradually…and he was satisfied that the Indians would do their rough work in a great measure before they embraced the Gospel.” - Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, January 9, 1858 the White Horse Prophecy“This Nation will be on the very verge of crumbling to peices [sic] and tumbling to the ground and when the Constitution is upon the brink of ruin this people will be the Staff upon which the Nation shall lean and they shall bear the constitution away from the very verge of destruction.”
- Founding Pres. Joseph Smith 1840 “When the Constitution of the United States hangs, as it were, upon a single thread, they will have to call for the 'Mormon' Elders to save it from utter destruction; and they will step forth and do it." - 2nd Pres. Brigham Young, 1855 "You and I have heard all our lives that the time may come when the Constitution may hang by a thread... if we are to live as a Church, and progress, and have the right to worship... we must have the great guarantees that are set up by our Constitution." - Served in 1st Pres. under 3 Prophets, U.S. Sec of State & Ambassador, J. Reuben Clark, 1942 "I have always felt that they meant that sometime the question of whether we are going to proceed on the basis of the Constitution would arise and at this point government leaders who were Mormons would be involved in answering that question." - U.S Sec. of Housing & Michigan Governor, George Romney, 1967 "I have faith that the Constitution will be saved as prophesied by Joseph Smith. But it will not be saved in Washington… It will be saved by enlightened members of this Church – men and women who will subscribe to and abide by the principles of the Constitution." - U.S. Sec of Ag. & 13th Pres. Ezra Taft Benson, 1986 “Religious freedom is going to go down the drain, too… I’ve never seen it worse than this, where the Constitution literally is hanging by a thread.” - U.S. Sen. of Utah for 42 years, Orrin Hatch, 2000 “Our Constitution was being violated. That it was hanging by a thread.” - Mormon insurrectionist Ammon Bundy on his armed take-over of the Malheur Nat’l Wildlife Refuge, 2016 “I testify of the divinely inspired Constitution of the United States and pray that we who recognize the Divine Being who inspired it will always uphold and defend its great principles.” - Dallin H. Oaks, 2021 “Whether the church calls (the White Horse Prophecy) doctrine or not, we got quotes from several prophets reiterating that. What the church’s official position on it or not, that I don’t know. I take the words of the prophets both modern and previous ones seriously.That’s what I’ve read, that’s what I’ve heard, that’s what I believe.” - Mormon insurrectionist Ryan Bundy National Sacrifice: Cross as in Crosshairs
Our world was made (of horrors beyond our comprehension). Our apocalyptic destiny manifested. Murder-made innocence thru our mythistoric national divinidentity. Nephites and Lamanites. Cowboys and Indians. Civilization and Wilderness. Capitalists and Communists. Pioneering terra nulliparous farms seeded in Genocide. Blossom as the rose under the All-Seeing Eye’s orbit Nearer my God to thee's End Times |
AuthorI am nicholas b jacobsen, an artist, researcher, historian, educator, and organizer. I am a trans-non binary Euro-settler raised in the Nuwu lands of so-called Utah. My family has been Mormon and Utahn for as long as either of those concepts have existed. My ancestors sacrificed everything--their identities, homelands, jobs, health, & safety to become Mormon, Utahn, U.S. American, & white--to settler their Zion. They also sacrificed their humanities as they committed genocide against Kuttuhsippeh (Goshute), Timpanogos Shoshone, Shoshone-Bannock, Eastern Shoshone, Ute, Nuwu (Southern Paiute), and Diné (Navajo). Because my ancestors made my home through Indigenous genocide in their home/lands––I take it as my personal responsibility to unsettle what my ancestors settled, while helping my fellow settlers do the same through reading, writing, art, and community building. Archives
June 2023
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