The BorD files, episode 8:

Now with more html and chocolatey goodness.

If you were not aware, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (commonly called the Mormons) is rebuilding the Nauvoo temple. The temple will be completed by the Fall of 2001. The announcement came as a shock to many of the members. They figured it would remain as it has for the last 150 years, a pile of rubble and a collective memory. It is the only Mormon temple to have been destroyed, then rebuilt. It is a historic time to be alive.

What is the Nauvoo temple you ask? It is the second temple that was completed by the Mormons. The first is still standing in Kirtland, Ohio. It is owned by the reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The second temple, in Nauvoo, was destroyed by arson, followed by a tornado. The stones were then carted off and used in construction projects by those that had driven the Mormons from their homes.

The temple construction had begun, but it was not completed when Joseph Smith (the Mormon's first prophet) and his brother Hyrum Smith were imprisoned, and killed by a mob. The temple was hurriedly finished by the Mormons under the direction of their second prophet, Brigham Young. The Mormons used it only briefly before being brutally beaten, killed, raped, and driven from their city in the dead of winter.

They came to this place, Commerce, Illinois, in 1839 after being driven from their previous home. They found a swampy marshy place. They renamed it Nauvoo (Hebrew for "The City Beautiful). Through their labors, they drained the swamps, planted crops, built homes, and transformed it into the largest city in the State of Illinois. Then, as before, the mobs rose up against them, and drove them out. Poor, destitute, homeless, the Mormons left all of their worldly possessions behind. They left the boundaries of the United States and headed for the area which would later become Utah.

Through their efforts, the Mormons helped colonize the West. They were there when gold was found at Sutter's Mill. They were there when the Army needed an infantry to go to war against Mexico. The Mormon Battallion completed the longest infantry march by an American force, marching from Iowa to California. They settled the west, California, Arizona, Northern Mexico, Utah, Idaho, Nevada. The Mormons irrigated, built cities and farms, and continued on from where they left off in Nauvoo. They did many great things, they prospered. They benefited from being isolated, they thrived in their new home as they had in their old.

So why am *I* angry about the Nauvoo residents' response to the rebuilding of the Nauvoo temple?

I feel a personal bond with this place. My people were there. They joined the church in 1836, 6 years after the founding of the church in 1830. They moved to Kirtland, then on to Nauvoo. My ancestors were driven from their homes in Nauvoo. They were beaten. They were forced to move on. This land was taken from my people by force.

The following is a few snips from a January 2000 newspaper article which sums up some of the feelings of current residents of Nauvoo. My sarcastic and very un-Christlike comments are enclosed in braces [].

It is not uncommon to hear some locals "make a snappy remark" about a so-called Mormon invasion. [This invasion is much more law abiding and peaceful than the invasion which occurred in 1844.] 44-year-old Nauvoo native Dan Kinman clearly draws no warmth from the swarm of activity. "I wish they never dreamed this temple crap up," he says, breath steaming in the cold. "[Nauvoo] is going to be nothing but a tourist trap. [Be grateful that you can enjoy my tourist dollars. Be grateful that the Mormons don't rise up and take back the land that was taken from them in the first place.] It just gets worse, worse and worse. Soon it will be nothing but Mormons. I hate to put it that way, but it's true." [Do I sense some more of the same attitudes that were expressed by those that drove the Mormons out in the first place?]

Us and them. There is a lot of that kind of talk along main street. Approach people about their feelings on the temple construction and they are likely to ask whether you are Mormon before answering. "Tension. There is tension, They think this is their town. It ain't." [Guess again. This land is my land. This land was stolen from me. In some cases, the Mormons were paid for their land. This is true. They were given a sack of flour, or a beat up mule. In most cases, the locals just waited for the Mormon exodus before taking over their homes. Perhaps, instead of turning the other cheek, I should come back and give you a sack of flour for the privilege of owning my Grandfather's home.]

Many church members see the reconstruction as righting a wrong, or, perhaps, winning the last round of a 15-decade bout with a town that muscled them out. Indeed, in the collective Mormon consciousness, the clocks in Nauvoo stopped ticking when the wagons started rolling West. For Mormons, Nauvoo is not a bustling little town. It is a sacred place frozen in time. [The blood of our leaders was spilled. Our women were raped. Our temple was used as a barn, desecrated by the mobs. Our people died from lack of food and exposure while waiting to cross the plains and move on to Utah. I think it is correct to say that the Mormons hold Nauvoo as sacred in their memory.]

"They (Mormons) were here for seven years. I have been here 48 years. [Don't start playing that game. We would have been there for much longer if we had not been driven out.] People out there (in Utah) are not even aware that people live here, thrive here, raise their families here." Harsh feelings linger on both sides, with some locals bristling at the notion their ancestors did wrong. They claim the Mormons stirred up trouble by raiding area settlements.

A former city council member points to a plaque in town that tells the story of how the Mormons escaped Nauvoo to avoid "persecution". "They spelled that wrong," he says. "It's prosecution." [Learn your history. Joseph and Hyrum had escaped, they were on the other side of the Mississippi river headed West. They were in no danger of being captured. Hyrum talked his brother into going back, and they allowed themselves to be taken into custody. They had assurances that they would not be harmed. Of course, those that were supposed to protect them left them to be slaughtered by the mobs. Don't pretend that Mormons left to escape prosecution for anything. They gave up their leader. They gave up their land. What part of being raped and murdered falls under the category of escaping prosecution? Why don't we check the homes of the current residents of Nauvoo. Maybe we can find some of the items my family left behind when they were driven out. Maybe we can prosecute the theives.]

"It used to be pretty well segregated," laments Simmons. "They kept down on the flats, and we stayed on the hill." [If you want to be segregated, perhaps Mormons should come to town, build their own hotels, their own restaraunts, starve you out and make you flee for your economic life. It would be a bit more humane than the tactics that have been used in the past.]

END OF NEWSPAPER QUOTES.

Why should these attitudes make me mad? I honestly do not know. Somehow, the idea of the descendants of the mobbers whining that the Mormons are coming back gets under my skin. It feels, to my mind, the way it would sound to a Jew if the Germans started whining that there were too many Jews in Germany, and something must be done.

The Mormon exodus was not the same as the Jewish Holocaust, that is a given. However, many of the same emotions come from being persecuted for religious beliefs. Religious intolerance, whether it be Jew or Mormon or Muslim or Hindu or Catholic or Martian is just wrong. I support the Jews that are trying to get the Swiss banks to pay them back their monies. I think it would not be a bad idea for the Mormons to try to do the same thing.

Every time I see another article about the Nauvoo residents complaining, I have a really hard time turning the other cheek, and letting go. It is a personal problem. I will get over it. Times have changed. The Mormons are no longer a tiny fringe band to be kicked around. We have many million members, and are the fastest growing religion in the world. We are the stone that has been cut out of the mountain.

Do not stand in my way, complaining that your tiny little town is going to be invaded. Shut your mouth, and enjoy living in my Grandfathers house. In the meantime, we are coming to town. Smile, sell me T-shirts, sell me rooms in your hotels, feed me in your restaraunts, and hope I do not decide to live there permanently.

Turn the other cheek. Love your enemies. Bless them that curse you. That is all fine and good. But sometimes, only sometimes, I enjoy letting the natural man out for a while. I enjoy getting a little Old Testament. I enjoy thinking that vengeance is mine, saith the Lord.

Don't like it? Tell it to my ancestors. I don't want to hear it.