Page:American Anthropologist NS vol. 1.djvu/765

 694 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [n. s., i, 1S99

To follow the imposture thus sought to be foisted upon the world into practice and trace out the conduct of life which accep- tance by its adherents must necessarily induce, though a most interesting branch of the subject, is beyond the scope of the present purpose. Not, however, necessarily because of the mean- ness of its origin is the Book to be condemned. But danger awaits any community whose individuals, after fully realizing what a monster of iniquity and deceit the Book is, still adhere to its teachings and its precepts merely because those teachings and precepts are not in themselves immoral. For, the Book of Mormon is not in itself immoral. There is no polygamy in it. On the contrary, it is expressly prohibited. The Mormons have been slandered and traduced, unjustly and without warrant, for an im- moral " Bible." Whatever their practices may be under their doc- trine of " a new revelation," however, which springs directly from their invention of the Book of Mormon itself, there is nothing im- moral in the book. It is, on the contrary, only grotesque. It is a melange of plagiarisms from the Old and New Testaments, with- out order or regularity, easily traced, and intermingled with watery parodies of nothing in particular, signifying nothing. But, in this monstrosity, born of deceit and bred in falsehood, obliged to de- fend itself and its origin with inventions claiming miraculous interpositions of divine power, its adherents have discovered a most dangerous weapon against the moral world in this doctrine of " a continuing revelation." A hierarchy of subtle brains equipped with the wealth of the entire community, reinforced with a million dupes, willing to accept with unquestioning obedi- ence any dispensation formulated in the terms of " Thus saith the Lord," is a portentous danger-sign to enlightened civilization. This is the menace to the world from Mormonism.

�� �