Today I read the second part of Joseph Smith History, verses 21 - 26. It is so strange to me, as it was to Joseph Smith at the time it was happening, that so many people would get so excited about the fact that Joseph Smith had seen, or in their minds claimed to have seen, a vision. Have you ever noticed in our day that when someone claims things like what Joseph claimed we usually just think they are crazy and no one takes them seriously? Yet, for some reason in the 1800's, they were zealots and very reminiscent of the Israelites in the Old Testament, stamping out "corruption" where ever they saw it.
I've often wondered what causes mankind to be so paranoid about anything that is different than themselves. I mean, what caused the Bostonians to be so afraid that the Salem Witch Trials actually happened. That people would turn on their neighbors, literally people they had known their entire lives and see them killed, or "purified". We being much more civilized now, or so we think we are, look back at those days and shudder with horror at how superstitious and paranoid those people in those days were.
But it did not start there. There is a reason the period of time when the Gospel of Jesus Christ was off the earth it was called the dark ages. The decisions some people made during those centuries, especially those that claimed to speak for God, are truly appalling. I've heard it said that the two things you never talk about in mixed company are: politics and religion. Nothing seems to ignite such fierce debates and hatred as these two topics, and religion seems to be the more volatile of the two. Religious snobbery is what caused the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the Salem Witch Trials, the Extermination Order of Missouri Governor Boggs, and others that I could name if we had the time and the inclination.
If anything, the sheer amount of persecution heaped on a 14 year old boy for saying he had seen God and Jesus Christ in a vision, lends credence to what he is saying to me. Again, I think about if someone were to claim this today how would we all react? We would think he was either crazy/deranged, or that he had indeed seen a vision but it was probably not of God. But no one would pay it any mind at all and after a few weeks it would fizzle out and we would not hear anymore about it unless they did something else of note such as commit a murder or something similar. Why is that? Because it would not be truly from God. Throughout history the chosen people of God, or the Saints, have always been persecuted and had people attempt to wipe them out. The Egyptians tried it with the Israelites, the Romans tried it with the early Christians, and the Missourians tried it in the 1800's with the Latter-day Saints.
It seems to be only when there is truth is there persecution, usually. There are obvious exceptions such as the Spanish Inquisition and the Salem Witch Trials among others. But again, the sheer fact that Joseph Smith WAS persecuted for almost 30 years and he never changed his story even once, would be enough to convince me logically if I did not already have a testimony of the truthfulness of his words. Satan really only sits up and takes notice when someone is telling the truth. But if one of his servants sat up and claimed what Joseph Smith did, no one even cares and we just go on our way. I wonder why no one else really seems to see it? To me, people should be joining the church out of sheer logic of the facts if nothing else.
I do feel so sad when I think of poor Joseph's life though. All he was trying to do was follow God and the command he had been given and it caused him grief, pain and eventually his life. I guarantee though when we have a chance to meet that amazing man and ask him about it all, he will tell us that it was all worth it and that he would not trade one second of it or change it at all. Because he had a testimony of what was right and knew that God was on his side. And in the end, isn't that all we really need? Until tomorrow.
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