[HN Gopher] The 1857 Utah War
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       The 1857 Utah War
        
       Author : jdkee
       Score  : 69 points
       Date   : 2022-08-08 18:36 UTC (4 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.imetatronink.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.imetatronink.com)
        
       | AnimalMuppet wrote:
       | There's a historical marker in Echo Canyon about this. It says,
       | essentially, that the army was sent because they thought Utah was
       | in rebellion, but Utah was not actually in rebellion, and
       | therefore it was not right/legal to send the army, and therefore
       | it was legitimate for Utah to resist the army. (It's in Utah, so
       | no surprise, the historical marker is a Mormon-view spin on what
       | happened.)
       | 
       | So, wait, let me make sure I've got this right. It's legitimate
       | for you to fight the US army _because you 're not in rebellion_?
       | Um, hello? The moment you start fighting them, _you 're in armed
       | rebellion_!
        
         | stevetodd wrote:
         | At the time, Utah was located in Mexican territory.
        
           | AnimalMuppet wrote:
           | At the time the Mormons _arrived_ (1847), it was officially
           | Mexican territory. But the US annexed it in 1848. By the time
           | of the Utah War, it was US territory.
           | 
           | (BTW, the canyon by which they entered the Salt Lake Valley
           | is Emigration Canyon. Emigration is when you leave,
           | immigration is when you arrive. They were consciously leaving
           | the US. They weren't really "going to Mexico", though; they
           | were intending to form their own independent country. But a
           | year later, the US annexed the area.)
        
         | daveslash wrote:
         | Re >> _It 's legitimate for you to fight the US army because
         | you're not in rebellion?_
         | 
         | That's right. Similar to how if a cop tries to arrest you, but
         | you did nothing deserving of arrest, it's legitimate to resist
         | arrest. But... uh, then oic.... /s
        
       | potta_coffee wrote:
       | This is a Mormon-biased spin on the history.
        
         | kolanos wrote:
         | This was left out of the story:
         | 
         | > At the height of the tensions, on September 11, 1857, at
         | least 120 California-bound settlers from Arkansas, Missouri and
         | other states, including unarmed men, women and children, were
         | killed in remote southwestern Utah by a group of local Mormon
         | militia. They first claimed that the migrants were killed by
         | Natives but it was proven otherwise. This event was later
         | called the Mountain Meadows Massacre and the motives behind the
         | incident remain unclear.
         | 
         | > The Aiken massacre took place the following month. In October
         | 1857, Mormons arrested six Californians traveling through Utah
         | and charged them with being spies for the U.S. Army. They were
         | released but were later murdered and robbed of their stock and
         | $25,000.
         | 
         | > Other incidents of violence have also been linked to the Utah
         | War, including a Native American attack on the Mormon mission
         | of Fort Lemhi in eastern Oregon Territory, modern-day Idaho.
         | They killed two Mormons and wounded several others. The
         | historian Brigham Madsen notes, "[T]he responsibility for the
         | [Fort Limhi raid] lay mainly with the Bannock." David Bigler
         | concludes that the raid was probably caused by members of the
         | Utah Expedition who were trying to replenish their stores of
         | livestock that had been stolen by Mormon raiders.
         | 
         | [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_War#Overview
        
         | tomohawk wrote:
         | Extremely. The Mormons headed west after trying to impose a
         | theocratic dictatorship in Nauvoo, IL. That didn't go well, and
         | their insurrection was put down.
         | 
         | https://www.flatplanet.news/post/mormon-militancy-and-the-co...
         | 
         | This is just the reprise of the earlier effort.
        
           | stcredzero wrote:
           | _The Mormons headed west after trying to impose a theocratic
           | dictatorship in Nauvoo, IL._
           | 
           | So that's where the original colony ship name came from in,
           | _The Expanse_!
        
         | [deleted]
        
       | rayiner wrote:
       | I find Mormons to be truly remarkable people. We visited Salt
       | Lake City recently, and headed out to the Great Salt Lake.
       | Brigham Young wasn't kidding about "land nobody wants!" There's
       | almost nothing there, except swarms of flies. (I have no idea
       | what they eat in the middle of the desert. As an aside, my wife's
       | family apparently went through Utah on the way to Oregon in the
       | wagon train days. They noped the f--k out of there.) But these
       | Mormons built civilization, a lovely society, in the middle of
       | nowhere.
        
         | rtkaratekid wrote:
         | It doesn't hurt that the Salt Lake is sadly shrinking
         | currently. So it's even worse than it probably was when they
         | arrived.
        
           | flanbiscuit wrote:
           | The Great Salt Lake is not only shrinking/drying, but there's
           | concern over the exposure of dangerous elements that was once
           | underwater
           | 
           | > Layers of earth that were formerly underwater have swirled
           | into dust clouds laced with calcium, sulphur and arsenic, a
           | naturally occurring element linked to cancer and birth
           | defects. Exposed lakebed is also contaminated with residue
           | from copper and silver mining.
           | 
           | > "If you breathe that dust over an extended period of time,
           | like decades or longer, then it can lead to increases in
           | different types of cancer, like lung cancer, bladder cancer,
           | cardiovascular disease, diabetes and such," Perry, from the
           | University of Utah in Salt Lake City, told Reuters on a
           | recent morning on Farmington Bay.
           | 
           | > More than just humans are endangered. Underwater reef-like
           | structures host a micro-organism that is food for brine
           | shrimp, in turn an important food for birds, but the
           | structures dry out and turn gray when exposed.
           | 
           | source for the quote above:
           | https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/utahs-great-
           | sal...
           | 
           | other sources:
           | https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/07/climate/salt-lake-city-
           | cl...
        
             | fooey wrote:
             | The GSL is also largely responsible for the famous Utah ski
             | resorts
             | 
             | Without the lake effect producing all that snow, Utah's ski
             | industry is in jeopardy. Without the ski industry, a very
             | large portion of Northern Utah's desirability as a place to
             | live goes away'
        
         | codazoda wrote:
         | I live in Utah just North of SLC and I hear this every once in
         | a while. The Wasatch Mountains here, to the East, are also
         | pretty amazing. When I'm away I always miss these mountains. If
         | you go West you hit the lake, which is low, muddy, stinky, and
         | mostly dead and then there are the salt flats beyond. True,
         | it's a desert, like much of the US, but the mountains are
         | pretty amazing here. The best times to visit are Spring, Fall,
         | or Winter. Hit this place in the heat of summer and you'll
         | probably wonder why we're here (everything is dry). But it's
         | nice in Spring and Fall and lots of people love the Winters.
        
           | rayiner wrote:
           | I didn't mean this in a negative way at all. After wading in
           | that lake it's just remarkable to me how you can create a
           | bustling city out of that environment. Where I come from food
           | literally grows everywhere; it jumps from the river into your
           | nets.
        
       | matt3210 wrote:
       | They're population is one of the few which are increasing. They
       | very well could inherit the whole country.
        
         | TheGigaChad wrote:
        
       | balentio wrote:
       | Between Buchanan's questionable sexuality, and the Mormons and
       | Slavery, it is little wonder the Civil War was not far away.
        
         | ghaff wrote:
         | Pretty much every US president from about Fillmore through
         | Andrew Johnson (with the notable and obvious exception of
         | Abraham Lincoln) is widely regarded as being on the short list
         | for worst US president. Admittedly every president in the pre-
         | Civil War period was arguably dealt a pretty bad hand but none
         | of them seriously tried to change course--and, of course, many
         | of them wouldn't have been elected had they tried.
        
           | balentio wrote:
           | True, but had Lincoln not changed the course, there would
           | have been no office to which to be elected. It makes a pretty
           | good point for people, as a popular democracy, not
           | necessarily knowing what they need to have a country.
        
       | thenerdhead wrote:
       | Wasn't this one of the primary reasons why majority of Mormons
       | live south of Salt Lake? I swear Brigham Young ordered a scorched
       | earth type thing on SLC and most relocated south.
        
         | nobleach wrote:
         | Nah, there are plenty of cities with high LDS populations north
         | of SLC. Bountiful, Centerville, Kaysville are like in the
         | 80-90% ranges. It's when you get into Layton with Hill Air
         | Force Base and Ogden where the population seems to dwindle.
         | North of Ogden, you have Brigham City where the population
         | again is very high.
        
           | thenerdhead wrote:
           | Yeah no doubt about high percentages in northern utah (I'm
           | originally from Ogden fwiw). Was mostly commenting that it
           | would make sense if Young used this war as a means to migrate
           | people to the true valley (Provo/Orem/etc). Those towns are
           | easily 90%+ LDS. I vaguely remember learning about this in
           | Utah history but it was not characterized in the same light.
        
             | nobleach wrote:
             | It could explain places like Provo/Lindon/Orem which are
             | most likely 99%.
        
       | billiam wrote:
       | The Mormons are fascinating for many reasons and highly skilled
       | at building a certain kind of American community. One of the
       | things they are best at is spinning their clean scrubbed version
       | of history, which as with many groups has as many despicable acts
       | as heroic ones. They were indeed quite persecuted on their flight
       | across the continent, but that traumatic origin story doesn't
       | justify to me some of the less attractive aspects of modern day
       | LDS culture. Some interesting reading:
       | 
       | https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/18/us/latter-day-saints-charity-...
       | 
       | https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/years-sex-abuse-mo...
       | 
       | https://religionnews.com/2017/06/20/10-reasons-mormons-domin...
       | 
       | All this somewhat strained perfection does have a cost, however.
       | Utah leads the nation in rates of anti-depressant use and several
       | types of cosmetic surgery. [1]
       | 
       | 1. https://www.healthresearchpolicy.org/top-3-most-requested-
       | co...
        
         | R0b0t1 wrote:
        
           | lostapathy wrote:
           | The history really is fascinating. There were numerous
           | "Mormon Wars" - see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormonism_a
           | nd_violence#List_of...
        
           | metadat wrote:
           | The persecution was also rooted in the cult's founder, Joseph
           | Smith, having a thing for "seducing" young girls (14 year
           | olds and even younger) and attempting to add them to his
           | collection of 40 odd wives.
           | 
           | His creepy heavenly-sanctioned pedophilic actions and vibe
           | were not well-received by outsiders.
        
             | rsweeney21 wrote:
             | The 14 year old you are referring to is my 3rd great
             | grandmother, Helen Mar Kimball. Her personal journals and
             | her other writings don't agree with your characterization
             | of what took place.
             | 
             | I've gotten used to her being defamed, but it still bothers
             | me.
             | 
             | If you are interested in what actually transpired: Her
             | father, Heber Kimball offered Helen to be sealed to Joseph,
             | to create a spiritual link between the Kimball family and
             | the Smith family. Helen understood it to be like a
             | spiritual betrothal. Nothing much changed about her life
             | after the sealing. She still lived at home with her
             | parents, she went to school and did chores.
             | 
             | She later married Horace Whitney, my 3rd great grandfather,
             | when she was 18 years old and had 11 children with him! She
             | was the first of three wives.
             | 
             | Yes, my great grandparents were polygamists. You can call
             | that strange if you want, but stop defaming her or
             | spreading lies that she was "seduced" or taken advantage of
             | by anyone. Use someone else to disparage Joseph Smith.
        
               | metadat wrote:
               | How do you feel about Smith's sexual advances towards a
               | twelve year old? That incident got him tar and feathered
               | by a mob.
               | 
               | The reality is a lot different than the whitewashed
               | version we were taught in Primary.
               | 
               | It seems unfair to expect you, as a descendant of one of
               | the 40 wives, to be critical of it. Bias is part of being
               | human.
        
               | SlickNixon wrote:
               | >You can call that strange if you want
               | 
               | To ask the most relevant question--do you call it
               | strange?
        
             | anonAndOn wrote:
             | Somehow those blessed with being a "prophet" throughout the
             | millennia are always instructed to have sex with young
             | women/girls because the path to heaven is always in their
             | pants. Funny how religion works across the ages.
        
         | ngngngng wrote:
         | "[Mormons] are just the worst type of people, from what I've
         | experienced and what other people have also experienced."
         | 
         | Can you imagine that being printed about any other minority in
         | any serious publication? This article was published days ago
         | and I'm still in awe at that line. (From the second link)
        
       | fooey wrote:
       | The article is an interesting take on the time period
       | 
       | For one example, I think Porter Rockwell is less considered a
       | lawman, and more of a hitman or enforcer. He's suspected of
       | having a body count somewhere in the 150 range
       | 
       | edit:
       | 
       | It also completely leaves out the entire Mountain Meadows
       | Massacre incident, where Mormons slaughtered around 120 men women
       | and children in a wagon train headed to California in September
       | of 1857
       | 
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Meadows_Massacre
       | 
       | For a little bonus Utah trivia, the only person actually punished
       | for the Massacre is current Senator Mike Lee's great-great-
       | grandfather.
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | DavidAdams wrote:
         | Porter Rockwell was dubbed the "Destroying Angel," but he was
         | definitely a bona fide law man. But you're right that there is
         | some evidence that he was also kind of the frontier version of
         | a James Bond type secret service or special forces operative
         | with a license to kill. And his boss was Brigham Young, who was
         | a bit drunk on power. Mountain Meadows is absolutely a disgrace
         | and a scandal that should (and does) taint the reputations of
         | Young and other Mormon leaders of the time, but it's more
         | understandable once you consider the greater context of the
         | Utah war. The Utahns were paranoid and on high alert. And
         | Brigham Young in particular was concerned about being deposed
         | and jailed, so he had an interest in keeping people whipped up.
        
           | swatcoder wrote:
           | It's an interesting aspect of studying history that you can
           | watch time and peace turn a mass murder into a "disgrace" and
           | "scandal" that "taints reputations" but is "understandable in
           | context". Those may be fair and uncontroversial words with
           | 150 years of remove, but would obviously not have gone over
           | well nearer the time of massacre itself.
        
         | codazoda wrote:
         | Just in case you were also confused, 1957 is a slight typo. The
         | Massacre occurred in 1857.
        
           | fooey wrote:
           | whoops, thanks!
        
         | [deleted]
        
       | jbellis wrote:
       | This is a very very bad description of why Buchanan sent troops
       | to Utah. Utah really was effectively a theocracy and it really
       | was refusing to enforce US law, especially wrt polygamy.
       | 
       | Quoting from https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-
       | content/uploads/sbi/artic...,
       | 
       | Contrary to what many have long assumed, Buchanan's decision to
       | intervene in Utah was not based on the despised Judge W. W.
       | Drummond's letter of resignation sent from New Orleans in early
       | April 1857. That letter "recited nearly every accusation of
       | Mormon disloyalty and perfidy that had accumulated during the
       | prior ten years" and portrayed Utah as a "territory out of
       | control," with Governor Brigham Young as "the prime offender"
       | (116). MacKinnon shows that the real catalyst for sending troops
       | to Utah was "the substance and rhetoric in at least three other
       | batches of material received in Washington during the third week
       | of March 1857, weeks before the government was aware of
       | Drummond's resignation" (100).
       | 
       | The first decisive documents were the Utah legislature's two
       | memorials urging the appointment of only Mormons to territorial
       | offices. As Utah delegate John M. Bernhisel reported to Young,
       | they were seen as "a declaration of war," breathing "a defiant
       | spirit" and "not respectful" (106). The second document was a
       | letter sent by Drummond probably before he left California for
       | New Orleans and unrelated to his later letter of resignation. It
       | detailed the impossibility of enforcing federal laws in Utah. Two
       | more letters arrived the same week from Utah Judge John F. Kinney
       | to Attorney General Jeremiah S. Black. Kinney gave more examples
       | of the subversion of U.S. law in Utah and recommended that
       | Buchanan replace Young as governor and establish an army garrison
       | in the territory. The second Kinney letter enclosed a message
       | from Utah's Surveyor General David H. Burr, which included his
       | dramatic assessment that any new governor risked assassination;
       | Burr, too, recommended a military force.
        
       | mixmastamyk wrote:
       | That was great, would like to read more. Didn't quite understand
       | the paragraph about the gold, sounds like they stole it from the
       | army but it is unclear.
        
         | tastyfreeze wrote:
         | They earned it by selling goods to the fort. Costs a lot of
         | money to feed troops.
        
       | gumby wrote:
       | I don't know much about this incident but I am dubious about this
       | retelling.
       | 
       | There are a lot of florid adjectives, with one side being
       | villainous and dastardly, the other side noble (that being said,
       | Buchanan _was_ a disgrace).
       | 
       | And the level of privation described here as being inflicted on
       | the US is not consistent with the force being able to press on.
       | It had to have been exaggerated else they would have been forced
       | to retreat.
       | 
       | Finally, the part about being "neutral" in the US a civil war,
       | well, that is certainly nothing to be proud of for an ostensibly,
       | moral organization, though completely consistent with their
       | "children of Ham" doctrine that banned blacks from ordination,
       | mixed marriages etc until the end of the 1970s.
        
       | ramesh31 wrote:
        
         | rwcarlsen wrote:
         | While I'm sure some of that does occur some places in the
         | region, my experience in the Utah/Idaho region is very much the
         | opposite. Friendly and very merit oriented work environments.
        
           | metadat wrote:
           | "Friendly" != "Friend"
           | 
           | They don't grow the ranks by behaving like jerks in public.
           | It's part of the manipulation to persuade you to join up.
           | "What unusually nice people, now I'm curious.."
           | 
           | They warm you up before revealing that membership costs 10%
           | of all you earn, regardless of how much money and resources
           | the church already has. The machine is never content, always
           | hungry for more power. If you are in dire straights as a
           | member and require assistance, the program is geared to get
           | you off their assistance ASAP. Yep, God really needs to keep
           | that money.
        
             | InitialLastName wrote:
             | I don't have the moral fortitude to defend Mormonism as a
             | religion, but based on the model of organized religion as a
             | theocratic social insurance program (which it has been
             | since, at least, Leviticus), your complaints don't seem
             | entirely unreasonable:
             | 
             | > membership costs 10% of all you earn
             | 
             | 10% is less than I currently pay into my state's social
             | safety net programs.
             | 
             | > If you are in dire straights as a member and require
             | assistance, the program is geared to get you off their
             | assistance ASAP.
             | 
             | Shouldn't "returning people to self-sufficiency" be the
             | goal of any social safety net? As far as I can tell, when
             | you build classes of people whose lives are exclusively and
             | indefinitely supported by welfare, things don't go well
             | (especially when the people who fund the social welfare
             | system get a bit strapped for cash).
        
               | metadat wrote:
               | The point is, they've amassed hundreds of billions or
               | even trillions of dollars with this stingy pyramid
               | scheme. The "social safety net" they offer is a joke.
               | Enjoy your knitted blanket and can of baked beans.
               | 
               | The institution is only generous with their marketing
               | budget (e.g. BYU, which is also run on a shoestring
               | budget) or when they're on the receiving end of
               | generosity.
               | 
               | The whole enterprise feeds on the exploitation of human
               | souls for free labor.
               | 
               | It'd be nice if they looked outside themselves a little
               | and invested their resources into efforts to help human-
               | beings. Does "god" really only want them helping
               | themselves?
        
             | zdragnar wrote:
             | Tithing is common in most christian denominations, and is
             | legally mandated (and automated) in several European
             | countries via a "church tax" if you're officially
             | registered as a member.
             | 
             | Even the 10% number is derived from the Bible (LEV.
             | 27:30-34). There's nothing particularly nefarious about the
             | Mormons here.
        
             | throwawaylinux wrote:
             | Sounds like the federal government except you get a smile
             | and a choice, it's cheaper, and it doesn't start so many
             | wars. Probably less wasteful too.
        
         | kreeben wrote:
         | I wasn't sure why you were being downvoted so I googled "utah
         | population" and "utah mormon church member count".
         | 
         | 2.2M divided by 3.2M --> 70%
         | 
         | LDS seems to at least be a dominating factor in that state.
        
           | [deleted]
        
           | fooey wrote:
           | Utah legislature is even more lopsided
           | 
           | https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2021/01/14/latter-
           | day-s...
           | 
           | > Eighty-nine of the 103 lawmakers to be seated Jan. 19 (with
           | one current vacancy) are members of The Church of Jesus
           | Christ of Latter-day Saints. That's 86%. Utah's population is
           | 60% Latter-day Saint, according to research by The Salt Lake
           | Tribune. Latter-day Saints also hold 100% of the state's
           | congressional seats and statewide political offices, such as
           | governor.
        
           | eco wrote:
           | The LDS church is known to inflate their membership numbers
           | significantly. They count anyone who was ever baptized at age
           | 8 regardless of how active they currently are.
           | 
           | > Independent Latter-day Saint demographer Matt Martinich has
           | estimated that about 40 percent of Latter-day Saints in the
           | United States are "active," and he guesses that roughly half
           | of Salt Lake County's members go to church, or roughly 24
           | percent of the county's population.
           | 
           | Apostasy among young people has grown extreme in the last
           | couple of decades by the church's own admission.
        
             | ngngngng wrote:
             | Nothing you stated here supports the claim in your first
             | paragraph. Weekly church attendance is not a requirement of
             | religious affiliation.
        
         | 52358 wrote:
         | "all career advancement and social status is dependent on your
         | position with the church" -- this is bullshit, at least in my
         | experience.
         | 
         | I lived there 2012-2017, never had an issue with dating/making
         | friends/getting promotions at work. There were of course many
         | women that would only date mormon men, but the non-mormon
         | population was big enough that I didn't think about it much.
         | 
         | I worked for multiple tech companies there, had plenty of non-
         | mormon co-workers (and bosses!), and while people did talk
         | about mormon things sometimes in social settings, it was never
         | pushed on me, nor did anyone make a big deal that I wasn't
         | mormon.
         | 
         | I should mention I lived in downtown SLC, which is arguably
         | more liberal/secular, and I worked for companies both in and
         | outside the city.
        
         | broof wrote:
         | I'm an exmormon living in Utah and it is really not that bad...
         | Mormon culture here is the dominant culture but not anything
         | like the parent comment describes it as. I explicitly left the
         | church which is significantly more ostracizing than just not
         | being a member, and I still don't feel like an outsider.
        
         | EvanKelly wrote:
         | They do have a strong hold, but they absolutely do not hold
         | every seat. Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County districts are
         | great examples.
        
         | metadat wrote:
         | This hot take is a little extreme but not too far from the
         | truth.
         | 
         | You'll only understand the depths to which the LDS church
         | controls the state and enforces it's social and moral code if
         | you've lived in Utah for an extended period as an outsider.
         | It's pretty fucking weird.
         | 
         | - Hard liquor only sold by State Liquor stores, where they
         | digitally record your ID. Only open a few hours a day, and on
         | certain days. Additional state-mandated restrictions on what
         | may be stocked (not too high of proof, etc). Fiendishly
         | overpriced.
         | 
         | - Beer is all 1/2 the standard alcohol content, and may not be
         | purchased on Sundays or after something like 10pm (forgive me,
         | I don't recall the exact hours but you get the point). You must
         | drive to a neighboring state to get regular alcoholic
         | beverages.
         | 
         | - The LDS church wields immense financial power, usually
         | wielded with a thin veil indirection to avoid running afoul of
         | federal non-profit tax law.
         | 
         | - The LDS church is above the law, because they control it.
         | Can't say they hijacked the state, because they founded it.
         | There is no other place in the United States controlled by a
         | single faction like Utah, which should terrify you. Fortunately
         | for the rest of us outsiders, if you leave the morms alone in
         | the macro sense, they'll ignore you, seeing you as a non-
         | variable / non-threat.
         | 
         | - Church is full of porno fiends and sexual abusers; hypocrites
         | at every level (denying human nature breeds curiosity and
         | extremist effects on the population). It's really sad for all
         | the victims, who are often the perpetrators' own family
         | members.
         | 
         | - Lots of closet homosexuality. Also sad. The church has also
         | squashed gay rights in the state and attempted to also suppress
         | same-sex rights at th e federal level.
         | 
         | It's worth noting that over time as more non-morms move to Salt
         | Lake City, some of the cultural norms and somewhat diluted just
         | by sheer numbers of outsiders.
         | 
         | Once you get away from that lone big city, it's something like
         | 80-90% "active" mormons. This is the phenomenon granting the
         | church indirect controls over the vast majority of the politics
         | and state at large.
         | 
         | The mormons and church are clever, going to great lengths to
         | ensure their activities are technically legal.
         | 
         | Lots of nice individual people, but a scary powerful
         | organization. It's a cult.
         | 
         | https://dailyutahchronicle.com/2022/06/20/mendenhall-lds-chu...
         | 
         | https://www.sltrib.com/news/2021/08/10/lds-church-moves-quas...
        
           | throwaway0a5e wrote:
           | >- The LDS church is above the law, because they control it.
           | Can't say they hijacked the state, because they founded it.
           | There is no other place in the United States controlled by a
           | single faction like Utah, which should terrify you.
           | 
           | Um? What?
           | 
           | There's like a dozen states that are just as bad if not
           | worse. The only difference is that the "faction" just happens
           | to be the state branch of one of the two big national
           | political parties instead of a religion.
           | 
           | Heck, other than the whole anti-gay thing your description of
           | Utah sounds just like my tiny northeast state. Actually now
           | that I think about it our liquor laws are worse and I can't
           | even buy fireworks despite the fact that this place is
           | anything but arid...
        
           | [deleted]
        
           | EvanKelly wrote:
           | Beer info is out of date as well. Beer up to 5% can be sold
           | at grocery stores with no day/time restrictions - which
           | covers quite a lot of beer. High gravity beer (>5%) can be
           | purchased at liquor stores or at the brewery (no time/day
           | restrictions on brewery sales).
           | 
           | It's onerous sometimes, and often weird, but it's no more
           | difficult to purchase liquor in Utah than in a state like
           | Virginia.
        
             | [deleted]
        
           | wang_li wrote:
           | >Hard liquor only sold by State Liquor stores, where they
           | digitally record your ID.
           | 
           | Similar to about 15 other states.
           | 
           | >Only open a few hours a day, and on certain days.
           | 
           | 11 AM - 10 PM Monday thru Saturday. If you can't work with
           | those hours you have a different problem than the lack of
           | opportunity to buy alcohol.
           | 
           | >Additional state-mandated restrictions on what may be
           | stocked (not too high of proof, etc). Fiendishly overpriced.
           | 
           | You can buy Everclear which is 190 proof. There is a limit
           | but I think it has more to do with physics and chemistry than
           | puritanism. If you want something they don't stock you can
           | have them order it for you.
        
             | metadat wrote:
             | Thanks, maybe my info is out of date, haven't been living
             | in Utah recently. This is how it used to be.
        
           | broof wrote:
           | I'm an exmormon in suburban Utah and it is definitely nowhere
           | near 80-90% active Mormon. Maybe 50-60%, which is still
           | really high for a single demographic, but also not too
           | dissimilar in group think qualities of other populations
        
             | metadat wrote:
             | Sure, it's hard to define whay "active" even means. If you
             | go by the churches numbers, at least 60% of the entire
             | state is composed of "active" members.
        
       | remarkEon wrote:
       | Is this really "forgotten"? Forgotten by whom?
       | 
       | I thought this was part of LDS mythology surrounding the
       | settlement of the Utah territory and was fairly well known. I
       | remember reading about the war in college, and it is definitely
       | part of any history of Buchanan's presidency.
        
         | dang wrote:
         | We've taken that word out of the title now.
         | 
         | Please let's discuss more interesting things than linkbait
         | effects.
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | bitbuilder wrote:
         | I'm 47 years old, decently educated, and can honestly say I'd
         | never heard of this war and thought this was a great read.
         | 
         | Granted, it's quite possible I was taught about this in some
         | very dry history class in high school while I was barely paying
         | attention to the teacher. But I think it's safe to say this
         | isn't a war that comes up often in popular discourse of US
         | history.
        
           | daveslash wrote:
           | I agree with you. Though, I'd also ask, are you in the Utah
           | region or outside? It's easy for us to lose sight of just how
           | huge the U.S. is, and what might be "common history" in one
           | area is obscure bar-trivia somewhere else. We've all heard of
           | the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and WWII and mostly
           | know the broad strokes. I doubt the average person on the
           | street could give you much info on The War of 1812, the
           | Mexican American War, The First Barbary War, The _Second_
           | Barbary War. Regarding local history, I grew up in Maine, so
           | to me the Aroostook War might seem like common history, , and
           | to my Filipina wife, the Philippine-American War might seem
           | less than forgotten. I could forgive anyone on the street for
           | knowing little or nothing about all these. Even the Korean
           | War 's nickname is "The Forgotten War".
        
             | tcmart14 wrote:
             | Regional history, people don't understand how much there
             | is. I never heard about the one bomb dropping on the
             | continental 48 during World War 2 until I moved to Oregon,
             | because where that happened it probably 2-3 hours away from
             | me (bomb on a balloon). Grew up in the rural south. Like
             | wise, my Wife who grew up in Oregon has never heard of
             | Blair Mountain and the struggle between the the Union and
             | the Mining company. Or she only knows of the Hatfields and
             | McCoys from pop culture reference but doesn't actually know
             | any of the story behind it. The US has a surprising large
             | amount of this.
        
         | [deleted]
        
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