On the LDS website I came across an interesting submission in the student manuals on presidents of the Church.
The write-up of John Taylor, 3rd president of the Church, paints a picture of a man who had done nothing wrong and the feds went after him because he announced that he was a Christian.
Here’s what they had to say;
Presidents of the Church Student Manual
“President John Taylor died in exile, in perhaps the darkest hour of the Church’s struggle to survive, as a martyr to the principles of loyalty and integrity, as a martyr to freedom of religion, as a martyr to the divinity and witness inherent in his apostolic calling, as a martyr to the restoration of the true Church of Jesus Christ, and as a martyr to the reality of Jesus Himself, whose servant he was.”
The truth is that Mr. Taylor was a wanted man and had a warrant out for his arrest because he’d broken the laws of the United States. His wanted poster is provided just a few paragraphs previous to their eulogy of the late prophet. It’s odd the Church of today didn’t hold the same empathy for Warren Jeffs a few years back…
How could this man (Taylor) be so misunderstood? Is it true that he was a martyr for Jesus? Let’s compare Mr. Taylor with a few Christian martyrs so we can make a sound decision. And to make things even more interesting in this subject matter is Deseret News’ article on Christian martyrs of the 20th Century. Remarkably, Mark DeGroote, the author of the article is a very devout Mormon and referred to non-Mormons as true Christians.
Germany’s Nightmare Come True
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor who helped hide Jews and Christians during WW2. Because of his devotion to the Lord he was beheaded by the Nazis. He was merely one of untold thousands who were martyred for Christ by Hitler’s henchmen during the Holocaust.
At the turn of the 20th Century, Turkey’s Christian population hovered around 30% of the Turkish population. Between 1905 to1918 more than two million Armenian Christians were massacred for believing in Jesus.
When Idi Amin took control of Uganda from 1971-1979 roughly 500,000 people lost their lives during the coup that took place and his reign of abusive power. Of that half million people, 300,000 Christians were tortured and killed for bowing to Jesus and not Mohammed. Much of Uganda’s population at the time was devout Christian.
China’s Boxer Rebellion
A little more than a century ago 188 foreign missionaries and more than 32,000 Chinese Christians were slaughtered. During the uprising in China known as the Boxer Rebellion small bands of people began rebelling against the foreigners who had come in to rob China of its wealth and natural resources and it wasn’t long before these groups were in every region of the country.
In the beginning stages of the rebellion and bloodshed it was difficult to figure out who they were targeting. However, it was soon realized the Boxers had the destruction of Christians in mind as well.
Before the rebellion China’s Christian community was robust with no fears of being ostracized or discriminated against for their faith. That all changed at the beginning of the 20th century when she suffered some of the worst torturing of humans mankind has ever seen.
So how do those examples compare with John Taylor who hid himself in a friend’s house because he didn’t want to face justice for breaking the anti-polygamy laws?
I bring this up because this is part of the plan in Mormon teachings each and every day. It isn’t some obscure quote that doesn’t impact the average Mormon. Rather, this is being taught today in the classrooms of Mormonism and this is the impression given to the average member about John Taylor.
Pray for those who are taught this lie that the Lord will safeguard their hearts and prompt them to open a history book along with a dictionary!
With Love in Christ;
Michelle
1 Cor 1:18
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