LYING FOR THE LORD

            The ninth Commandment introduced by Moses states unequivocally, “thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.”  In contradiction to this commandment is an unwritten Mormon canon historians refer to as “lying for the Lord.”

            Bearing false witness is not the only Mormon contradiction to Moses’ Ten Commandments.  To paraphrase, Mormons have been known to behave as if exempt from “thou shalt not steal,” “thou shalt not covet they neighbor’s wife,” and “thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s property.”

            “Righteous” lying has its roots in Nauvoo when Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, John Taylor, Parley P. Pratt and Heber C. Kimball were secrecy taking plural wives.  It was justified by the adages, “don’t cast pearls before swine,” and “feed the masses milk before strong meat.”

            Righteous lying was identified and exposed during the 1904 Reed Smoot Hearings when it was uncovered that Matthias F. Cowley and John W. Taylor were practicing and perpetuating the practice of plural marriage. 

            Lying is a human foible present in all civilizations, races and creeds.  Only the Mormons are known to have made prevarication an unofficial tenet.  

            Lying for the Lord is a novel rational for righteous deception.  Presumably, God instructs his chosen to commit righteous acts that the wicked world finds sinful and criminal.  It is more believable that “lying for the Lord” is an irrational deceptive way of covering up the unethical, immoral and criminal acts of Mormon Elders.           

            Lying about one thing makes it easier to lie about many things.  Ormond Lavery, one of Owen Allred’s apostles, (now deceased) is on record saying he would lie through his teeth to save the priesthood.  In the same priesthood sermon he said, “God will not permit His priesthood to lead the people astray.”  So here we have a priesthood that is infallible, so if it lies, the lies must be allowable or commendable.

            Hill vs. Allred, Jenson, and others, plus the recent uncovering of FLDS fireman suspected of using public monies for their personal use are modern examples of righteous stealing and lying for the Lord. 

            In the lengthy, convoluted Virginia Hill law suit none of the defendants have demonstrated an iota of guilt or remorse.  On the contrary, in 23 years of law enforcement experience where you would expect to confront liars, I was both amazed and amused by the tidal wave of lies with psychopathic precision from such righteous men living God’s higher laws.

            The defendants appeared to be endowed with a preponderance to lie, very possibly a result of their fundamentalist beliefs.  Would this preponderance be apt to vanish if the practice of polygamy were to be decriminalized?  Would underage girls cease to be sexually exploited?  Would Mormon fundamentalist men cease to use coercion to manipulate plural wives and break down a woman’s natural inhibition to submit to priesthood domination? 

            The answer is no!  Not as long as Mormon fundamentalists consider themselves the chosen, the only authorized priesthood of God.  Nothing will change as long as plural marriage is a commandment with no rules to protect females from coercion and deception.  Neither court nor legislature can annul religious authority which is the driving force behind all abuse among Mormon fundamentalists.  Decriminalization will only exacerbate what is already and inherently abusive system.