Anti-Mormonism

Anti-Mormonism and the question of Religious freedom provided by the Constitution
The Anti-Mormon sentiment prevalent in society during the late 1800’s contributed greatly to the Supreme Court decision to deny the Mormon’s right to practice polygamy. Though polygamy had been outlawed in the United States for years previous, Mormons had continued to practice plural marriage on the grounds that the religious freedom provided by the Constitution protected them from legal repercussions as long as they attributed their practice to religious reasons. This notion, though perhaps previously unchallenged, was firmly refuted by the Supreme Court’s decision in Reynolds v. The United States in October 1878 in which the court stated that the Constitution provided only for the protection of free religious thought and this protection did not extend into the realm of religious practice. Chief Justice Waite cites the main reason behind this decision as stemming not so much from a disproval of polygamy, which had already been established, but instead from the inability for a government to properly preside over its people if man’s “professed doctrines of religious belief” were considered superior to the law of the land.

While the issue of simultaneously ensuring autonomy and maintaining government effectiveness has always posed problems for America and democracy in general, the means through which Congress here tries to establish the power of the government over the individual is proved to be too far-reaching for other members of society. In George Cannon’s response to the Supreme Court decision he writes, “I had hoped that the Court would give to this question-one of the most important that has ever been submitted to it-the most calm, profound, and unprejudiced attention; that they would examine it thoroughly and exhaustively, and render a decision that would be read with interest and delight by every lover of freedom and the rights of man,” expressing his disappointment at the lack of thorough analysis with which the court had enacted its decision. He then asserts that a more proper law would state that Mormons and religious people in general have every right to engage in those practices determined by their religious beliefs, as long as their practice does not interfere with the rights of their fellow men. His expression of a wish that Congress would have viewed the issue with an unbiased view sheds light onto the role that Anti-Mormonism most assuredly played in this uncharacteristically far-reaching Court decision. Had not the issue of polygamy been so hotly contended by so many members of society, Congress would have perhaps been more inclined to view the issue of religious freedom on a broader scale and see that the extensive effects of a decision to endorse government intervention in any religious practice were both invasive and Unconstitutional.

Questions
1-How specifically do you believe Anti-Mormonism influenced the Supreme Court decision? Do you believe that it was a natural byproduct of society’s disdain, or should the Court in theory have remained unsusceptible to this outside influence in its decision?
2-How much did the issue of slavery play a part in the heavy anti Mormon sentiments of the time period?
3-Do you agree with the disappointment expressed by George Cannon, or do you support the Supreme Court’s original decision to protect only religious beliefs and not practice?