Thanks to BDB

[Solon]

http://cougarguard.com/forum/showpos...93&postcount=1

I've been thinking about similarities and differences between the debate over prohibition and the debate about gay marriage. While comparisons inevitably break down if conducted too closely, I found some interesting quotes from the New York Times that seem to correspond in some ways to the current discussions about church, politics, and morality.

I don't want to oversimplify: it was a complicated time in history - the Great Depression and prohibition were integrally combined in the context of these stories as longtime Senator Reed Smoot, an LDS apostle, sought re-election (but lost) in 1932. Prohibition was repealed in late 1933. Nevertheless, I thought it interesting that some of the same elements of the gay marriage debate surfaced in my reading of Prohibition-era sources.


August, 1932 [discussing LDS stance on prohibition]

Most of the people of Utah belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, commonly known as the Mormon Church. That church and its leaders have been at times accused of all sorts of subtle political manoeuvring, and some not so subtle. Whether such accusations had any basis in fact or not need not be considered here. Certainly there has been no need to consider the stand taken by the church and its leaders as anything but bold and four-square whenever its leaders considered that a moral issue was involved. . . . Few churches are more ardent in their battle against liquor than the Mormon Church. Undoubtedly this will be considered a moral issue.” N.L. Wilson, “Smoot’s Re-Election Looked For in Utah," New York Times; Aug. 7, 1932, pg. E7.

October 1933 - Utah decides to hold a referendum on whether or not to support the repeal of prohibition.

The emphatic defeat of [Republican] Senator Reed Smoot last November, after the pre-election statement of President Heber J. Grant – long regarded as a Democrat – that, as a citizen, he was voting for and supporting the then senior Senator, who is also a member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, had encouraged the wets. Some of them, Mormon as well as Gentile, said it demonstrated that, in the secrecy of the polling booth, the Mormons as citizens preferred to do their own thinking. At the same time it must be recognized that loyalty to the church, as distinct from following the personal judgment of the church’s chosen leader in a matter not raising religion as an issue, was not a factor in the Senatorial election. “Mormons in Utah to Vote on Repeal, New York Times, Oct. 1, 1933, pg. E6

November, 1933 - on the eve of the referendum it is uncertain to the nation which way Utah will vote:

“It appears possible that Utah may be the first State to vote against repeal. The influence of the Mormon Church, especially among its adherents in the rural sections, is said to be a powerful factor for retention of prohibition. “Prohibition Doom Expected Tuesday,” New York Times, Nov. 5, 1933, pg. N4

November, 1933 - Utah overwhelming votes to repeal prohibition.

Utah’s repeal majority was holding near 40,000, with only a few precincts missing. For 729 out of 798 precincts the vote was:
For repeal, 101,103
Against, 63,248

Utah also voted for repeal of her State prohibition amendment, 700 precincts showing:
For repeal, 94,620
Against, 53,489

"Utah Convention Will End Dry Law” New York Times, November 9, 1933, pp. 1-2 (quotes are from page 2)

It's tough to tell from the New York Times just how involved were LDS leaders in Utah in day-to-day campaigning for/against the issue in 1932 and 1933. Here's the closest I could come at this late hour:

Though the church leadership continued to fight to remain dry, Utah became the thirty-sixth state to vote for repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment and thus to seal the end of Prohibition. Church leaders were not uniform in their assessment of the experiment. Heber J. Grant was very upset that Utahns had not followed his counsel to retain Prohibition. Joseph Fielding Smith said that with “all its abuses and corruption,” Prohibition had nevertheless “been a boon to society and it would be a calamity of the gravest kind to repeal or modify it now.” B.H. Roberts favored repeal, and Anthony W. Ivins, first counselor in the First Presidency, questioned its usefulness.” T.G. Alexander, “The Word of Wisdom: From Principle to Requirement” in Dialogue, vol. 14, no. 3 (1981), pg. 84.

http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/doc...&CISOSHOW=6595

[SeattleUte]

Interesting stuff. What an ironic and strange precedent to cite for helping the LDS Church's opposition to gay marriage. This is also interesting. It makes me think that something dreadful has happened to LDS Church members since 1933 that eliminated their ability to think for themselves.

[8ballrollin]

Originally Posted by SeattleUte

It makes me think that something dreadful has happened to LDS Church members since 1933 that eliminated their ability to think for themselves.

Water fluoridation, no doubt.


BDB and Solon, thanks. Those are interesting reads.