I have been asked by parties, “Do you believe in the
doctrine of ‘Blood Atonement’, as quoted by Presidents Young and Grant?” . . .
I most assuredly believe in the doctrine as preached by the presidency . . . .
We believe, with other peoples and nations, that there are crimes for which men
ought to die. We believe, moreover, that . . . the right way to do it is by the
shedding of their blood; and that it is much better for them thus to atone, or
expiate their guilt for their sins in this world, than to rush into the eternal
world without. But we do not propose to be the executioners; and hence our
Legislature passed a law predicated upon this idea, giving the convicted
criminal . . . the choice of being beheaded, shot, or hung . . . .(The John
Taylor Papers, ed. Samuel W. Taylor and Raymond Taylor, 2 vols. [Redwood
City, Calif.: Taylor Trust Publisher, 1984], 1:315)
For further reading, see John
Taylor, “Ecclesiastical
Control in Utah,” North American Review 138
(1884), 10-11.
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