Theodemocracy is a political system theorized by Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. As the name implies, theodemocracy was meant to be a fusion of traditional republican democracy as practiced under the United States Constitution combined with theocratic elements. He described it as a system under which God and the people held the power to rule in righteousness.^[1] Smith believed that this would be the form of government that would rule the world upon Christ's Second Coming, which he believed was imminent. It was also a partial influence for the short lived State of Deseret in the American West. Anarchist redirects here. ... Aristocrat redirects here. ... Forms of government Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      This article applies to political and organizational ideologies. ... 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Smith's Political Ideal

Although the early Mormons were typically Jacksonian Democrats and highly involved in the republican political process,^[2] Smith believed that the secularistic, hyper-democratic, and atomistic tendencies he saw in the contemporary society were a destructive force which naturally led to mob rule and injustice. According to historian Marvin S. Hill, "the Latter-day Saints saw the maelstrom of competing faiths and social institutions [in the early nineteenth century] as evidence of social upheaval and found confirmation in the rioting and violence that characterized Jacksonian America."^[3] The Mormons had themselves felt that violence in Missouri during the Mormon War of 1838, and the expulsion from Jackson County in 1833. Central to Smith's paradigm was a conception that God's people were to be unified, while faction and divisiveness were corrosive to human happiness, and led to hatred, war, poverty, and other such evils. Smith wrote in 1842 that earthly governments "have failed in all their attempts to promote eternal peace and happiness...[Even the United States] is rent, from center to circumference, with party strife, political intrigues, and sectional interest."^[4] In fact, it was clear to Smith that the secular governments of the world would shortly destroy themselves as a result of their unrighteousness. Jacksonian Democracy refers to the political philosophy of United States President Andrew Jackson and his supporters. ... Ochlocracy (Greek: οχλοκρατια; Latin: ochlocratia) is government by mob or a disorganized mass of people. ... A Latter-day Saint is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), and should not to be confused with the different, though similar term Latter Day Saint. ... Jacksonian Democracy refers to the political philosophy of United States President Andrew Jackson and his supporters. ... The Mormon War is a name sometimes given to the 1838 conflict which occurred between Latter-day Saints (Mormons) and their neighbors in the northwestern region of the U.S. state of Missouri. ...

Theodemocracy was meant to be an alternative to these ultimately suicidal systems. In the midst of the anarchic chaos which Smith believed would usher in the Second Coming of Christ, he predicted that the Latter-day Saints would establish a theodemocratic government to fill the political vaccuum. In essence, Smith concieved theodemocracy to be the civil structure of a political kingdom under the personal direction of God. In Smith's mind, only a government led by deity could banish the destructiveness of unlimited faction and bring order and happiness to the earth. He believed that a theodemocratic polity would be the literal fulfillment of Christ's prayer in the Gospel of Matthew, "Thy kindgom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven."^[5] Further, Smith taught that this was the kingdom which God would set up in the last days to hold dominion over all other kingdoms as foretold in the Book of Daniel.^[6] For other uses, see Second Coming (disambiguation). ...

While theodemocracy was envisioned to be a unifying force, Smith's political ideal still held sacred Mormon beliefs in the immutability of individual moral agency. This required most importantly religious freedom and other basic liberties. Therefore, such a government was never meant to be imposed on the unwilling, nor to be monoreligious. Instead, Smith believed that theodemocracy would be freely chosen by all, whether or not they were Latter-day Saints.^[7] This would be especially true when secular governments had dissolved and given way to universal anarchy and violence in the days preceding the Millenium. In fact, Smith and his successors believed that in the religiously pluralistic society which would continue even after Christ's return, theodemocracy demanded the representation of non-Mormons by non-Mormons.^[8] Thus, it should be pointed out that theodemocracy is a separate concept from the ideal Mormon community of Zion. Zion was not itself to be a political system, but rather an association of the righteous. Theodemocracy in turn was not a religious organization, but a governmental system which would include people of many religious denominations and be institutionally separate from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But, although civil and ecclesiastical governments were meant to retain their individual and divided spheres of power in a theodemocratic system, leaders of the LDS Church would have important and even dominant secular roles. Agency (also referred to as free agency or moral agency), in Latter-day Saint theology, is the privilege of choice which was introduced by God the Eternal Father to all of his spirit children in the premortal state.[1] Mortal life is viewed as a test of faith, where our... For other uses, see Anarchy (disambiguation). ... A millennium is a period of time equal to one thousand years. ... The original plat of the City of Zion (Independence, Missouri). ... The Salt Lake Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the largest attraction in the citys Temple Square. ...

How theodemocracy was supposed to function is not entirely clear. Evidence points out that this system was to be based on principles extant in the United States Constitution, and held sacred the will of the people and individual rights. Indeed, the United States and the Constitution in particular were revered by Smith and his followers.^[9][10] However, in a theodemocratic system, God was to be the ultimate power and would give law to the people which they would be free to accept or reject, presumably based on republican principles. While Christ would be the "king of kings" and "lord of lords," He would only intermittently reside on the earth and the government would largely be left in the hands of mortal men.^[11] The Council of Fifty, which Smith organized in Nauvoo, Illinois in 1844, was to be a municipal body within such a system. Wikisource has original text related to this article: The United States Constitution The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the United States of America. ... The Council of Fifty (also known as the Living Constitution, the Kingdom of God, or its name by revelation, The Kingdom of God and His Laws with the Keys and Power thereof, and Judgment in the Hands of His Servants, Ahman Christ[1]) was a Latter Day Saint organization established... There is also a Nauvoo, Alabama, and a Nauvoo, Pennsylvania Nauvoo (נָאווּ to be beautiful, Sephardi Hebrew Nåvu, Tiberian Hebrew Nâwû) is a city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States. ...

History

Joseph Smith, Jr.

Brigham Young

Smith first coined the term theodemocracy while running for President of the United States in 1844.^[12] It is also clear that this concept lay behind his organization of the secretive Council of Fifty that same year. But it is uncertain whether Smith believed that he could or should form a functioning theodemocratic government before the advent of the Second Coming and the destruction of worldly political systems. For instance, once formed the Council of Fifty had little real power, and was perhaps more symbolic of God's future kingdom than a political reality.^[13] In addition, the city of Nauvoo wherein Smith organized the Council was strictly republican in organization even while critics labeled it “theocracy.” This was mostly due to the position of some church leaders, including Joseph Smith, as city officers. Suspicions about Mormon rule in Nauvoo, combined with misunderstandings about the role of the Council of Fifty, resulted in hyperbolic rumors about Joseph Smith’s “theocratic kingdom.” This in turn added to the growing furor against the Latter-day Saints in Illinois which eventually led to Smith’s assassination in June of 1844. Indeed, in Jacksonian America, anything which smacked of theocracy was immediately suspect and deemed an anti-republican threat to the people.^[14] Download high resolution version (454x681, 49 KB)1843 photograph of Joseph Smith, Jr. ... Download high resolution version (454x681, 49 KB)1843 photograph of Joseph Smith, Jr. ... Joseph Smith redirects here. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Brigham Young (June 1, 1801 – August 29, 1877) was a leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and was the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death. ... For other uses, see Second Coming (disambiguation). ... Forms of government Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      For the metal band, refer to Theocracy (band). ...

On the other hand, the fact that Nauvoo was governed by a combination of LDS church leaders and friendly non-Mormons who had been elected to serve in civil office might mark the city as a proto-theodemocracy. Further, Smith had anticipated that the Mormons would move west long before his murder, and he may have believed that he could create a theodemocratic polity outside of the United States in the Republic of Texas or somewhere in the Rocky Mountains in anticipation of Christ's return to earth. After Smith’s death, the banner of theodemocracy was carried by his successor Brigham Young to Utah in 1847. While Young’s early conception of the State of Deseret was no doubt based on theodemocratic principles, its practical application was severely hampered after Utah was made a territory in 1850, and further eroded when Young was replaced as territorial governor after the Utah War of 1857-1858. From then on, theodemocracy within the LDS church was a principle which was relegated to a future when secular governments had fully collapsed in the turbulent times preceding the Millennium. Only when these governments had destroyed each other would theodemocracy emerge as system attendant to a Political Kingdom of God. However, Mormon belief an imminent Second Coming continued throughout the 19th century, and their expectation of the violent self-destruction of governments seemed to be confirmed by such events as the American Civil War. For the latter day independence movement surrounding Texas, see Republic of Texas (group). ... For individual mountains named Rocky Mountain, see Rocky Mountain (disambiguation). ... Brigham Young (June 1, 1801 – August 29, 1877) was a leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and was the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... The boundaries of the provisional State of Deseret (orange) as proposed in 1849. ... Belligerents United States Utah Territory Commanders Pres. ... A millennium (pl. ... For other uses, see Second Coming (disambiguation). ... Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total...

See also

• Times and Seasons

The Times and Seasons was a nineteenth-century Latter Day Saint periodical published monthly or twice-monthly at Nauvoo, Illinois, from November 1839 to February 15, 1846. ...

Notes

References

• Edwin Brown Firmage and Richard Collin Mangrum, Zion in the Courts: A Legal History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830-1900. (University of Illinois Press 1988).

External links

• http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2006/03/theodemocracy/