Blood atonement
Blood atonement was a practice in the history of Mormonism still adhered to by some fundamentalist splinter groups, under which the atonement of Jesus does not redeem an eternal sin. To atone for an eternal sin, the sinner should be killed in a way that allows their blood to be shed upon the ground as a sacrificial offering, so they do not become a son of perdition. The largest Mormon denomination, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has denied the validity of the doctrine since 1889 with early church leaders referring to it as a "fiction" and later church leaders referring to it as a "theoretical principle" that had never been implemented in the LDS Church.
The doctrine arose among early Mormon leaders and it was significantly promoted during the Mormon Reformation, when Brigham Young governed the Utah Territory as a near-theocracy. According to Young and other members of his First Presidency, eternal sins that needed blood atonements included apostasy, theft, fornication and adultery.
Young taught that sinners should voluntarily choose to practice the doctrine but he also taught that it should only be enforced by a complete theocracy. Young considered it more charitable to sacrifice a life than to see them endure eternal torment in the afterlife. In Young's view, in a full Mormon theocracy, the practice would be implemented by the state as a penal measure.
The blood atonement doctrine was the impetus behind laws that allowed capital punishment to be administered by firing squad or decapitation in both the territory and the state of Utah. Though people in Utah were executed by firing squad for capital crimes under the assumption that this would aid their salvation, there is no clear evidence that Young or other top theocratic Mormon leaders enforced blood atonement for apostasy. There is some evidence that the doctrine was enforced a few times at the local church level without regard to secular judicial procedure. The rhetoric of blood atonement may have contributed to a culture of violence leading to the Mountain Meadows massacre.
Blood atonement remains an important doctrine within Mormon fundamentalism and is often referenced by alt-right Mormon groups. Nonetheless, the LDS Church has formally repudiated the doctrine multiple times since the days of Young. LDS apostle Bruce R. McConkie, speaking on behalf of church leadership, wrote in 1978 that while he still believed that certain sins are beyond the atoning power of the blood of Christ, the doctrine of blood atonement is only applicable in a theocracy, like that during the time of Moses. Nevertheless, given its long history, up until at least 1994 potential jurors in Utah have been questioned on their beliefs concerning the blood atonement prior to trials where the death penalty may be considered. In 1994, when the defense in the trial of James Edward Wood alleged that a local church leader had "talked to Wood about shedding his own blood", the LDS First Presidency submitted a document to the court that denied the church's acceptance and practice of such a doctrine, and included the 1978 repudiation. Arthur Gary Bishop, a convicted serial killer, was told by a top church leader that "blood atonement ended with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ."
Historical and doctrinal background
In its early days, Mormonism was a Restorationist faith, and leaders of it such as Joseph Smith and Brigham Young frequently discussed efforts to re-introduce social, legal, and religious practices described in the Bible, such as temple building, polygamy, and a patriarchal, theocratic governing structure. The term "blood atonement" does not appear in Mormon scripture. In the Book of Mormon, however, there are verses which clearly state that "the law of Moses" requires capital punishment for the crime of murder and they also state that Jesus' death and atonement "fulfills" the law of Moses such that there should be no more blood sacrifices.The concept of blood atonement for adultery was less clearly articulated in LDS scripture. In Doctrine and Covenants 132, Joseph Smith wrote that people who break the "New and Everlasting Covenant" would be "destroyed in the flesh" and be punished until they received their exaltation at the Last Judgment.
The requirement that blood should be shed as an atonement for capital crimes grew into the idea that salvation would be blocked unless this penalty was adhered to, because the "law" would remain "unfulfilled." The belief in the necessity of spilled blood and death in order to make restitution for adultery and murder was aided by a generally favorable view of capital punishment, the idea that spilled blood "cries out" for retribution, the "blood for blood" doctrine that says crimes of bloodshed should be punished by the spilling of blood, and the concept that repentance requires restitution. Although the scriptures in Alma 34 of the Book of Mormon speak of the "requirement" in terms of a legal obligation, Brigham Young described blood atonement-worthy crimes as precluding Eternal Progression offered to the faithful, stating that a sinner's crimes "will deprive him of that exaltation which he desires." In Mormon theology, Salvation is not the same as Exaltation, which has more to do with "where in heaven" whereas Salvation is "being in heaven."
Capital punishment in Mormon scripture and ritual
Mormonism's teachings regarding capital punishment originated in older Jewish and Christian teachings. For example, in 1 Corinthians 5:5, Paul discusses a man who copulated with his father's wife and commands church members to "deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." The Doctrine & Covenants also has passages favoring capital punishment, saying "And now, behold, I speak unto the church. Thou shalt not kill; and he that kills shall not have forgiveness in this world, nor in the world to come. And again, I say, thou shalt not kill; but he that killeth shall die." Elsewhere, though, people are portrayed as having been forgiven for murders.Underlying the blood atonement concept is the idea that spilled blood "cries out" for retribution, an idea that is advocated in several passages of Mormon scripture. In the Bible, the blood of Abel ascended to the ears of God after he was killed by Cain. In the Book of Mormon, the "blood of a righteous man" was said to "come upon" the theocratic leader Alma "for vengeance" against the murderer. Mormon scripture also refers to the "cry" of the blood of the saints ascending from the ground up to the ears of God as a testimony against those who killed them. After the death of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young added an Oath of Vengeance to the Nauvoo Endowment ritual. Participants in the ritual made an oath to pray that God would "avenge the blood of the prophets on this nation." The prophet was Smith and "this nation" was the United States. In 1877, Brigham Young described what he viewed as a similarity between Joseph Smith's death and the blood atonement doctrine, in that "whether we believe in blood atonement or not", Joseph Smith and other prophets "sealed their testimony with their blood."
Temple penalties
Before 1990, the LDS temple rituals provided an example in which capital punishment is contemplated for violations of blood oaths in the Endowment ritual. These were known as penalties. The blood oaths in the ceremony were intended to protect the ritual's secrecy. In keeping with the idea that grievous crimes must be answered with bloodshed and that blood atonement should be voluntary, participants made an oath that rather than ever revealing the secret gestures of the ceremony, they would rather have "my throat... be cut from ear to ear, and my tongue torn out by its roots"; "our breasts... be torn open, our hearts and vitals torn out and given to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field"; "your body... be cut asunder and all your bowels gush out" showing an entire refusal to accept the promises made in the washing and anointing ordinances. The gory wording was removed early in the 20th century and changed to a less explicit reference to "different ways in which life may be taken." Vestigial accompanying suggestive gestures were removed by the LDS Church in 1990.Reactions
Writer J. Aaron Sanders stated that the temple penalties were a form of blood atonement. Author Peter Levenda linked Smith's introduction of the Masonic blood oaths into the temple endowment as a step towards later threats of blood atonement for other perceived crimes in Utah territory. Historian Wallace Stegner wrote "It would be bad history to pretend that there were no holy murders in Utah and... no mysterious disappearances of apostates". Another historian Juanita Brooks stated that violent enforcement of religious oaths was a "literal and terrible reality" advocated by Brigham Young "without compromise". One example cited by historians is in March 1857 when an elderly church member of high standing William R. Parrish decided to leave Utah with his family when he "grew cold in the faith", but had his throat slit near his Springville, Utah home."Blood for blood" doctrine and retributive capital punishment
, the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, was a strong proponent of capital punishment, and favored execution methods that involved the shedding of blood as retribution for crimes of bloodshed. In 1843, he or his scribe commented that the common execution method in Christian nations was hanging, "instead of blood for blood according to the law of heaven." Years before making this remark, however, Smith was quoted as saying that the hanging of Judas Iscariot was not a suicide, but an execution carried out by Saint Peter. In a March 4, 1843, debate with church leader George A. Smith, who argued against capital punishment, Joseph Smith said that if he ever had the opportunity to enact a death penalty law, he "was opposed to hanging" the convict; rather, he would "shoot him, or cut off his head, spill his blood on the ground, and let the smoke thereof ascend up to God." In the church's April 6, 1843 general conference, Smith said he would "wring a thief's neck off if I can find him, if I cannot bring him to justice any other way." Sidney Rigdon, Smith's counselor in the First Presidency, also supported capital punishment involving the spilling of blood, stating, "There are men standing in your midst that you can't do anything with them but cut their throat and bury them." On the other hand, Smith was willing to tolerate the presence of men "as corrupt as the devil himself" in Nauvoo, Illinois, who "had been guilty of murder and robbery," in the chance that they might "come to the waters of baptismthrough repentance, and redeem a part of their allotted time."
Brigham Young, Smith's successor in the LDS Church, initially held views on capital punishment similar to those of Smith. On January 27, 1845, he spoke approvingly of Smith's toleration of "corrupt men" in Nauvoo who were guilty of murder and robbery, on the chance that they might repent and be baptized. On the other hand, on February 25, 1846, after the Saints had left Nauvoo, Young threatened adherents who had stolen wagon cover strings and rail timber with having their throats cut "when they get out of the settlements where his orders could be executed." Later that year, Young gave orders that "when a man is found to be a thief,...cut his throat & thro' him in the River." Young also stated that decapitation of repeated sinners "is the law of God and it shall be executed." There are no documented instances, however, of such a sentence being carried out on the Mormon Trail.
In the Salt Lake valley, Young acted as the executive authority while the Council of Fifty acted as a legislature. One of his main concerns in the early Mormon settlement was theft, and he swore that "a theif should not live in the Valley, for he would cut off their heads or be the means of having it done as the Lord lived." In Utah, there existed a law from 1851 to 1888 allowing persons convicted of murder to be executed by decapitation.