Joseph Smith's Prophecy on the US Government
I just read this great paper titled "Joseph Smith: The Profile of a Prophet". On page 16, he shares a prophecy given by Joseph Smith while in conversation with Stephan A. Douglas, which reads:
It is argued by many in the austro-libertarian camp, including Thomas DiLorenzo, that Lincoln was a tyrant who violated the Constitution and destroyed the concept of state sovereignty. In light of this prophecy, is it not conceivable that what Joseph Smith is referring to here is the destruction of the government as it was then known, a voluntary republic of sovereign states, limited and decentralized in it's power, relative to the government that existed after the Civil War, and continues to this day? In other words, Joseph Smith is here prophesying of Lincoln's trampling of the Constitution and overthrowing of state sovereignty and decentralized government. Further, Lincoln and the Republican's rise followed the Whig Party's demise. Paired with his prophecy on the Civil War, we have a pretty accurate view of how things turned out, do we not?
unless the United States redress the wrongs committed upon the saints in the state of Missouri and punish crimes committed by her officers, that in a few years the government will be utterly overthrown and wasted, and there will not be so much as a potsherd left, for their wickedness in permitting the murder of men, women and children and the wholesale plunder and extermination of thousands of her citizens to go unpunished, thereby perpetrating a foul and corroding blot upon the fair fame of this great republic, the very thought of which would have caused the high-minded and patriotic framers of the Constitution of the United States to hide their faces with shame.The author of this article goes on to explain that he believes this prophecy concerned mostly the Whig party (see 3b) at the time. I thought I'd offer some speculation on an alternative interpretation (3b in the last reference touches on this somewhat).
It is argued by many in the austro-libertarian camp, including Thomas DiLorenzo, that Lincoln was a tyrant who violated the Constitution and destroyed the concept of state sovereignty. In light of this prophecy, is it not conceivable that what Joseph Smith is referring to here is the destruction of the government as it was then known, a voluntary republic of sovereign states, limited and decentralized in it's power, relative to the government that existed after the Civil War, and continues to this day? In other words, Joseph Smith is here prophesying of Lincoln's trampling of the Constitution and overthrowing of state sovereignty and decentralized government. Further, Lincoln and the Republican's rise followed the Whig Party's demise. Paired with his prophecy on the Civil War, we have a pretty accurate view of how things turned out, do we not?
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