During the period commonly called the Mormon Reformation, church leaders urged intense repentance, public confession, rebaptism, and strict loyalty to church authority. Sermons emphasized that members were “their brother’s keeper”—a phrase that, in this context, went far beyond moral encouragement.
For some leaders and enforcers, it implied active responsibility for the spiritual and temporal fate of others, including discipline, coercion, and in extreme cases, violence.
This was not a formal, written doctrine in the way later LDS teachings are framed—but it was preached, acted upon, and remembered by contemporaries.
“Unforgivable” Sins and Apostasy
Certain sins were portrayed as so serious that Christ’s atonement alone was said to be insufficient unless the sinner’s own blood was shed. This concept later became known as blood atonement.
Among the sins most frequently described this way:
- Apostasy (especially public or defiant departure)
- Adultery (particularly involving temple covenants)
- Betrayal of church leadership or community
- Speaking against “the Lord’s anointed”
Apostasy, in particular, was framed not merely as personal disbelief, but as treason against God’s kingdom, which—at the time—many leaders viewed as a literal theocratic society.
Role of Local Leaders and “Home Teachers”
The term home teacher did not yet mean what it later came to signify. In the 1850s, local ward teachers, bishops, and militia-linked men often acted as:
- Moral enforcers
- Community monitors
- Reporters of dissent
- Occasionally, instruments of punishment
While there was no official handbook instructing them to kill apostates, the rhetoric, sermon language, and lack of civil separation created an environment where violence could be framed as obedience rather than murder.
and His Journals
Hickman’s autobiography, Brigham’s Destroying Angel, is one of the most disturbing firsthand accounts tied to this era.
In it, he claims:
- He carried out killings under the belief he was obeying priesthood authority
- Apostates and dissenters were among those targeted
- Orders were often indirect, framed as “it would be better if…”
- He believed refusal would cost him his own life
Whether every claim is accurate is debated—but many details align with independent accounts, sermons, and territorial realities of the time.
Importantly: Hickman did not describe himself as a rogue criminal. He believed he was acting as his brother’s keeper—preventing greater spiritual and communal harm.
That belief alone is chilling.
Those Who Tried to Leave
There are multiple historical accounts—diaries, affidavits, later testimonies—of individuals who:
- Attempted to leave Utah Territory
- Publicly rejected church authority
- Spoke against polygamy or leadership
Some disappeared.
Some were found dead under “frontier justice” explanations.
Some stories were whispered but never written down, out of fear.
Not every disappearance was a church killing—but enough credible accounts exist to confirm that apostasy during this period could carry lethal consequences in practice, even if not officially codified.
Why This Matters
This period exposes a hard truth:
When religious authority, community loyalty, and physical survival become intertwined—
and when dissent is defined as eternal betrayal—
ordinary people can be convinced that killing is righteousness.
That doesn’t indict every believer of the time.
But it does demand honesty about what was preached, believed, and done.
