This is a very singular world that we live in; yet were it not for the spirit of error and confusion that everywhere prevails I think we should call it a very fine, excellent world. The annoyances, difficulties, errors, perplexities, sorrows, and troubles of this life, from first to last, are in consequence of sin being in the world. For me to say it is not right for sin to be in the world, or if we, as intelligent beings, come to the conclusion that sin entered the world by chance, through some mistake, and it was contrary to the design of him who created us, we should err.
This people called Latter-day Saints are looked upon as a very singular people; in fact, we are regarded as an anomaly in the world. Why is this so? Are we different to others who are born into the world? Are we not of the same blood as the people of the other nations and tongues of the earth? We certainly are, for we are gathered from among them. Like them, we have eyes to see with, ears to hear with; we have lips and organs of speech, and we use them as others do; we eat, drink, sleep, plant, sow, reap, mow, build houses and inhabit them, just as they do. Then what is the difference between us and them, and why are we looked upon by the world as though we are entirely different from them, and why have we from the beginning met with vituperation and abuse from the hands of many, and been deprived of our civil and religious rights and treated as outlaws? If we search the Old and New Testaments, and then the corroborative evidence contained in the Book of Mormon, and find therein how the kingdom of God was organized, and compare our present organization with it, we shall find that one is a perfect facsimile of the other. This constitutes the difference between us and the world, and this is why we have been treated as we have been, and why we are looked upon as we are. We believe the Bible and practice it, as far as our weaknesses will permit. Not that we do it perfectly; as it has been stated this morning, we have darkness, unbelief, ignorance, superstition, and our traditions to contend with and overcome; and they cling to us to that degree that we can hardly overcome them.
The traditions that we have imbibed in the several countries in which we have been born, and under the various circumstances under which we have been raised, offer a wide field for reflection, and in passing judgment upon each other's acts a great deal of charity is necessary. The people of one nation will do a thousand things, and, according to their traditions, feel themselves perfectly justified, which those of another nation, with their traditions, would not consider it right to do. How would it look here in the United States of America to enter a large meeting house like this, move out the benches, and then for a congregation to enter the house, kneel down and say a few words of prayer, get up and begin to waltz around to the music of the organ? This would be considered a very strange proceeding among the people of America; yet in other countries it is done and is considered most sacred; and it is in accordance with their traditions. People's notions of honesty as well as of worship differ very widely, and this difference of opinion is the result of the traditions they have imbibed; and for any persons to say we will bring a motley mass together from various countries, and we will judge all of them by our standard, would be diverging somewhat from the path of truth and justice. Still, notwithstanding the various traditions we have severally imbibed, we are all capable of coming to a perfect understanding of truth and justice, and of what we should do to be perfectly right before God This is a subject I have reflected upon a great deal, and I have come to the conclusion that we shall be judged according to the deeds done in the body and according to the thoughts and intents of the heart.
In viewing the traditions of the Christian world, so far as I have been acquainted with them, before I knew anything of the Gospel, and before it was revealed from heaven, I have seen men who thought they were as full of grace, faith, and sanctity as possible, in fact, full of self-righteousness, which they considered the righteousness of God; and yet what would they do? I have known such men, in time of harvest, or when they had a press of work, say to the poor man who was hardly able to procure the bread necessary for his wife and children, "I will give you fifty cents a day if you will come and help me harvest, and pay you in Indian meal." Such men feel justified, for to oppress the poor is in accordance with their traditions.