Item Detail
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25931
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3
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2
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English
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Zion in America : The Origins of Mormon Constitutionalism
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Journal of Mormon History
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Summer 2012
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38
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3
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Salt Lake City, UT
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Mormon History Association
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90-101
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Every social group is inherently exclusive to some degree. If not, it would be indistinguishable as a group. On the other hand, absolute exclusivity is essentially impossible. We all share the same planet, and even the most remote groups of indigenous people have had contact with others. Almost all groups exist in some kind of equilibrium between exclusivity and inclusivity. Issues of inclusivity, pluralism, and democracy are of special interest to those working in American history and American studies - as the nation was founded in a revolution rooted in democratic principles. Mormonism, which emerged in the early American republic, began as a society which intended to be holy and separate from the wider American society. Yet early on, the new religious movement found not only a certain balance between exclusivity and inclusivity, but a way to theoretically reconcile the two somewhat coherently. This essay focuses particularly on Joseph Smith's revelation of December 16-17, 1833, now canonized as Section 101 of the LDS Doctrine and Covenants, as the pivotal text for effecting this reconciliation. [From the article]